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  • Geebo 8:00 am on March 23, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    A record year for romance scams 

    $4,000,000 stolen in romance scam

    By Greg Collier

    The Federal Trade Commission recently released a report that said that Americans lost a total of around $304 million to romance scams in 2020. That’s a 50% increase since 2019. For the third year in a row, romance scams were listed as the number one scam that was reported to the FTC. The actual amount of money lost is probably even higher since many victims are too embarrassed to ever come forward. The pandemic was cited as the main reason why there was such a spike in romance scam activity. Seniors over 70 lost a median amount of close to $10,000 each while people in their 20s saw the biggest increase in d=falling for these scams.

    However, we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. While most of our readers already know what a romance scam is, it doesn’t hurt to explain it to new readers. A romance scam is when a victim meets someone online who isn’t who they say they are. The scammers will often use the photo of someone they found online, often a member of the military but not always. The scammer will lead the victim to believe that they are in some kind of romantic relationship, but the scammer will keep making excuses as to why they can’t meet in public. Usually, the scammer will say they’re either deployed overseas or they’re working out of the country. Before too long, the scammer will start asking the victim for money. In some cases the money will be or gifts, or the scammer will claim they need the money for some kind of emergency. The scammers will keep asking for money until the victim realizes they’re being scammed. The scam has been known to find victims in both men and women.

    In a lot of romance scams, it’s often hard for the victim to believe they’re being scammed. There have been cases where the victim got into legal trouble after stealing money to send to their fictitious romantic partner. As a friend or family member, it may be up to you to do the detective work for them. Do a reverse image search of the photo being used by the scammer. You’ll often find that the picture was stolen from someone with a completely different identity. Also do a search for the job the scammer is claiming to have and include the word ‘scammer’ in the search.

    If you feel like someone you know might be the victim of a romance scam, please let them know before it’s too late.

     

  • Geebo 8:01 am on March 22, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Victim loses stimulus in bank scam 

    By Greg Collier

    Many taxpayers received their $1400 stimulus payments in the last week or so through direct deposit. Almost as soon as the economic impact payments hit people’s bank accounts, scammers have tried to weasel their way into people’s lives to steal those payments. Unfortunately, one woman from Texas found out the hard way that these scams are going on.

    The woman received a phone call that appeared to be coming from her bank. The number on her caller ID matched that of her bank’s customer service number. The caller claimed that there appeared to be fraudulent activity on the woman’s account and that they needed her help in clearing up the situation. While the report doesn’t specifically state it, it implies that the caller asked the woman for her banking information. Before she knew it, her account had been cleaned out. This included not only her stimulus payment but a paycheck as well.

    With scam phone calls being so prevalent many of us have stopped answering calls if we don’t recognize the number. How many cars can one person possibly own to have so many car warranties expire. But that’s a post for another day. What we’re getting at is, if the number is not on your list of contacts, you’re better off not answering the call even if it appears to be your bank.

    While many banks and other financial services do actually call their customers when there’s possible fraudulent activity on the account, you’re still better off letting the call go to voicemail. If the call is actually from your bank, you can call them back at the customer service number on the back of your debit or credit card or the number that’s on your bank statement. Don’t just Google a customer service number for your bank either as some scammers take out ads on Google posing as customer service departments for various well-known businesses.

    If you do answer the call, be on the lookout for telltale signs of a scam. Your bank shouldn’t ask for your account number as they should already have it. They won’t need your password to your online banking account either.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on March 19, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Grandparent scam claims victim is ‘under oath’ 

    Grandparent scam claims victim is 'under oath'

    By Greg Collier

    Scammers love to victimize the elderly. Even though reports say that more young people are increasingly vulnerable to scams, seniors seem to remain to be the scammers’ favorite target. One theory is that scammers target the elderly because their generation still answers the phone no matter who may be calling. That’s how their generation lived after all. Unfortunately, this has made them vulnerable to scams, especially the grandparent scam.

    As many of you know, the grandparent scam is where the scammers will pose as an elderly victim’s grandchild. They’ll say that they’ve gotten into some kind of legal trouble and need money to rectify the situation. Requests for bail money are usually the more popular versions of the scam. Scammers are constantly fine-tuning the grandparent scam in order to maximize the number of victims they can prey on.

