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  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 10, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    FBI warns about Google Voice scam 

    By Greg Collier

    Google Voice is a pretty cool service as it allows you to have a second phone number for free. One of the benefits of having a Google Voice number is that you can give it to stores and retailers who constantly ask for your phone number instead of giving out your primary phone number. Or, if you have multiple numbers such as work and home, you can have your Google Voice number ring both numbers. You can also put your Google Voice account on do not disturb, so any call to your Google Voice number will go straight to a voicemail message. However, as with many beneficial technology tools, scammers are using Google Voice to perpetuate more scams.

    The Google Voice scam tends to target people who are selling items online, especially through Facebook Marketplace. The supposed buyer will tell you that they want to verify that you’re not a scammer. To achieve this, a text message will be sent to your phone number with a six digit verification code. The scammer will then ask you to provide them with that code. What the scammers are really doing is setting up a Google Voice account for themselves that is attached to your number. They’ll then use that Google Voice number to perpetuate more scams, while that number can be traced back to you. It’s gotten so bad, not only has the FBI issued a warning about the scam, but the scammers are also targeting people who have posted about lost pets on social media.

    If someone you don’t know asks for a code that was sent to your phone, there’s a good chance that it’s an authorization code that scammers can use to wreak all sorts of havoc. They can be trying to get you to turn your bank account over to them, or you could be giving them access to any one of your online accounts.

    If you think you’ve fallen victim to this scam, Google has instructions on how to reclaim the number.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 7, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    Major surge seen in this job scam 

    Major surge seen in this job scam

    By Greg Collier

    Between the unpredictability of the pandemic and the ‘Great Resignation’ movement, more people are seeking work from home opportunities. But even before the pandemic, work from home positions were not only few and far between, but many of them were straight up scams. Even going back decades, there were positions advertised for envelope stuffers where the applicants had to pay an upfront fee to start working. Then they would barely get paid, if they were even paid at all. Work from home scams have barely changed since then, except that the scammers now have a larger reach through the internet and social media.

    The Better Business Bureau has stated that the reshipping or repackaging scam represents 65% of all work from home scams. In the reshipping scam, you’re asked to inspect goods that are sent to your home before putting the goods in new packaging and sending them to a third party, usually overseas. The goods themselves are typically purchased with stolen credit card information. The whole scam is frequently part of a money laundering operation. Even victims of the scam can find themselves in legal trouble if they did anything to try to skirt US Custom laws, even if they were instructed by the scammers to do so.

    This scam is so lucrative that the scammers will even use paid employment platforms like Indeed. These same scammers will often claim they represent major retailers like Amazon and Walmart, or they’re contracted with them. Anytime that you see a position on a platform like Indeed that seems too good to be true, check the employer’s website to see if that’s a legitimate employment opportunity.

    While a work from home position is one that many consider ideal, they are also rife with scams that you should be aware of.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 6, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    Kidnapping scam targets families of missing migrants 

    By Greg Collier

    Whenever we discuss the kidnapping scam, we always like to remind our readers that kidnappings for ransom are quite rare in the United States. But what if you were from a country where kidnappings happened often enough to make the scam seem more believable? That is exactly what is happening to families who live in the US who have family members trying to cross our southern border.

    For those of you who may not know, the kidnapping scam is when a scammer calls you and tries to convince you that a loved one has been kidnapped. Often, they’ll also put someone on the phone who sounds like they’re in distress, who is supposed to be your loved one. The scammers will then demand payment it gift cards, cryptocurrency, money transfer or some other form of untraceable payment. Now, this scam is being perpetrated on those who have had loved ones go missing while trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States.

    NBC News has relayed a story from a New Jersey woman whose brother was trying to come here from Ecuador to make a better life for himself and his family. After he crossed the border into the United States, he got lost in the Texas desert before the battery on his cell phone ran out.

    Two months after her brother disappeared, she posted his picture and her contact information on a Facebook page for missing migrants. It wasn’t long before the woman was contacted by scammers claiming to have her brother. They are said to have sent her a picture of her brother holding a sign with that day’s date on it. Then they sent her a video of someone who was supposed to be her brother, but the man’s face was partially covered. The scammers demanded $5000 in ransom which she paid through money transfers. Then all communication with the supposed kidnappers stopped. Her brother is still missing.

