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  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 25, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    Blessing Loom pyramid scheme is back 

    Blessing Loom pyramid scheme is back

    The last time we heard about the Blessing Loom pyramid scheme, scammers were trying to take advantage of people who had just received their economic impact payments. Now, we’re seeing reports of the pyramid scheme returning to social media if it ever left at all. With so many Americans having financial difficulty during the current crisis, the Blessing Loom could be finding new victims.

    While a Blessing Loom may be shaped like a circle, it’s essentially just window dressing for a pyramid scheme. In a Blessing Loom, someone will promise their victims that they can exponentially increase their initial ‘investment’ if they just recruit new people into the ‘loom’. In theory, once the outer circle of the loom is filled the person in the middle gets all the investments from that circle. Once you move to the center is when you’re supposed to get your big payout. Except, the only people who truly make money through these are the people who set it up in the first place. Once they receive the investment money through apps like Venmo or Cash App, your money is gone and you just made someone else richer for doing almost nothing.

    These pyramid schemes often go by other names as well with all of them designed to lull you into a false sense of security. Using such names as ‘Money Board’ or ‘Gifting Circle’, scammers will try to make these schemes appear as friendly as possible to try to recruit as many people as possible into their scheme.

    The other drawback to Blessing Looms besides losing your money is that they’re illegal. If you try to recruit someone into one of these circles, you could be held criminally responsible even if you’re not the initial organizer.

    As we’ve said before, you wouldn’t give a stranger on the street your money if they told you they’ll give you $500 if you give them $50, so why would you give it to someone on social media?

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 24, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    Victim taken twice in Cash App scam 

    Victim taken twice in Cash App scam

    Cash App is a wallet app made by the company Square, who developed a popular system that allowed anyone to accept credit card payments on their smartphones. The Cash App allows users to make or receive online payments. With just about anything that involves money and the internet, Cash App has been used in a number of scams.

    One of the most common scams is called ‘money flipping’. Scammers will go on social media promising their victims a large amount of money if the victim just sends the scammer a small payment. For example, a scammer might promise $500 if you send them $50. As you might expect, the scammer just makes off with the small payment. However, that’s not the scam we’ll be discussing today.

    A woman in Pennsylvania received a request on Cash App from who she thought was her husband for $250. The person making the request appeared to have the same first name as her husband so she sent the money. It wasn’t until she got home and spoke to her husband that he told her he didn’t send the request. So now, the woman was out $250.

    To be fair, this could have just been a coincidence that the person making the request had her husband’s first name and made an erroneous request from the woman in Pennsylvania. However, we wouldn’t put it past scammers to either request money from random Cash App users, or stalk their victims on social media and pretend to be their spouses. The woman who lost the $250 did request a refund from the person who made the initial request but her refund request was denied meaning it could have been a scammer.

    Then the woman wanted to contact Cash App’s customer support and did a web search for their support phone number. She called the number that came up and was instructed to download another app called Quick Support and they would be able to get her money back. Cash App doesn’t have a customer support number, they can only be reached online. Instead of getting her refund, the customer support scammers were able to drain her account of over $4000.

    If you use any kind of wallet apps like Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App, use them judiciously as many of them are vulnerable to scammers. Always double-check that the person making a request for payment is actually someone you know.

    Also, never do a Google search for a company’s customer service number. Too many scammers take out ads on Google posing as legitimate customer service departments. Instead, go to the company’s website and look for a section that says ‘contact us’. It can be difficult to find sometimes and may be at the bottom of the website.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 21, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    How one state is trying to stop unemployment scammers 

    How one state is trying to stop unemployment scammers

    Like most states, West Virginia has also been dealing with a record number of unemployment scammers. The scammers have been using stolen identities gained in data breaches to apply for unemployment in benefits in the various states. This scam has been affecting all 50 states and the scammers are even applying for benefits in the names of people who are currently employed. In some cases, scammers have been able to change the address to where the payments are sent to.

    West Virginia says that over 100,000 people have applied for unemployment benefits but they believe half of those applicants to be scammers. However, The Mountain State seems to have a process in place to try to prevent the scammers from claiming the money.

