Greg's Corner

Tagged: money-flipping Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• 

  Geebo 8:00 am on September 20, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: advance fee scam ( 44 ), cash flipping ( 8 ), cryptocurrency ( 50 ), identity theft ( 105 ), inmate scam ( 4 ), lawsuit ( 47 ), money-flipping, prison ( 4 ), Scams ( 1,353 ), social media ( 79 ), TikTok ( 10 ), veterans ( 8 )   

  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.

   

  Leave a ReplyCancel reply
• 

  Geebo 8:00 am on April 22, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Cash App ( 42 ), cash flipping ( 8 ), money-flipping, Scams ( 1,353 ), venmo ( 28 ), Zelle ( 66 )   

  Cash flipping scam not confined to one app 

  

  By Greg Collier

  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.

  More recently, the cash flipping scam has migrated from Cash App and onto other payment apps such as Venmo and Zelle. A Sheriff’s Office in South Carolina has recently warned residents there that the scam was finding victims. The Sheriff even said that it’s almost impossible to recover your money once it’s sent to a scammer, since transfers are made instantly, making it incredibly difficult to find the scammer.

  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.

  https://youtu.be/owhLdGXeNWg

   
• 

  Geebo 8:00 am on October 26, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: advance fee scam ( 44 ), Cash App ( 42 ), cash flipping ( 8 ), gift cards ( 100 ), money-flipping, Scams ( 1,353 )   

  Gift card scam targets Cash App users 

  

  By Greg Collier

  To be blunt, Cash App has a scam problem. Out of all the payment and wallet apps, Cash App seems to have an inordinate number of scammers on its platform. The scam they’re most famous for is known as cash flipping. This is where scammers post on social media that they’ll give a large amount of money to someone’s Cash App account if the person pays a small amount first. For example, scammers will promise $1500 if someone pays them $150. Cash App hasn’t helped itself in discouraging this scam, since they have a giveaway every Friday on social media. However, the difference between a legitimate Cash App giveaway and a scam is that Cash App doesn’t ask for any money in advance.

  Now, another Cash App flipping scam is circulating on social media, and it bypasses Cash App altogether while targeting its users. Scammers are offering large amounts of money on Cash App, but first the user has to buy a gift card to give to the scammer. The higher amount the gift card is, the larger amount of money the Cash App user is supposed to get back. It starts at $1500 for a $100 gift card and goes all the way up to $10,600 for a $1000 git card. Anyone who falls victim to this scam isn’t going to see any money enter their Cash App account. Instead, they’ll be out the money they paid for the gift card.

  The age-old adage of ‘there’s no such thing as a free lunch’ really applies here. If someone is offering you something that seems too good to be true, they either want something from you or it’s an outright scam. Keep in mind that Cash App’s legitimate giveaways are considered sweepstakes and no purchase is necessary. Anyone who asks for money in advance for a giveaway is a scammer. Gift cards are also a huge signifier that this is a scam. Gift cards might even be used more in scams than as actual gifts. No legitimate agency or business will ever ask for payment in gift cards. If you’ve been a victim to any one of the Cash App scams, you can contact Cash App customer service through their app.

   
• 

  Geebo 10:00 am on August 25, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Instagram ( 17 ), money-flipping, Scams ( 1,353 )   

  Instagram scam targets those who follow their bank 

  

  An internet security company has made public that there is a scam being proliferated through the photo sharing app Instagram. The scam, known as ‘money-flipping’, appears to target users who follow any kind of financial institution on Instagram. The scammers will message a user telling them they know a trick to make quick money while the scammer’s Instagram account contains picture that flaunt wealth and cash. The scammer will then request the victim’s bank information to transfer some money to and then will only take a percentage of the money back.

  If this sounds familiar it’s because it’s a variation of the fake check scam. The fake check scam targets people who sell items online where the scammer will send a check that’s more than the amount asked. The scammer will then say they made a mistake and then will ask for the excess money back, usually to be wired somewhere. The checks then turn out to be fake after the victim has already wired the money back so then the victim is on the hook to the bank for the money they’ve wired and the scammers are long gone. With the money-flipping scam it’s all done electronically and you’ve been taken for a ride before you even know it.

  Instagram claims that this is only a small problem on their network, however as with any get rich quick scheme, if it sounds too good to be true it almost definitely is.