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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 6, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: car wrapping ( 11 ), check scam ( 81 ), job scam ( 88 ), Scams ( 1,526 )   

  Don’t get wrapped up in this job scam 

  

  If you’ve ever spotted a car that was covered in advertising that wasn’t on a racetrack you’ve witnessed what’s known as car wrapping. Some companies will pay people just to drive around with their branding on your vehicle. However, much like the secret shopper scams, there are probably more scam offers for this opportunity than legitimate ones. Recent reports indicate that there is a resurgence in car wrapping scams.

  The car wrapping scam is just another variation of the fake check scam. The scammers will send you a check for more than you’re supposed to be paid. They’ll then instruct you to deposit the check in your bank account and return the overage to them. Once your bank finds out the check is fraudulent after you deposit it, you’d be responsible for the full amount of the check plus whatever overage fees the bank would charge you.

  The car wrapping scam seems to target mostly young people who are looking to make some extra money. A teen in Knoxville, Tennessee was recently sent an unsolicited letter in the mail with the check already enclosed claiming an upfront payment of $700. The check was for $3700.

  A fast-food worker in Charlotte, North Carolina went online to find a way to make extra money and found an ad for a car wrapping gig. She was offered $400 but the check she received was for $3600. She went ahead and deposited the check and sent the remainder back to the scammers.

  Please keep in mind that no legitimate employer will ask you to deposit a check and have you send them money back. If a real company made a mistake like this, they would just cut you a new check.

  Also, real advertisers that hire people for car wrapping opportunities actually have a stringent screening process. They’ll also have detailed information about the opportunity on their website including their physical location.

   

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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 5, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: grandparent scam ( 72 ), Scams ( 1,526 )   

  The true cost of the grandparent scam 

  

  We often talk about scams but usually not the scammers themselves. That’s because many scammers operate from overseas and are difficult to prosecute. However, that’s not to say that there aren’t domestic scammer because there are.

  Two men from Florida recently pleaded guilty to running a grandparent scam operation that netted them $1 million. As its name implies, the grandparent scam specifically targets the elderly. The scammer will call their victims and create a scenario where one of the victim’s grandchildren are in some kind of trouble. Typically, the scammers will pretend to be the grandchild and say that they need bail money. The scammers will then instruct their victims where they can send money, usually in some unorthodox form like gift cards.

  The two Florida men were said to have posed as police officers and lawyers to convince their victims to send them money. They would then have their victims send packages of cash to vacant properties in a number of states up and down the East Coast. Just between the two men, they were able to collect $1 million from 28 victims. That’s averages out to approximately $36,000 per victim. We’re sure that to many of those victims that money was probably their life savings. It just shows how relatively easy it is for just two scammers to amass seven figures like that.

  Both men are looking at 20-year sentences when they’re sentenced next year.

  Again, if you or someone you know receives one of these phone calls, it’s best to hang up and contact the person the scammers are claiming to be. Scammers will try to pressure you into staying on the line, however, if someone is truly in a legal jam, it’s not going to make matters worse if you make additional calls to verify their story.

  Again, we ask that 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.

   
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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 4, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook Marketplace ( 66 ), impersonation scam ( 176 ), romance scam ( 76 ), Scams ( 1,526 ), social security ( 30 ), used car ( 39 )   

  A reminder that some scams never go away 

  

  While we haven’t seen any new developments in scams today, we thought we’d help you brush up on some of the old classics. As always, just because these scams are being reported from different parts of the country, they can likely be applied to your region if they show up near you.

  Always be careful when buying a car online, especially if the price is too good to pass up. A woman in Oklahoma found what she thought was a great deal on a car for her son on Facebook Marketplace. The seller claimed the price was so cheap because her husband died and she also happened to be deploying with the military. On top of that, the seller asked for payment in gift cards and that the car will be shipped by eBay. Always be wary of any sob stories that come with bargains. Also, be suspicious if payment is requested in gift cards or some other untraceable form of payment. And keep in mind that eBay does not ship vehicles even if the vehicle is purchased on eBay.