    The acting commissioner of Workforce West Virginia has stated that even though debit cards are sent out to applicants, there is no money on them to start. In order for someone to receive payment on their debit card, the state needs to contact the recipient to verify their identity. So even if a scammer was able to get the debit card delivered to them, there are steps in place to try to prevent the scammers from stealing your unemployment benefits.

    If you live in West Virginia and have received a debit card from the state but have not applied for unemployment, you’re asked to report the fraud at Workforce West Virginia’s website. You can then go ahead and destroy the debit card. If you live outside of West Virginia and have received unemployment benefits you did not apply for, we recommend going to your state’s unemployment website to see if they have the capability to report the fraud. You should be able to find it by doing a web search with the name of your state along with the phrase ‘unemployment fraud’.

    Another step we recommend you take if you’ve received fraudulent benefits is to contact a credit bureau to have your credit put on a one-year fraud alert. You should also periodically review your credit report because if you’ve received fraudulent benefits it means your identity has been stolen.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 20, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    A new twist on the sweepstakes scam 

    A new twist on the sweepstakes scam

    Sweepstakes scams seem to be on the rise in the current uncertain economic climate. With so many people desperate for money to help make ends meet, it’s no surprise that this scam is proliferating. Normally in a sweepstakes scam, the scammer will contact a potential victim out of the blue and tell them that they’ve won some kind of monetary prize. Scammers will often claim to be from Publishers Clearing House since it’s such a popular sweepstake. If a scammer claims to be from PCH they have a pretty good chance that they’ll find a victim who actually entered the PCH sweepstakes.

    The hook of the sweepstakes scam is that the scammer will ask for some kind of payment before you can collect your prize. They’ll either say the payment is for taxes or processing. However, once you send the payment, the scammers disappear with your money.

    Recently, in Kansas the Brown County Sheriff has reported a sweepstakes scam where the scammers are trying to double dip their victims. In many cases, if a scammer finds a victim to give them money, the scammers will sometimes string the victim along to try to get the victim to make additional payments.

    In the Kansas scam, someone is claiming to be from PCH and is calling residents telling them that they’ve won. The victim is then instructed to send a money order to an address in Ohio before they can receive the check.

    Here’s what’s unusual about this scam. Once the victim sends the money order, they actually receive a check. The check that is sent to the victims ranges in value from $250,000 to $500,000. Then the scammer contacts the victim again and tells them that they need to send another payment to a different address in order to be able to cash the check. When the Sheriff’s Office investigated the check, it traced back to a bank in Africa.

    If you ever enter into any sweepstakes, please keep in mind that it is illegal for sweepstakes to ask you to pay anything before receiving your winnings. Even on PCH’s own website they state that if someone claims to be from PCH and asks you for money it is a scam.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 19, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    New scam targets seniors’ bank cards 

    New scam targets seniors' bank cards

    Through no fault of their own, senior citizens are often the targets in scams. This can often be attributed to the fact that in their day, phone calls were largely important communications. Today, it seems almost unthinkable to answer a phone call from a number we don’t recognize, but back then, people would rush to the answer the phone without even knowing who was on the other line. This could be why two senior Florida residents were taken in a very brazen scam recently.

    In Boynton Beach, Florida, two senior residents had their bank cards physically stolen by someone claiming to be a bank representative. In the first instance, a 77-year-old woman received a call from someone claiming to be from Chase Bank telling the woman that one of her cards had been used in a fraudulent transaction. She was then told that a bank representative would come to her house to take her old cards and give her new ones. A woman in a navy blue dress showed up to her home and took her cards. As you can suspect, the cards given to the woman in the navy dress were used in various fraudulent transactions and $2500 was taken out of the woman’s checking account. A similar incident happened to an 89-year-old man in the same area except he was told that it was Wells Fargo who was calling.

    A question we get often is who falls for scams like these. Scammers like to cast as wide a net as possible in order to trick a handful of victims. It only takes a small number of victims to make these scams profitable for scammers. We would imagine this scam or scammers called an inordinate amount of people just to find these two victims. While you may recognize this as a scam, not everyone would. We discuss these scams so you could potentially help someone who may be a vulnerable target for scammers.

