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  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 25, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Scammers imitate defunct boat business 

    Scammers imitate defunct boat business

    By Greg Collier

    The weather is getting warmer and pandemic restrictions continue to be lifted. This has led to many consumers being in the market for buying a boat. (While we’re thinking about it, please check out Geebo.com’s boat listings.) However, like any other major purchase, you don’t want to buy a boat sight unseen through an online ad. Scammers are hoping you do, though, and they’re going to great lengths to try to fool you.

    An overseas scam ring is allegedly taking tens of thousands of dollars from each victim who thinks they’re buying a boat. The way the scammers did it would even be considered clever if it wasn’t for the fact they may be stealing people’s life savings. The scammers assumed the name of a Florida boat dealer that actually closed its doors in 2010. The scammers set up a website using the defunct business’ name and listed pictures of boats that they claimed to be selling. The boats don’t actually exist, and the pictures were stolen from various places on the internet.

    People were buying these fictitious boats, then they would show up to the vacant business looking for the boat they just bought. One victim was even set to have a boat shipped to Australia.

    You wouldn’t buy a house or car without seeing it in person, so you shouldn’t purchase a boat this way either. Boats especially need to be inspected before being purchased since a buyer would need to know if the boat is actually seaworthy or not. If you’re in the market to purchase a boat, try to stay as local as possible when conducting your search. This way you can pretty much guarantee you’ll be able to inspect it in person. Lastly, if an ad says that your purchase is guaranteed by a platform like eBay or PayPal, that is definitely a scam as these platforms don’t provide such guarantees.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 24, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Scammers are still using stimulus checks as bait 

    Scammers are still using stimulus checks as bait

    By Greg Collier

    Even after a year and three stimulus payments from the government, scammers are still using the promise of stimulus checks as bait in their ongoing scams. When the stimulus payments were issued, most taxpayers received their payments by direct deposit in their bank accounts. However, for various reasons, a large section of the population had great difficulty in receiving their payments. Scammers are now said to be trying to take advantage of those people in this latest scam.

    According to reports, scammers are sending out emails promising to help its recipients obtain unclaimed stimulus money. The email has a link which takes victims to a website which asks for your personal information, so they can send you information on how to apply for unclaimed stimulus checks. This could lead to a number of scams. First and foremost it could be a front for identity theft, especially if the scammers ask for financial information. This also reminds us of the unclaimed property scam where scammers could be charging money to help you obtain stimulus money that they have no intentions of delivering.

    Please keep in mind that the only people who can help you with a stimulus related issue is the IRS. The IRS will never send out unsolicited text messages or emails, and they only tend to communicate by mail. Anybody else who is promising to get you stimulus money is more than likely a con artist. If you have had issues with getting your stimulus payments, the best place to go to resolve the issue is the IRS’s Economic Impact Payments website. If you think you may have unclaimed money that’s not related to the stimulus payments, you can go to the USA.gov website.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 21, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , school shooting   

    There’s no tragedy scammers won’t take advantage of 

    There's no tragedy scammers won't take advantage of

    By Greg Collier

    A few weeks ago, there was a school shooting at a middle school in Idaho. The shooter was a sixth grade student who allegedly took a gun out of her backpack and began firing. Before she was subdued by a teacher, the shooter had struck three other students. Thankfully, there were no fatalities, but the victims of the shooting might have to deal with medical bills for years to come. Due to the enormous cost of healthcare in this country, fundraisers are often started to lessen the financial impact victims have to endure. For example, more people are said to use the fundraising platform GoFundMe for medical expenses than any other reason to raise funds. Unfortunately, this also allows any scammer to set up a fundraiser in a victim’s name even though the victim won’t see any of the money.

    The Attorney General of Idaho has issued a warning about scam fundraisers that have popped up in the wake of the shooting. While the Attorney General has stated that there have been scams, he has not identified which particular scams are being used. However, it stands that there are scammers out there who have no qualms about diverting money that could go to help a shooting victim into their own pockets. Even if children had died at this shooting, we have no doubt that scammers would still have tried to take money from the victims’ families.