    For example, a woman in Illinois was told by someone posing as her grandson that the grandson needed $5,000 to get out jail. The phony grandson said that he had gotten into an accident with a diplomat in St. Louis. When the woman said that the caller didn’t sound like her grandson they said that he hurt his neck and couldn’t talk right. Then another person got on the call claiming to be a lawyer. He told the woman that she was ‘under oath’ and not to tell anyone.

    Thankfully, employees at her bank inquired why she was withdrawing such a large amount of money and were able to stop her from becoming another victims. They called the real grandson who was actually in no danger.

    While it may sound official, no one can put you ‘under oath’ over the phone. Being under oath only applies to court proceedings and even then you have to agree to it.

    And as we always recommend, if you know an elderly person or couple who live alone and do not have access to the internet, please let them know about this scam. Also, consider setting up a family password for just such emergencies, so you can verify the person calling is who they say they are.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on March 18, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    New phishing scam sells your identity on the dark web 

    New phishing scam sells your identity on the dark web

    By Greg Collier

    An insidious phishing scam has turned up in the nation’s largest metropolitan area.

    For those who may not be familiar with what phishing is, it’s when you get sent a phony email or text that has you click on a link. These links either take you to a phony website where identity thieves will try to steal your personal information or the links will inject malware into your device. If malware were to get into your device, it could transmit your data to scammers and identity thieves and scammers, or it could lock your device in a ransomware attack. However, this new phishing attack has victims voluntarily giving up their information in a more comprehensive way than before.

    Reports out of New York are saying that victims of the attack are receiving authentic looking emails and text messages that appear to be from the State Government. The messages largely target those who are currently unemployed in the Empire State. Once the victim clicks the link in the message, they’re taking to a website that is a mirror image of the official New York unemployment website.

    After the victims use their login information on the phony website they’re then asked to take high-quality pictures of their driver’s license and other sensitive documents. Once the identity thieves have your information, they turn around and sell your identity on the dark web. According to security experts, Social Security cards are going for around $1.50 while driver’s licenses are going for around $100. Just imagine, a $1.50 transaction on the dark web that happens instantly can have expensive repercussions on your life for years to come.

    Always be suspicious of any text message, email, or social media message that wants you to click on any kind of link, especially if it’s for such a crucial matter like your unemployment benefits. Most government agencies like unemployment offices will not email or text you but instead will almost always contact you through the postal mail. And keep in mind that all official government websites end in .gov.

     

  • Geebo 8:04 am on March 17, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Woman thwarts virtual kidnapping scam 

    Woman thwarts virtual kidnapping scam

    By Greg Collier

    We often talk about how someone gets taken advantage of in a scam and use it as a way to educate our readers on how to avoid scams. It’s not very often we discuss someone who realized it was a scam before they end up losing thousands of dollars, but that’s the story we have today.

    A woman in Spokane, Washington received a phone call with someone claiming that her sister had been injured and that the woman needed to come get her. She asked the person on the other line if police had been involved yet and the caller’s disposition quickly changed.

    The caller then said that the woman’s sister ‘stuck her nose where it didn’t belong’ and that he needed to ‘rough her up a little’. The caller then demanded a $10,000 ransom, or he was going to sell the woman’s sister to a human trafficking ring overseas. Then the caller threatened violence against the woman if she didn’t cooperate.

    The Spokane woman asked to speak to her sister and a woman got on the line and mentioned the woman’s name, but that was about it. The woman wasn’t convinced that was her sister. She asked to talk to her some more to verify a few things, but the caller refused. She told the caller that they wouldn’t get any money unless she saw her sister. It was when the caller asked her to wire money to them, she realized it was a scam.

    We have to applaud this woman for being so tenacious about getting proof that this was actually her sister or not. In addition, she did the right things when confronted with a scam like this. She demanded verifiable proof and when she didn’t get it she stood up to the scammers.

