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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on September 15, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Apple ( 35 ), iPhone ( 16 ), Scams   

  With new iPhones comes old scams 

  

  It can hardly be argued that no company has a more loyal userbase than that of Apple. While the days of camping out in front of Apple stores may be a thing of the past, that doesn’t stop the devoted Apple fans from wanting to get their hands on Apple’s latest device as soon as possible and as cheaply as possible. This week, Apple unveiled a new line of iPhones in the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X, and whenever Apple unveils a new iPhone you can count on the scammers to try to take advantage of those who are trying to obtain one.

  The scams that involve iPhones aren’t new scams, just twists on the same old scams. Mostly it will be people trying to get you to wire money to someone through Western Union or Moneygram in order to get the phone. As always, we recommend never wiring money to someone you don’t know personally, otherwise the scammers run off with your money and there will be no iPhone in your future.

  Some red flags to be aware of are things that indicate the ad poster may be from overseas. They can be little things as posting the + symbol before a phone number, or specifying prices in USD. Another good indicator the poster may be from overseas is if they list their WhatsApp number, as WhatsApp is not as popular in the US as it is overseas. Also look out for severely lowered prices for new iPhones with an accompanying story that says something like “A relative bought me this phone but I already had one”.

  If you’re an Apple fan, it may be better to just be patient and stick out the wait until Apple’s supply of iPhones levels off, or even skipping a generation until the prices become more affordable.

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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on August 29, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: charity ( 18 ), Hurricane Harvey ( 3 ), Scams   

  Beware of scams in the wake of Hurricane Harvey 

  

  Natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey often bring out the best in humanity with many people donating time, money, resources and even blood to help the victims who have been ravaged by the storm. Unfortunately, it also brings out the worst in humanity with people trying to not only scam the victims of the storm, but those who are willing to open their hearts and wallets to the victims.

  Victims of the storm need to be aware of fake contractors offering to repair their homes. A lot of people will approach storm damaged homes claiming to be contractors, however, almost anyone can claim to be one. Avoid paying contractors up front in full and try to stick with with people you know or people who have been recommended to you. Displaced storm victims also have to be aware of rental scams as well. As usual, don’t ever wire money to a prospective landlord and don’t trust anyone who won’t let you see the property first before renting.

  Lastly, for those of you wanting to donate to relief funds for the victims, be careful for a number of scams looking to take advantage of you. Stick with known charities like the Red Cross. The City of Houston also has its own relief fund you can donate directly too.

  Being a smarter consumer not only helps the victims of the hurricane but will also help keep these scams from propagating in the future.

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  Greg Collier 9:05 am on August 18, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: gift cards ( 108 ), Scams, tech support scam ( 56 )   

  New wrinkle on old tech support scam appearing 

  

  If you’re not familiar with the tech support scam, here’s how it works. You’re on your computer, browsing the web when all of a sudden a pop-up appears. It says something to the effect of you have a virus and you need to call a Microsoft technician right away. It then provides you with a toll-free number. When you call the number, someone says they’ll remove the virus remotely for a nominal fee. It’s a complete scam as Microsoft never asks you to call them for anything.

  Now, there’s been a new aspect added to this scam. According to reports coming out of Virginia, the scammers are asking for a new form of payment, then asking for additional payment on top of it. First the scammers ask you to buy a Steam gift card. Steam is a PC gaming platform and games can be bought with the gift cards. They’ll ask you for the Steam card’s serial number as the form of payment. Then they’ll say the number on the Steam card is invalid and they’ll give you a refund, but you need to then buy an iTunes gift card and give them that serial number. If you’ve made it that far, they’ll gain remote access of your computer and search for any vital information they can capitalize on. They’ll then sell the serial numbers to the two gift cards you purchased on the black market. So at this point, not only are you out of whatever money you spent on the cards, but you could have also exposed your financial information.

