Greg's Corner

Updates from September, 2020 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 16, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: employment ( 37 ), money mules ( 4 ), repackaging ( 22 ), reshipping ( 22 ), Scams ( 1,383 )   

  You could be a money mule without realizing it 

  

  If you were to hear the term money mule, you might correlate it with something along the lines of a drug mule. Drug mules are people who are knowingly taking illegal drugs across international borders. So no one would fault you if you thought money mules performed a similar task. The truth is that money mules do perform a similar task but not in the way you might think and often they have no idea they’re doing it.

  Money mules are usually unwitting pawns in international money laundering schemes. Their role is to take in stolen money or goods and send them to a new location. That location could be physical or virtual. Another problem with money mules is that they can be roped into becoming one in a multitude of ways, many of which we have discussed before.

  For example, we’ve discussed reshipping or repacking scams before. This is where you get a work from home job as a ‘shipping coordinator’, ‘warehouse distribution coordinator, or ‘local hub inspector’. You’ll be sent items and told to inspect them for damage before sending the items to a third party. These items are often either stolen or purchased with stolen information. This is one of the most dangerous forms of being a money mule because even if you didn’t know the goods were stolen, you could still go to jail. If you knowingly falsify shipping documents that violate US Customs you are breaking the law.

  Another common way scammers recruit money mules is with other phony job offers. The job itself may not matter but the scammers will send you a fake or stolen check and tell you to deposit it into your bank account. You’ll then be instructed to buy supplies from their ‘preferred vendor’. This is money that will be coming out of your own bank account. Once the bank discovers the check is fraudulent, you’ll be responsible for paying that money back to your bank. This could result in having your bank account closed and you could find it difficult to open a bank account somewhere else.

  Thanks to the current pandemic and the unemployment that’s resulted from it, money mule scams have risen to unprecedented levels. These money mule schemes have increased by 609 percent according to a leading security firm. With so many people desperate for a steady income, many are falling into the traps of these scammers.

  Legitimate employers will never ask you to pay for anything from your own bank account. If one asks you to they’re probably using you as a mule.

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 15, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: coronavirus ( 40 ), covid-19 ( 48 ), gov.us, phishing ( 77 ), Scams ( 1,383 )   

  New scam tries to fine you for leaving your home during quarantine 

  

  With the country now being six months into the quarantine, you would have thought we would have heard of all the coronavirus scams by now. Yet, here we are posting about a new scam with COVID trappings and a little fake governmental fear to boot.

  Tech news website The Verge has posted a blog entry about how one of their editors who is working at home, received a scam email. The mail claimed that the editor left his home three times in one day during the lockdown and needed to go online to pay their $59 fine. The email went on to say the fine needed to paid to the editor’s gov.us account and gave a gov.us web address to click on to pay the supposed fine.

  This is actually a pretty clever scam. The gov.us web address appears like it’s coming from an actual government agency. However, anyone can buy a .us web address. Legitimate federal government web addresses end in .gov so seeing a gov.us address could fool some of the people all of the time. Plus, the scammers aren’t asking for a large amount for their phony fine. Potentially, someone may just click on the email’s link just to pay what they think is a nuisance fine.

  The trick here is that gov.us isn’t even a real website. The web address in the email was actually disguised to take any likely victims to what The Verge called a spammy website. The website The Verge listed has since been taken down but more than likely the website was designed to infect your system with malware that could wreak all sorts of havoc on your device from ransomware to identity theft. In order to avoid pitfalls like this, if you’re on a computer, you can hover your mouse over the address without clicking on it to see where it will actually take you.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 14, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Human trafficking ( 98 ), package delivery ( 8 ), phishing ( 77 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), text messaging ( 36 )   

  Delivery text message scam not linked to human trafficking 

  

  Recently, we posted a story about how a text messaging scam was fooling victims into giving up their personal and financial information. If you’ll recall, the scam entailed receiving a text message that claimed to be from a delivery service like UPS or FedEx. The text message will say that you have an undelivered package and it will provide a link for you to click on to supposedly set your delivery preferences. Here’s a sample of what the message could look like.