    If you encounter this situation, there are also a few other things you can do. One is to ask the person who’s supposedly kidnapped a question that only they would know. Additionally, you can set up a safe word in advance. However, the first thing you should do, if you can, is try to contact the person they’ve supposedly kidnapped. In most if not all cases, you’ll find that the person is safe and sound.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on March 16, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Victim loses $16,000 in Amazon scam 

    Victim loses $16,000 in Amazon scam

    By Greg Collier

    Amazon scams are nothing new. To be clear, we’re not talking about scams perpetrated by the online retailer giant. Instead, we’re talking about scams that use the Amazon name. The most infamous of these scams is the brushing scam. The brushing scam is when you get sent packages to your home of things you didn’t order. Usually, these packages come from Amazon and contain low-cost items. This is done so third-party vendors that sell through Amazon can give themselves good online reviews in your name, and the review shows up on Amazon as a verified purchase giving the phony review more legitimacy. In turn, this leads to these products being more recommended by Amazon. Sometimes, these items are charged to someone’s Amazon account.

    Today, we’re going to talk about what we’re going to call the false order scam. In this scam, the victim receives an email that looks like it came from Amazon. The email claims that expensive and high-end items have been charged to you. It then conveniently goes on to say that if you didn’t order these items, call the toll-free number contained in the email. The phone number goes to a phony customer service department that will either try to steal your personal and financial information or your money.

    Recently, a woman in North Carolina fell victim to this scam and lost $16,000. She received a scam email and when she called the fake customer service number she was instructed that she needed to buy thousands of dollars in gift cards to cancel the phony purchase. What made this scam particularly egregious was when the scammer stayed on the phone with the woman the entire time she went from store to store buying multiple gift cards. When she started suspecting this was a scam the scammer allegedly said that “You called us, scammers call you.”

    This is nowhere near being true. Scammers often set up phony customer service numbers for popular platforms. The Cash App customer service scam is one that immediately comes to mind.

    There are several ways to protect yourself from this kind of scam. The first is to check the email address from the sender. If it’s not from Amazon.com, it’s a scam. Also, before you go calling anyone suggested by the email, you can go into your Amazon account and check your order history to see if the order is real or not. Lastly, if you actually need to call Amazon, you can click on the Customer Service tab at the top of Amazon’s website for more information.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on March 15, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Family dealing with cancer plagued by scammers 

    Family dealing with cancer plagued by scammers

    By Greg Collier

    We’ve been writing about scams and scammers for a while now. You’d think we wouldn’t be surprised by any type of scam anymore or how pervasive they’ve become. Yet, we’re about to tell you about one of the most disheartening scams we’ve ever heard of.

    There is a family in Warwick, Rhode Island who are dealing with one of the most challenging things a family can go through. Their two-year-old son is battling a rare form of cancer. The community has come together to support the family. Not only through a GoFundMe but the local police are also collecting donations for the child’s medical expenses.

    Unfortunately, these days wherever there is hardship there’s someone looking to take advantage of the situation. In this case, there have been a few someones who have been trying to profit from this family’s struggle. As we previously mentioned, the only two official places where donations are being collected are GoFundMe and the local police department. However, multiple scammers have used the toddler’s name to try to collect money for themselves. Scammers are said to be using both Instagram and Cash App to falsely claim they’re collecting money for the two-year-old.

    If that wasn’t bad enough, scammers even approached the two-year-old’s father. He says that he received a text message from someone posing as the child’s doctor asking for money for the child’s healthcare. No family should have to deal with the anguish of worrying about both a child with cancer and the expenses that entails let alone having to deal with scammers who are potentially taking money that could have gone to the boy’s medical bills.

    It’s sad that we have to be skeptical about charity, but that’s the world we live in today. I’m certain that has caused many people to stop donating to worthy causes because of the number of scammers who pose as charities. You can still give to charity, you just need to do a little research first.

    If you can afford it and find it in your heart you can donate to the boy’s treatment fund at this GoFundMe.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on March 12, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Why you shouldn’t use social media for unemployment problems 

    By Greg Collier

    Many internet users only use the internet to browse their favorite social networks. To them, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram is their internet. This is what’s known as being in a walled garden. Why leave the confines of the garden when everything you need is right there. These users can talk to their friends, see what’s in the news, and watch videos in their social network of choice. So, it should come as no surprise when these users have a problem they need to resolve, they use social media. In some instances, this is perfectly acceptable as many companies have someone manning their social media accounts at all time. In other instances, using social media like this can open you up to fraud. One governmental agency recently found this out the hard way.

