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  Geebo 8:04 am on July 3, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: gift cards ( 102 ), money laundering ( 11 ), Scams ( 1,383 )   

  How the gift card scam actually works 

  

  We often discuss how so many scams often involve gift cards. They’ve become so synonymous with scams that we’ve started referring to gift cards as the currency of scammers. Basically, when someone online or over the phone asks you to make payment in gift cards, it’s almost guaranteed that you’re talking to a scammer. The reason scammers try to get payment in gift cards is that the cards can be almost immediately drained of their value while being virtually untraceable.

  Scammers don’t even need the physical card itself. Instead, scammers will get their victims to provide the code number off of the back of the card. What happens from there to get the value off of the card works almost like a heist movie.

  Recently, a woman was arrested in Central California for allegedly being part of a scam ring that dealt with gift cards. She was referred to as a runner, meaning while she didn’t run the scam but she was a part of it.

  According to reports, she would receive the card numbers from Walmart gift cards. Using the card numbers she would use her phone to create a UPC code. She would then use the UPC code at Walmart to buy gift cards from online retailers like the Apple Store, Google Play, and Steam. She would then take pictures of the numbers of the newly purchased gift cards and send them to other people involved in the scam who then cash in those cards. In this instance alone, the woman was said to be in possession of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulently obtained gift cards.

  While we may refer to it as the gift card scam for the sake of consumers, it has a more serious name when it comes to the law, money laundering. Scamming operations like this can rake in millions of dollars in a short time frame before disappearing into thin air.

  Again, if you receive a call, text message, or email and someone is pressuring you into making some kind of payment with gift cards, they’re more than likely trying to scam you.

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  Geebo 8:00 am on July 2, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: freedom to breathe card, Global Empowerment Fund, government scams ( 6 ), impersonation scam ( 148 ), phishing ( 77 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), unclaimed funds ( 3 ), unclaimed money ( 4 )   

  Government impersonation scams 

  

  Recently, we’ve heard of three new scams where the scammers are impersonating either the federal or state government. Scammers often imitate various government agencies in order to make their pitch seem more authentic. However, the impersonations are never perfect.

  The Federal Trade Commission is warning citizens about an email phishing scam that is using the agency’s name. The emails claim that you’re eligible to receive funds from the “Global Empowerment Fund” due to the current pandemic. All you need to do to get the money is to provide your bank account information and the money will appear in your account. While the FTC hasn’t said if anyone has fallen for this scam, it’s a safe bet to assume that your bank account will be drained rather than receive extra funds if you were to provide your banking details.

  With the current controversy over whether or not you should wear a mask to stop the spread of coronavirus, scammers are selling cards that claim to make someone exempt from having to wear a mask. The idea is that you present this card to a business that requires the wearing of masks and you’ll be allowed in without a mask. The card claims amnesty under the Americans with Disability Act and has a fake Department of Justice logo. While these cards may appear official they have no legal authority and no business is required to abide by them.

  Lastly, we have a scam on the state government level. In Michigan, residents there are reporting receiving text messages that claim to be from the state. The messages say that they can reunite the recipient with unclaimed property. The messages then provide a link for you to click on. As always, you should never click on links in text messages from someone you don’t know. Now, unclaimed property is something that most states hold on to. However, in most cases, you have to pursue the state to claim any such assets. Usually, you can start the process through a state website. Very rarely will the state contact you and if they do they wouldn’t do it by text message. If you receive a text like this the best thing to do is delete it.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on July 1, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: grants ( 15 ), Scams ( 1,383 )   

  If you've been scammed once you can be scammed again 

  

  If there’s one thing that con artists like most it’s an easy mark. The odds are that if you’ve been scammed once you could be scammed again. Or at least you’ll continue to be targeted by scammers.

  This happened to a woman in Memphis. Last year, she was taken in a grant scam. She received a Facebook message that she thought was from a friend. The message said that her friend received money from a government grant and that she probably qualifies for the grant too.

  The message actually came from a Facebook account that had been compromised by scammers. When the woman went to apply for this phony grant she was told that she would have to pay $1000 to receive the grant money. As you can guess, she never received the grant money and was $1000 poorer.

  She never came forward about losing money because, like many scam victims, she was too embarrassed. However, that initial scam experience was able to help her from being taken a second time. More recently, the woman was approached by someone who claimed to be the Deputy Attorney General of the United States. While the report doesn’t go into greater detail, we can hazard a guess that it was probably another grant scam.

  Some victims may not be so lucky as scammers often trade or sell the information on their victims between each other. Or the scammer will try to fleece the victim again with a different scam if they were successful in the past.

  If you ever become the victim of a scam, you should report it to the police immediately. While the scammer may never be apprehended, it will help warn others from falling for the same scam.