Recent Updates Page 102 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 22, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , multilevel marketing, ,   

    Potential pyramid scheme targets young people on Instagram 

    Potential pyramid scheme targets young people on Instagram

    By Greg Collier

    There’s a fine line between pyramid schemes and multilevel marketing. In pyramid schemes, the top level of the pyramid asks you for money with a promise of getting multiples of your money back. All you have to do is recruit more people who are willing to pay you, so you can in turn pay the top of the pyramid. With MLMs, not only do you have to pay to get in, you have to sell a product, and recruit more people to join.

    Pyramid schemes are illegal in the US, but MLMs are not. If an MLM makes more money from recruiting new people rather than selling a product, it’s then considered a pyramid scheme and is violating US law. This hasn’t stopped some MLM’s from continuing to operate.

    One thing that pyramid schemes and MLMs have in common is that the lower someone is on the hierarchy, the less money they make. Both also tend to target people in lower-income areas who may not have had the best educations. They both also tend to target younger people who may not have the life experience to recognize a potential scam.

    Recently, The Office of the Attorney General in Georgia, has issued a warning to young people about a potential pyramid scheme/MLM that has been trying to recruit them on Instagram. The ‘company’ clams to give money to college students so they can establish credit. They say they’re looking for recruiters and that someone can earn $350 for each person the recruit. However, to become a recruiter, you need to pay $100 to join.

    If you have to pay money to join some network marketing plan, you’re not running your own business, as they may claim. What you really are is a paying customer who has quotas on how much you have to buy and how many people you need to recruit each month. Social media, with Facebook and Instagram being the most egregious, is where most MLMs will try to recruit you. Think about that person from high school you haven’t seen in years all of a sudden has a ‘business opportunity’ for you. They’re just looking for suckers of their own so their ‘business’ isn’t suffering. Before you know it, everyone involved except the top of the food chain are further in debt. This isn’t a business, it’s a predatory practice.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 21, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , California Gaming Commission, , ,   

    Never send money in magazines 

    Never send money in magazines

    By Greg Collier

    If you discuss scams on a regular basis like we do, you’re occasionally going to get a comment that says something along the lines of, “I would never be scammed.” or the more callous, “They get what they deserve.” That’s a dangerous way of thinking because, as we like to think we’ve shown, anybody can get scammed. If you dangle a big enough carrot in front of someone, so to speak, it’s not difficult to convince your target to dismiss any and all red flags. That’s exactly what happened to a retired couple in North Dakota when they were promised a $1.7 million cash prize.

    They received a call from a scammer claiming to be from the California Gaming Commission, which isn’t a real thing. In California, it’s called the California Gambling Control Commission. One of the first things the scammers told the couple was to not tell anyone about the prize. Of course, the prize came with a string attached. They couldn’t get the prize until they paid fees and taxes on it. Initially, the couple was sending payments through money orders before they were told to send cash through UPS by placing the bills in between the pages of magazines and labeling the package ‘legal documents’. Before it was all over, the couple had paid $89,000 to the scammers and had even taken out a loan on their house to pay the phony fees.

    This is what’s known as the sweepstakes scam or the advance fee scam. There is no such thing as a prize for a contest you did not enter. Even if you did enter a cash prize contest, it’s illegal in the United States to charge money for a contest like that. That’s why most sweepstakes contests tell you in the disclaimer that there is no purchase necessary.

    But getting back to the victims of this scam, no one deserves to have this happen to them. Any one of us could potentially fall victim to a scam that could cost us a lot of money. Maybe not this one, but it’s almost a guarantee that there’s a scam out there that could have your name on it.

    https://youtu.be/te4zjDG6eBU
     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 20, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: back taxes, , property tax, ,   

    This tax scam tries to claim ownership of your home 

    By Greg Collier

    A tax scam has recently surfaced in Pasco County, Florida. And as we like to say, if a scam can happen in one place, it can happen near you. At least one elderly resident was terrified by this scam, but thankfully she was told it was a scam before lost anything to the scam. A scammer called the woman and told her that they had paid the back taxes on her home, and they now owned it. She did the smart thing by calling the county tax collector’s office, and they informed her that this was all part of a scam. But the question remains, what is the end goal of this scam?

