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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 ( 47 ), 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.

   
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  Greg Collier 8:49 am on May 25, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Scams, tickets ( 17 )   

  Online ticket sales are rip-offs 

  

  And I’m not even talking about the exorbitant service fees that legal ticket vendors add on.

  Anyway if you’re looking to buy tickets to that sold out concert, game or show you may have considered looking to online marketplaces in hopes for finding a pair of tickets at a reasonable price. Best of luck to you since finding tickets like that is almost like finding the Holy Grail but here are some tips to use in order to avoid being scammed.

  The first is being asked to wire the payment to the seller. This is a good tip to keep in mind with just about any online transaction. If someone asks you to wire the money to them through services like MoneyGram or Western Union it’s more than likely a scam. In cases like this the tickets never existed and the seller is almost impossible to track and you’ll lose your money and have no tickets. While those wiring services are legitimate services for sending money to people you know they are used heavily by scammers.

  Another tip to keep in mind is to never buy the copy of an e-ticket from someone online. There’s nothing stopping someone from buying an e-ticket with a stolen credit card then selling copies of the e-ticket to multiple victims.

  This last item isn’t as much of a tip as it is an explanation. You usually can’t defend yourself against counterfeiters. Once you’ve been sold a counterfeit ticket you’ve already lost and you have little recourse against the scammer. Counterfeits range from cancelled tickets that were charged on stolen credit cards to tickets that were printed on a computer that look so genuine it’s almost impossible to tell apart from the real thing.

  With the summer months upon us many of these activities will be in full swing. Don’t let yourself fall into one of these traps.

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  Greg Collier 9:24 am on May 23, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: BBB ( 22 ), Scams   

  Is this the ultimate scam busting tool? 

  

  Scams exist everywhere these days. Not only has the internet become a virtual goldmine for scammers and con artists but scams still persist in the offline world. What’s worse is that these scams often target specific geographic locations in the country at different times. If you want to keep tabs on probable scams in your area you definitely want to bookmark the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker. If you allow the Scam Tracker to discern your location it will tell you about both the on and offline scams that are occurring in your area. For example, in the Kansas City area there’s a scam going on where someone will call you pretending to be the IRS telling you that you have an overdue tax bill while they try to get some kind of payment out of you. For the record, the IRS never contacts anyone by phone.

  Even if you’re tech savvy or street smart you should still check out the scams going on in your community from time to time. You’d be surprised how often that your friends or family members could be targeted by scammers. With the help of the BBB you could be a potential protector of your community.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:48 am on May 18, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: employment ( 46 ), Scams, work at home ( 14 )   

  Is work at home just fly by night? 

  

  The off ramp to bankruptcy

  The work at home con has been around longer than the internet. Back in pre-internet days one of those cons was known as envelope stuffing. In it a prospective ’employee’ would pay a fee to receive materials in order to stuff mailers recruiting even more people into the scheme. With the proliferation of the internet these schemes have only become more prevalent.

  In more modern times instead of stuffing envelopes the victim, or mark, is asked to send of number of e-mails instead of envelopes, after paying money for ‘exclusive’ e-mailing software. Another work at home scheme that’s been around forever is that the ‘company’ will ask you to assemble small items such as jewelry. Again they will ask you for up front payment for materials then claim they only accept quality assembled items and your items will never meet their standards. One more work at home scam that’s been updated for the internet is the medical billing scam. While medical billing is a legitimate profession what the con artists will do is again, ask for money up front for either software or training. What they don’t tell the victim is that most medical offices usually have an in-house billing staff and rarely do they give out work to at home freelancers.

  While there are legitimate work at home positions the majority of them on the internet are designed to separate you from your money, your personal information or both. You should never have to pay money to get a job. So if you see an ad, either online or off, that promises big paydays for minimal effort stay away from it at all costs.

   
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  Greg Collier 7:04 am on May 16, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: real estate ( 140 ), Rentals ( 14 ), Scams   

  Don’t be left broke and homeless when looking for a place to rent 

  

  One of the oldest online commerce scams is the rental property scam. How it works is the scam artist will usually copy a legitimate ad for a house for sale but will make it appear in their ad that the property is for rent, usually at a rate that is almost too good to be true. Some red flags when it comes these ads is that the ‘seller’ will claim that their getting ready to go overseas, or for some reason they won’t be able to meet you face to face. They’ll also try to pressure you into paying a deposit without inspecting the property. In most cases they’ll try to do that through poorly spelled emails or emails where it’s apparent that they may not be native English speakers.

  However there’s an easier way to avoid having the scam go this far. Most legitimate rental properties should be listed with the county or municipality their being rented in. The owner’s contact information should be a matter of public record and if it doesn’t match with what you’re being told or if the property is not listed at all then it’s more than likely a scam.

  Too many families have been left without a home or money falling for these types of scams. With just a little bit of knowledge you can avoid being taken online.

   
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  Greg Collier 9:24 am on May 10, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: phone numbers ( 2 ), Scams   

  Use this subtle trick to spot the most clever of scam artists 

  

  So you finally found the hot ticket item that you’ve been searching for. Everything appears to be on the level so you get ready to call the seller then you notice something peculiar. Before their phone number they’ve typed a + symbol. Probably just a typo right? Don’t be so sure.

  In areas outside of the US the + symbol before a phone number usually indicates that you’ll be dialing what’s known as a country code. For example the US country code is +1 while the UK is +44. Since a great number of online scammers come from overseas they sometimes have a habit of putting the + symbol before US phone numbers even though we don’t use them here.

  Another less subtle way to notice an overseas scammer is if they ask you to contact them a messaging app. For example you may see an ad where the seller asks you to contact them through WhatsApp. Whatsapp is very popular overseas since a lot of countries don’t have cell phone plans that include unlimited texting so they use these apps instead.

  And as always one of the best tips in dealing with online transactions is to only deal locally and with cash.

   
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  Greg Collier 8:46 am on May 9, 2016 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: lenders ( 2 ), loan ( 5 ), Scams   

  Think that loan offer is a lifesaver? Think again. 

  

  So you find yourself desperately short on cash and some bills need to be paid or else. While perusing the internet you find an online ad promising a loan with a low fixed rate and implied promises that you’ll be approved for thousands of dollars. This has to be too good to be true right? You bet it is.

  Once again this is another overseas scam designed to separate you from what little money you may have and possibly more. What happens when you respond to one of these ads is that you’ll receive an email form to fill out asking for all sorts of personal information. Once you fill that out and send it back you’ll be told that there is a processing fee in order to expedite the loan. It’s usually an exorbitant amount and once you pay it you’ll never hear from them again. Now they have what little money you had left and possibly your personal information as well for identity theft purposes.

  Unfortunately if you are in debt there are no overnight solutions to your problem. Most debt counselors will tell you to make a budget and stick to it while not making any frivolous purchases. That may be of little comfort right now but in the long run with a little discipline you can come out on top.