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  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 20, 2022 Permalink | Reply
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    Scam Round Up: New scam targets veterans and more 

    Scam Round Up: New scam targets veterans and more

    By Greg Collier

    This week in the Round Up, we’re bringing you three scams that might not be affecting you now, but you should be aware of.

    ***

    Our first scam has to be more than distressing to its victims. Scammers are targeting the families of inmates who are incarcerated in a county jail in Alabama. The scammers are posing as jail employees, telling the families that their family member has died in custody, when it isn’t true.

    From what we’ve researched, this is not a common scam, but has happened before. However, we couldn’t find any information on what the scam is hoping to achieve, since the scammers have not asked for any kind of payment. If we had to hazard a guess, we’d say this might be some kind of identity theft ploy.

    According to the local sheriff’s department, if an inmate were to die in custody, the family would be informed by the coroner’s office. If you have a family member who is incarcerated, you may want to find out what the procedure is for that jurisdiction.

    Sadly, this is not the only scam the family’s of inmates have to worry about. They are often targeted by scammers who promise their family member better privileges or an early release. These scams often ask for money. Someone receiving these offers should always check with the institution first to see if these programs are actually available, and should never give anyone their personal information over the phone.

    ***

    It always seems like social media has a never-ending stream of scams to deal with. It also seems that the short-form video platform TikTok is no exception. Lately, they’ve been dealing with a string of videos where scammers claim they can help you make a profit investing in cryptocurrency.

    The videos usually have someone flaunting stacks of cash or other signs of wealth while promising to make the viewer money. However, this is just a variation of the money flipping scam that has plagued Instagram. The scammers will promise they can get viewers thousands of dollars if they just send the scammer a few hundred.

    The scammers end up keeping the money sent to them and often ask victims for more money using promises of returning even more profit to the victim.

    Cryptocurrency on its own is already flush with scammers. Unless you know the cryptocurrency market intimately and can afford to lose an investment, you shouldn’t let other people invest in it for you, especially people you don’t know personally.

    ***

    Recently, an act was passed into law that allows U.S. veterans and their family to sue the government if they were exposed to toxic burn pits at military bases. The Better Business Bureau is reporting that scammers are using this new law to their advantage by promising veterans and their families they can sue the government for them. Once they get the veteran’s money and information, the scammers disappear.

    Another scam targeting veterans is one where the scammers are posing as Veterans Affairs. Again, the scammers are after the veteran’s personal information for identity theft purposes.

    The VA recommends that if you received unsolicited communication from someone claiming to be from the VA, you should contact the VA through their website. You can also find if you’re eligible under the new law here.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 14, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , identity theft,   

    COVID con coaxes college kids out of cash 

    COVID con coaxes college kids out of cash

    By Greg Collier

    Just when we thought we might finally be done with COVID-19 related scams, another one pops up. To make matters worse, this scam is targeting college students who have been getting hit extra hard by scammers lately. However, this new scam is actually an old scam with a COVID colored coat of paint on it.

    As you probably know, a considerable number of college students are always on the lookout to make some extra money. This makes them a high-value target for scammers. In this new scam, the students are being sent emails telling them they’ve qualified for a COVID relief fund. The scammers then have the students fill out an application.

    The student is then sent a check. Once the check has been deposited into the student’s bank account, the supposed fund will say there’s been an error and the student needs to send the money back. After the student sends the money back, their bank discovers the check is fraudulent. This leaves the student overdrawn on their account and responsible for paying the bank back even though they were scammed.

    So if a student falls for this scam, not only are they in debt to their bank, but they’ve probably been the victim of identity theft as well. If they gave any personal information during the application process, such as their Social Security number, they have most likely had their identity stolen. Again, college students are high-value targets for identity theft since they tend to have little to no credit history.

    If you think you may have been tricked into depositing a fraudulent check into your bank account, don’t withdrawal that money, even if the sender asks for some or all of it back. Instead, contact your bank and ask them if they can verify the legitimacy of the check. If the check turns out to be fraudulent, but you haven’t spent any of it, it will just be removed from your account.

    If you receive any communication that tells you that you’ve qualified for some kind of fund or grant, do not take it at face value. Research the agency making the offer to find out whether they are legitimate or not. In general, be suspicious of any offer of ‘free money’ because it could cost you in the end.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 6, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , identity theft, , ,   

    Student loan forgiveness scams have begun 

    Student loan forgiveness scams have begun

    By Greg Collier

    Around this time last week, we posted a warning about how scammers were more than likely looking to take advantage of the new student debt forgiveness program that was recently issued by the government. Well, the scammers didn’t wait long, as we already have reports of scammers trying to take advantage of the confusion surrounding the new plan.