  Social Security scams are abundant but the one that seems to be the most popular these days is what we call the impersonation scam. A man in Pennsylvania received a call from someone claiming to be from the Social Security Administration. The man was told that his Social Security number had been compromised. The scammer recited the man’s name, age, address, and the last four digits of his Social Security number and then asked the man to verify that information. Thankfully, the man recognized it as a scam and hung up. The SSA usually only communicates with recipients through the mail and would already have the information that the scammer was trying to verify.

  Lastly, a woman in Tennessee was taken in a romance scam recently. She met a man on a dating site. The man said that he had to go to Singapore for work but once he got there the man supposedly contracted COVID and was in ICU. The man said he needed money to be treated. Then a ‘friend’ of the man said that he needed to fly out to Singapore to help the first man so she paid for the plane ticket. She later found out that the pictures being used by the scammers were two evangelists from Brazil. Never send money to someone you haven’t met face to face. Romance scammers will go to great lengths in convincing their victims they’re in a relationship.

   
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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 3, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: economic impact payment ( 22 ), economic relief checks ( 14 ), phishing ( 84 ), Scams ( 1,526 ), stimulus checks ( 20 ), text messaging ( 37 )   

  Stimulus check scams are back 

  

  Most Americans received their economic impact payments much earlier this year. This hasn’t stopped scammers from trying to trick people into using the promise of additional stimulus payments into giving up either money or personal information.

  Recently, scammers have been texting their victims with messages that state they have pending stimulus payments. The text then goes on to say that if you want to accept these payments you need to click on the attached link. While we haven’t confirmed this if previous texting scams are any indicator, the link will take you to a website that will require you to enter your personal information. Or it could potentially ask you to pay a ‘processing fee’ to receive your stimulus payment. In either case, the stimulus payment doesn’t exist. Ever since the initial economic impact payment were issued, the government has not approved any additional stimulus payments.

  Please keep in mind that the majority of federal agencies that deal with the general public do not communicate by text. That’s not even taking into account that if a government office needs to discuss stimulus payments they will refer to them by their proper name of economic impact payment. Anyone contacting you calling them a stimulus payment or stimulus check is probably not with the government. That’s not even mentioning that even if additional impact payments were to be issued you wouldn’t have to pay money to receive them.

  In addition to these warnings, it’s just good practice to avoid clicking on links in text messages from people you don’t know. This is a common practice used in several different scams that are designed to either steal your personal information or inject malware into your device. Either of which could lead to a number of expensive and inconvenient problems in the future.

   
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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 2, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Cash App ( 43 ), cash flipping ( 8 ), Scams ( 1,526 )   

  There’s a new twist on the cash flipping scam 

  

  We’ve discussed cash flipping scams in the past. They are mostly associated with the payment app Cash App. Cash App has giveaways on Fridays that they call #CashAppFridays. If you follow that hashtag on Twitter or Instagram you could be eligible for a cash prize from Cash App. This has led to a number of scammers who have hijacked the hashtag to commit the cash, or money, flipping scam.

  The scammers try to convince their victims that they’ll give the victims a lot of money in exchange for a little money. For example, a scammer may promise victims $500 if the victims send the scammers $50 through Cash App. Once the victim sends the money through Cash App the scammer blocks the victim and keeps their money. Cash App policies have been said to give little recourse to victims in scams like this. Payments can often only be refunded if the person who receives the payment cancels the transaction.

  Now, the Better Business Bureau is reporting that the Cash App scammers are trying a new tactic in their cash flipping scams. According to the BBB, scammers are now offering to ‘invest’ the money you give them through Cash App. The scammers will ‘guarantee’ that your investment will multiply. They are said to be asking for anywhere from $300 to $800.

  As with most money scams. if you pay a scammer once, they’ll try to get you to pay more. This scam is no different, if you try to contact the scammer about your investment, they might tell you that Cash App has a fee that you need to pay to the scammer to get your money. Or they might tell you there’s a tax fee that you need to pay to them first. The point is, once you pay money to a Cash App scammer you’ll never see it again.

