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  Geebo 9:00 am on November 22, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: arrest warrant ( 22 ), delivery ( 8 ), grandparent scam ( 65 ), jury duty scam ( 26 ), phishing ( 73 ), Scams ( 1,224 ), voicemail   

  Scam Round Up: Black Friday warning and more 

  

  By Greg Collier

  This week in the Scam Round Up, we’re bringing you a reminder of an old scam, a new twist on a persistent scam, and a warning about this year’s holiday shopping season.

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  The grandparent scam is still out there and shows no signs of slowing down. It’s becoming almost as common as the arrest warrant scam, which we’ll get to shortly.

  An elderly Florida woman recently lost $16,000 to the grandparent scam. A scammer called her, posing as one of her grandsons, and claimed he needed $50,000 for bail because of a car accident he was in. This scammer hit all the beats, saying he hit a pregnant woman with his car and not to tell anyone else in the family. The victim sent the scammers $16,000, which was all she had in savings. Her family found out when the victim started asking her friends how she could get more money.

  If you have an elderly relative, please let them know about this scam. If you receive a call like this, don’t say the grandchild’s name. This lets scammers know they have a potential victim on the phone. Ask the caller a question that only that person would know, to see if they are who they say they are.

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  As we have said on multiple occasions, the arrest warrant scam is probably the most common scam in America. It’s at least the most reported one. Not a day goes by where we don’t see a report from some police department or sheriff’s office warning their residents of this scam.

  Typically, scammers call their victim posing as police while telling their victims they have an arrest warrant out for them. In most cases, the scammers will say the arrest warrant is for missing jury duty.

  More recently, residents of a Chicago suburb started receiving voice mails stating they had arrest warrants. They were then instructed to call a number that did not belong to their local police department.

  It’s unknown what happens when the fake police phone number is called, but all arrest warrant scams are designed to scare the victim into making some kind of payment that will make the warrant magically go away.

  No law enforcement office or agency will ever call you to demand a payment over the phone. If you receive one of these calls, hang up and call your local police at their non-emergency number.

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  With Black Friday being this week, scammers will be out in droves trying to separate you from your money. This year, the Better Business Bureau is saying that the scammers will be more inclined to pose as a delivery company like UPS or FedEx than posing as a retailer like Amazon or Apple.

  This means scammers will be sending out texts and emails claiming you missed a delivery, or they need additional information to make the delivery. These messages will contain a link for you to click on. If you click on the link, you could be taken to a phony site that looks like the legitimate one from that delivery service. You’ll then be asked to input your personal information. Sometimes, you’ll be asked for your financial information for a redelivery fee, which isn’t a real thing. The phony website could also inject malware into your device, stealing even more information.

  As always, do not click on links in text messages and emails from people you don’t know personally. If you think there’s a problem with your delivery, go to the retailer’s website, and they’ll have the tracking information.

   

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  Geebo 8:00 am on September 7, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: business scam ( 3 ), contractors ( 8 ), impersonation scam ( 113 ), payment app ( 17 ), Scams ( 1,224 ), venmo ( 26 ), voicemail   

  Hacked phone call leads to business scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  It almost seems like anything can be turned into a scam these days. Granted, this is a blog that mainly focuses on scams. As the saying goes, when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. However, there used to be a time when you could call a local business, leave them a voicemail, and expect a call back from that business. Now, it seems, that even that is at risk from scammers.

  According to the Better Business Bureau, a woman from Pennsylvania left a voicemail with a local concrete company. She needed some repair work done. Instead of getting a phone call, she received a text that claimed to be from the concrete company. The text asked for a picture of the repairs that needed to be done and a $50 deposit paid through Venmo. If you’re unfamiliar with Venmo, it’s a personal payment app on your phone that is supposed to only be used between family and friends.

  The victim then received another text asking for another $50 before she was asked to pay for 50% of the price of the job. All these payments were supposed to be paid through Venmo. It was at this point the woman called the actual concrete company, who told her that they weren’t the pones behind the text messages.

  It turned out that the concrete company’s voicemail service had been hijacked by the scammers. Who knows how many customers the scammers took advantage of in this way?

  Now, we’re not saying that this type of scam is a national crisis. This is the first we’ve heard of this type of scam. However, it is something to keep in mind if it does become a bigger problem.

  Another thing to keep in mind is when a supposed business asks for payment through an app. Whether it’s Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle, these apps are only intended for personal use and not for business. Even most local handymen and women have ways of accepting payment through credit or debit cards. Any business that asks for payment through one of these apps may not be on the up and up.

  If you feel like things aren’t on the level when dealing with a business, don’t be afraid to end communication.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on July 27, 2022 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: jury duty scam ( 26 ), police impersonation scam ( 49 ), police scam ( 37 ), Scams ( 1,224 ), voicemail   

  New elaborate addition to the jury duty scam 

  

  By Greg Collier

  There’s hardly a day that goes by where we don’t see some police department warning local residents about the jury duty scam. This scam is simple in its design, as it uses a basic human fear to take money from its victims. Typically, scammers will pose as local law enforcement, even going as far as to spoof the police department’s phone number. The scammers will call a potential victim and identify themselves as a police officer. The victim will be told that they missed jury duty and now have to pay a fine to prevent being arrested. Most times, this is enough to get the victim to pay. The scammers will almost always demand payment in some form of untraceable means, like gift cards or a prepaid debit card.

  Now, it seems, jury duty scammers are stepping up their game as authorities in North Carolina are warning residents of a new elaborate twist to the typical jury duty scam. Law enforcement in the Tarheel State have received complaints about jury duty scammers who have set up business-level voicemail systems that mimic those of police departments.

  Instead of just trying to find a victim on a live call, some scammers are now leaving voicemails telling the victims they’ve missed jury duty. The scammers then leave a local return phone number for the victim to call. If the victim does return the call, they’ll be placed into a phone tree that claims to be from a police department. When scammers pick up the call, they’ll identify themselves with the names of real police officers from the department they’re posing as.

  Not only does a scheme like this add the appearance of legitimacy to the scam, it also shows the lengths scammers will go to.

  No legitimate law enforcement agency will ever call you on the phone and threaten you with arrest if you don’t make an immediate payment. Also, no court system ever accepts payment in gift cards, money transfers, cryptocurrency, or any other type of untraceable and nontraditional payment.

  If you receive one of these calls, hang up and call the police department at their non-emergency phone number. Do not use any phone number that may be left by the caller.

   
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  Geebo 8:00 am on May 15, 2019 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: BBB ( 18 ), phishing ( 73 ), Scams ( 1,224 ), voicemail   

  This voicemail should go unanswered! 

  

  The Better Business Bureau is warning about a new scam that has taken the internet by storm. It’s a version of the phishing attack with a new twist. Normally in phishing attacks, you’ll be sent an email that looks like it came from a legitimate business or contact where they’ll ask you to either click on a link or enter some information. These attacks are designed to either get your personal information or install malware on your computer. Now, according to the BBB, scammers have added a new wrinkle to this attack.

  In the new attack, the scammers will send an email that claims to be from Office 365 or some other business software telling you that you have a new voicemail message. The email will even tell you that the message is from a trusted source. Then the email will provide you a link to click on to listen to the voicemail but instead will try the aforementioned tactics of either trying to steal your information or inject malware on to your device.

  In order to avoid phishing attacks like this, you should never click on unsolicited links especially if you’ve never opted in for receiving these kinds of alerts. Never log into any of your accounts through an email link, instead log in directly from the main page or app for your account. And if you’ve been a victim of one of these scams you can report it to the BBB.