Greg's Corner

Updates from April, 2022 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 15, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: 419 Scam ( 2 ), charity scam ( 35 ), Foreign Money Exchange, Scams ( 1,368 ), Ukraine ( 2 )   

  Old scam updated for current events 

  

  By Greg Collier

  One of the oldest internet scams, if not the oldest, is the 419 scam. It was named the 419 scam after the legal code that outlaws the scam. It’s also known as the Nigerian Prince scam. Back in the dial-up days, scammers would send emails to their victims claiming to be a deposed prince from Nigeria. The emails would say that the fictitious prince was in exile, and needed the email recipient’s help getting his fortune out of the country. In return, the prince promised the recipient a good-sized fortune. This usually required the recipient’s financial information, payments to the prince to help him get his money, or both. While this scam has largely been relegated to the dustbin of history, some scammers have resurrected it with a current twist.

  According to reports, an email is circulating, claiming to be from the widow of a photographer who was recently killed in the current conflict in Ukraine. The name of the photographer is real, and he did lose his life in the ongoing struggle. The email goes on to say that the widow is dying in a Polish hospital and needs help getting their fortune to various charities. The recipient is then asked to email back, so the widow can release the money to them. While it’s not clear if anyone has fallen victim to the scam yet, it’s almost a guarantee it works exactly as the 419 scam mentioned above. Once again, this shows how scammers will use any tragedy or crisis to their advantage.

  This is a pretty easy scam to avoid. If you get this email, do not reply to it. Just delete it instead. This scam falls under the category of ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’. If a wealthy person was in need of moving money out of country, they wouldn’t email random strangers on the internet for help. People with that kind of money already have safeguards in place if a crisis like this were to befall them. They probably also have teams of people to make sure those transactions go smoothly. So, if someone you know tells you they’re waiting on a Ukrainian widow to send them a big payday, try to break the news to them gently.

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 14, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bitcoin ( 32 ), bitcoin atm ( 25 ), cryptocurrency ( 51 ), Scams ( 1,368 )   

  Bitcoin ATMs are a new tool in the scammer’s bag of tricks 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Within the past year or so, we’ve seen the rise of scams that involve Bitcoin ATMs. As you’re probably aware of, Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency. In case you need a refresher, cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is decentralized and not backed by any bank or government. While a record of all cryptocurrency transactions are kept in what’s known as a public ledger, it’s almost impossible to reverse a transaction. This is what makes cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin so attractive to scammers.

  Cryptocurrency’s acceptance among a large part of the public has led to the rise of Bitcoin ATMs. These machines allow anybody to buy Bitcoin for cash. Conversely, you can also cash out your Bitcoin for its current market value. We’re concerned more with another function of Bitcoin ATMs, and that’s the ability to send Bitcoin to anybody who has a digital wallet.

  Whereas scammers have typically used gift cards to scam their victims out of money, Bitcoin ATMs are slowly starting to replace gift cards as the scammer’s payment of choice. Just in the past week, there have been reports of victims losing thousands of dollars to scammers after sending them money through Bitcoin ATMs. A woman from Buffalo, New York, sent $30,000 to scammers who told her that her bank account had been hacked. Another woman from Northeast Pennsylvania sent $25,000 to scammers through a Bitcoin ATM in an unspecified scam.

  Unless you’re an active trader who’s well-versed in the ways of cryptocurrency, any mention of cryptocurrency should throw up a red flag. Much like gift cards, no legitimate company or agency will force you to make any kind of payment in cryptocurrency. Banks will not ask you to exchange the money in your account for cryptocurrency, that’s not how banks work. If a bank account does get hacked, that money disappears instantly. There is no grace period where you can move your money to protect it. Lastly, as mentioned above, Bitcoin ATMs are only supposed to be used for the buying and selling of Bitcoin. Anybody who tries to get you to use it for any other reason is probably trying to scam you.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 13, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Houston ( 9 ), lyft ( 15 ), ride sharing ( 6 ), Scams ( 1,368 ), vomit fraud ( 2 ), vomit scam   

  Lyft driver accused of sick scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft were created so passengers could avoid some of the problems that came with taxi services. For example, one of the classic taxi scams was when a cab driver would get a fare who was from out of town. Instead of taking the direct route to get to the fare’s destination, a shady cab driver would take the long way in order to increase the fare. But as time and technology progress, new scams are born out of a new generation of scammers.

  A couple from Houston, Texas, were allegedly taken for $150 by a Lyft driver. The couple got a Lyft so they could attend a concert. It was a fairly short ride, with the charge only being $7. The next morning, the couple discovered $150 had been charged to their Lyft account. The couple had their Lyft account connected to their bank account, and this caused their bank account to be overdrawn.

