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  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 16, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: credit check, , , ,   

    New type of rental scam changes the game 

    By Greg Collier

    We’re pretty sure when Craigslist first started allowing real estate listings, the rental scam was born. For any new readers, the rental scam is when a scammer will list a property online for rent which they don’t actually own. Scammers will copy a legitimate listing from a realtor of a property which is for sale, then post it for rent on unregulated marketplaces like Craigslist. The listing will have a below-market rent in order to lure in victims. Typically, these scammers will ask for either a security deposit or first month’d rent before disappearing with the victim’s money. These scams have cost victims thousands of dollars and have left many of them homeless.

    However, there is a new rental scam that’s occurring across the country, according to the Better Business Bureau. The BBB says these new scammers aren’t after renters’ money, but their personal information instead.

    The scammers are still using the same tricks to find a potential victim, but instead of trying to take their money, the scammers are having victims fill out phony credit checks. Victims are being led to a website that appears to be professional and legitimate, but once renters give their personal information, the scammers disappear with the victim’s identity.

    Now, it’s not unusual for landlords to perform credit checks before renting to a new tenant. However, there are ways to protect yourself from this scam, and many of them are the same ways to protect yourself from the typical rental scam.

    The first thing you should do is Google the address of the rental property. If there are duplicate listings and the landlord details don’t match, there’s a good chance you’ve discovered a scam listing. If the listing from a realtor’s website says the home is for sale, or the rent is more expensive, then the other listing is the phony one. And as always, you can always check with the county’s tax office or website to find out who the true landlord is.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 15, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Police impersonators don’t miss a beat 

    By Greg Collier

    Typically, when we discuss police impersonation scams, we mostly talk about the jury duty scam. That’s when scammers pose as your local police and threaten victims with arrest for supposedly missing jury duty. In that case, the scammers are hoping to get a quick payment out of the victim disguised as a fine. However, police impersonation scams come in many forms, and they all use fear and intimidation to try to take your money from you.

    For example, a Pittsburgh woman recently got a phone call from scammers posing as the Pittsburgh Police Department. The caller told the woman that her daughter had been in a car accident that injured a pregnant woman. Police impersonators often use the concept of an injured pregnant woman to make a minor accident appear more severe.

    The caller told the woman that her daughter was in custody at the courthouse. On the call, there was even a woman crying in the background, asking for ‘mom’. The woman was even instructed by the caller not to call her daughter because her phone had been confiscated. This is done in order to try to prevent the woman from calling her daughter because if she did, she would find out that her daughter was not under arrest.

    The woman decided to make her way to the courthouse, but on the way there, she received another phone call from another scammer posing as a lawyer. This scammer told the woman that $15,000 bail was required. The woman asked the caller how can there be bail when she hasn’t even been before a judge yet. The caller was quick to respond that the daughter had already been before a judge three hours ago.

    Thankfully, the woman had spoken to her daughter within the past three hours and realized she was being scammed. She called her daughter, who had not been arrested and was in no danger.

    Scammers have an answer for almost any question you throw at them. A lot of the answers don’t make sense if you stop to think about it, though. The fact that the scammers told the woman not to call her daughter should have been a red flag, but telling her that her daughter had already been before a judge was obviously too convenient for it not to be a scam.

    As always, if you receive a call like this stating a loved one is in custody, but you haven’t spoken to that loved one, end the call and contact the loved one. More often than not, you’ll find that they have no idea they’re being used in a scam. Also, keep in mind that the police will only call you if the arrested person is medically incapacitated; otherwise the suspect would be able to call you themselves.

     

  • Geebo 8:01 am on June 14, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Don’t pay for a rental car with Zelle 

    Don't pay for a rental car with Zelle

    By Greg Collier

    With many people planning vacations for the warmer weather, there are a number of scams to look out for. We recently highlighted some of them here. Another scam vacationers may want to be aware of involves rental cars.

    When looking to rent a vehicle, make sure you’re speaking to an actual rental car agency. If you do a web search for a phone number to a rental car agency, you may not be given the results you’re actually looking for. Scammers can and have paid web search companies to have their listings show higher than the actual rental agencies in some search results.

    The listing and possibly the website itself will appear like it belongs to one of the brand name agencies like Budget or Enterprise to name a few. However, when you call the number in the listing, you’ll actually be directed to a scam call center.

    This recently happened to an elderly woman from Texas. Her son came to visit, and she decided to rent a car. She thought she was talking to Budget, but was actually talking to scammers. They gave her a great price, but then the scammers asked for a $400 security deposit to be paid through Zelle. Unfortunately, the victim sent the $400 to the scammers and no car was ever delivered.