    According to the Better Business Bureau, they’ve already begun receiving complaints about student loan scammers. In one instance of the scam, scammers are leaving voicemails with their potential victims, identifying themselves with generic names like ‘the Biden student loan forgiveness program’. If someone were to call the number back, the person on the other line would start requesting personal and financial information. This would no doubt lead to instances of identity theft.

    In another version of the scam, scammers posing as the loan forgiveness program will try to have victims pay a fee. The scammers might even try to get victims to direct their loan payments to the scammers’ bank account.

    There are two things to keep in mind with these scams. The first one is that the government is not going to reach out to you to see if you qualify for student debt forgiveness. It will also not be applied to your debt automatically. You need to reach out to the government to see if you qualify. The other thing to keep in mind, is that there is no fee to apply for the debt forgiveness. Anyone who asks you for a fee or payment is trying to scam you.

    As we said previously, the best way to protect yourself is to not accept loan forgiveness offers from strangers. Whether it’s over the phone, through social media, or any other form of communication, if they approach you first, they are not from the government. And again, you can also better protect yourself by not only learning if you qualify for the new program, but how the process works. CNBC has a great article on eligibility for the program, but you can also go to the Federal Government’s Student Aid website for further information.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 29, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , identity theft, , ,   

    Are there more student loan forgiveness scams on the horizon? 

    Are there more student loan forgiveness scams on the horizon?

    By Greg Collier

    Student loan forgiveness scams are nothing new. However, experts are warning that we’re about to see a drastic increase in them. This is because the White House recently announced a debt forgiveness plan that will assist many in reducing or eliminating their student loan debt. But with any form of government assistance comes two things, confusion and red tape. It’s the confusion that will bring all manner of scammers out of the shadows.

    In the past, student debt scammers have texted, emailed, and called their victims offering to help reduce the remainder of the victim’s loan. Some scammers have even taken to social media messaging to try to lure victims into a false sense of security. Legitimate debt forgiveness programs will not contact you. You will have to contact them.

    There are a number of scams that these con artists can pull on a victim. There’s the advance fee scam, where the scammers will ask for an upfront payment before assisting someone. In reality, they’re just after the payment. If you qualify for the new student loan relief program, there is no fee associated with it. If someone promises they can help you get the government’s debt relief and asks for a fee, they’re trying to steal your money.

    Then there’s identity theft. Some scammers will be out to get your personal and financial information rather than a payment. It’s especially important not to give your Federal Student Aid ID to anyone who solicits you with an offer of assistance. This information can be used to steal your identity and could end up adding more debt than just your student loans.

    One of the best ways to protect yourself from these scams is to not accept offers from random strangers on the internet. You can also better protect yourself by not only learning if you qualify for the new program, but how the process works as well. CNBC has a great article on eligibility for the program, but you can also go to the Federal Government’s Student Aid website for further information.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 1, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , identity theft, , Mega Millions,   

    Lottery scams in the wake of record jackpot 

    Lottery scams in the wake of record jackpot

    By Greg Collier

    We’re sure many of you have heard about the $1.3 billion dollar lottery jackpot that happened this past Friday. A single ticket bought in the Chicago area matched all the numbers in the Mega Millions lottery drawing. However, even if a lottery player matches several numbers, they can still win a substantial prize. This is what scammers are now using to prey on their victims.

    In the state of Connecticut, scammers are calling potential victims while posing as the state’s lottery commission. The callers are telling residents that they’ve won a lottery prize. The resident is then asked for personal information like their Social Security number. More than likely, this is done so the scammers can commit identity theft.

    Keep in mind that if you do play the lottery, even occasionally, you need to claim the prize yourself. In most cases, the state doesn’t know who has won a lottery. They only know where the winning ticket was purchased. Just think about how many stories there have been where a lottery winner never claimed their prize.

    This isn’t the only lottery scam out there. Another popular lottery scam is the advance fee scam. In this scam, the scammers tell a victim they’ve won a lottery or sweepstakes, but they need to pay a tax or processing fee before claiming their prize. The scammers will continue to ask the victim for more money, claiming there are problems with the delivery of the prize.

    There is also the impersonation scam, where scammers claim they’re famous lottery winners who are giving some of their winnings away. In this scam, the scammers will either text or send messages on social media using the names of legitimate lottery winners. The victims are then instructed to click on a link which will help them claim their gift. Victims have reported giving scammers their Social Security numbers along with their driver’s license information. Other victims have reported losing money when asked for processing fees and taxes.