  According to Lyft, the $150 was for a cleanup and damage fee. The driver is said to have claimed that one of the couple became physically ill in the Lyft car. The couple disputed the charge, stating that the picture the driver submitted as evidence was not even of the driver’s car. Lyft reportedly sided with the driver, stating they evaluated the case and were not issuing a refund. It wasn’t until the couple sent Lyft pictures of them right after they had exited the Lyft, showing that neither of them were sick or incapacitated. While Lyft eventually issued a refund, they did not reimburse the couple for the overdraft fees that had with their bank.

  Lyft’s main competitor Uber also had this problem with some of their drivers. This caused Uber to instigate a more thorough process for driver’s claiming damages, including submitting cleaning receipts before they get reimbursed.

  Now, we’re not saying that all Lyft drivers are scammers. More often than not, it’s the drivers themselves who are fending off scammers in one form or another. That’s not to say that this can’t happen to you the next time you get into a Lyft. To avoid this scam, it’s recommended that you take a photo of the inside of the car as you’re leaving. Lyft riders should also link their accounts to a credit card whenever possible, as credit cards provide more protection when charges are disputed.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 12, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: closing cost scam ( 2 ), real estate ( 127 ), Scams ( 1,368 ), wire fraud ( 21 )   

  Closing costs stolen in real estate scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  This scam doesn’t sound like it should be possible. It seems more like something you would see as a plot point in a movie. That doesn’t change the fact this scam happens rather regularly. While it is a type of phishing scam, this scam doesn’t even have a name for it, as far as we know. We’ve been calling it the closing cost scam, since it targets home buyers who are getting ready to close on their new homes. If it wasn’t for the fact that victims have lost upwards of $100,000, this scam could be considered genius. How it happened recently is especially uncanny.

  A man from Louisville, Kentucky, was getting ready to close on his new home, when he received an email that appeared to come from his closing attorney. The email instructed the man to wire $70,000 in order to prevent any delay with the closing procedure. After wiring the money, the man called his realtor, who informed him that the closing attorney did not send the email. The man tried to get the bank to stop the transfer of funds, but it had already happened, meaning the $70,000 was gone.

  Scammers were able to fool the victim because the email looked almost identical to the ones he had been receiving from his attorney, including the logo and signature. However, there was one minor detail the victim overlooked. The law office had the word Louisville in their name and in their email address. The scammers spelled Louisville in their email address with only one L, spelling it Louisvile.

  Somehow, scammers are getting into the email systems of realtors, lenders, and attorneys, and are monitoring the activity until someone goes to close before setting their trap. The scammers have also been known to stalk social media profiles of people who share with their friends that they’re getting ready to buy a house.

  If you’re getting ready to close on a home, be suspicious of any communication asking you to send money. If you receive an email like the one in the story above, call the sender to verify whether the request is legitimate or not. It would be even better to visit the sender in person to verify any requests. No one wants to go through the process of buying a new home only to have the deal fall through at the very last minute due to a scammer.

   
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  Geebo 8:03 am on April 11, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: grandparent scam ( 69 ), pennsylvania ( 9 ), Scams ( 1,368 )   

  Man saved from grandparent scam by store owner 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Typically, when we talk about the grandparent scam, either a victim has been taken for a lot of money, or there’s been a new method used in the scam. This time we’re bringing you reasonably good news for once as an attentive store owner has prevented an elderly man from falling victim to the scam.

  Before we get to that, we always talk about how the scam works. While the grandparent scam has a number of variations, they all basically follow the same tactic. A scammer will call an elderly victim and pose as one of the victim’s grandchildren. The phony grandchild will claim that they’ve gotten in some kind of legal trouble, usually a DUI where someone was injured. If the victim claims that the caller doesn’t sound like their grandchild, the caller will say their nose was broken and that’s why they sound different. As with most scams, the goal is to get the victim to give money to the scammers. In the grandparent scam, the impostor grandchild will ask for bail money or legal fees that often total into the thousands of dollars. Over the past few years, it’s become one of the more prolific scams across the country.

  More recently, places like banks and stores that sell gift cards have become wary to these scams and have saved victims from losing their life savings. In Pennsylvania, an owner of a UPS store saved a man from losing $12,000 to the scam. The owner could tell the package the man was asking to have delivered was full of cash, but the victim claimed the package contained documents and pleaded the store owner to just send the package. The package was supposed to be delivered to an attorney’s office to get the victim’s grandson out of jail, but the store owner showed the man that the address it was being sent to was an apartment building. The store owner was able to locate the man’s grandson on social media and was able to call him to prove he wasn’t in jail. The scammers had asked for $12,000 that the man had almost sent to them.