  As we always say, cash flipping is not a real thing. You wouldn’t give money to a stranger on the street who promised to invest it. So why would you give it to a stranger on social media? It’s understandable that people in dire financial straits may be desperate enough to do anything to keep their heads above water. However, there is no true way to get rich quick, and if someone tries they could find themselves in deeper financial trouble than before.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 30, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: impersonation scam ( 176 ), phone scam ( 48 ), police scam ( 38 ), Scams ( 1,526 )   

  Police scam takes affluent area for millions 

  

  Every once in a while, when we get feedback from one of our posts someone will inevitably say that they can’t believe that someone fell for whatever scam we’re posting about that day. The reality is that anyone can fall for a scam if they don’t have the information to recognize a scam. Things like economic status and education level mean do not automatically protect you from con artists.

  For example, take Montgomery County, Maryland, Not only is the Washington DC suburb one of the most affluent counties in the United States, its residents have the highest percentage in the country of residents over 25 years of age who hold a post-graduate degree. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped various police impersonation scams from taking $1.5 million from local residents.

  While the scammers are using different variations of police impersonation scams, they are tweaking them slightly for their upscale targets. In one case, the scammers called a psychotherapist and told them that they avoided a subpoena in a case where they were supposed to testify as an expert witness. In order to avoid arrest, the victim was told to pay a $7000 fine. They were instructed to buy a prepaid debit card because no one could come into the police department because of COVID.

  With other victims, the scammers have used the rental car trick. They’ll pose as police to tell the victims that a rental car was found in their name that contained drugs. Again, the scammers will request payment to ‘clear up’ the situation, usually through some untraceable form of payment like gift cards, prepaid debit cards, money transfer, or cryptocurrency. In Montgomery County’s case, the scammers added that if the victim pays quickly they’ll avoid media attention.

  In one case, someone made payment to the scammers by putting $100,000 into a shoebox before mailing it to California.

  In the majority of cases, police will almost never call you to resolve any kind of legal matter. You’ll either be contacted by mail or officers will come to your home. Also, no legitimate government agency will accept payment in untraceable means like the ones listed above. If you ever receive a phone call like this and think there might be an issue, hang up and call your police department’s non-emergency number and explain the call to them.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 29, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: romance scam ( 76 ), Scams ( 1,526 )   

  Widows lose thousands in romance scams 

  

  The saying goes that love is blind and nothing exhibits that phrase more than romance scams. In most romance scams, the scammer will pose as someone on dating apps or social media who is romantically interested in their victim. They’ll foster an online-only relationship for months in an attempt to convince the victim that the scammer is in love with them. Romance scammers will keep the charade up before asking their victims for large sums of money. The requests for money are usually disguised as some kind of emergency payment that the scammer needs right away. If the victim makes an initial payment, the scammer will continue to ask for more money as long as the victim will pay. We have seen reports where victims have lost hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.

  Two widows in two different parts of the country have come forward with their stories. Both lost thousands of dollars in separate romance scams with one of the victims losing something more valuable than money.

  The first victim is a widow from Georgia who met someone on a dating site. He would call her several times a day and even send her flowers. He claimed to be an engineer from Florida who just so happened to be working in Canada. He claims that a machine needed for his work is broken and he needs $15,000 for repairs. The scammer even got another person to verify his story. She ended up using money from her late husband’s life insurance policy before realizing she had been scammed.

  Another widow from West Virginia was taken in a similar scam but she didn’t just lose money, she also lost her home. She also met someone on a dating site but this scammer said they were from America but living overseas. This scammer claimed they wanted to come home to America but needed money to do so. Before it was all over, the scammer had asked for $20,000 which she paid. Unfortunately because of this, she ended up losing her home and having to move in with a relative.

  As we keep stressing, this scam could happen to anyone regardless of age, education, or economic status. If you or someone you know is involved with someone online that you haven’t met face to face yet, you should be very suspicious if they start asking for money. If you think someone you know may be the target of a romance scam, please show them the FTC’s website about romance scams and/or our posts about romance scams.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 28, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: child safety ( 8 ), identity theft ( 119 ), Scams ( 1,526 )   

  Some child safety kits can put your family in danger 

  

  Child safety kits are probably the last thing any parent wants to buy but are invaluable if your child were to disappear. You can either purchase one or make one of your own. What you would need is a current picture of your child, a record of their current weight and height, their fingerprints, and a sample of their DNA like a few strands of their hair. You would then keep these items in a safe but easy to remember place in your home in case you have to give these items to investigators.