    If you are looking to donate money on a situation like this, there are steps you can take to not only protect yourself but to also make sure the money goes to those who truly need it. If a GoFundMe has been set up, the best place to find the legitimate GoFundMe campaign is through local news websites. Local news stations do a good job of making sure the GoFundMe link used in their articles is the correct one. Don’t respond to any unsolicited requests for donations over the phone or through emails. And if you plan on giving to an already existing charity, you can use the Better Business Bureau’s Give.org to aid you in your research on the legitimacy of charities.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 20, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: CVS, , ,   

    New scam targets pharmacy customers 

    By Greg Collier

    Previously, we’ve seen scammers posing as some kind of debt collector. In most cases, the scammers pose as some type of government or law enforcement agent trying to collect a phony fine. They do this so they can put emotional pressure on the victim and scare them into making a payment. Scammers will also pose as utility companies who are threatening to shut off your service if you don’t make a payment then and there. Now, it seems that scammers are branching out into another area of the commercial space that a number of people depend on.

    In Southern California, a number of consumers have reported getting a call from their local pharmacy, specifically CVS. The call states that the victim has a substantial balance with the pharmacy. As with most scams, this scam seems to be targeting the elderly., traditionally a group of people who are dependent on their prescriptions. Imagine being dependent on a drug like insulin only to be told you owe the pharmacy hundreds of dollars.

    The call itself is a robocall where an automated voice message tells the victim that they owe CVS money. The recording tells the victims to call a ‘helpline’ to resolve the matter. The helpline is not a phone number that belongs to CVS. One victim called the helpline and couldn’t tell the victim which CVS had filled the prescription in question.

    While the report we’ve read doesn’t give a specific motive behind the scam, we imagine it’s to get money from its victims. It’s safe to assume that the scammers probably would have asked for payment in gift cards, money transfer, or prepaid debit cards. They could also be after medical coverage information to potentially commit Medicare fraud.

    If you receive one of these calls, the best thing to do is hang up. Then call your local pharmacy to make sure there isn’t a real issue with your pharmacy account.

     

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

    Oil rig romance scams hit Florida 

    By Greg Collier

    According to local news reports, a number of romance scam victims have come forward recently in the Orlando-area of Florida. If you’re not familiar with the romance scam, the scam targets older people who may be widows or widowers, or who don’t have a partner for whatever reason. The scammers will approach the victim on social media or through dating websites and apps. The supposed romantic interest will claim to either work in a remote location, possibly overseas, or they’re stationed overseas with the military. A romance scammer will never meet face to face with a victim including the avoidance of video chat apps like Skype and Zoom. The scammers will then continually ask the victims for money under the false pretense of some kind of emergency.

    A 60-year-old woman from Florida, recently found herself out of $11,000 after falling for one of these scams. The scammer claimed to be working on an oil rig and used the profile picture of a somewhat famous actor but not someone as obvious as Brad Pitt or George Clooney. The woman allowed the scammer to deposit three supposed paychecks into her bank account so he could pay his daughter’s nanny back in Houston. After sending the payments to the supposed nanny, the woman’s bank discovered the checks were fake and since she used her own account she owed the bank that $11,000.

    As we have said in the past, the romance scam is one of those scams that could victimize just about anyone. We have seen the scam hurt people from those who have refused to admit they were scammed, to CEOs who have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the scam. It can affect anyone from any economic or educational status. So, when you ask how could anybody be this dumb to fall for a romance scam, these people are not dumb in the least. They’re just in a vulnerable place in their life.

    As always, if you think you or someone you know is the victim of an ongoing romance scam, please show them our posts on romance scams, or direct them to the FTC’s website about romance scam.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 18, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Social Security scammers try to get man to sell his own car 

    By Greg Collier

    The following story is yet another example showing not only how low scammers are willing to stoop, but also the extremes they’re willing to go to steal money from their victims.

