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  Geebo 9:01 am on November 23, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: pennsylvania ( 9 ), phishing ( 75 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), sweepstakes, unemployment benefits ( 23 ), unemployment scam ( 30 )   

  New sweepstakes twist on unemployment scam 

  

  The Keystone State of Pennsylvania was one of the first states hit hardest by the nationwide problem of unemployment scams. For those who may not have heard, scammers are filing for unemployment benefits in all 50 states. The scammers use the identities of people who had their information exposed in corporate data breaches. Due to the sheer number of unemployment claims that have been filed since the start of the pandemic, most states’ unemployment systems have been overworked. This has allowed scammers to take advantage of the crisis and slip through the cracks and steal benefits.

  Now it seems that the scammers aren’t content with using the stolen identities they got through data breaches. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, residents there have reported receiving emails and social media messages about having won a prize. The messages contain a link that takes them to a page that requests personal information so the ‘prize’ can be claimed. This is what’s known as a phishing attack. Once the scammers have the victim’s information, they allegedly use it to file for unemployment benefits in the victim’s name.

  Since this new variation of the unemployment scam is appearing in Pennsylvania it’s more than likely happening in your state as well. The unemployment scam is one of the rare instances where a scam has happened almost everywhere in the country at once.

  As with all sweepstakes scams, if you’ve never entered anything you can’t win anything. So any online message that claims you’ve won something is more than likely a scam. Once you give your personal information to a scammer it’s out there for good and can never be retrieved. Even if you clear things up with your state’s unemployment office, there’s a good chance that this could be the first in a long line of instances where you have to fight to prove your true identity.

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    Lorrie 3:13 am on November 28, 2020 Permalink

    I never got mine and I’m a victim of iidenty theft help!!!

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  Geebo 8:00 am on October 22, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: moneygram ( 5 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), sweepstakes, Western Union ( 3 ), wire fraud ( 21 )   

  Wire fraud victim gets money back from scam 

  

  Most often we discuss how to recognize a scam to keep from you losing money. Very rarely do we discuss how to get your money back after a scam. That’s because once a scammer takes your money, especially electronically, they can virtually disappear and never be heard from again. However, one man was able to get the money back that his elderly father was scammed out of.

  The victim in this story was an elderly man who was told that he had won $250,000 in a sweepstake. As is usually the case in sweepstakes scams, the scammers told the victim that he needed to pay a processing fee before he could collect his winnings. The scammers instructed the victim to wire the money to them through Western Union which he did.

  Realizing they had a vulnerable victim on their hands, the scammers are said to have convinced the victim to send over $90,000 during a 44 day period. This was all allegedly done through Western Union.

  The victim’s son tried to convince his father that this was a scam but his father wouldn’t believe it. Of course, the victim never received any winnings.

  The son, however, stumbled across a news article about a settlement the Department of Justice had with Western Union. The DOJ claimed that Western Union turned a blind eye to obvious scams and scammers. Western Union settled with the DOJ and a $153 million fund was set up for victims of fraud who paid through Western Union. The victim’s son was able to file for full compensation for his father.

  In doing some research for this story, we also found that a similar action had previously been levied against Western Union’s biggest competitor Moneygram.

  Wire transfers like Western Union and Moneygram are only second to gift cards in the ways scammers try to get their victims to pay them. If someone you don’t know personally is asking you to make a payment through one of these services it’s more than likely a scam.

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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 20, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Kansas ( 7 ), Publishers Clearing House ( 11 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), sweepstakes   

  A new twist on the sweepstakes scam 

  

  Sweepstakes scams seem to be on the rise in the current uncertain economic climate. With so many people desperate for money to help make ends meet, it’s no surprise that this scam is proliferating. Normally in a sweepstakes scam, the scammer will contact a potential victim out of the blue and tell them that they’ve won some kind of monetary prize. Scammers will often claim to be from Publishers Clearing House since it’s such a popular sweepstake. If a scammer claims to be from PCH they have a pretty good chance that they’ll find a victim who actually entered the PCH sweepstakes.

  The hook of the sweepstakes scam is that the scammer will ask for some kind of payment before you can collect your prize. They’ll either say the payment is for taxes or processing. However, once you send the payment, the scammers disappear with your money.