  

  What happens once you click on the link is you’ll be taken to a page that is designed to look like a page from Amazon. The fake Amazon page will then ask you to fill out a customer service survey in order to claim a prize. After you win the prize, you’ll be asked to pay for shipping by providing your financial information. From there, the scammers can do pretty much what they want with your financial information. In some instances, victims have been signed up for subscription services related to their ‘prize’ that ended up costing them $100 a month.

  For some reason on social media, this texting scam started to be passed around as being part of a human trafficking ring. Multiple anti-human trafficking agencies have gone on record to say this is simply not true.

  Unfortunately, the reality is when recruiting victims for human trafficking, it isn’t so elaborate. More often than not, traffickers will prey on the more vulnerable members of our society such as the homeless and those struggling with addiction or untreated mental health issues. If the traffickers are looking to recruit children, they’ll often take to social media to look for children who are having problems at home or school and are looking for a way to escape their lives. Random unsolicited text messages are not one of the tools in the trafficker’s arsenal.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 11, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: grants ( 15 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), social media ( 81 )   

  Government grant scammers trying new trick 

  

  The government grant scam is one of the older scams that came along with the advent of social media. How it normally works is you’ll receive a message from someone on your friends list. They’ll tell you about a great opportunity where you can qualify for a government grant and basically receive free money. The message would then direct you to a website where you can apply for the supposed grant.

  If you apply for the grant one of two things usually happens. You could have your identity stolen after submitting your personal information when applying for the grant. The other thing that could happen is that the grant issuers will ask you for a processing fee before issuing the grant.

  What actually has happened is that your friends social media account has been hacked and scammers are using it to send out these grant messages. The grants don’t actually exist and you could be out personal and financial information along with a chunk of your savings.

  Social media platforms have gotten wise to these messages and the scammers know this. Now, these scam messages will try to direct you off of the platform your,e using to try to avoid detection. The message will say something like ‘text me your number if you want to talk about it’. This way the scammers can try to fool you without the social media company seeing the messages.

  if you receive one of these messages on social media, do not respond. If it’s from someone you know personally, use another method of communication to contact them to let them know their account has been compromised.

  As this scam often targets the elderly you may want to let your older family members aware of this scam before they’re taken advantage of.

   
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  Geebo 8:01 am on September 10, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: coronavirus ( 40 ), covid-19 ( 48 ), DOJ ( 3 ), hotel scam ( 6 ), identity theft ( 108 ), phishing ( 77 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), social security ( 29 )   

  Another trio of identity theft scams to look out for 

  

  Once again, we’re bringing you a trio of scams that are happening around the country. We think you should keep an eye out for them before they come to your area.

  The first scam literally is one that is happening all across the country. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has issued a warning about a Social Security scam that’s targeting seniors. Scammers are posing as the Department of Justice and are looking to steal personal information. The scammers will leave a number to call back which will lead you to a phony investigator who will ask you for your personal information. If you receive one of these phone calls, you’re asked to report them to the Federal Trade Commission at 877-382-4357 or the FTC website.

  The Department of Health from the state of North Dakota is reporting that residents there have been receiving worrying messages about COVID-19. People there have been receiving texts, emails, and even letters telling them that they’ve tested positive for coronavirus. However, many of the people receiving these messages haven’t even been tested for coronavirus. The messages contain a link that directs them to a website where they’re asked for personal information. You should never click on links from or open any attachments from someone that you don’t know personally.

  Lastly, if you find yourself staying at a hotel on a getaway, be careful what information you give over the hotel phone. Police in Wrightsville, North Carolina are warning vacation goers about a scam that has hit their area. Police there say that scammers are calling hotel rooms posing as the front desk and asking for personal information. Sometimes the scammers will even try to get financial information out of their victims. Please keep in mind that the hotel will not ask for payment information away from the front desk. If you receive a call like this while staying at a hotel either call the front desk directly or go straight to the front desk personally.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 9, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: covid-19 ( 48 ), grandparent scam ( 69 ), Scams ( 1,383 )   

  The grandparent scam with the COVID cover 

  

  We’ve been discussing grandparent scams a lot lately. By most reports, these scams have been on the rise since the advent of the global pandemic and show no sign of slowing down any time soon. Now, scammers are incorporating the pandemic into their scam.