  Gift cards have become the new currency among scammers as of late. They’re easy to get and are virtually untraceable once the serial numbers are taken and sold. If you see any of these pop-ups that say you have a virus, never call the number on the pop-up. You should be able to restart your computer and you’ll be fine. More than likely you don’t have a virus in the first place, but just to make sure run a scan with your antivirus software.
   
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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on August 16, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: college ( 18 ), education ( 3 ), financial aid, Scams   

  College students need an education about these scams 

  

  The beginning of the school year for most college students is fast approaching. With that comes a number of concerns not just for returning students, but especially for those heading to college for the first time. As with any life changing moment, there are unfortunately a great number of scammers looking to take students for a financial ride.

  A number of these scams are variations on scams we’ve touched on before. For example, if a student is looking for an off campus place to live and a prospective landlord asks for money in advance without letting them see the property, then it’s obviously a scam. Along the same lines, if a student has placed an online ad looking for a roommate and receives a check for an amount larger than they requested, the check is obviously fake and cashing it could overdraw your own bank account. Other scams are targeted directly at students, like an offer for financial assistance or employment, where money is asked for up front for things like processing fees or background checks. As with most scams, if something doesn’t feel right, or feels too good to be true, it’s better to walk away from it than taking a chance with your finances.

  There are also some things that may not be scams that still look to take advantage of students such as credit card offers. While the offer for a credit card may be legitimate, the card may carry a high interest rate. Another great tip for students is to keep their identification and bank cards secure at all times as dorm rooms can be high traffic areas for identity thieves.

  Hopefully this knowledge will go a long way in helping college students have a less stressful school year.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:00 am on August 14, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: missing pets ( 12 ), Scams   

  Watch out for this scam if you’ve lost a pet 

  

  In the summer months, our pets spend even more time outside. Unfortunately, that also increases the chance of them running off. Very few things are more heartbreaking than losing a beloved family pet and not knowing where they are or what has happened to them. In our modern technical age it’s easy to take to social media or online classifieds to post virtual missing posters for your pet and they can be helpful. However, there are people lurking out there looking for just such an opportunity to scam you.

  Scammers are always on the lookout to take advantage of such tragedies. Loss of a pet is no different to them than any other moment where they seek to capitalize on your grief in order to make money. If you post your missing pet’s information online along with your phone number you could get a text from someone claiming to have your pet, but they will only return them if you send them money. They don’t have your pet though. So if you send them money you won’t get your pet back and you’ll be out the money.

  The best thing to do if you receive one of these texts is to ask the person for a photo of your pet. If they make some excuse as to why they can’t send a picture they’re more than likely a con artist. You can also better protect yourself by omitting some of the identifying marks on your pet from the description. This will better allow you to tell if someone really does have your missing pet. And as always, never wire any money or send any prepaid debit or gift card numbers to the caller.
   
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  Greg Collier 9:02 am on August 3, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: eclipse 2017 ( 2 ), eclipse glasses, Scams   

  Beware of fake eclipse glasses online 

  

  On August 21st of this year, a narrow path through the United States will be able to view a complete solar eclipse for roughly 3 minutes. That’s not even taking into account any weather disruptions that may occur along the eclipse’s path. With such a small window of opportunity to view a possibly once in a lifetime event you might think scammers wouldn’t bother with such a small potential pool of victims, yet they are.

  As we all should know, you can’t view a solar eclipse with the naked eye without sustaining severe optical damage. In order to view the eclipse, you would need a pair of eclipse glasses that have special filters. Luckily, eclipse glasses are relatively inexpensive. However, this hasn’t stopped the market from being flooded with cheap imitations and knock offs that could potentially damage your eyes. NASA states legitimate glasses should be designated ISO 12312-2 and should be labeled as such. According to a local news report from a city that’s near the eclipse’s path, if your glasses were made in the U.S., you should be ok.