  Unfortunately, not every store and bank employee knows the telltale signs of this scam, so many people need to protect themselves instead. If you or someone you know receives one of these phone calls, it’s best to hang up and contact the person the scammers are claiming to be. Scammers will try to pressure you into staying on the line, however, if someone is truly in a legal jam, it’s not going to make matters worse if you make additional calls to verify their story.

  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 April 8, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bank scam ( 70 ), customer service ( 50 ), customer support ( 23 ), identity theft ( 107 ), Scams ( 1,368 )   

  Victim loses $25K to disturbing bank scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  A woman from Waco, Texas, recently lost $25,000 to scammers who were posing as her bank’s fraud department. The victim was asked by the caller if she had made a $25,000 advance from her account. The victim replied she hadn’t and was given instructions on how to move the $25,000 to keep the money from being lost. What the victim actually did was move the money from her account into the account of the scammer. Some may ask, why would anybody allow their money to be taken like that? When you see how the scammers convinced the victim to do so, you may then think that anyone could have fallen for this scam.

  The scammers convinced the victim that they were calling from the bank by reciting the victim’s transaction history to her. According to the victim, she didn’t give the scammers any personal information. The scammers were said to have already been in possession of the victim’s account number. We wondered how the scammers were able to obtain the victim’s account number and transaction history like that. According to security experts, scammers can spoof the victim’s phone number when calling the victim’s bank. This allows the scammers to get the victim’s account number and partial transaction history without needing any additional authentication. When a scammer is armed with that kind of information, it wouldn’t be difficult to get almost anyone to fall for that scam.

  The best way to protect yourself from such a scam is to end the call, and then calling your bank’s customer service number on the back of your debit card. Even if the caller ID said the call was coming from your bank, don’t take it at face value. Scammers often spoof the bank’s phone number to make the call seem more convincing. Also keep in mind that if there had been fraudulent activity on your bank account, your bank can usually correct the matter on their end. They typically don’t have you close an account and open a new one to protect you from fraud. That is fraud in itself.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 7, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: employment ( 36 ), job scam ( 79 ), LinkedIn ( 3 ), Scams ( 1,368 ), social media ( 79 )   

  Even LinkedIn has job scams 

  

  By Greg Collier

  When we think of social media scams, we normally think of platforms like Facebook and Instagram. When we think of online job scams, we might typically think of platforms like Craigslist. When it comes to job scams on social media, we don’t usually think of LinkedIn. While it may not be LinkedIn’s intention, the social network gives off an impression that it’s for professionals to network with other professionals. LinkedIn may also give its users a false sense of security when it comes to being recruited by an employer. What many LinkedIn users seem to forget is anybody can open a LinkedIn account under any name they want. Anybody can claim to hold a position that they don’t currently hold, such as job recruiter.

  The Better Business Bureau is warning LinkedIn users that phony job recruiters are scamming victims out of money and personal information. In one instance, an Indiana woman was hired rather quickly for a work at home position she applied for on LinkedIn. The woman was asked by her supposed employer to open a bank account in her name to book a conference for the phony company. Thankfully, she realized it was a scam before she opened the account. Unfortunately, others have not been so lucky.

  In other instances, the phony recruiters have asked for money upfront for training or business supplies. After the victims have paid the recruiter, the job never materializes. This is after the victim has supplied the recruiter with their personal information during the application process. This often leads to the applicants becoming victims of identity theft.

  The best way a LinkedIn user can protect themselves against this scam is to thoroughly research the company and the recruiter offering the position. If their profiles are filled with grammatical errors, the odds are pretty good they’re scammers. You can also ask to speak to the recruiter on the phone. While it’s not a guarantee of dissuading a scammer, it will go a long way in weeding many of them out.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 6, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: FBI ( 22 ), Scams ( 1,368 ), virtual kidnapping ( 45 ), voice cloning ( 24 )   

  FBI: Voice cloning used in kidnapping scams 

  

  By Greg Collier

  You receive a phone call where the caller says they’ve kidnapped one of your loved ones. You ask to speak to them, and the voice on the phone sounds exactly like them. But it’s not actually your loved one. Instead, it’s a scammer who’s using a technology to mimic your loved one’s voice. It sounds like something that could only happen in a movie. However, not only is it possible, the FBI is saying that it’s happening now.

  Voice cloning technology is typically used by people who can no longer speak on their own due to medical reasons. The FBI has issued a warning that scammers are using the technology in virtual kidnapping scams. In the virtual kidnapping scam, scammers will call their victim claiming they’ve kidnapped one of the victim’s loved ones and is holding them for ransom. The supposed kidnap victim is almost always safe and unaware, but the scam victim doesn’t know that at the time. On the more low tech side, the scammers will have someone screaming in the background to make it seem like the victim’s loved one is being abused. But now, the FBI is saying that scammers are using the expensive voice cloning technology to mimic the voice of the victim’s loved one.