    With most scams today, the end goal is usually to get money out of the victim, but under what guise? One scam that uses a threat like this is one where scammers offer a service where they claim to assist in helping pay your back property taxes, especially if there is a lien on your home. Of course, this service will cost the victim money, but once payment is made, there is no tax assistance given and the scammers have made off with the victim’s payment. It could be that this particular scammer in Florida hasn’t quite grasped how the scam is supposed to work.

    That’s not to say that a home can’t switch ownership due to delinquent taxes. However, the process isn’t as simple as walking into the tax collector’s office and paying off someone’s back taxes. In Florida, the process can take years and requires an auction to take place. It’s probably safe to assume that other states have an equally lengthy process before a home can change hands due to delinquent taxes. So if you receive a call from someone either telling you that they now on your home or can help you pay your back taxes, it’s more than likely a scam.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 19, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Victim loses $170K in IRS scam 

    Victim loses $170K in IRS scam

    By Greg Collier

    With 2020 tax returns being so confusing to file due to the pandemic and a change in tax law this year, it seems like scammers are taking advantage of that confusion. Sadly, IRS scams are nothing new. If your identity has been stolen, scammers may try to file for a refund in your name before you do. They may even try to intercept your refund check or change your direct deposit to another bank account. Then there is the old classic of IRS scams, threatening to arrest you if you don’t pay.

    A woman from Dallas, Texas recently fell victim to this scam. A pair of men called her, posing as the IRS. These men told the woman that she had a warrant out for her arrest due to unpaid taxes. Once the woman paid the scammers $10,000, the scammers became even more greedy. More calls followed with more demands for money. The scammers overplayed their hand when one of the money deliveries did not reach the scammers. One of the scammers told the woman to file a police report to recover the undelivered payment. When she went to file the report, police told her that she had been scammed. Before it was all over, the woman paid the scammers $170,000. Police were only able to recover 10% of the $170,000.

    While it may seem intimidating to receive a phone call like this, no law enforcement or federal agency is going to threaten you with arrest over the phone. The vast majority of communication that comes from the IRS is done through postal mail. The IRS does accept payments in a myriad of ways, but they recommend doing so electronically through the IRS website. For other IRS scams, you can refer to the IRS’s Consumer Alerts page.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 16, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: AirPods, , , , , ,   

    Amazon raffle text is a scam 

    By Greg Collier

    The Better Business Bureau is reporting that they’ve received complaints in the hundreds about a new texting scam. Considering the number of people who report things to the BBB, there are probably thousands more who are receiving this scam text message. And once again, due to their popularity and ubiquity, online retailer Amazon is having their name used in this new scam. The same could be said for Apple, as one of their more popular products is being used in the scam.

    As you can see above, the text message gives off the impression that you’ve won a pair or Apple AirPods from Amazon. All you have to do is click the link in the text message. The link takes you to a fraudulent website that looks like Amazon but isn’t. You’re then asked to enter your financial information to pay for a $6 shipping charge. Except, your card isn’t charged for $6 and instead is charged for close to $100. For your trouble, you still get a pair of earbud style headphones in the mail, but they’re a cheap knockoff that are probably worth less than the supposed shipping charge.

    When it comes to things like online raffles and sweepstakes, you need to keep one rule in mind. You can’t win a contest that you didn’t enter. Corporations like Amazon don’t do random surprise drawings to give away prizes. It’s also illegal for any contest or sweepstakes to make you pay for your prize, this includes shipping. It’s also recommended that you don’t click on random links in text messages and emails. These links could lead you to scam websites such as this or inject malware into your device.