    To steer clear of this scam while renting a car, it is advisable to utilize the customer service hotline provided on the rental agency’s official website. Nearly all agencies offer a location finder tool on their website, which guides you to the closest branch in your area and provides their respective contact number.

    And when paying for your rental, legitimate agencies will never ask for payment through apps like Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App. Neither will they ask for payment in gift cards or cryptocurrency. If they do, they’re trying to scam you.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 13, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: collection agency, , , , , ,   

    Beware phony medical bills 

    By Greg Collier

    The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning stating people have been receiving phony medical bills in the mail. Scammers are hoping that recipients of the phony bills will be so panicked about it, they’ll make an immediate payment to the scammers. When someone demands an immediate payment in full for a medical bill, that may be a tip off that the bill is part of a scam.

    Whether it’s a medical practice or a medical collection agency, most facilities will be willing to work with you on paying the balance. The first thing you would want to do is research the charge itself. If you didn’t have a doctor or hospital visit on or around the date of service, the bill may be fraudulent. If you did have a visit around that time, contact the medical facility used and ask if this was a service they performed or requested.

    You can also check with your health insurance company to see if any bill from the questionable practice was submitted to them. This also a good reason to keep the explanation of benefits (EOBs) that your insurance company sends you after a claim is completed.

    Legitimate medical practices, facilities, and collection agencies will be more than willing to help set up some kind of payment plan if someone is unable to pay the full balance of their bill. Some practices will even offer a significant discount if you can pay the balance in one payment if it’s a substantial balance.

    If you’re unsure whether the bill is legitimate or not, ask the biller for a debt verification letter. If they refuse to provide this, they could be scammers, as only legitimate facilities will be able to provide this.

    Never give any financial or personal information to anyone claiming you have a medical bill balance without first verifying the charges. This includes your health insurance information. While most of these scammers are looking for a quick payday, others may be looking to commit insurance fraud with your insurance information.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 12, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Romance scammers threaten more than your heart 

    Romance scammers threaten more than your heart

    By Greg Collier

    One of the more lucrative romance scams is what’s known as the ‘pig butchering’ scam. It got this unfortunate name because the scammers will virtually ‘fatten’ their victims before leading them to financial slaughter.

    Typically, in a pig butchering scam, it starts off like any other romance scam. Once the scammer has gained their victim’s confidence, the scammer will advise the victim to invest in cryptocurrency. The victim is directed to a phony cryptocurrency exchange run by the scammers. The phony exchange will make it appear as if the victim’s investment is multiplying by leaps and bounds. However, once the victim tries to reap their supposed profits, they’re told they need to make an additional payment before their windfall can be released.

    This cycle can continue repeatedly if a victim does not realize they’re being scammed. Historically, when a victim realizes they’re being scammed, the scammers just disappear with the victim’s money. But in some cases, the scammers will continue to try to extort money from the victim.

    For example, a man in Iowa fell victim to the scam to the tune of $232,000. The man received an errant text message from an unknown woman. The woman said the text was meant from someone else, but the pair struck up a friendship anyway. The friendship then turned into more of a romantic relationship. After three months of this online relationship, the woman said she made a substantial amount of money through cryptocurrency, and would help the man do the same.

    Unfortunately, the man emptied his retirement account, took out a bank loan, and borrowed money from his mother, so he could make the initial $232,000 investment. He was told his investment grew almost instantly into $1.1 million, but when he tried to access that money, he was told he’d need to pay another $100,000 disguised as a tax payment.

    When the man refused to pay the money, his ‘girlfriend’ started threatening him with revealing their relationship to the man’s family. She also threatened the man’s family with violence and said she had hired agents to kill the man to harvest his organs for the black market.

    While these threats may seem convincing, the majority of these scammers are overseas and have no way of carrying out these threats.

    In order to safeguard yourself against this kind of fraudulent activity, it is crucial to steer clear of individuals who promise to assist you in earning money through cryptocurrency, especially if you haven’t had any face-to-face interactions with them. It’s important to note that cryptocurrency markets exhibit high levels of volatility, thereby increasing the likelihood of legitimate investments transforming into losses within a short span of time. Additionally, it is worth noting that scammers and cybercriminals often favor cryptocurrency as a means of payment.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 9, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    No change in Zelle scam with scammers or banks 

    No change in Zelle scam with scammers or banks

    By Greg Collier

    In a few months, it will be two years since we first started posting stories about the Zelle scam. Since it’s been a while since we’ve posted about it last, let’s have a quick refresher.

    Zelle is a personal payment app whose parent company is co-owned by several of the nation’s biggest banks. Some of these banks include, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and US Bank, just to name a few. Often, these big banks will have the Zelle service baked in to that bank’s phone app. Many customers of these banks don’t even realize they have Zelle on their devices.