  It’s called the grandparent scam because scammers often target the elderly with this scam. The scammer will claim to a grandchild who is in some sort of trouble. More often than not the scammer will say that they’ve been arrested in need money for bail or some other legal fee. The scammers will then request large amounts of money to be sent to them while posing as the grandchild. In the past, scammers have requested the money through wire services like Moneygram, or through gift cards like those you can get for Amazon or Walmart. More recently, some scammers have even employed go-betweens to go right up to a victim’s door and collect the money in cash.

  Scams are always evolving and the grandparent scam is no exception. Since people have been getting wise to the scam, scammers are now using a tactic devised to put pressure on their victims. According to the Florida Attorney General’s Office, scammers are telling their victims that because of COVID-19, bail needs to be paid over the phone immediately so person to person contact can be avoided. This can also give the impression that the supposed grandchild could be exposed to COVID-19.

  These scammers will say anything to keep you on the phone and to try to get you to make some form of payment right then and there. However, it’s always in your best interest to hang up and call the grandchild that the scammer is claiming to be. If a grandchild had actually been arrested, verifying their situation will more than likely not cause them any further distress.

  Again, we ask that if you know an elderly person or couple who live alone and do not have access to the internet, please let them know about this scam.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 8, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: geek squad ( 2 ), refund scam ( 7 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), tech support scam ( 50 )   

  Widow taken for $30,000 in scam 

  

  If you’ve ever lost an immediate family member you know how difficult the days following can be especially if the family member was a spouse. In the days following, you could start receiving phone calls from all sorts of services who are just looking to see if the service should be maintained after the decedent’s passing. So a woman from Michigan who was recently widowed didn’t find it unusual to receive an email from Geek Squad letting her know that the subscription was about to be renewed for the annual fee of $300.

  The widow called the number included in the email and stated that she wanted the subscription canceled. The man on the other end of the phone said he would be happy to issue a refund. Later in the call, the man said that he accidentally refunded the widow $30,000 instead of $300. He then asked the widow to wire the $30,000 so his boss wouldn’t find out and he wouldn’t lose his job. The widow had recently lost her own job and didn’t want to see anyone else lose there’s so she wired the money. Sadly, this was all a scam and there was no Geek Squad employee. So now this unemployed widow was out of most of her savings. There’s been a GoFundMe set up to help recoup at least some of her losses if you’re so generously inclined.

  Scams like this try to take advantage of their victims not knowing how payment systems work. If this was a legitimate transaction, the company in question would have been able to correct the refund electronically. These mishaps happen in corporate America all the time and safeguards are in place to correct mistakes like this almost instantly.

  Also, another tip off that this was a scam was when the fake Geek Squad employee asked for the money to be wired. This is an old scammer trick as once the money has been collected from where it was wired to, the scammers can virtually disappear into thin air.

  Grief can weigh heavy on anyone’s mind after the loss of a loved one. It can cause anyone to not think straight when dealing with what appear to be mundane transactions.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 4, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Puppies ( 9 ), puppy scam ( 37 ), Scams ( 1,383 )   

  Don’t ignore red flags in puppy scam 

  

  As has been previously stated, puppy scams are on the rise due to the number of people looking for new companions during the current pandemic. Online puppy scammers will create legitimate-looking websites while posing as puppy breeders. The scammers will offer purebred puppies at well below market prices. After the victim pays the initial fee, the scammers will start asking for more money for things like shipping fees and specialized travel crates. Even if the victim pays for all of these supposed services, they never receive a puppy because the puppy never existed in the first place. While these may seem like reasonable charges on the surface, they are red flags indicating the scam. However, sometimes even the most obvious red flags can be ignored.

  Recently, in Louisiana, a woman was looking for a new Yorkie puppy. She found an online listing for Yorkies and was asked to send in payment for the puppy. She was asked to send the payment to somewhere in Africa. With all due respect to the countries of Africa, there are two African countries that are synonymous with scams. The most infamous one is Nigeria where a multitude of overseas scams take place. This is where the legendary Nigerian Prince scam or 419 scam comes from. The second and somewhat lesser-known country is Cameroon. In earlier days of the internet, the puppy scam was known as the Cameroon puppy scam due to the number of puppy scams originating from the country.