    It might be a cliché, but it’s a cliché for a reason. If sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 15, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Bank scammer has answer for everything 

    By Greg Collier

    Payment apps like Zelle, Venmo, and Cash App are incredibly convenient. They allow us to send money to family and friends without the need for writing checks or money orders. However, what we get in convenience, we sometimes lose in security. Scammers are experts in taking advantage of the flaws in security that some of these apps have. With just a little social engineering, scammers have been known to rake in the cash by emptying the accounts of victims while the victim does most of the work for them. Not to mention that these scammers are so well practiced, they have an answer for just about everything when you try to ask questions about what they’re telling you.

    A woman from Tennessee almost feel for one of these well-crafted scams that involved her bank. She received a text that appeared to come from her bank. The text message asked if she had just made a purchase for $3500. This was followed up by a phone call from someone claiming to be a bank representative. The woman questioned if this call was actually from her bank, and the caller replied that she can verify the call by matching the phone number that called her with the customer service number of the back of her card. Of course, these number can and have been spoofed. She still wasn’t satisfied with the caller’s answer and told the caller she was going to hang up and call customer service. The caller then said that if she called customer service, she would be on hold for a long time and that he was there to help her with the problem now.

    This is where the payment app comes into play. The caller told the woman that she needed to send herself $3500 through Zelle to reverse the supposed charge. She then received an email with her Zelle activation code., The report of the incident doesn’t state it, but it most of these cases, the caller will then ask for the activation code, so they can hijack your Zelle account. Since most Zelle accounts are linked to bank accounts, this could have disastrous effects.

    Thankfully, the woman decided to go to a local branch of her bank before she sent any money.

    If you receive one of these calls purporting to be from your bank, politely end the call. First, you should check your bank statement online or through the bank’s app to see if any fraudulent charges have been made. Even if no fraudulent charges appear, call your bank’s customer service number from the back of your debit or credit card. Don’t do a web search for the customer service number, as these can often be scams themselves. But speak with the bank to make sure your account has not been misused. However, the best thing you can do is what this woman did and go to your bank’s local branch. They’ll be able to verify any fraudulent activity on your account in person.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 14, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Grandparent scam now spreading to other relatives 

    By Greg Collier

    If you were worried about your grandparents becoming the victim of the grandparent scam, you may now have to worry about your aunts and uncles too. Long-time readers will be well familiar with this scam. It’s when a scammer typically calls an elderly person and poses as one of their grandchildren. The fake grandchild says they’re in some kind of legal trouble and need money for bail or some similar fine or fee. The fake grandchild will then ask the victim not to tell anyone else in the family because of embarrassment, but in reality it’s to keep the victim isolated from their family, so the victim won’t know they’re being scammed. Now, it seems that the scammers have branched out from grandparents and are now contacting other family members as well.

    This recently happened to a woman in Middletown, Connecticut. She received a phone call from someone claiming to be her nephew. As expected, the fake nephew claimed to have been in a car accident and now is in jail. The nephew then said he sounded different because of an injury received in the accident. Scammers will typically claim a broken nose as the cause of the mismatched voice.

    The ‘nephew’ then gave the phone number to his supposed public defender. The woman called the public defender who instructed her that she needed to pay $9500 for her nephew’s bail and that a courier would be by to pick up the money. It wasn’t until after the woman paid the courier before she felt like she was being scammed. She called her family and found out that her nephew was not in jail. The woman called local police and while police were at her home the scammers called back asking for $10,000 more. With the police there, she waited for the courier, who was arrested on the spot. The courier allegedly tried claiming that she was there to pick up money from a friend’s aunt’s house.

    So, let your family know that it’s not just grandparents that have to look out for this scam. It seems now that any older relative can be targeted in this scam.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 13, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Victim loses closing costs in real estate scam 

    Victim loses closing costs in real estate scam

    By Greg Collier

    When dealing with real estate, rental scams are not the only scam you have to worry about. Lately, we’ve seen an ever-increasing rise in a scam where the victims are set to close on a new home. The scammers are somehow sliding into the home buyer’s email and posing as the loan agency. The scammers then ask for the closing payment to be wired to them. By the time the victim realizes that they’ve been scammed, they’ve lost thousands of dollars with little to no recourse. We can’t even imagine the sense of dread that the victims of this scam feel when they find out they’ve not only lost their closing payment, but also finding out that the deal on their new home might fall through because of it.