  Scammers can get just about anyone’s voice by calling them and engaging them for a few minutes. Once the scammers have enough of that person’s voice recorded, they can use it to imitate that person’s voice almost perfectly. This tactic can go a long way in convincing a victim that the kidnapping is real.

  To better protect your loved ones against such scams, it’s recommended that you set up a code word to ensure that they’re talking to the person they say they are. If you receive a call that you suspect may be a cloned voice, you can always ask the caller a question that only they would know. And as always, if you can, contact someone else in your family to make sure that the person who’s been supposedly kidnapped, is safe and sound.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 5, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bank fraud ( 23 ), bank scam ( 70 ), customer service ( 50 ), Scams ( 1,368 ), Zelle ( 66 )   

  Is this the only way for Zelle scam victims to get their money back? 

  

  By Greg Collier

  The Zelle scam has been garnering headlines since at least last October and shows no signs of relenting. If this is the first you’re hearing about the Zelle scam, this is the scam where bad actors get you to transfer money through the Zelle app to the scammers under the guise of protecting your bank account.

  To further clarify, the way the scam works is the scammer will send you a text message that appears to come from your bank. The text message asks if you recently made a large purchase or transfer. You’re asked to reply YES or NO to the text message. If you reply to the text message, you’ll receive a call from the scammer posing as your bank’s fraud department. The scammer will tell you that to protect your money, it needs to be moved through Zelle. What the scammer is really doing is walking you through the directions on how to move your money from your account to the scammer’s account. The scam has become so prevalent that some scammers are even taunting their victims after taking their money.

  The banks who co-own Zelle have been inconsistent with whom they deem worthy enough to receive a refund. In the majority of instances, the banks tell scam victims since the victims authorized the transactions, the victims are out of luck. The Zelle platform offers little in the way of consumer protection.

  Those who do receive refunds from their banks seem to be those who go to their local media with their stories. It appears the banks are responding to bad press rather than customer concern. While the scammers are ultimately to blame for victims losing their money, there comes a time when a platform has to step up to protect their customers. So far, all that Zelle seems to be doing to protect its users is to wag their finger at the victims who have lost money through their app. How much bad press will it take before Zelle’s owners start implementing precautions to prevent these scams?

  If your bank uses Zelle, there are a few ways to protect yourself from this scam. The first is to not respond to text messages that appear to come from your bank. If there is an issue with your account, you’re always better off calling the customer service number on the back of your debit card. You can also visit your bank’s local branch during business hours. The best way to protect yourself is to keep in mind that payment apps like Zelle are only supposed to be used with people you know. If someone says you need to use one of these apps to protect your money, they’re more than likely a scammer.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on April 4, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: advance fee scam ( 45 ), identity theft ( 107 ), Instagram ( 17 ), iPhone ( 15 ), Scams ( 1,368 ), social media ( 79 ), sweepstakes ( 25 )   

  Instagram scam promises free iPhone 

  

  By Greg Collier

  Not too long ago, we brought you a post about how an Instagram scam could hijack your account. As we mentioned then, there are no shortages of scams on the popular photo sharing platform. Recently, one of those scams rose above the others to garner some headlines.

  CNET is reporting an iPhone giveaway scam is currently plaguing Instagram users. If you use Instagram on a consistent basis, you may have seen one of these scam posts. Users are being tagged by what are essentially spam accounts. These posts promise you a free iPhone 13 and all you need to do is click the link in the tagger’s profile. According to CNET, if you click the link, you’ll be taken to a website where you’ll be asked for your personal information and a credit or debit card number.

  While the CNET article does not go into specifics, we believe this could be one of two scams. The first one is straight up identity theft. With your personal and financial information, scammers could easily take over your life. Not only could identity thieves use your card for fraudulent purchase, but they could also use your information to take out loans or open other lines of credit.

  The other scam could be the advance fee scam. This is where a user is told they’ve won something, but have to pay a fee to collect their prize. This is a common scam when it comes to online giveaways. The scammers will disguise the payments as shipping fees, insurance for the item, or some form of tax. While this practice is illegal in the United States for legitimate sweepstakes, scammers aren’t concerned with the law.

  The best way to avoid this scam is to not expect anything for free on social media. Never click the links that these scam Instagram accounts provide. Furthermore, never give your personal information to random Instagram accounts, no matter how good the prize their offering is. Lastly, you can set your Instagram account to only be tagged by people you know or people you follow. You can also set it to where users can manually approve each tag they receive. The CNET article has the instructions for that.