  Sending money overseas for a puppy is a huge red flag that you’re being scammed. If you want to avoid being scammed when looking for a new pet avoid using non-local breeders. Even if you find a local breeder online, do a reverse image search of their animals to make sure the images weren’t stolen from other websites. If you have your heart set on a purebred, you can’t cheap out. Pets listed at below market value online are usually either non-existent or it’s a ‘backyard breeder’ that is potentially selling dying animals.

  As always, we recommend adopting a pet from your local animal shelter. Some shelters even have waiting lists if you’re looking for a particular breed. If you’re not looking for a particular breed we still recommend visiting your local shelter. You never know which animal there will capture your heart.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 3, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: grandparent scam ( 69 ), Safety ( 45 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), seniors ( 9 )   

  Grandparent scammers victimize woman three times 

  

  One of the many problems with being a scam victim is that often the scammers will try to victimize from you again. Usually, the scammers will try to fool you again with a different scam. For example, a scammer might have fooled you with a police impersonation scam. Then, the scammers may try to fleece you again using a Social Security scam. It’s rare to hear of a scammer using the same scam multiple times on the same victim but that’s exactly what happened to an elderly woman in upstate New York.

  In Amsterdam, New York, an 88-year-old woman was contacted by someone who claimed to be her grandson. The scammer said they had been arrested and needed $7,000 in cash for legal fees. The woman gathered the money and sent it to an address in New Jersey.

  A month and a half later, she received another call from the same ‘grandson’. This time they were asking for $10,000 in cash after the phony grandson claimed to be in a car accident.

  Later on, the victim was contacted again. Once again, the phony grandson was asking for another $10,000. This time, an employee at the shipping service she was using asked her about the package. When the woman told them it was cash for grandson the delivery employee believed she was being scammed and contacted the state police.

  Unfortunately, if you’ve fallen for a scam in the past, it’s likely that scammers will try to target you again. Like we said previously, it’s usually with a different scam but it’s not unheard of for scammers to use the same scam multiple times and the grandparent scam is the perfect scam to use that way. If a victim believes the scammer is their grandchild once, they may believe it again.

  As we always advise when it comes to the grandparent scam, if you receive one of these calls, hang up. Then call the actual person the scammers are claiming to be to make sure they’re not in any actual trouble. If it were a legitimate call from a grandchild, they’re not going to be in any more trouble if you stop to take the time to verify their story. You can also ask the caller a question that only they would know or set up a family password to indicate the call is legitimate.

  Again we ask that if you know an elderly person or couple who live alone and do not have access to the internet, please let them know about this scam.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 2, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: fake websites ( 11 ), laptops ( 4 ), Scams ( 1,383 )   

  Fake websites are scamming laptop shoppers 

  

  Back when pandemic panic was at its peak, scammers didn’t hesitate to start fleecing people when it came to the online sales of masks, gloves, and toilet paper. In several cases, scammers set up phony websites claiming to sell these items only to steal your money and send you nothing. Now, the scammers are back with the same tactic except for a different product.

  Laptop computers have been in short supply for some time. With new people now working from home the supply was already limited. Now, add to that the fact that many students either have started or will start school shortly. In many cases, these students will need laptops to take to and from class. Not every school can provide a laptop to students and not every family can afford a new laptop.

  Scammers are aware of this and have started to set up fake websites that claim to sell laptops at bargain prices. A man from the Cincinnati area recently lost $125 to one of these legitimate-looking websites. The phony computer store gave an address of a Staples office supply store that has no connection with the scammers.

  If you’re in the market for a new laptop, stick to the well-known retailers such as Amazon or Best Buy just to name a few. However, you can also shop at the manufacturer’s website. Companies like Lenovo and Dell are constantly having sales and often have discounts for students. There are budget laptops you can buy for around $200 but keep in mind they may be slower than the average laptop and not have as much storage but for writing web browsing they would be just fine.

  If you decided to go the used laptop route there are plenty of options for you. eBay is a great place to find a laptop that may be a few years old but still delivers the performance a student may need. We recommend not buying a laptop made before 2011 but your experience may vary. You can also look to see if there is a computer recycling center in your area or check your local thrift shops. Your local computer repair store may also have a selection of used laptops for sale. You’ll probably want to avoid Craigslist considering how problematic their platform is.