    The story starts out like many other Social Security scams. A man from North Carolina receives a call from someone posing as someone from the Social Security Administration. The caller says that the man’s Social Security number has been connected to a drug crime in Texas. Typically, the scammers will say that they’ve found a rental car near the Mexican border that had drugs that was rented using the victim’s Social Security number. The man was then told he needed to pay a fine to avoid arrest.

    The man was skeptical, but the caller said that they were going to have someone from his local police department call him. A short time later, the man received a call that appeared to be coming from his local police department. The Caller ID even said it was the police department calling. That caller reiterated what the first caller said. The phony police detective told the man that there was a federal warrant out for his arrest and that he needed to pay the fine.

    Unfortunately, it was at this point that the man believed the story he was being told. The original caller called the man back and instructed the man to buy $7000 in gift cards. This happened to be all the money the man had. That wasn’t enough for the scammers, though. They told the man that he needed to sell his car to pay for the rest of the imaginary fine. They even gave him a list of local car dealerships where he could sell the car. It was at this point that a neighbor intervened and told the man that this was a scam.

    It’s not unheard for scammers to try and squeeze as much money as possible from a victim. In many cases, scammers have repeatedly harassed the same victim for multiple payments. However, this is the first time we’ve heard of scammers trying to get a victim to sell their car after bleeding their victim dry of all their cash.

    As we mentioned, this is a common scam that usually targets retirees who are unaware of how the Social Security Administration actually does business. They will rarely ever call you. The majority of communication from the SSA will be sent to recipients through the mail. No government agency or law enforcement agency will ever threaten to arrest you over the phone if you don’t make a payment then and there. No legitimate company, agency, or organization will accept gift cards as payment except the companies the gift cards are intended for.

    If you know someone who might be vulnerable to this scam, please share our post with them or direct them to the SSA’s Scam Warning page.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 17, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Counterfeit scam targets businesses 

    Counterfeit scam targets businesses

    By Greg Collier

    No businesses were more hard hit by the pandemic than restaurants. Many restaurants struggled to stay open during the pandemic. However, due to the nature of how COVID-19 was spread along with government lockdowns, many restaurants closed their doors for good. Even without COVID-19, the restaurant business is a very precarious one. There’s an old joke that says the best way to make a million in the restaurant business is to start out with two million. Those that have survived the pandemic should be commended instead, some are being targeted by scammers posing as police.

    Scammers who pose as police is nothing new. The most common variation of the police impersonation scam is when scammers will call a victim and tell them that the victim has a warrant out for their arrest. In most cases, the scammer will say that the victim missed jury duty. The scammer will threaten the victim with arrest if they don’t pay a fine over the phone either through gift cards or prepaid debit cards.

    In Panama City, Florida at least one restaurant has fallen to a new twist on the police impersonation scam. The scammer called the restaurant claiming to be from the Panama City police. The restaurant was told that they had deposited counterfeit money into their bank account. Considering how much cash restaurants can end up dealing with, this could be a real possibility. To replace the supposed counterfeit money the restaurant was told to replace the counterfeit money with a prepaid debit card. In this instance, it was in the amount of $1000. Panama City police have said that this scam has been targeting other local small businesses as well.

    There are a few keys to this scam besides the obvious one of paying with a prepaid debit card. The first is that most business that deal in cash should already have safeguards in place to detect counterfeit bills, such as the marker that can detect counterfeit bills. Also, if you were to accidentally deposit counterfeit cash into your business’ bank account you would be charged by your bank and not the local police. You may get a visit from the Secret Service instead.

    If you run a small business, you may want to warn your employees of any calls from someone claiming to be the police demanding payment and let them know that those calls are probably scams.

     

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

    Rental scammer takes advantage of pandemic victims 

    Rental scammer takes advantage of pandemic victims

    By Greg Collier

    As we’ve said in the past, the rental scam is probably the most common online scam. It has several variations, but they all result in the same thing, the victim pays for a home rental. More often than not, these scammers are from overseas, however, since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, we’ve seen more and more domestic scammers getting involved with rental scams. One of those scammers was recently arrested after taking advantage of desperate families for over six months.