  Leave it to scammers though to use the fear of losing your child to try to steal your identity. If you are ever solicited to get a kit by phone, email, or text, there’s a high probability that you’re being approached by a scammer. Police in Omaha, Nebraska are warning residents there about a current child safety kit scam where the scammers are asking for personal information like a Social Security number. Some scammers are even asking to meet the child in your home in an attempt to get you or your child into revealing sensitive information. According to the Omaha police, some of the scammers are claiming that they represent companies that will store the items and information for you. No legitimate child safety kit will ever ask you to do this as time is of the essence when a child goes missing.

  As we have stated in a previous post, there is a huge market for the stolen identities of children. That’s because children have no credit histories and scammers can use them as blank slates. The identity thieves will slowly build up credit under your child’s name for years before finally building up enough credit to cash out on a big score like a loan or high balance credit card. Your children could then have a ruined credit score before they even get a chance to use it.

  So if you receive an unsolicited offer for a child safety kit, politely decline the offer. If you don’t currently have a child safety kit, please thinking about making one for your children.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 27, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: employment ( 41 ), fake check ( 51 ), job scam ( 88 ), money orders, mystery shopper ( 5 ), Scams ( 1,526 ), secret shopper ( 15 )   

  New scam switches out fake money orders for checks 

  

  One of the more common online scams is the mystery shopper scam. Mystery shopper is a real position. They are people hired by retail outlets to go into their stores and rate the customer service of each individual store. However, the job isn’t as common as most scammers would have you believe.

  In the mystery shopper scam, scammers will pose as these retailers and pretend to hire their victims. The scammers will then send a fake check to the victim and instruct them to deposit the check. The scammers then instruct the victim to go buy some gift cards with the money and the victim can keep what’s leftover. The victim doesn’t often find out they were scammed until the fake check bounces in their bank account and the victim is held responsible by the bank for the difference.

  A report out of North Carolina is claiming that scammers are now using fake US Postal Service money orders instead of fake checks to pull off this scam. While the fake form of payment has changed, the results are still the same. If a victim deposits the phony money orders into their account they will be responsible for the damages once the bank realizes the money orders are fake.

  As we previously stated, mystery shopper is a legitimate position. However, in order to become one, you have to become certified with the Mystery Shoppers Association and you have to contact them. They will never contact anyone out of the blue.

  Also, please keep in mind that no legitimate employer will have you deposit a check or money order into your personal account that’s supposed to be used for business purposes later. This is almost a sure sign of an employment scam.

  If you receive what you suspect is a phony US Postal money order, you can take it to your local post office, and they will be able to determine if it’s real or not.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 26, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: gift cards ( 106 ), impersonation scam ( 176 ), Scams ( 1,526 ), shut off scam ( 19 ), utility scam ( 34 )   

  New twist on utility scam 

  

  Utility shut off scams are nothing new. It doesn’t matter what time of year is, scammers will try to convince you that your power is about to be shut off for non-payment. If that happens during warm weather, a lot of victims will think they’re about to lose their air conditioning among other necessities like TV and internet. if the scam happens in colder weather, a number of victims will think they’re about to lose their heat. Although, that scam can also apply to gas utilities as well.

  The scam works as other impersonation scams do. The scammer will pose as a local utility company. While they often pose as the power company, it’s not unheard of scammers posing as other utilities such as gas and water. The scammer will tell you that the victim is behind on payments and will threaten to have their service turned off in A short amount of time. The scammers will usually say anywhere between 10-30 minutes. The scammers will then pressure the victim into making an immediate payment demanding that payment be made through gift cards.

  More recently, a scammer or group of scammers have started a new version of the scam that adds extra pressure to victims into making immediate payments. These scammers have been posing as the victim they’re about to call and will call the utility company saying that there is a service issue. This way, an actual utility employee shows up at the home while the victim is on the line with the scammers. This makes it look like the utility employee is there to shut off service.

  If you still receive your bills through the mail, you’ll receive a written warning in the mail before your service is discontinued. If you use electronic billing, you would receive an email first. Let’s also not forget the first rule of looking out for scams. No legitimate business or agency will ask for payments in gift cards. Gift cards should only be used for the retailers they were intended for.

  If you think that one of your utilities is in danger of being shut off, contact that company through either the phone number on your bill or their website.