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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.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:51 am on December 9, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Facebook ( 182 ), pyramid scheme ( 13 ), Scams, wine   

  ‘Tis the season to get scammed on Facebook 

  

  With Christmas fast approaching the scam artists have come out in full force, and where better to scam someone then where fake news rules supreme. In case you’re wondering, I mean Facebook.

  Reports are coming in about secret gift exchanges, such as the ‘Secret Wine Bottle Exchange’. In this particular Facebook post the poster asks for 6 to 36 wine lovers to buy a bottle of wine and send it to someone on the gift exchange list. Then your guaranteed to receive 6 to 36 bottles of wine yourself. While not quite on the level of Bernie Madoff, this is nothing more than a pyramid scheme. Once the person at the top of the pyramid receives their 6 to 36 bottles of wine, they have their ill-gotten booty and the rest of the pyramid is left holding the wineskin. For pyramid schemes to work you have to keep recruiting more and more participants. Eventually it becomes increasingly difficult to recruit more people and the lower tiers of the pyramid are left empty-handed while the top levels have already abandoned this set of marks and have moved on to something new.

  It’s not just wine exchanged though. These scams could appear with a myriad of titles, most referring to some type of ‘secret’ gift exchange promising you unreal returns. If you see someone on your Facebook feed sharing these posts you may want to politely let them know that they’re being scammed.

  While Christmas is a time for sharing and giving, it’s also the most wonderful time of the year for scammers and con artists as they love to prey on people’s spirit of generosity during this season.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:56 am on November 28, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Amazon ( 114 ), Cyber Monday ( 2 ), gift cards ( 108 ), Scams   

  Beware of this Amazon scam on Cyber Monday 

  

  Today is known as Cyber-Monday, an internet alternative to Black Friday. It’s supposed to be a day of deals, but it can also be a day of scams.

  While you wouldn’t think of Amazon.com being a haven for scammers it sure can be. Not unlike Ebay, Amazon has a number of third-party vendors. Some of these vendors can be potential scammers, especially if they’re asking for payments in Amazon gift cards. A number of people claim that they’ve ordered something on Amazon, bur they were asked to contact the seller before purchasing the item. The seller would then request that the buyer purchase an Amazon gift card, then give them the serial number of the card. The problem was that the sellers were scammers and got away with the gift card money. Sadly, Amazon is not being very consumer friendly when it comes to the victims trying to get their money back. Amazon basically says that once the gift card is exhausted, the matter is out of their hands.

  There can be some good to take out of this story. When purchasing something online, whether it’s Amazon or not, never make a payment with gift cards to a third-party. This is a scam that has been going on since the dawn of gift cards. No legitimate retailer will ever ask you to pay this way.

  So on this Cyber-Monday, gift cards still make a great gift for someone on your Christmas list. However, they’re not good for making payments outside of the vendor itself.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:04 am on October 21, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: employment ( 46 ), hurricane matthew, job scam ( 95 ), Scams   

  Beware of hurricane work scams 

  

  When huge disasters happen in our country it usually unites us in aiding those affected by the calamity. While they can bring out the best in us these disasters can also bring out the worst in us as it gives scammers and con artists a new opportunity to take advantage of our willingness to help.

  One of those disasters from recent times was the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that dumped millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. Once the spill was contained many workers were needed to help clean up the spill and reclaim the environment. Online ads started popping up promising paying jobs to help clean up the spill. However, a lot of these jobs turned out to be scams that left people stranded without money.

  In that vein, a man from Wichita, Kansas, recently came across a similar scam involving Hurricane Matthew. Matthew did a lot of damage from Florida to the Carolinas and the Wichita man saw an ad that was offering work to help repair the damage done to the Southeast. When the man called the number in the ad the man on the other side of the line asked for $100 for transportation but the man would need to find his own job once he got there. Luckily, the man realized that this was a scam before he lost any money.

  To keep yourself safe from these scams just keep in mind that no legitimate employer will ever ask you for money up front. A lot of these scams will ask for a processing fee, a background check fee, or a drug test fee. If any potential employer asks you for any of these, it’s a good indicator that it’s a scam and there is no job.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:58 am on October 19, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Atlanta ( 4 ), fake nurse, Scams, used car ( 41 )   

  Ga. woman taken in fake nurse scam 

  

  In DeKalb County, Georgia, a local woman was scammed out of $1600 after responding to an online ad for a used car. The ‘seller’ met the woman at an Atlanta hospital claiming that she was a nurse. The woman paid the ‘nurse’ $1600 and was given a set of keys. The seller claimed that since she was ‘at work’ and had patients, she couldn’t leave the hospital and instructed the woman where she could find the car in the parking garage. The problem was not only that there was no car but it’s believed the suspect was not a nurse and was only using the hospital to complete the scam.

  This should serve as a warning to other potential buyers. Whether you’re searching for a used car or even a rental property, never put money down on anything sight unseen. If someone is telling you for whatever reason that they can’t present the item or property, walk away. While a legitimate seller may have valid reasons for doing so, most times it will be a scam and as seen in this story, scammers will stoop to any level in order to swindle their victims.

   
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  Greg Collier 11:41 am on October 18, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Election ( 21 ), phone scam ( 51 ), Scams   

  Con artists cashing in on the election 

  

  With election season now in full swing, it has brought out all the liars, cheats and thieves, and that’s not just the candidates. *rimshot*

  Consumer Affairs is reporting that with such a heated presidential election, phone related election scams have increased by multitudes. As they point out the election season is such a fertile breeding ground for phone scams because political organizations are exempt from the national do not call list. This has allowed scammers to pose as various members of election rated organizations to try to separate you from either your money or your personal information.

  The top three of these phone scams are people asking you to re-register to vote, campaign donations and the political survey that promises a prize. First off, once you’re registered to vote you do not have to ever re-register unless you move to a new municipality and that can not be done over the phone. With the survey prize offer, that could turn out to be either an attempt to get your personal information or to try to get you pay a ‘processing fee’ to claim the non-existent prize. Lastly the campaign donation is a simple one in that they just want to get your money. As Consumer Affairs suggests, even if you are being solicited for a legitimate campaign donation, you should go to the candidate’s website to make the donation.

  As a common rule you should never give any information or money to anyone who calls you unsolicited. Whether they claim to be the IRS, an election campaign or a charity, do not give any of your information over the phone.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:01 am on September 8, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Apple ( 35 ), iPhone ( 16 ), Scams   

  With a new iPhone new scams will appear 

  

  As I’m sure you’ve heard, Apple announced the release of the iPhone 7 yesterday. They made headlines for dropping the standard headphone jack and including a proprietary set of earbuds that Apple calls EarPods, among other new features for the much-anticipated phone. Apple will start taking preorders tomorrow, while the sale of the new phones will take place on September 16th.

  On the first day of sales, it’s almost guaranteed that ads will pop up online promising great deals for the iPhone 7. With the price of the iPhone starting at $649 and topping off at $969 there will more than likely be online ads promising great deals. As always, if something sounds too good to be true it probably is. More than likely these ads will be trying to separate you from your money without having the payoff of receiving an iPhone. Remember, if someone asks you to wire them the payment, you’ll be out of your money and won’t be getting an iPhone.

  If you’re that much of an Apple devotee, your best bet is to get the phone the old-fashioned way. You can either keep refreshing your browser tonight until the preorders go live or camp out in line at the Apple store next week. Just as in life, there are no shortcuts to an iPhone.