    The 38-year-old Florida woman was said to have placed ads for rental properties on both Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. As with most rental scams, she allegedly copied ads from legitimate real estate listings and posted them online with her contact information. She is said to have collected deposits from over 20 victims who were desperate to find housing during the pandemic. Her victims ranged in age from 20 to 71. After she received the payments through a payment app she would then ignore and block her victims. Currently, she’s believed to have swindled over $20,000 from her victims.

    Rental scammers are always looking for victims who are in vulnerable situations such as needing immediate housing. This way, the scammers know they can catch their victims off-guard and get them to make mental mistakes that would benefit the scammer. These include sending money through payment apps like Zelle and Cash App. Victims who pay through these apps can be easily blocked by scammers after the victim loses their money.

    Even if you find yourself in a desperate housing situation, it always pays to research the property in question. If the property is actually for rent, the county’s tax assessor office or website will be able to tell you who actually owns the property. If the name doesn’t match the person or organization claiming to rent the property, it’s more than likely a scam.

     

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

    Man loses life savings in antivirus scam 

    Man loses life savings in antivirus scam

    By Greg Collier

    You hate to see the phrases ‘scam’ and ‘life savings’ used in the same sentence. Unfortunately, that is a harsh reality in today’s internet-connected world. Scammers and con artists will try to take as much money from you in the quickest way possible. One of the quickest ways to do this is to gain remote access to someone’s computer. In most cases, in order to gain remote access to someone’s computer, the computer’s owner needs to give that person permission. That’s where today’s scam comes in.

    A man from the Chicago-area lost his life savings to scammers after he allowed them to gain access to his computer. The man used a certain brand of antivirus software that he pays a subscription fee for. The scammers called him up posing as the antivirus software company. They told the man that due to the pandemic they can no longer serve him and would like to give him a $500 refund. The scammers deposited thousands of dollars into the man’s bank account and then said that this was a mistake. In order to correct the mistake, they needed remote access to the man’s computer. That’s when the scammers were able to empty his bank account and his home equity line of credit to the tune of $200,000.

    No commercial software company is going to call you up offering you a refund. Even if there was some kind of billing discrepancy, the software company would more than likely reach out by email. Even then, we wouldn’t recommend clicking on any links in the email. Also, it should almost go without saying that you should never allow someone you don’t know to have remote access to any of your devices. If you do, they can access just about any online account that you’ve used on that computer. Lastly, you don’t really need to pay for antivirus software anymore. While you may have had to back in the Windows XP days, Windows 10 has a built-in security feature known as Windows Security that is just as good as any paid software.

     

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

    Rental car scam is the latest attack on consumers 

    Single father taken in craigslist car con

    By Greg Collier

    Due to the pandemic, car rental companies were forced to sell off a lot of their cars just to stay afloat. Now that people are starting to travel again, car rental agencies have drastically raised their prices because of the shortage of inventory. Not surprisingly, scammers have stepped in to take advantage of the shortage. It seems like scammers always have their fingers on the pulse of multiple industries so they can immediately jump on any situation that could benefit them. While this scam may seem new, it’s actually a common scam with a new target base.

    How it works is the scammers are taking out ads on search engines. These ads claim to be from known car rental agencies except they have a different phone number listed than the actual agencies. If someone calls one of these phony numbers the person on the other end of the call promises a great deal for a rental car. The catch is that not only do you have to pay up front, you have to do so using a pre-paid debit card or gift cards. After someone makes the payment they’re told that the payment didn’t go through, and they need to make another payment. Scammers are notorious for trying to get more payments out of their victims if they can con them into sending the first payment.

    If this scam sounds a little familiar that’s because it’s a variation on the customer service scam. This is where scammers take out online ads purporting to be customer service departments for well-known companies. Cash App users have been plagued by this scam for years since Cash App doesn’t actually take customer phone calls.

    As far as avoiding this scam when renting a car, you should always use the customer service number that’s on the agency’s website. Most agencies have a location finding feature on their website that will direct you to the nearest local location along with their phone number.

     

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