    It turned out that the photograph used was photoshopped, and the details the scammers knew about the woman’s brother were taken from social media.

    In 2021, almost 700 migrants died trying to cross the border. That was an increase of over 300% from the previous year, and that’s only the deaths that we know about. There could be countless others.

    Unfortunately, there’s not a lot that the families in America can do to prevent this scam outside of not posting their information to social media, but sometimes, family members are found this way. The woman from the story regrets not having her brother call 911 before she lost contact with him. In this instance, it’s better to be picked up by Border Protection than being left to fend for themselves in the desert.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 5, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    Puppy scammers FaceTime victim 

    Puppy scammers FaceTime victim

    By Greg Collier

    Scams are like a virus. They’re always adapting and mutating into new variants where they look to get a new advantage over their victims. And also, like a virus, scammers do not care who they have to hurt to get what they want.

    For example, a woman from Connecticut wanted to get a puppy for her children for Christmas. She found someone claiming to be a local breeder. The victim did her due diligence as she paid a service to make sure the alleged breeder wasn’t using a fake identity, and everything seemed to check out. Several conversations took place between the victim and the breeder. The breeder even FaceTimed with the victim, showing the victim a litter of puppies. Convinced that the breeder was legitimate, the victim sent payment to the breeder.

    When it came time to pick up the puppy, the breeder is said to have started giving excuses. The breeder claimed that one of the puppies had a fever, and then that one of the breeder’s other dogs had to go see an emergency vet. Then the breeder claimed that they were in the hospital before telling the victim it wasn’t the right time to give the victim the puppy. Then all communication was cut off and the victim never got a puppy nor a refund.

    What’s particularly disturbing about this variant of the puppy scam is that the scammer used actual puppies in the scam. Usually in a puppy scam, the puppies don’t actually exist. It’s harrowing to think where the scammer may have obtained these puppies and what they intend to do with them after the scam runs its course.

    If you’re in the market for a puppy, try to deal only with local and licensed breeders. This breeder may have been what they call a ‘backyard breeder’ who are unlicensed breeders that often have no regard for the health conditions of their animals.

    But as always, we highly recommend adopting a puppy from your local animal shelter. This can often be done with minimal or no cost. Some shelters even have waiting lists you can sign up for if you’re looking for a certain breed. Also, don’t let the shelter stigma convince you that all shelter dogs are problems. Many of them are there through no fault of their own and would make a great addition to any household.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 4, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    Adoption scams can break the hearts of potential parents 

    By Greg Collier

    Adopting a child can be one of the most rewarding experiences for a parent. It can also be one of the most challenging. The adoption process is not only costly, but there are also miles of red tape that perspective parents have to navigate. In the end, the experience is worth it, as you’re giving a home to a child who may not have had one otherwise. However, money and bureaucracy are not the only thing adoptive parents have to worry about. Even in adoption, there are scammers looking to take advantage of those with good intentions.

    An Ohio couple recently fell victim to one of these scams. They were looking for an expectant mother who was looking to have their child adopted. A woman from Houston, Texas replied, and an arrangement was made. The couple even hired a Texas adoption lawyer to make sure that the Texas woman was who she said she was. The couple paid $9,000 in medical expenses for the supposedly expectant mother. Eventually, the Texas woman messaged the couple saying that labor would be induced in the next few days. The Ohio couple traveled to Texas expecting to welcome a new member into their family. They received a call from the Texas woman, who said that she had to postpone being induced into labor because her mother was ill. Then more days passed, and the couple received no response from the Texas woman. It was at this point their lawyer advised them that they had been scammed.

    We can’t speak for the couple, but we imagine the lost money might have been secondary to the feeling of disappointment that they were leaving Texas without a son or daughter.