    Zelle is designed to be used between friends and family, much like Venmo and Cash App. However, also like Venmo and Cash App, Zelle also has its fair share of scammers.

    Another problem with the Zelle scam is the banks that use Zelle are very hesitant to offer refunds to the victims of scams. The banks state since the customer authorized the transaction, even under false pretenses, the transaction is considered legitimate. Some banks have only offered refunds after the victim has taken their story to their local media.

    Here is an example of how the scam works. Recently, a man from North Carolina received a text message asking him if he made a $7500 Zelle transfer to a person he didn’t know. The text appeared to come from his bank, Bank of America. The text message said to reply yes or no to the text message. The man sent a text reply of ‘no’, but it wouldn’t have mattered how he replied, since he was actually texting with scammers.

    After he sent his reply, he received a phone call that looked like it was coming from B of A, complete with the caller ID showing the B of A customer service number. The number was spoofed by the scammers, which is an easy thing for them to do. The scammers were posing as customer service agents from B of A. They gave the man instructions on how to protect his money from the fraudulent transaction, but what they were really doing was walking him through the steps to send money to the scammers. In his case, it was $1500. The man claims when he inquired with B of A, they allegedly told him it was his responsibility.

    Anytime you receive a notification that looks like it came from your bank asking you about a transaction or telling you your account is at risk, do not reply. Instead, call your bank’s customer service department directly to verify if there is an actual problem with your account.

    If you’ve fallen victim to this scam, contact police immediately. While it’s not a guarantee of getting your money back, it does go a long way in helping. Lastly, if your bank is refusing a refund, think about going to your local media with your story, as we have seen some successes after victims have done that.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 8, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Scam Round Up: Money recovered in Social Security scam and more 

    By Greg Collier

    We’re starting off with a pretty grim scam today. We’ve posted about it before, but it seems to be becoming more common, so we thought we’d remind our readers about it. We’re talking about the funeral home scam. Scammers have been going through obituaries and targeting the families of the recently deceased. As a family is in the process of grieving, scammers will call them, posing as whatever funeral home the family is using. The scammers will claim the family needs to make an additional payment before their loved one could be interred.

    Scammers are constantly looking for victims who may be emotionally vulnerable, and what’s more emotional than the passing of a loved one. If you receive a phone call like this, please keep in mind that in most instances, financial arrangements are always handled at the funeral home itself. Hang up on the call, and call the funeral home directly to verify if there are any issues.

    In our second scam story, the summer months can bring about their own scams. One of those is the car wrapping scam. This is when scammers will offer to pay you for wrapping your car with advertisements. In the majority of cases, this is just an avenue for scammers to send their victims a fake check. The victim will be sent a check and told to deposit in their bank account. Then they’re told to use that money to pay the car wrap vendor through apps like Venmo or Cash App before the victim’s bank discovers the check is fraudulent. This leaves the victim on the hook to their bank for the full amount of the check and any associated fees.

    Lastly, a woman from Louisiana was one of the lucky ones recently as authorities were able to recover over $100,000 from a Social Security scam. The woman received a call from who she thought was the Social Security Administration. The news report didn’t say what the scammers were asking payment for, but typically in this scam, the scammers threaten the victim by claiming the victim’s benefits will be cut off if they don’t make the payment.

    The victim wired $146,000 to the scammers’ bank account, but police were able to work with the bank to recover $122,000 of the woman’s money. However, this is the exception and not the rule. In many scams that involve banks, the banks see the transactions as legitimate since they were made by the customer, even if it was done under duress.

    If you receive a call from the SSA, the odds are that caller is a scammer. Hang up the phone, then call the SSA directly at 1-800-772-1213 and let them know what the caller said. If there really is an issue, the SSA will contact you by mail first.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 7, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Virtual kidnappings become more virtual 

    Virtual kidnappings become more virtual

    By Greg Collier

    The virtual kidnapping scam is called virtual because it’s not real. This is when scammers call a victim and pretend to have kidnapped one of the victim’s loved ones. The scammers then demand some kind of ransom payment that can typically be done online. The victim will be kept on the phone by the scammers to try and ensure the victim can’t contact the loved one who has supposedly been kidnapped. Since the scam appeals to the victim’s emotions, many people have fallen victim to this scam while their loved ones are unaware they’re being used in a scam.

    More recently, scammers have made the virtual kidnapping scam more believable through AI-generated voice spoofing technology. Just as an aside, when we refer to programs like ChatGPT and Dall-E as AI, it’s actually a misnomer. A better way to describe them is machine learning programs, but the popular nomenclature has stuck, so we refer to them as AI.