    The state of New Jersey recently had to close the comments on the Facebook page of the Department of Labor. People who were having issues with their unemployment were leaving comments on the NJDOL’s Facebook page. Then scammers would appear posing as state employees in an attempt to get personal information out of those who were having issues. The NJDOL issued a warning on their Twitter account that they closed comments on their Facebook page because of the deluge of scammers. They wanted to remind unemployment recipients that their agents will never reach out to them on social media.

    This is just the latest in a long line of unemployment scams that have plagued the country since the start of the pandemic. While there is light at the end of the tunnel, consumers should still be vigilant when it comes to sharing their personal information. If you’re dealing with an unemployment issue in New Jersey or any other state, you should always use the state’s official website that deals with unemployment. That’s usually the Department of Labor, but some states call it something else. These websites should always end in the .gov domain. Even if it’s the state’s official social media account, it’s always best to use their actual website to try to get unemployment issues resolved.

     

  • Geebo 9:19 am on March 11, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    Victim loses $15,000 in iCloud scam 

    By Greg Collier

    iCloud is Apple’s cloud storage service that it supplies to its users for free up to 5 GB of storage. If you’re not an Apple or iOS user, iCloud is akin to Google Drive, Microsoft’s One Drive, or Dropbox. A few years ago, iCloud made the headlines when a number of celebrities had the contents of their iCloud accounts leaked to the internet. So, in theory, iCloud accounts can be hacked. Scammers know this and use this fear as a way to trick their victims who may not be that technically savvy as one woman in Missouri recently discovered.

    The 86-year-old woman was expecting an important call from her daughter when she answered her phone. The person on the other line claimed that the woman’s iCloud account had been hacked along with 42 other iCloud users. The scammer then told the woman that she would need to buy gift cards in order to protect her data. Since the woman used iCloud frequently she complied. She ended up buying 29 $500 gift cards for Walmart. When store clerks asked her what all the gift cards were for, she was instructed by the scammers to tell the clerks that the cards were for her grandchildren. The scammers told her that she would be reimbursed, but instead she was out $14,500.

    Tech support scams and their variants have been around since the dawn of the internet and continue to find victims. However, these scams are easy to thwart. All you need to keep in mind is that none of the big tech companies are ever going to call you out of the blue. That includes Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and the like. The best way to keep your personal storage accounts safe is to use a password that is difficult to guess. Password managers are a great tool to assist you with this. It also helps if you don’t use the same password for multiple accounts. Again, this is where a password manager comes in handy.

    However, if someone calls you out of the blue to tell you that your account has been hacked or your computer has a virus, hang up on them. The tech companies will never call you and no one can remotely tell if you have a virus on your computer.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on March 10, 2021 Permalink | Reply
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    New student loan forgiveness scam preys on confusion 

    Is student loan debt consolidation a scam?

    By Greg Collier

    Over the past several years, college tuition costs continue to rise while salaries for jobs that many graduates would fill have remained largely stagnant. This has resulted in one of the largest debt crises our country has faced. We may now have a generation of college graduates who may work their whole lives just to pay back their student loans. Not only has this made student loan debt forgiveness a contentious political issue, but it’s also allowed scammers to take advantage of the confusion and desperation of those who find themselves dealing with this debt.

    Over the past year, the government has approved a couple of economic impact payments due to the record unemployment. Even a third one was recently approved. Those payments came with a lot of confusion about how to get one and scammers swooped down on that confusion like a pack of hungry buzzards. Now, scammers are making up government relief programs to take advantage of those swimming in student loan debt.

    Scammers are now contacting their victims claiming they represent a student loan debt forgiveness program. Those programs exist, but they are difficult to find and even more difficult to get approved. These scammers are said to be using terms like ‘Biden student loan forgiveness’ and ‘stimulus forgiveness’. So far, there has been no student loan debt forgiveness legislation that has been approved by either Congress or President Biden. However, with the talk of an additional COVID-19 economic impact payment, someone could be tricked into believing that debt forgiveness is part of that package.

    As always, the scammers are looking for one of two things. Scammers will either ask you for some kind of ‘processing fee’, your personal information, or both. Anyone that contacts you out of the blue offering a too good to be true way of getting out of debt is not your friend. These calls should be ignored and reported to your local police and the Federal Trade Commission.

     

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