    If you’re a family looking to adopt, especially if it’s a private adoption, hire an attorney who specializes in adoption. While not a guarantee of avoiding a scam, they go a long way in helping avoid one. If you are engaging in a private adoption, don’t be afraid to ask all the questions you need to help you verify that the baby is on the way. Lastly, you may want to go through an adoption agency. Again, it’s not a guarantee of avoiding a scam, but the agencies do a great job of rejecting potential scammers.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 3, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    Victim loses $25K in Zelle scam 

    By Greg Collier

    It’s been a few weeks since we last talked about the Zelle scam. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the scam has stopped. For those who may need a reminder, scammers are posing as bank customer service departments. They’ll text you asking if you’ve made a large purchase or withdraw recently. If you text them back, you’ll receive a call from the scammers. They’ll then instruct you that you need to move your money through the payment app Zelle to protect your account. What you’re actually doing is taking money out of your own account and sending it straight to the scammers. This scam has been an ongoing problem since at least this past fall.

    Recently, in Texas, a victim is said to have lost $25,000 to scammers through the Zelle app. Her story is much like the others. Except, instead of a text, she had a voicemail that was claiming to be from Chase Bank asking her if she had recently made a $5000 payment. She called the number back and the scammer told her that there had been fraudulent activity on her account and that she needed to use Zelle to reverse the fraudulent payment. Usually, that’s when the scammers disappear, but in this victim’s case they kept the scam going. They called her back in successive days, telling her the fraudulent activity happened again and that she needed to reverse the payment though Zelle again. This happened a total of five times for a total of $25,000 before she realized she had been scammed.

    In many of these cases, the banks try to wash their hands of the matter by saying that they’re not responsible for money lost through the Zelle scam. Some victims have gotten their money back but only after getting their local news media involved.

    If you receive a text asking you about fraudulent activity on your bank account, do not respond to it. Instead, call the customer service number listed on your debit card or bank statement. You can also visit your bank’s local branch, and they should also be able to assist you.

    If you end up being a victim of this scam, do not hesitate to take action. Notify your local police and bank immediately. This isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get your money back, but it goes a long way in helping. The longer you wait, the less of an opportunity there will be to reclaim your loss.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 31, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Where do shoplifting rings sell their stolen goods? 

    Where do shoplifting rings sell their stolen goods?

    By Greg Collier

    You may have seen some stores in the news lately about shoplifting rings. In these recent stories, a large number of people enter a store all at once and grab as much stuff as they can. The reasoning behind this kind of theft is that the store security can’t possibly stop everyone. While these incidents have been largely successful for the thieves, this is not how retail theft rings normally operate.

    In most cases, there is a ringleader who will employ a team of shoplifters. Often these shoplifters are people with substance abuse issues who are paid in drugs. They’ll walk into a big box store like Walmart or Home Depot and walk out with high dollar items like it was child’s play. The ringleader will then sell the stolen merchandise at below-market value and still make a handsome profit.

    In the pre-digital world, these goods would be sold out of the back of a truck, or a back alley, or even the back of a store. The problem then was that you had to be in the know to be able to buy the stolen goods. Now, these stolen goods are sold on several digital platforms, but one platform seems to attract more stolen goods than the others. While eBay and craigslist used to be popular for selling stolen goods, they’ve both fallen out of favor. According to a report from NBC News, Facebook Marketplace is now the go-to place for stolen goods to be sold.

    The reason behind Marketplace’s popularity among retail theft rings is that Facebook is slow to respond to law enforcement requests, if they respond at all. This has caused investigations into these rings to come to a grinding halt while police wait on a response from Facebook. Since many retail theft rings travel around the country, time is often of the essence for law enforcement.

    Industry experts seem to think that Facebook isn’t responding in a timely manner because Marketplace’s oversight hasn’t kept up with its growth.

    Many think that this is a victimless crime. They think that the retailers are insured against this kind of loss, so who is it hurting? For one, the shoplifters themselves as the ringleaders are keeping them in a cycle of substance abuse. The people buying the stolen goods can also be held criminally responsible. It some jurisdictions, even if you buy stolen merchandise unknowingly, you could still face criminal charges. If prosecutors believe that if the buyer should have had reasonable suspicion that the goods were stolen, the buyer could face legal repercussions.

    Just because Marketplace is owned by a multi-billion dollar corporation, if it’s not being monitored, it’s no safer than craigslist.

