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  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 14, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , Detroit,   

    Even businesses should watch out for check washing 

    Even businesses should watch out for check washing

    By Greg Collier

    Writing personal checks has largely become a relic of the past. However, there are still enough people writing checks that check washing has been rampant lately. Check washing is when a check is stolen either from a home’s mailbox or a postal mailbox. The check is then dipped in a chemical solution which removes the ink. The thieves can then rewrite the check for any amount they want as long as the funds are available. This has largely affected older consumers, who still send checks through the mail.

    However, even though check writing has fallen in popularity with consumers, it’s still a common practice by businesses. If businesses need to pay their vendors, it is still often done by check. This can make them a prime target for check washing.

    For example, a woman from Detroit is a member of her condo’s board association. She wrote a check for $525 to a vendor and mailed the check at a mailbox outside the Post Office. A thief had fished the envelope containing the check out of the mailbox. The check was washed and rewritten for $18,000 before being cashed in New York. To make matters worse, the board’s bank is allegedly dragging their feet in helping them get their money back.

    Much like for consumers, the warning for businesses are largely the same. If you’re still using handwritten checks, there are special pens you can purchase that are resistant to check washing. Some experts say that gel pens and fountain pens are resistant to the check washing process.

    Also, if your business isn’t large enough to have your mail picked up securely by USPS, go inside your local post office to have the checks mailed. Outdoor mailboxes have become vulnerable to thieves in recent years. Check washing has become such a problem, experts say that $1 billion was lost to the scam last year alone.

     
  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 30, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Detroit, ,   

    New scam demands you stay on the phone 

    New scam demands you stay on the phone

    The invention of the cell phone/smartphone may go down in history as one of the greatest inventions of all time. While it seems like just an everyday thing to us now, these phones have given us communication availability at all times. However, with almost any tool or invention, there are those looking to take advantage of being able to reach you anywhere you are.

    Plenty of scams that find victims today do so over the phone. The majority of these scams will use pressure tactics to try to get you to make some kind of untraceable payment to them. Most of them will ask for payment through either wire transfer services like Moneygram or Western Union or gift cards to big box stores or giant online retailers.

    Even if a scammer finds a victim who believes them, there’s a chance that the scam could be detected one they hang up. In the past, store employees, bank tellers, and even police have stopped victims from losing money in these scams.

    Now, according to a report from the Detroit Free Press, scammers are increasingly attempting to keep victims on the phone for as long as possible to walk them through every step of the scam.

    For example, let’s say that the scammers is posing as a police officer and tells you that you have a warrant out for your arrest. They say that you need to pay a fine or you’ll be arrested. Now, they’ll tell you that if you hang up the phone you’ll be arrested. They’ll then stay on the phone with you as you go to a store or bank to get your money. If the teller or store employee starts asking questions, the scammer will tell you exactly what to say in order to avoid suspicion.

    The best way to protect yourself from these kinds of scams is to always keep in mind that no legitimate company or agency is going to ask you for payment in untraceable means like cryptocurrency, gift cards, or money transfer. No police department is going to call you and threaten you with arrest if you don’t pay a fine. Most legitimate transactions like this are done through the mail.

     
  • Geebo 10:59 am on February 13, 2017 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: court fines, Detroit, , ,   

    Don’t pay your fines through Facebook 

    Don't pay your fines through Facebook

    Recently in Detroit, a new twist on an old scam has reared its ugly head. People posing as city employees are sending messages to people on Facebook telling victims that they owe court costs to the city. Instead of mailing a check to city hall the victims are informed to wire the money in order to receive a discount on their alleged fine. As is usual with the wire scam, when you wire money to someone you don’t know they make off with your money and you have little to no recourse to get your money back, and you’ll still owe your fine if you own one. Unless it’s too a friend or relative that has approached you personally, never wire money for any kind of transaction. It’s too easy to be ripped off.

    This is reminiscent of the IRS scam where people posing as the IRS will call you demanding payment over the phone claiming that you owe back taxes. The IRS has repeatedly told the public that they do not contact taxpayers by phone.

    So please keep in mind that municipal or government agencies will not contact you through social media since social media accounts could actually belong to anybody and not necessarily the person they would try to reach. If you receive any kind of correspondence from a government agency that you believe may be a scam, look up the number for that agency and give them a call.

     
  • Geebo 10:10 am on July 18, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Dani Mathers, Detroit, live streaming, , , , Stephen Drake Edwards   

    Does live streaming bring out the worst in us? 

    Does live streaming bring out the worst in us?

    Live streaming has proven to be invaluable within the past few years when it comes to not only news but criminal investigations and social movements. Unfortunately, it’s also been used to commit disparaging acts as well.

    In Los Angeles, Playboy model Dani Mathers allegedly sent out a Snapchat of an undressed woman at her gym while making disparaging remarks about the woman’s body. Backlash from that incident not only led to Ms. Mathers being banned from the entire chain of gyms and the loss of her radio job but she’s also being investigated by the LAPD for illegal distribution of the Snapchat.

    Even more disturbing, 20-year-old Stephen Drake Edwards has been arrested in Detroit for allegedly brandishing a gun towards a man while hurling homophobic slurs at him. Edwards streamed the entire event on Periscope. He is even said to have done a second live stream on Periscope where he fielded questions about the incident. While he did receive backlash from the LGBT community he also had a number of supporters and therein lies the problem.

    There have even been more heinous crimes and activities that have been live streamed that have received positive feedback while they were taking place. The internet has always allowed distasteful groups and individuals to organize and communicate but live streaming now allows them to disseminate their messages and activities in real-time. However, live streaming is just a tool and like any tool can be abused for the wrong purposes. It seems these acts are more of a reflection of some of the more intolerant and ignorant subsections of our society.

     
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