Internet Scams Never Gets Old

• Girlfriend Scam: A dating site victim is lured with an image of a perfect woman that all men wish for and dream about and he believes the search is over. She asks for some money which she will use to fix her car to meet him (money to use for a meeting) and then more money is asked for other reasons. The day never comes or she never shows up. It could have been anyone using the dating site to scam.
• Craigslist Scam: A seller has something for sale on Craigslist’s free classified site. Right away a buyer is very interested in an item and makes an offer well above asking price. The buyer who lives in a different country wants the seller’s address and says that a check will be mailed which includes the item price plus shipping cost. The seller gets the check in the mail with instructions to deposit the check, send the item and pay the shipping cost to the shipping company. Several days or longer the seller is informed by the bank that the check was bad. And now the seller is out of the item and money.
• Charity Scam: Aftermath of an earthquake, tornado, hurricane or some form of disaster in an email asking for money to help victims. Beware, go directly to the known charity.
• “Infection detected” Scam: Message appears on the computer “infected with a virus” and offers a Free scan promising to find the infection. Yet when you accept the offer, Free is no longer free. And if you opt to pay anyway for the service, you get nothing in return.
• Sweepstakes Scam: You get an email stating that you won the sweepstakes and they need your mailing address. So, you provide the mailing address and in return, you get the winning check. They instruct you to deposit the check and in the meantime, they want you to pay hundreds for the fees and taxes.
• Family or Friend Impersonation Scam: You receive an email from a family member or a friend. It says something along the lines of “during my stay away from home (vacation, trip) due to theft, robbery, or an unfortunate event all cash, credit cards, cell phone, and personal belongings are gone. Please, need help to get back home and pay for hotel bills. Send money, promise to pay back once back home.”. The cause of this scam was a software hidden in your family or friend’s computer. Sending out emails to all known contacts and in some cases even a phone call. The best defense is to ask questions about personal events that the impersonator cannot answer. Remember the scammer has what’s on the computer so don’t ask for names, birthdates, addresses, etc.
• Credit Card Scam: Email stating pre-approved credit card. Just pay the annual fee. You pay but no card.
• Work At Home Scam: While searching online or in your email, you see an offer of earning a great amount of income working from home or Get-Rich-quick, but must buy a DVD, CD, ebook, website, some program, a list or even an item of equipment. You make the purchase and you get nothing or something useless. Then comes the hidden fees, upgrade fees or whatever additional fees they could think of charging. Not all are scams, but who has time to invest and find out. If you’re interested in a real work at home business go to How To Avoid Scams For Starting An Online Business or Click Here.
• Phishing Scam: Receive an email from a company you do business with informing you that there’s a problem with your account and action must be taken or serious consequences will result on your behalf. When you respond, a nearly identical website of the company appears prompting you to log in. Don’t log in or the scammer will be receiving your username and password. If in doubt open a new browser and type in the company’s address to verify the website.
• Vishing/Voice Fraud: Receive a call from a company you do business with informing you that there’s a problem with your account and action must be taken or serious consequences will result in your account. The caller may be a live person or a machine, however, the information concerning you seems legitimate. If in doubt, you should call them back by acquiring the company’s valid phone number yourself.
• SMishing Scam: Like Phishing, but uses cell phone text messages (SMS). When you respond you get an automated voice response system asking to take immediate action. Don’t give out your account or personal information.
• Nigerian Email Scam: A lawyer or someone representing a very important person emails you. The email states that this person’s and his family have died or came upon some form of tragedy. Due to this event, a large amount of money in the sum of millions was left to you and in need of your help to get the money out of the country. The representative needs to use your bank account to complete the transaction but in the meantime, they need a hundred or two for legal fees followed by taxes or more fees.
• Uncle Sam Impersonators: Scammers call and threaten consumers into paying back taxes, overdue student loans, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgage debt. Don’t trust anyone and if someone calls to collect money, tell the caller, want to take care of the matter in person. Ask for their office address to meet in person. Under no circumstance should you give out personal, bank or credit card information over the phone.
• Political Scammers: With technological advances in this present day, it is very easy to have just about any legitimate telephone number to appear on your caller ID. Callers asking for a donation for a political campaign should arouse your suspicion. No matter what, don’t give out credit card information over the phone. Have them mail you the donation papers so you could verify the information.
• Employers and Employment Agencies Scam: Scammers impersonate employers, employment agencies or services influence you to fill out job applications for the sole purpose of stealing your identity. In addition, they charge for bogus background, application, and other fictitious fees. Be careful not to give out Credit Card, Social Security number and Date of Birth.
• Robocalls: Calls insisting you take urgent action by intimidating, bullying, threatening, demanding money, payment or personal data from you. Although there are legitimate robocalls, make every effort to stay alert.
• Caller ID Spoofing (neighbor spoofing): You receive a call from your own phone number or a number that seems to be familiar. Scammers utilize this method to better their odds for the most effective telephone response. Be careful don’t get spoofed.

Jason