  Recently, in Kansas the Brown County Sheriff has reported a sweepstakes scam where the scammers are trying to double dip their victims. In many cases, if a scammer finds a victim to give them money, the scammers will sometimes string the victim along to try to get the victim to make additional payments.

  In the Kansas scam, someone is claiming to be from PCH and is calling residents telling them that they’ve won. The victim is then instructed to send a money order to an address in Ohio before they can receive the check.

  Here’s what’s unusual about this scam. Once the victim sends the money order, they actually receive a check. The check that is sent to the victims ranges in value from $250,000 to $500,000. Then the scammer contacts the victim again and tells them that they need to send another payment to a different address in order to be able to cash the check. When the Sheriff’s Office investigated the check, it traced back to a bank in Africa.

  If you ever enter into any sweepstakes, please keep in mind that it is illegal for sweepstakes to ask you to pay anything before receiving your winnings. Even on PCH’s own website they state that if someone claims to be from PCH and asks you for money it is a scam.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on August 12, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: AT&T ( 5 ), Coca-Cola, Little Caesars, phishing ( 75 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), social media ( 79 ), sweepstakes, text messaging ( 36 )   

  Commercial scams to watch out for 

  

  Scammers will not hesitate to pose as even the most successful and trusted brands in our country to try to steal something from you. Whether it’s money or information, scammers will promise you the world to get what they want from you. Here are three recent scams that have posed as large commercial entities.

  On social media, a scam has been going around offering free pizza. Scammers are posing as pizza restaurant chain Little Caesars. The phony post is telling users that if you share the post and comment on it, you’ll receive a free pizza at your local Little Caesars. This is being posted by a fake Little Caesars account. The real Little Caesars account will have a verified checkmark next to their name. According to investigators, this scam is designed to get you to put some form of malware on your device.

  If you thought that a company as large as Coca-Cola can’t be used in a scam, think again. An email is currently being circulated congratulating recipients that they’ve won the Coca-Cola sweepstakes. This is a scam that’s as old as the internet itself. The email asks that you give your contact information to the phony Coke company in order to collect your winnings. Security experts say that these emails are an attempt to gather your personal information to use for future phishing attacks that could compromise your device or financial information. Remember, that you can’t win a contest you never entered. If you receive an e-mail like this, your best course of action is to delete it.

  Lastly for today, a number of AT&T mobile customers have said that they’ve been the targets of a scam. They’ve been receiving text messages that say their payments have not gone through. The text message includes a number to call to resolve the issue but the number doesn’t belong to AT&T. While no one has reported falling for the scam, we imagine it’s not unlike the tech support scam where the scammer will ask for money to try to fix the non-existent issue. If you receive a text like this, it’s best to check your account online to make sure there are no payment issues. If you need to call customer service, use the number that is on your provider’s website.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on June 19, 2020 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: lottery scam ( 12 ), New Jersey ( 7 ), Publishers Clearing House ( 11 ), Scams ( 1,354 ), sweepstakes   

  Sweepstakes scammers show up at man’s door 

  

  Usually, today’s scammers like to be as far away from their victims as possible. Between the internet and cheap phone rates, scammers can target just about anyone anywhere around the globe. However, every once in awhile a scammer will take it to the next level to try to fool their victim.

  That happened to a man in New Jersey recently. Scammers targeted him in a sweepstakes or lottery scam. The way the scam normally works is scammers will contact random people to tell them that they’ve won a great deal of money in a contest that they didn’t actually enter. The scammers will then say that the ‘winner’ has to either pay taxes or some kind of transfer fee on their winnings before they can collect it. Even if the victim pays there are no winnings and the victim is usually out thousands of dollars.

  The scammers in this case posed as the most famous sweepstakes in America, the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. We’ve all seen the commercials over the years of PCH delivering oversized novelty checks to their winners. The scammers, in this case, called the man repeatedly to tell him that he had won one of their renowned prizes. They told him a representative would show up at his door with the prize. A woman actually showed up to his home claiming to be from PCH and was said to be holding a bouquet of flowers to make the illusion seem more authentic. Thankfully, the man was on to the scam and threatened to call the police if they did not leave his property. The woman got into a waiting car and left.

  No legitimate sweepstakes or lottery will ask you for tax money or fees in advance if you win as that is illegal in the United States. There’s also no such thing as winning a contest that you didn’t even enter.

  While we all dream of winning a giant jackpot to relieve our financial woes, don’t let the dream cloud your common sense.