     

  • Geebo 9:01 am on December 30, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Phone hacking rises out of data breach 

    Phone hacking rises out of data breach

    By Greg Collier

    This past August, it was reported that major cell phone carrier T-Mobile had a massive data breach. That breach is said exposed the information of up to 40 million customers. Now, it seems we’re starting to see the fallout from that breach. Tech experts are saying that cases of SIM-swapping are on the rise. By its name, you might think that SIM-swapping involves a scammer having physical possession of your phone so they can steal your phone’s SIM card. However, that’s not the case. SIM-swapping can happen without you even noticing.

    SIM-swapping works when a scammer or identity thief uses your information to deactivate your cell phone and transfer your service to the scammer’s phone. This is done when a bad actor calls your cell phone carrier and convinces the carrier to change service to the scammer’s phone. The reason scammers do this is that so many of us have our security safeguards routed through our phones. Many of us who use two-factor authentication do so through text messaging.

    For example, let’s say you have 2FA enabled on your bank account. No one can enter your bank account if they don’t receive the text message for your bank account’s authority. If a scammer SIM-swaps your phone, they now have access to those security measures. Not only could SIM-swappers access your accounts, but they could also lock you out of any of your accounts that you access through your phone. They could essentially take over your identity completely through the phone, and you may not notice for a while.

    If your phone stops receiving service all of a sudden, that could be a sign you’ve might have been SIM-swapped. There are ways to protect yourself, though. Sharing too much information on social media could lead scammers and identity thieves to the answers to your security questions. You can also contact your cell phone carrier and instruct them to not allow any device switching on your account. You’d be surprised how often scammers are contacting cell phone carriers for one scam or another.

     

  • Geebo 9:02 am on December 29, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    You can be scammed at any vacation lodging 

    You can be scammed at any vacation lodging

    By Greg Collier

    Currently, we’re still in the middle of the Christmas vacation season. We hope our readers’ vacation plans went off without a hitch. Hopefully, you didn’t have to experience the massive flight cancellations that took place over the holiday weekend. We also hope your vacation lodging was also to your liking.

    The reason we brought up lodging specifically it that there have been a coupe of stories in the news about people being scammed out of their lodging choices. For example, vacationers to Marco Island, Florida, showed up to what they thought were vacation homes that they rented, only to find out they were rented to someone else. It seems that the victim in these cases paid money to scammers who listed the vacation rentals online but didn’t actually own the properties they claimed to rent. This is just a variation of the rental scam where people think they’re renting a home they found on craigslist when the home is either actually for sale or being rented by a real estate agency instead of some guy from craigslist.

    So instead of getting a rental home, you decide to go camping. There’s no way you can be scammed camping, right? It turns out you can, The state of Indiana is warning campers about third-parties who are claiming to rent out campsites at state parks and forests. The scammers collect the money, but when the campers get to the site they thought they paid for, the site has actually been rented to someone else. In the Hoosier State, campers can only reserve campsites in the state parks through the state itself. Check to see if the state you’re going camping in has the same rules.

    Hotels and short-term rental platforms like Airbnb have their own set of scams to worry about. You can read more about those here and here.

    If you chose to stay home for the holidays this year, you may have made the safest choice of all.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 28, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    New variant brings same old scams 

    By Greg Collier

    With the advent of the Omicron variant, the demand for COVID testing has increased to the point of scarcity. Unfortunately, scammers and other con artists are well aware of this crisis and are looking to take advantage of it, so they can line their pockets. It’s gotten so bad in the state of Georgia that the state Attorney General’s office has issued a warning about scams related to COVID testing. While a testing shortage might not be happening in your state currently, Georgia’s current situation can be used as a reminder to look out for these scams.

    The Peach State is warning its residents to be aware of anyone going door to door offering COVID testing. Residents have also been told to be wary of anyone wanting to charge a fee for in-person testing. If you live in Georgia, you can go to the Department of Public Health’s website that has a listing of legitimate testing centers. While not mentioned by the Georgia Attorney General, some COVID scammers are after the medical insurance information of the heir victims, especially if they have Medicare. You should only give your healthcare information to a trusted medical provider.

    These phony testing scams aren’t just dangerous to the victim, but they’re dangerous to the public as well. If a victim is told they had a negative test result by a scammer, but actually have COVID, they could go on to spread it to their family, friends, and community with disastrous results. If you’ve spotted a COVID testing scam or have been a victim of one, it’s recommended that you contact your state’s Division of Consumer Protection.

     

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