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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.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:00 am on August 25, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Instagram ( 17 ), money-flipping ( 4 ), Scams   

  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.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:02 am on July 20, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: jewelry ( 2 ), San Diego ( 5 ), Scams, wedding rings ( 2 )   

  Avoid this wedding ring scam 

  

  For whatever reason, let’s say that you’re selling a wedding/engagement ring online. Police in San Diego are reporting a scam in their area that involves the online sale of these rings.

  In what has become the norm with these types of scams it’s actually a new twist on an old scam but it’s still designed to separate you from your money or your possessions. In this scam while you’re selling the ring online you’ll be contacted by someone who claims to be in the military and is being sent overseas very soon. Before they ship out they want to propose to their significant other. The seller will then receive a fake e-mail from PayPal saying that they’ve received the money. Some less than careful sellers may then ship the item without realizing they never received the money.

  Anytime that a buyer is claiming that they need to purchase an item with an extreme sense of urgency like that, it should immediately send up a red flag that it may be a scam. For the best results when using online classifieds is to always try to only do business locally, in person in a safe area and with cash only.

   
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  Greg Collier 11:11 am on June 22, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Scams   

  Interview with a scam artist: What they think may surprise you 

  

  If you’ve ever been scammed out of money online or if you’re just curious to take a look inside the mind of a scam artist I recommend reading this post from Inforworld by Roger A. Grimes. In it Mr. Grimes was able to briefly interview someone who reportedly scams people online for a living.

  One of things I took away from the interview is that even the scammers get scammed. It sounds like that the online classifieds scams are a pyramid scheme in itself since the low men on the totem pole are losing money to the higher-ups. Some may think that’s justice but that doesn’t bring the money back to the victims. One of the other things I found interesting is that at least this scammer seems to see his activities as almost like stealing bread for a starving family. He seems to have the attitude that Americans have all sorts of money lying around and can afford to be scammed even though that a lot of scamming victims have lost what eager life savings they may have had.

  The good news is that the scammer says it’s getting harder and harder to scam people out of their money online. As the number of people who have been raised with the internet increases hopefully these scams will become a thing of the past.

   
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  Greg Collier 10:41 am on June 7, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: phones ( 5 ), Safety ( 46 ), Scams   

  Just hang up 

  

  Even with the advent of the internet, phone scams are still as prevalent as ever. Whether it’s someone posing as the IRS, your bank or credit card company, or winning sweepstakes company they’re all looking for the same thing. They’re all looking for just the smallest bit of personal information to use to try to steal your money. Now you may think that you’re clever enough on how to deal with these scammers but you may be inadvertently providing them with the exact information that they’re looking for.

  This article from Forbes by tax attorney Kelly Phillips Erb advises not to engage in any way with these scammers. She says that your best bet is to just hangup on them. She goes on to say that of you engage them in any way you may be providing them with just enough information for them to try to either steal your identity or your money. She goes into detail about a number of the possible outcomes that could happen when engaging a scammer.

  Much like our post about being careful of your reflection it only takes just a tiny crumb of information for scammers to be able to overturn your life.