    This is exactly what happened to one woman in Alabama when she was getting ready to close on her home. The night before she was getting ready to close on a new home for her and her children, she received an email that appeared to come from her closing agency. The email asked her to wire $6,000 for the closing costs. On closing day, she received a call from her bank asking her if anyone else had contacted her about the closing cost. She was then told that whoever contacted her wasn’t from the bank. As in most cases, once the wire transfer was sent, the money was unrecoverable.

    If you’re working with a loan agency, bank or credit union to obtain a mortgage for a new 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 bank to verify that they sent the email in the first place. It would be even better to visit the bank 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.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 12, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , ,   

    Woman poses as man in $500,000 romance scam 

    $4,000,000 stolen in romance scam

    By Greg Collier

    One of the earliest memes that shows the anonymity of the internet was not even first published on the internet. It was from one of the famous cartoons in New Yorker Magazine from 1993. It was a cartoon of a dog sitting at a computer talking to a smaller dog while saying “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog”. 28 years later, that cartoon is still relevant. Even today, when many people are using their real names on social media, you can still slip into a false identity just about anytime you want. For one woman from South Carolina, her online persona was that of a male Texas oil rig worker for the purposes of a romance scam.

    The 68-year-old woman recently pleaded guilty to elder abuse and theft. She posed as the oil rig worker on Facebook and approached a 74-year-old widow from Wichita, Kansas. After the scammer convinced the woman to be in an online relationship, the money requests started coming in. The phony oil rig worker told the widow that ‘he’ wanted to live with the widow when he retired, but needed money. The widow eventually sent multiple cashier’s checks that totaled $532,000. The widow’s family told her she was being scammed, but she didn’t want to believe it. When investigators finally caught up with the scammer, the scammer claimed the checks were for a business arrangement.

    Anybody on the internet can tell you they’re an oil rig worker, that doesn’t necessarily make it true. The position of oil rig worker is often used in romance scams because it’s difficult to verify and gives scammers a reason to not communicate by phone or meet in person. The same can be said for a military member who says they’re stationed overseas or an international businessman.

    This story also dispels the stereotype of the overseas scammers, who tend to be young and male. A scammer can be from anywhere, including your own neighborhood.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 9, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Reshipping scam tries to pose as legitimate business 

    Reshipping scam tries to pose as legitimate business

    By Greg Collier

    The reshipping or repackaging scam is one of the more dangerous scams for consumers. Usually, scammers will advertise this scam as a work from home position where your job is to inspect packages you receive from a shipping company You’re then instructed to inspect the items for damage before sending the items to a third party. The third party is usually someone overseas. These positions are often advertised online with such titles as ‘shipping coordinator’, ‘warehouse distribution coordinator, or ‘local hub inspector’. In reality, its just a way to traffic stolen goods and now some reshipping scammers are trying to appear as a legitimate service.

    One man from the Kansas City Metro Area found this out recently when he applied for one of these positions as a second income. He was told that he’d be paid $2800 a month for inspecting the packages and shipping them off. The man didn’t find out he was scammed until he received a call from police stating that a stolen phone had been ordered in his name.

    The scammers explained the fake position to the man as if they were a legitimate shipping service. They said that some vendors don’t accept overseas credit cards and that they were acting as middle men essentially. There are real and legitimate services like this. For instance, say you want to buy a collectible from a Japanese website, but they don’t ship to the US. These reshipping services will act as your Japanese address and will send the item to the US for a fee. What these platforms don’t do is advertise for work at home jobs, as the scammers would have you believe.

    The real danger of the reshipping scam is that it could potentially land you in jail, even if you’re an unknowing participant. If you knowingly falsify shipping documents under the instruction of the scammers to get around US customs, you could potentially face a prison sentence.

     

← Older posts

Newer posts →

c
Compose new post
j
Next post/Next comment
k
Previous post/Previous comment
r
Reply
e
Edit
o
Show/Hide comments
t
Go to top
l
Go to login
h
Show/Hide help
shift + esc
Cancel