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  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 5, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: army, , , pay scam, ,   

    Pay scam targets junior military members 

    Pay scam targets junior military members

    By Greg Collier

    For the newest members of our nation’s military, life can be rough. A bunch of 18-year-olds are embarking on their first journey into the real world while being shipped to any number of training camps states away from their homes and family. Now, imagine these fresh recruits with little life experience are being targeted in a scam designed to steal their money. You can hardly blame them for falling victim to such a scam.

    Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Fort Benning in Georgia, and West Point military academy, are all warning new recruits about a pay scam that leaves their victims without money. Scammers are posing as high-ranking military officials and calling the recruits to tell them that there is something wrong with their pay. The recruits are then instructed that in order to receive their pay and back pay, the recruit needs to first send money through Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, PayPal, or Apple Pay. Recruits who hesitate on sending the money are threatened with disciplinary action. According to one report, 74 soldiers have recently lost a total of $143,000 to pay scammers.

    According to the Army, if there really was an issue with a recruit’s pay, the matter would be handled at the recruit’s supporting military pay office. Even when serving in the military, no one should ever have to pay money to get money. Anyone who is asking a recruit to do so is more than likely a scammer. If you’ve been affected by this scam, the Army requests that you report it immediately to your chain of command. A complaint can also be filed with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

    If you have a friend or family member who recently entered the service, no matter which branch they’re serving with, you may want to share this story with them. Serving our country is already a difficult task. Our men and women of the armed services should not have to deal with scammers like this.

     

  • Geebo 9:02 am on January 4, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Damar Hamlin, ,   

    Beware of fake charities in injured NFL player’s name 

    Beware of fake charities in injured NFL player's name

    By Greg Collier

    By now, most of us have heard about the devastating injury that happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin during Monday night’s game. For those who may not know, Damar collapsed on the field during the Bills’ game at Cincinnati. Damar was attempting to tackle a Bengals player when he took a helmet to the chest. While the hit didn’t appear to be that hard, it had enough of an impact to send Damar into cardiac arrest. He rose from the field after the hit before collapsing. As of the time of this writing, Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition and is on a ventilator.

    Prior to his injury, Damar had set up a GoFundMe that would help children affected by the pandemic in his Pennsylvania hometown of McKees Rocks to get toys for Christmas. However, Damar’s GoFundMe has now been set up to help Damar fight his current battle, as his family put it. Thanks to the generosity of the American public, Damar’s GoFundMe has raised over $5 million.

    His family has also stated that Damar’s GoFundMe is the only fund being used by his family. To that end, a representative for Damar has said that scam accounts have shown up claiming to collect money for Damar. There is also a warning to avoid donating money to any Venmo or Cash App accounts that are claiming to be collecting money for Damar Hamlin.

    We here at Geebo.com would like to offer our thoughts to Damar Hamlin’s family at this time, and we’re hoping for his recovery.

    If you’d like to donate to Damar’s GoFundMe, you can do so here.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 3, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , FTX, , ,   

    Crypto scam victims continue to be victimized 

    Crypto scam victims continue to be victimized

    By Greg Collier

    If you follow the news, you’ve no doubt heard about the FTX scandal. FTX was a cryptocurrency exchange company that sold its own cryptocurrency called FTT. FTX is accused of allegedly falsely inflating the value of FTT. When this was discovered, not only did the value of FTT Crash, but many investors tried to cash out while they could, leading to a run on FTX’s liquidity. This is one of the largest cryptocurrency crashes of all time, possibly affecting one million investors.

    Now, you may think that FTX investors were all wealthy and can afford to take the loss. However, keep in mind that FTX advertised itself as the crypto exchange for everyone. Many investors into FTX were probably first-time crypto investors, who may have put a little too much of their money into FTX. And these are the victims who continue to be preyed upon.

    The State of Oregon has issued a warning to those who may have lost money in the FTX crash. Scammers are said to be running a phony website that appears to be run by the US State Department. The website claims it can help investors who lost money in the crash get their money back.

    This is a ploy we’ve seen used by scammers before, who prey on scam victims. What the scammers are looking for are a victim’s personal information and probably some of the victim’s money under the guise of being a recovery service. These scammers are preying on desperate people who’ve already lost money and are dangling the promise of recovery in front of them to take more from them.

    The reason this story should be important to the average consumer is that this scam isn’t limited to cryptocurrency. It can be done following just about any scam. In the past, we’ve seen it used against victims who have had their car stolen. We’ve also seen it used against victims of the grandparent scam.