  What you should probably not do is buy them online, unless they’re from a reputable vendor. A number of ads for eclipse glasses on certain disreputable websites carry little to no information about the glasses they’re selling. The actual glasses are cheap enough and are plentiful enough from legitimate sources that you don’t have to worry about dealing with fakes.
   
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  Greg Collier 9:01 am on June 19, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Denver ( 2 ), Rentals ( 14 ), Scams   

  Denver man takes on rental scammers 

  

  If you’re looking for a property to rent online, and you come in contact with an obvious scammer, we don’t recommend engaging with them. Any actual information they can get out of you can be used for their gain. Instead, if you really want to help prevent the activity of these scammers, we recommend contacting the Internet Crime Complaint Center. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate someone who wastes a scammer’s time in the same way they like to waste ours. A man in Denver was looking for an apartment on a certain disreputable classifieds site when he was contacted by a slew of scammers. Here’s how the rental scam usually works.

  In Denver, the scammers kept asking the man for a picture of a check written out for a phony deposit. The Denver man kept sending the scammers e-mails with no attachments, links to URLs that went nowhere, and a picture of broken image error message. It was a number of back and forth e-mails before the scammers realized they were being trolled.

  While this man recognized the red flags that led him to realize there were scammers afoot, not everyone does. Just as a reminder, if a rental price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If a ‘landlord’ wants you to send money without letting you view the property, it’s probably a scam. If they ask you to wire money to them or send money using prepaid credit cards or gift cards, it’s most definitely a scam. Education is the key. If more people are aware of these scams, less people will fall for them and that will begin to drive the scammers out of business.
   
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  Greg Collier 9:00 am on May 22, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: BBB ( 22 ), job scam ( 95 ), Scams   

  The BBB issues Summer warning about job scams 

  

  With the Summer fast approaching, a number of businesses will be looking for seasonal help. In turn, a number of scam artists will be looking to take advantage of those in need of employment. These con men will not just be using the sub-par pages of craigslist to find victims, but will be taking to more legitimate employment sites like Monster and CareerBuilder Recently, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) released their tips on how to avoid being taken advantage of.

  Some of the tips include…

  • Being wary of ads that say “immediate start” “no experience necessary”
  • Be careful of generic sounding job titles
  • Go to the company’s website directly rather than clicking on a link
  • Never give them your financial information
  • Never give them any money
  • Look up the business’ location

  A job may also be a scam if you are asked to be interviewed in a coffee shop or fast food place if that’s not the job you’re applying for. You should also be wary if you’re asked to be interviewed either in your home or someone else’s. Unfortunately, with these potential job scams, not only is your money at risk but your well-being could be as well.
   
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  Greg Collier 10:59 am on February 13, 2017 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: court fines, Detroit ( 4 ), IRS ( 31 ), phishing ( 92 ), Scams   

  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.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:50 am on December 23, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Nintendo ( 3 ), phishing ( 92 ), Scams, Super Mario Runner   

  Super Mario Scammers 

  

  The character of the little Italian plumber Mario has been a mainstay of video games for over 30 years ever since his introduction as ‘Jumpman’ in the arcade classic Donkey Kong. So it should come as no surprise that when Nintendo released a Mario game for Apple devices recently, that it broke download records for iOS devices. It should also come as no surprise that scammers were immediately trying to take advantage of the game’s popularity.

  The game, called Super Mario Runner, comes in two versions. There is a free stripped-down version and a deluxe version that unlocks the full game for $9.99. Several places online are offering to unlock the game for free but as the saying goes there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Most of these offers are nothing more than phishing attacks that ask you for your personal information with the promise of unlocking the game for free on your iPhone or iPad. Of course that never happens and now you’ve just provided and identity thief with all the information they could ever need.

  Many of us have fond memories of Mario somewhere in our childhoods. Leave it to the lowly scammers to take something so cherished and innocent and corrupt it. While not the lowest of the low, these scammers are at least in the top ten of the low, or bottom ten depending on your perspective.