    If you or someone you know receives a call like this, it’s advised that you hang up and report the call to police. If your bank suspects fraudulent activity on your account, they will call you to ask if you made the purchase or transaction. If one of your cards had been used fraudulently, your bank would more than likely cancel your current one and either send you a new one in the mail or have you pick up a temporary card at your local branch. They would also instruct you to destroy your current card. They would not ask to reclaim your old card.

    Also, please keep in mind that even though this scam may not have happened in your area, it could show up near you at any time.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 18, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    Scammers are still using COVID in car scam 

    Scammers are still using COVID in car scam

    Even though some restrictions have been lifted, scammers are still using the current COVID-19 pandemic to their advantage. In the case of used car sales, they’re using it as an excuse to either not show the car or to not allow you to take a test drive.

    For example, a mother was recently looking for a car so she could shop for groceries and take her kids to the doctor. She was shopping for cars on craigslist. She says that she found a used 2008 Honda in her price range for $1200. Unbeknown to the mother of two, the red flags started almost immediately.

    First, the seller said that they were looking to sell the car as soon as possible because her son had passed away. The seller then added that they didn’t want to do any in-person transactions because of COVID-19.

    The woman was then instructed to go to a website that purported to be eBay Motors. The website instructed the woman to buy the car’s price in eBay gift cards to purchase the vehicle. The woman bought the $1200 in gift cards and gave the card numbers to the seller.

    As you might have already guessed, the seller made off with the woman’s money and the car never existed and the eBay Motors website was a phony website that was specifically designed for the scam.

    The red flags are easy to spot if you know what to look for. The first red flag was that the car was priced well below market value. This is how scammers lure you in at first. Then the scammer had a sob story as to why they were selling the car so cheaply. This often involves a story about a death, an illness, or someone shipping off to the military but it can take almost any form. This is used to tug on the buyer’s heartstrings to lull them further into a false sense of security.

    The use of COVID-19 in the scam is a believable cover as to why the buyer can’t see the car before purchase.

    Another common red flag was the use of eBay Motors. If you find a car on one platform and the seller directs you to eBay Motors saying that eBay are handling the shipping then it’s more than likely a scam. eBay Motors does not do any shipping of vehicles.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrl-c_rirHs

    Lastly, the final red flag was the use of gift cards as payment. Gift cards can be drained of their funds almost immediately with the scammers disappearing with the money.

    Hopefully, now you’re forewarned with knowledge on how to recognize such a scam so you don’t lose your money.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 17, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    When should you expect the extra $300 unemployment? 

    When should you expect the extra $300 unemployment?

    As some of you may know, an executive order was signed recently authorizing a $300 per week federal unemployment benefit. However, not every state will start issuing these payments at the same time. For example, Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri and Utah have all been approved for the additional assistance. Meanwhile, South Dakota has declined the additional assistance claiming that the majority of job losses have been recouped.

    Unfortunately, even the states that have been approved won’t be immediately issuing the additional payment. Arizona has stated that they will be sending out the payments this week while many other states may take weeks or even months due to changes that need to be made to their unemployment system. That’s not even taking into consideration the states that haven’t applied to the federal government for the additional assistance. Those states have until September 10th to request for the assistance. Many states have said that the payments will be retroactive once their systems are in place.

    The assistance itself is said to last up until December 27th or $44 billion in payments, whichever comes first. That could change if legislation is written that would offer better assistance relief to unemployment recipients.

    Even if your state has applied for the new benefit, if your weekly unemployment benefit is less than $100, you will not qualify for the additional payment.

    Hopefully, this information helps and you can plan accordingly.

    We’d also like to mention that due to the potential confusion over the executive order, scammers may try to take advantage of this confusion like they did with the economic impact payment. Not to mention that you should also keep an eye out for unemployment scams and job scams.

    (H/T Forbes)

     

  • Geebo 8:02 am on August 14, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    New scam accuses you of heinous crime 

    New scam accuses you of heinous crime

    Police impersonation scams are nothing new. This is where scammers will call you posing as some form of law enforcement. In most cases, they’ll impersonate your local police department but there have been instances where scammers have posed as federal investigators. In all instances of the scam, the scammers are accusing you of having committed some type of crime before attempting to extort money out of you to make the problem go away. In previous instances, the crimes victims have been accused of are minor crimes like traffic violations or small misdemeanors. Now, some scammers are telling their victims that they’re accused of a much more serious crime.