    There are no scam recovery servicers. Once money is lost to a scam, 99% of the time it’s gone for good. That doesn’t mean a service can get it back for that other 1% of the time. Anyone promising they can get a scam victim’s money back is just trying to further scam that victim.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on January 2, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , ,   

    Scam Round Up: Parking ticket scam and more 

    By Greg Collier

    Today, we’re starting off the New Year with a handful of new scams.

    ***

    Now, the police impersonation scam is nothing new. This is when scammers pose as law enforcement and threaten a victim with arrest if they don’t pay a made up fine. However, a new variation of that scam has turned up in an East Texas city.

    Residents of Navasota, Texas, have received emails that try to imitate the city’s Chief of Police. The emails are coming from a Gmail account, which should be a tip off the emails are part of a scam. The strange part of this scam is the emails are asking residents to become collection agents for the city.

    While the news report doesn’t go into great detail about the scam, we imagine that the typical police impersonation scammer is looking for money mules to do their dirty work. It seems the scammers are looking for unwitting participants in their scam to collect the phony fines from victims.

    Always be wary of unsolicited job offers. With any job offer, if an email comes from a Gmail address rather than a business address, there’s a pretty good chance the offer is a scam.

    ***

    In a small Indiana county, residents have been receiving phone calls telling victims they’ve won a prize from the Mega Millions lottery. Victims are being told they’ve won money and a truck from the nationwide lottery. It’s with the truck where the scam begins. Victims are being told they need to purchase a $500 gift card to pay the driver who is bringing the truck. Since the victim may think they’ve won a large sum of money, $500 isn’t much to pay to get a new truck. This is the advance fee scam. It is illegal to make a lottery winner pay for their prize outside of the initial ticket purchase and subsequent taxes. That’s not even taking into account that most lotteries do not give out trucks as prizes.

    According to the Mega Millions website, no representative of Mega Millions would ever call, text, or e-mail anyone about winning a prize.

    If someone is asking you to pay for a prize you supposedly won, the chances are there is no prize.

    ***

    Lastly, if you receive a parking ticket on your car, make sure it’s from the city before making any kind of payment. In Scottsdale, Arizona, residents there have been finding parking tickets on their cars. The ticket states that you can pay the fine by scanning the QR code on the ticket. After scanning the code, victims are taken to a payment website that no doubt puts the money in to the scammers’ pockets.

    According to Scottsdale police, the fake tickets do not contain what parking law has been supposedly broken. Nor do the tickets have any kind of citation number.

    This is becoming an issue around the country as these parking ticket scams have been popping up all over, including a recent arrest in Santa Cruz, California.

    If you receive a parking ticket with a QR code on it, call the city to verify whether the ticket is bogus or not.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 30, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: American Express, , , Macy's, , , , , ,   

    Scammers try to scam victim again 

    Scammers try to scam victim again

    By Greg Collier

    In the 1984 sci-fi classic ‘The Terminator’, one of the protagonists describes the Terminator by saying, “It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop… ever.” That’s an apt description of scammers as well. They will use any opportunity to scam someone, no matter what the cost may be to the victim. And if that victim has been scammed before, then that just means they can be scammed again, according to scammers. Even if the intended victim didn’t fall for the scam, that doesn’t mean scammers won’t try to scam them again.

    A Rhode Island widow says she was scrolling Facebook on her computer when she started receiving a number of pop-ups that said her computer was infected and to call Microsoft at the number listed. Avid readers of this blog will recognize this as the pop-up scam. The phone number doesn’t actually go to Microsoft and instead goes to a scammer’s call center.

    After calling the number, the widow was told that her American Express card had been compromised, and she was about to be charged $16,000 for a fraudulent purchase. She was then connected to another scammer posing as an American Express agent. That scammer told her she would need to buy $8000 in Macy’s gift cards to override the fraudulent charge. The victim went and bought the gift cards while the scammer stayed on the line with her.

    The scammer told her to scratch the backs of the cards and give him the code numbers. The victim gave him one before realizing this may be a scam. Instead of giving the remaining numbers to the scammer, she went to the police. But the story doesn’t end there.

    The victim didn’t want anyone else to fall victim to the same scam she did. She posted a warning about it on Facebook. It didn’t take long for her to receive a comment from another scammer. This scammer said that the FBI helped them get their money back and the victim would need to text a phone number left by the scammer. The supposed FBI agent kept asking the victim for personal information in exchange for assistance. Thankfully, the victim realized this was a scam and ceased all communications with the scammer. Scammers never stop scamming.

