Greg's Corner

Updates from March, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Geebo 9:00 am on March 3, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: job scam ( 81 ), repackaging ( 22 ), reshipping ( 22 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), West Virginia ( 3 ), work at home ( 14 )   

  Disadvantaged state taken advantage of by scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  West Virginia is a state that’s been dealing with an unemployment problem since long before the pandemic. Some of its residents could be forgiven for falling prey to a scam that promises not only easy money but a work from home position as well. When someone is desperate enough for a paycheck, they’re more likely to overlook red flags that they may otherwise notice.

  The Better Business Bureau of West Virginia has received several complaints about a company that was allegedly hiring people for a work from home reshipping position. Applicants received items in the mail and were told to take pictures if the items before shipping them off to another address. The employees were told to log into the company’s dashboard to print off the new shipping labels. People received and reshipped things from antique coins to fully assembled computers.

  After about a month went by the employees were locked out of the dashboard and the company cut off all communication with them. None of the people who complained to the BBB were ever paid.

  We’re confident that many of you have already figured out that these people have unfortunately been the victims of the reshipping or repackaging scam. These positions are often advertised online with such titles as ‘shipping coordinator’, ‘warehouse distribution coordinator, or ‘local hub inspector’. The goods that are reshipped are usually bought with stolen credit card information while the scam victims are used as middlemen to ship the goods to third-parties overseas. This is done in an attempt to obfuscate the package’s real destination.

  These victims are little luckier than most. In many cases, the scammers will pay their victims in fraudulent checks which end up costing the victim money. The only thing stolen from these victims so far has been their time. However, there is also a potential for identity theft as the victims also filled out tax forms to the phony employer.

  The reshipping scam is especially dangerous to the victim because it could cause them trouble with the law. Even if you’re a victim of the scam, but you knowingly addressed a package to avoid customs inspections you could find yourself in hot water.

  As with any employment position, it’s worth researching your potential employer as this one used the address of a vacant warehouse in West Virginia.

  https://youtu.be/YeAmXEOkslU

   

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  Geebo 9:04 am on March 2, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: fake check ( 48 ), Instagram ( 17 ), modeling ( 8 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), social media ( 81 )   

  Modeling scam targets would-be influencers 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Modeling is a profession that is already fraught with peril. For aspiring models of any gender the pitfalls can range from being overcharged for photo packages to becoming the victim of human trafficking. Thankfully, today’s story didn’t have such drastic results, but it does show just one of the many ways those starting out can be taken advantage of.

  A man in Southern California was recently arrested for allegedly scamming a woman out of money with a phony modeling contract. The man is said to have reached out to a woman on Instagram and offered her $175 an hour for a photoshoot. The man claimed to be an intern for a record label and was recruiting women for a music video.

  The man is said to have given the woman two checks for $1,000 instead and claimed he was paying her for future photoshoots. All she needed to do was deposit the checks into her bank account and return the overage of the payments back to the supposed photographer.

  As you can probably imagine, the checks turned out to be fraudulent. The woman’s bank called her hours later to let her know that the checks were no good. This victim was lucky considering in most instances of fake check scams the banks usually don’t notify you for days and by that time the scammer is usually long gone with your money.

  This scammer’s downfall was that he tried to victimize the woman again. While she was at the police station reporting the crime, the scammer called her trying to set up another meeting for another photoshoot. He was promptly arrested shortly thereafter.

  Aspiring models should be wary of any unsolicited offer that comes through social media. They should also research any potential offers to make sure they’re dealing with legitimate professionals and agencies.

  Lastly, no job, no matter what field, will ask you to deposit a check into your bank and then ask for some of the money back. That’s a dead giveaway that the check is a fake. If the scammer in this case were to have disappeared, the victim would have been responsible for the amount of the checks and any penalties the bank may have charged.

   
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  Geebo 9:00 am on March 1, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: child safety ( 8 ), child safety kit ( 2 ), identity theft ( 108 ), Scams ( 1,383 ), social media ( 81 )   

  Child safety kit scam returns to social media 

  

  By Greg Collier

  The Indiana State Police have received complaints about a scam circulating on social media. The scam involves the advertising of child safety kits. If you’re not familiar with child safety kits, they are a way of gathering your child’s identifying information in case the unthinkable happens, and they go missing. These kits allow parents to quickly give investigators the information needed to help find their child. This includes a DNA sample such as strands of hair, recent photos, and fingerprints among other information. Many child safety organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) partner with local law enforcement to provide these kits free to parents. You can even make your own kits at home, although you may want to have your children professionally fingerprinted by your local police.

  Unfortunately, scammers will try to prey on a parent’s fears to ‘sell’ phony kits. These phony kits are really just attempts to steal your child’s personal information to use for identity theft. In Indiana, the State Police there are saying that after some parents clicked on the social media ad for one of these kits, they received phone calls from aggressive people who wanted to come to the parent’s home to install an app on the parent’s phone. When you’re trying to protect your child’s safety, the last thing you need is an aggressive stranger in your home seeking your child’s information. While the report doesn’t state what the app’s real purpose is, one can safely assume that the app either steals your child’s information when you enter it, or installs malware to your device.

  The purpose of keeping your child’s information at hand is so that you can provide it to law enforcement quickly as possible if need be. Providing that information to a third party only delays giving the information to police.

  In identity theft, there is a huge market for children’s information including their Social Security numbers. This way a scammer can use the information to build up credit years before the parents or the child would notice.