    If you ever receive a text message, phone call, or social media message saying that you’ve won money, you have every right to be skeptical. Because, in the end, it could end up costing you money instead.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 24, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: identity theft, , , , ,   

    Text scam affects the unemployed 

    Text scam affects the unemployed

    By Greg Collier

    It’s no secret the economy is in disarray. It’s affecting those collecting unemployment harder, since unemployment payments aren’t going as far as they used to. That’s not even considering that unemployment benefits aren’t sustainable for most recipients to begin with. Of course, leave it to scammers to try to take from those who have very little to give.

    We’ve seen reports from two states, West Virginia and South Carolina, who have reported residents who have received text messages that appear to come from each states’ unemployment division. However, the text messages in both states are identical.

    The text message says, “Your Back-to-work payment of $4,200.00 is now available, click on to receive payment.” The URL in the text messages are disguised to look like the message came from a .gov address, but if you look closer, you can see the address actually ends in .com. If someone were to click the link, they would be taken to a website that looks like the state’s unemployment website. That website asks the recipient to enter their personal details. This could lead to identity theft or having their unemployment benefits stolen.

    Since this scam is occurring in at least two states, it could be only a matter of time before it’s in all states. If you’ll recall, the previous unemployment scam that occurred during lockdown swept across the country like wildfire.

    To our knowledge, no state is offering a ‘back-to-work’ payment through their unemployment divisions. The scammers are trying to convince their victims that state governments are issuing additional economic impact payments, like the federal government issued last year.

    If you receive a text like this, it’s advised to delete the message and not click on any links contained in the message. If you’ve already given your information to an unemployment scammer, you should contact your state’s unemployment office right away to let them know.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 21, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , , identity theft, , ,   

    Scammers accuse victim of money laundering 

    Scammers accuse victim of money laundering

    By Greg Collier

    A woman from Rochester, Minnesota, recently lost thousands of dollars to scammers. It started when the woman received a robocall that claimed to be from Amazon. The recording said that she had been charged for several Amazon purchases, and to press 1 if she did not make them. After she pressed 1, someone claiming to be an Amazon representative spoke to her. The caller said that they would speak to her bank about the charges.

    Not too long after that call, the woman received another call from someone claiming to be with the Federal Trade Commission. This caller told her that her identity had been stolen. The caller told the woman to protect her money, she would need to withdraw the money from her bank account. However, she was told not to contact police, or she could be accused of money laundering. She was then instructed to deposit the money into a Bitcoin ATM that was at a gas station. The victim lost $7,000 in total.

    This scam has a lot of moving parts, but each one is a red flag if you know what to look for. For example, Amazon does not call customers about fraudulent charges. Even on Amazon’s own help page, they say that if you received any communication about a charge you didn’t make, it likely didn’t come from Amazon. If you receive any communication like this, first check your Amazon account for any fraudulent charges. If there are any fraudulent charges, you can dispute them with Amazon, but you need to make first contact. Amazon will not call you.

    While the FTC is a branch of the Department of Justice, they typically do not call consumers to let them know they’ve been a victim of identity theft. Unfortunately, identity theft is usually only detected by the victim and not law enforcement. Also, no government or law enforcement agency will ever call you and threaten you with arrest while supposedly trying to assist you. If someone tells you to not contact the police, your best bet is to contact the police immediately.

    Lastly, no government entity is going to ask you to move your money to Bitcoin, especially if the Bitcoin ATM is at a gas station. While cryptocurrencies may have gained a modicum of mainstream acceptance, it’s nowhere near the point where the government is using it as a consumer protection platform.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on May 12, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , identity theft, , , , ,   

    Scam Round Up: Homeless victim loses savings in scam and more 

    By Greg Collier

    In this week’s round up, we have an update on a recent scam, a reminder of a grim scam, and a heartbreaking story on how heartless scammers are.

    ***

    You may remember a story from our last Scam Round Up where teachers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area were being targeted in a jury duty scam. More recently, this scam moved westward and is now targeting teachers from the Cleveland, Ohio area, with at least one teacher falling victim to the scam.

    This is where scammers pose as local police and tell their victims they missed jury duty and a warrant is about to be issued for their arrest. However, a payment over the phone will supposedly resolve the matter.

    Much like in the Pittsburgh scam, scammers are calling schools in the Cleveland area asking for specific teachers and threatening them with arrest. One teacher is said to have lost $2000 to these scammers.

    Again, when it comes to jury duty, all communication is done through postal mail and not over the phone.