    While the first scam is one that we’ve gone into detail before, the second scam is not so well known. That scam looks for scam victims on social media, and will try to send victims to a phone number or social media account that can supposedly help a victim get their money back. This is just another scam. Once money is lost to a scam, no recovery service can get it back, no matter how much someone promises you they can.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 29, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , ,   

    $200K property almost sold out from under owner 

    $200K property almost sold out from under owner

    By Greg Collier

    A man from Raleigh, North Carolina almost had a $200,000 plot of land he owns sold out from under him. The man has owned the property since the 1980s, so he’s probably not in the market to sell it. You may imagine his surprise when he received a message from a realtor, asking him if he was selling the property.

    The realtor contacted the owner because the realtor had been contacted by someone claiming to be the owner. The impostor was even said to have presented a North Carolina driver’s license in the owner’s name. The reason the realtor contacted the true owner of the property was because the impostor’s story didn’t add up. The impostor allegedly said he was selling the property because he needed quick cash to buy a home in Michigan.

    However, that apparently didn’t stop the scammer, as they were able to convince another realtor to list the property on Zillow. A listing on Zillow with a realtor’s name behind it makes the listing look as legitimate as possible. That realtor even started receiving offers for the property. Thankfully, the owner got the realtor to take down the listing.

    If a fraudulent sale had gone through, it could have been a legal nightmare for the owner. Even though the man can show proof that he is, in fact, the owner of the property, there could have been a long and drawn out legal battle to evict anyone who may have moved on to the property.

    As we have shown previously, this is very similar to the rental scam, where scammers have listed properties for rent they do not own. While Zillow is a great resource to help determine if a real estate listing is a scam, it is not infallible.

    The best way to prevent your home from showing up as for sale or for rent on Zillow is to claim the property on Zillow yourself. This applies to other real estate platforms as well.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 28, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Hurricane scams can help prevent snow damage scams 

    By Greg Collier

    A large part of the country just went through a major winter storm. Some homes may have received major damage, as snow can be deceptively heavy and destructive. When it comes to scams related to severe or extreme weather, they tend to follow a pattern. Take roofing for example. Roofs can be damaged in both hurricanes and snowstorms. A breach in a home’s roof is not something you can just let sit while waiting for the weather to improve. A homeowner may jump at the first offer of repair without realizing the potential consequences just to get their family safe and warm again.

    For example, take the two Florida roommates who had a whole in the roof of their home following Hurricane Ian earlier this year. One of the roommates received an unsolicited offer from a man who said he could fix the roof for $32,000. The man was even supposedly licensed by the state. The roommates gave the man a check for $32,000 and thought that was that. Except, the man disappeared for four days without doing any work on the roof. When the man finally reemerged, he asked the roommates for more money. The roommates called police and the man was arrested. It turned out he had allegedly stolen the license of a legitimate contractor.

    This scam may about to approach the parts of the country hit the hardest by the storm. Whether it’s your roof, plumbing, or some other part of your home that’s been damaged, be wary of any unsolicited offers to fix your home. Always get an estimate first and never pay up front. Also make sure that the contractor is licensed in your state. Many out of state scammers will be licensed in their own state but not yours while promising you that they’re licensed.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 27, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , ,   

    Amazon scammers have too much information about you 

    Amazon scammers have too much information about you

    By Greg Collier

    Since the holidays just ended, most of us aren’t really thinking about Amazon unless we have a return to make. However, we’re thinking about Amazon due to a disturbing scam using its name. To be clear, we’re not saying that Amazon is outright scamming its customers. Rather, there are scammers who pose as Amazon employees to try to instill fear into their victims.

    This typically starts out with a phone call, email, or text message to the victim stating that the victim just purchased an expensive item. When the victim says they didn’t buy it, this starts a chain of deception designed to confuse and intimidate the victim. Unfortunately, most Amazon scams end the same way, with the victim turning their money over to the scammers.

    For example, a North Carolina woman recently received a text message that appeared to come from Amazon. The text said that she had purchased a smart lock for over $600. The message also included a phone number to call if the order had not been placed by her.

    The victim called the number and was told by ‘Amazon’ that her identity had been stolen. What’s particularly disturbing about this scam was that the scammers told the victim that her children’s identities had been stolen as well, and even named the children by their full names. That can be unsettling for any parent. To be fair, the scammers could have just gotten the children’s names from social media, but it’s still alarming to hear your kids’ names spoken by a stranger.