    Anyway, scammers are now taking voice samples from people online, and using it in the virtual kidnapping scam. For example, a man from Arizona recently received a phone call where scammers said they kidnapped his daughter. The man then heard his daughter’s voice on the phone call saying “Papa, help me!” Her voice wasn’t robotic sounding as some may think. Voice spoofing has gotten so believable because it can mimic someone’s tone of voice as well. The scammers demanded $10,000 from the victim.

    Thankfully, the man’s daughter was unharmed. She was at school, unaware of what her father had been going through.

    Scammers get the voice samples used in the spoofing mainly from social media. It only takes a few seconds of someone’s voice to make a complete copy of someone’s voice. So, for anything that includes your child’s voice, you may want to limit access to that post.

    If you receive one of these phone calls, it’s hard not to believe what you’re hearing. However, as we like to stress, kidnappings for ransom are actually rare in the U.S. With that knowledge in mind, try to contact the supposed kidnap victim either on another phone or some other device. The chances are you’ll find they’re in no danger. In any event, you should contact local law enforcement and let know what happened.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 6, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , IC3, , ,   

    Phony FBI letters sent by scammers 

    By Greg Collier

    Scammers will take advantage of a victim. ‘Good’ scammers will try to take advantage of the same victim twice. You can see this in the scam recovery service scam we’ve posted about in the recent past. That’s where scammers go after scam victims and promise the victims they can recover their money for a fee, of course. Now, a new scam has emerged, and while it doesn’t specifically target scam victims., they can be more vulnerable to this scam.

    It’s being reported in South Central Pennsylvania that residents are receiving a letter which appears to come from the FBI. Well, the letters are actually embedded in emails sent to victims. The letters claim to not only be from the FBI, but also from the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is better known as IC3. The IC3 website is where scam victims can go to report internet scams.

    Getting back to the letters, they claim that the recipient was the victim of a cybercrime. The letter goes on to state that the recipient’s email address was found in the database of a Nigerian scammer. The hook to this scam is the letter says the recipient is eligible for restitution in the amount of $1.4 million.

    The report we read doesn’t state what the scammers are after, but if history is any indicator, it could be one of three things. The first is the scammers will need victims to make a payment which will be disguised as taxes or processing fees. The second thing the scammers could want is the victim’s personal and financial information under the guise of where they should send the phony payment. This could give the scammers access to the victim’s bank accounts. Lastly, the scammers could include a link in the email which could inject malware into the victim’s device. If it’s the right device, the scammers could steal the victim’s identity and take over their life.

    Thankfully, there is a simple way to protect yourself from this scam. Law enforcement will not conduct official business through email. If the FBI really wanted to get a hold of you, they would do it by official mail or a personal visit. Secondly, very few scam victims are scammed for $1.4 million dollars. If the FBI recovered that much money and there were multiple victims, you may get partial payment by check in an amount that would be similar to those issued in a class action lawsuit, i.e., nowhere near $1.4 million. If you receive one of these emails and still have questions, contact your nearest FBI Office directly, and do not use any contact information included in the letter.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 5, 2023 Permalink | Reply
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    Brushing scam sends luxury knock-offs 

    Brushing scam sends luxury knock-offs

    By Greg Collier

    If you’re unfamiliar with the brushing scam, it’s when a seller or a third-party vendor creates fake customer accounts on an online marketplace like Amazon. The scammer then ships inexpensive or sometimes completely worthless items to the addresses associated with those fake accounts. The scammer can then leave positive reviews from the fake accounts, boosting their seller rating and improving their visibility on the platform. This can lead to increased sales and higher rankings in search results, thereby tricking other buyers into thinking the seller is trustworthy.

    Sometimes, the items sent to consumers don’t even match the item the scammers are reviewing. They just need to make it appear as if the consumer received one of their items, so they can claim it was a verified purchase. Consumers used in a brushing scam tend to receive low-value and lightweight items to make the scam affordable for scammers. However, in Chicago, residents there are receiving some unusual goods.

    According to news reports, Chicago area residents have been receiving fake luxury items which they didn’t order. The example used in the news report was a counterfeit Cartier ring, complete with a ‘certificate of authentication’. The Federal Trade Commission has remarked that other items have been sent as well, like a counterfeit Burberry scarf. But the FTC would also like to remind us that no one is going to send the authentic items to people for free.

    While the brushing scam may seem like a victimless crime, it really isn’t. If the scams are successful, the algorithms sites like Amazon use will recommend these shady sellers instead of legitimate ones. In turn, this leads to consumers getting inferior products. Not only that, but there is also a security risk involved. While you can legally keep the items sent to you, it may mean that one of your retail accounts may have been compromised. If you receive one of these unsolicited packages, log in to your retail account and make sure it wasn’t charged to you. Even if it wasn’t, you should change your password and enable two-factor authentication on your account.

     

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