    ***

    In Upstate New York, police there are warning residents about a scam affecting the families of the recently deceased. Scammers are calling these families posing as an actuarial company claiming there’s been a data breach of the deceased’s information. The families are then asked for personal identifying information of the deceased.

    In this instance, scammers are likely trying to commit identity theft. They want to do things like open credit cards or take out loans in the deceased’s name before the credit companies update their record.

    If you were ever to receive a phone call like this, the best thing to do is to ask for them to send a request in writing. While not a guarantee, this does go a long way on discouraging these kinds of scammers.

    ***

    If that story wasn’t disturbing enough, a homeless woman from Florida was recently taken for over $1000 in a rental scam. After saving up enough money for her and her newborn baby to rent a home, she responded to an online real estate ad. She was texted by the supposed landlord, who asked her to pay a $75 application fee over Zelle. She was told she couldn’t see the property for a few days since it was currently occupied. Then she was asked by the supposed landlord to send $1049 for the first month’s rent. Fearing she might not get the home, she sent the money.

    Anytime a prospective landlord can’t show the property for whatever reason, there’s a good chance they’re not really the landlord.

    ***

    We hope that our readers never have to deal with scammers like this. But if you do, we hope we’ve prepared you enough to detect them.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 8, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , identity theft,   

    Victim loses $25K to disturbing bank scam 

    Victim loses $25K to disturbing bank scam

    By Greg Collier

    A woman from Waco, Texas, recently lost $25,000 to scammers who were posing as her bank’s fraud department. The victim was asked by the caller if she had made a $25,000 advance from her account. The victim replied she hadn’t and was given instructions on how to move the $25,000 to keep the money from being lost. What the victim actually did was move the money from her account into the account of the scammer. Some may ask, why would anybody allow their money to be taken like that? When you see how the scammers convinced the victim to do so, you may then think that anyone could have fallen for this scam.

    The scammers convinced the victim that they were calling from the bank by reciting the victim’s transaction history to her. According to the victim, she didn’t give the scammers any personal information. The scammers were said to have already been in possession of the victim’s account number. We wondered how the scammers were able to obtain the victim’s account number and transaction history like that. According to security experts, scammers can spoof the victim’s phone number when calling the victim’s bank. This allows the scammers to get the victim’s account number and partial transaction history without needing any additional authentication. When a scammer is armed with that kind of information, it wouldn’t be difficult to get almost anyone to fall for that scam.

    The best way to protect yourself from such a scam is to end the call, and then calling your bank’s customer service number on the back of your debit card. Even if the caller ID said the call was coming from your bank, don’t take it at face value. Scammers often spoof the bank’s phone number to make the call seem more convincing. Also keep in mind that if there had been fraudulent activity on your bank account, your bank can usually correct the matter on their end. They typically don’t have you close an account and open a new one to protect you from fraud. That is fraud in itself.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 4, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , identity theft, , , , ,   

    Instagram scam promises free iPhone 

    Instagram scam promises free iPhone

    By Greg Collier

    Not too long ago, we brought you a post about how an Instagram scam could hijack your account. As we mentioned then, there are no shortages of scams on the popular photo sharing platform. Recently, one of those scams rose above the others to garner some headlines.

    CNET is reporting an iPhone giveaway scam is currently plaguing Instagram users. If you use Instagram on a consistent basis, you may have seen one of these scam posts. Users are being tagged by what are essentially spam accounts. These posts promise you a free iPhone 13 and all you need to do is click the link in the tagger’s profile. According to CNET, if you click the link, you’ll be taken to a website where you’ll be asked for your personal information and a credit or debit card number.

    While the CNET article does not go into specifics, we believe this could be one of two scams. The first one is straight up identity theft. With your personal and financial information, scammers could easily take over your life. Not only could identity thieves use your card for fraudulent purchase, but they could also use your information to take out loans or open other lines of credit.

    The other scam could be the advance fee scam. This is where a user is told they’ve won something, but have to pay a fee to collect their prize. This is a common scam when it comes to online giveaways. The scammers will disguise the payments as shipping fees, insurance for the item, or some form of tax. While this practice is illegal in the United States for legitimate sweepstakes, scammers aren’t concerned with the law.

    The best way to avoid this scam is to not expect anything for free on social media. Never click the links that these scam Instagram accounts provide. Furthermore, never give your personal information to random Instagram accounts, no matter how good the prize their offering is. Lastly, you can set your Instagram account to only be tagged by people you know or people you follow. You can also set it to where users can manually approve each tag they receive. The CNET article has the instructions for that.

     

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