    However, the phony Amazon rep said they could help protect the family’s identities. All it would take is the victim sending $2000 to the rep in gift cards and cryptocurrency. By the victim’s own words, she said she was unfamiliar with cryptocurrency and ended the call. In the end, no money was lost, thankfully.

    Amazon is kind of like the government in that they’re not going to reach out to you unless there is already an ongoing issue you contacted them about. Even if someone uses your account to make a fraudulent purchase, Amazon is not going to call or text you. You would just receive the typical email that Amazon sends when someone makes an order. And anytime a business asks you to send them gift cards or cryptocurrency, you’re more than likely dealing with a scammer, as these forms of payment are largely untraceable.

    If you receive a notification or phone call like this, check your Amazon account first to see if any fraudulent purchases have been made on your account. Then contact Amazon’s customer service through their website. Never use the phone numbers included in these messages, as they’re guaranteed to go to a scammer.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 26, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Start protecting your kids’ identities now! 

    By Greg Collier

    As a child, my friends and I would fill out credit card applications, thinking we found a way to get free money. This was before identity theft became such a worldwide problem and credit card applications were given out at stores and restaurants. We’d usually give up on the process when it came to the questions about employment and salary. Not that banks were in the habit of extending credit to ten-year-olds back then. Today, it’s different, however. With enough of the right information, even if the person is a child, lines of credit can be opened in their name.

    The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning to parents on how to be vigilant in protecting their children’s identities. Children have become targets of identity theft within the past several years. That’s because identity thieves enjoy the fact that children are basically a clean slate when it comes to credit. Plus, parents rarely, if ever, check their children’s credit reports.

    Scammers often get their information about a child through social media. Once scammers find a target, not only will they go over every post of parents’ social media accounts, but they’ll wait until more information is posted if needed. Meanwhile, children’s Social Security numbers are often taken in various scams where the scammers pose as people or organizations of authority who may legitimately need your child’s social. For example, the scammers may pose as a health insurance company who claim they need your child’s social to pay a claim.

    However, there are ways to protect your children from identity thieves. The BBB recommends checking your child’s credit report as soon as they turn 16, then freezing their credit. You will need to send documentation that proves you’re a parent or guardian, so keep that information on hand. However, when not in use, those documents should be kept in a secure location like a safe or safe deposit box. Also, not only should you limit what you share on social media about your children, but you should talk to your children as well about what they share.

    Lastly, if you start receiving things like credit card applications or collection notices addressed to your children, their identity may have already been compromised.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 23, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Scam victim gets money back in time for Christmas 

    By Greg Collier

    Due to the subject material we largely deal with at this blog, we don’t have many stories with happy endings. However, thanks to the season and law enforcement, we have a happy ending to bring you today just in time for the holiday weekend.

    Earlier this year, A Nebraska grandmother lost over $50,000 to the grandparent scam. For any new readers who might be joining us, the grandparent scam is where scammers target the elderly is a scam where the scammers pose as one of the victim’s grandchildren. In this case, the scammers told the grandmother that her grandson was involved in a car crash and needed the $50,000 for bail.

    The grandmother was instructed to send the supposed bail money in cash through the mail and a courier service like UPS or FedEx. As we have previously mentioned, no law enforcement agency or legitimate business will have you send cash through mail or overnight delivery.

    Apparently, one of the boxes of cash sent through the mail was sent to Massachusetts, as the grandmother recently received $25,000 back from the Boston Police Department. Thankfully, the payment was made by check. The family of the victim was also able to recover $4000 sent through the courier service. The remaining money has yet to be recovered.

    How is this a happy ending, you may ask? Most scam victims never get anything back. Too many elderly scam victims have lost everything due to scams. To recover over 50% of the money lost is a win in our book.

    This grandmother should also be thanked, as many victims of not just the grandparent scam are afraid to come forward due to embarrassment. That is their right, however, thanks to the victims that come forward, we can learn more about the scams and how to prevent them in the future.

    If you receive a call from someone claiming to be a relative, and they need money for bail or some other dire emergency, ask them a question only that person would know. Or you can also set up a code word with your family only to be used in emergencies. Lastly, call someone to verify the caller’s story. A scammer will tell you not to tell anyone else, but that’s a trick to keep anyone else in the victim’s family from finding out about the scam. Scammers will also try to keep you on the phone, so you can’t talk to anyone else in your family. Hang up and verify their story. No grandchild ever got extra jail time for their grandparents hanging up on them.

     

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