    In King County, Washington, scammers are said to be calling their victims posing as the King County Prosecutor’s Office. The calls are even appearing on victim’s phones as coming from the Prosecutor’s Office phone number. The scammer then tells the victim that they’re being investigated for having inappropriate contact with a minor. Scammers often use fear to intimidate their victims into paying them and nothing is more fearful than being accused of such a reprehensible crime. The victims are then being told to wire $890 through Moneygram to have the charges dropped.

    As scary as this scam might be for some people, there are two simple clues that tip calls like this off to being a scam. The first is that the scammers are asking for money through Moneygram. Scammers often use wire services like Moneygram because once the money is wired it’s untraceable. The second clue is that you received a call in the first place. If you’re ever unlucky enough to be charged with an actual crime, police will never call you to let you know. Instead, they will show up at your home with a warrant or subpoena.

    If you ever receive a call like this, keep in mind that law enforcement agencies will never call you to collect money. Any type of fine that you may owe will always be collected through the mail or through the court system. Otherwise, it’s just a scam and you should hang up.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 13, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    TikTok text is a scam 

    TikTok text is a scam

    TikTok is a social media app and platform that allows you to make and view short video content. It is insanely popular among today’s younger generations. As such, younger users may not be especially familiar with certain scams that have been affecting the platform.

    For example, some TikTok users have been reporting that they’ve been receiving text messages claiming to be from TikTok. These messages state that the user needs to verify their TikTok account. The message then provides a link to click on in order to verify the account. While the reports we’ve read do not specify it, we imagine the link takes you to a phony page that looks like TikTok and asks the user for their login information. This is known as a phishing attack.

    With this information, the TikTok account can be hijacked and then used to try to phish information from that user’s followers. However, access to TikTok accounts is not the only goal in this attack. A lot of people will use the same login information on multiple online accounts such as their email and financial accounts. Access to those accounts could allow these scammers to essentially take over someone’s life. This could result in not only lost money but could also lead to things like having credit cards and loans applied for in the user’s name. If one of these text messages is received, it’s best to ignore it and delete it.

    Our readers tend to be in a different age demographic than those who are TikTok’s target audience. So why are we telling you about this TikTok scam? If you have young children or grandchildren the odds are that they’re using TikTok. These young users may not be familiar with the ways in which online scammers will try to take advantage of them. Many kids can be a little obsessive about their TikTok account and will react to any message that claims they’re in jeopardy of losing their account. It’s our job as their mentors to teach them about things like this so they can be better prepared for the world.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 12, 2020 Permalink | Reply
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    Commercial scams to watch out for 

    Commercial scams to watch out for

    Scammers will not hesitate to pose as even the most successful and trusted brands in our country to try to steal something from you. Whether it’s money or information, scammers will promise you the world to get what they want from you. Here are three recent scams that have posed as large commercial entities.

    On social media, a scam has been going around offering free pizza. Scammers are posing as pizza restaurant chain Little Caesars. The phony post is telling users that if you share the post and comment on it, you’ll receive a free pizza at your local Little Caesars. This is being posted by a fake Little Caesars account. The real Little Caesars account will have a verified checkmark next to their name. According to investigators, this scam is designed to get you to put some form of malware on your device.

    If you thought that a company as large as Coca-Cola can’t be used in a scam, think again. An email is currently being circulated congratulating recipients that they’ve won the Coca-Cola sweepstakes. This is a scam that’s as old as the internet itself. The email asks that you give your contact information to the phony Coke company in order to collect your winnings. Security experts say that these emails are an attempt to gather your personal information to use for future phishing attacks that could compromise your device or financial information. Remember, that you can’t win a contest you never entered. If you receive an e-mail like this, your best course of action is to delete it.

    Lastly for today, a number of AT&T mobile customers have said that they’ve been the targets of a scam. They’ve been receiving text messages that say their payments have not gone through. The text message includes a number to call to resolve the issue but the number doesn’t belong to AT&T. While no one has reported falling for the scam, we imagine it’s not unlike the tech support scam where the scammer will ask for money to try to fix the non-existent issue. If you receive a text like this, it’s best to check your account online to make sure there are no payment issues. If you need to call customer service, use the number that is on your provider’s website.

     

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