Fraud
Safety Tips
Scams
to Watch Out For
For additional Scams go to: http://www.idtheftcenter.org/index.shtml Account
verification or "phisher" scams: For several years, individuals have
purchased domain names that are similar to those of legitimate companies. It may
be in a form such as: abccompany-accounts.net. The real company is abccompany
but it does not have a "-accounts" in its domain. These con artists then send
out millions of emails asking consumers to verify account information and even
SSN. Prior to agreeing to do this, check with the company directly and see if
the email originally was sent from them. In almost all cases, you will be told
that it is a scam. The latest: verification scams are: E-Bay, Best Buys, Discover
Card, e-gold.com, ebay-verification.net and change-ebay.com. Almost all Internet
server names have been used for this scam as well. Companies that have been known
to be victims of this scam include: AOL, MSN, Earthlink,PayPay, Discover Card,
Bank of America, Providian and perhaps Wells Fargo. Sign-in
Rosters: There are some companies and governmental agencies (colleges,
EDD, state-sponsored programs) that ask you to put your
name and SSN on a sign-in roster. Please be aware that identity thieves may sign
up toward the end of a page (purposely) so that they can copy and collect personal
identifying information. If you encounter a sign-in roster like this, the best
way to handle the situation is to write the following instead of your SSN - "will
provide in person." You might also question a company/school representative about
this practice and see if you can get it discontinued. It is dangerous and should
be stopped. Some state laws will be addressing this in the next year or so. If
this is a classroom situation and you do not need the credits, you may choose
to leave the space for SSN either blank or filled in with 000-00-0000. Please
do not make up a number. It might belong to another innocent person and hurt his
or her credit. "Help
move money from my country," aka Nigerian 419 Scam: Everyone has received
an email from a representative of a foreign government asking you to help move
money from one account to another. This scan still nets $100 million annually
so people are falling for it. Nigerian Money Offers now account for about 12 percent
of the scam offers people have said they've received, according to a recent National
Consumers League poll. However complaints about these offers increased 900 percent
from 2000 to 2001. The latest versions of this scam include a dying woman, a soldier
and emails other than from Nigeria. Canadian/Netherlands
Lottery: "You Have Won"- Unless you entered a lottery or bought a ticket
to win a prize, these are scams. They originate from the Netherlands and other
foreign countries. This scam can cost you more than $20,000. Many include: From:
"Promotions Manager" : CONGRATULATIONS! WERKEN BIJ DE LOTTO, 41132, NL-1007 DB
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS. NEW- Via US Mail there is a new scam about a "Spanish
Lottery." Do not respond, turn it over to your local postal inspector. "You
have won a free gift" : You may receive either a phone call or email
about a free gift or prize. You just need to send your credit card info to take
care of shipping and handling. DON'T. Free means free, there should be no charge.
Also, you must consider if this is a group sending out a cheap gift in exchange
for finding a "live" phone number or email address. Responding may result in hundreds
of spans or telemarketing calls. Check
Cashing Jobs Many people have been placing their resumes on various Internet
sites provided job-finding services. They have been contacted by various companies
that ultimately send checks to them to cash and return overage monies to the company
at an overseas address. The checks are found to be counterfeit. Remember that
there really are no businesses that cannot cash their own checks and sending them
to you to cash for them should indicate that something is wrong.
Check
Overpayment Scams "Check
overpayment" scams target consumers selling cars or other valuable items
through classified ads or online auction sites. Unsuspecting sellers get stuck
with a big loss when scammers pass off bogus cashier's checks, corporate checks,
or personal checks. The Federal Trade Commission has issued a new consumer alert,
"Check Overpayment Scams: Seller Beware" that explains this scam and
offers consumers tips on how to protect themselves and their pocketbooks. According
to the FTC, a check overpayment scam begins when a scam artist replies to the
classified ad or auction posting and offers to purchase the item for sale with
a check, then comes up with a reason for writing the check for more than the purchase
price for the item. The scammer asks the consumer to wire back the difference
after the check is deposited. Later, the scammer’s check bounces, leaving
the consumer liable for the entire amount. The FTC says the scam is able to progress
because, though the checks are counterfeit, they may look good enough to fool
bank tellers. The
FTC gives the following tips to avoid check overpayment scams:
- Know
who you are dealing with – independently confirm your buyer’s name,
street address, and telephone number.
- Never
accept a check for more than your selling price.
- Never
agree to wire back funds to a buyer; a legitimate buyer will not pressure you
to do so, and you have limited recourse if there is a problem with a wire transfer.
- Resist
pressure to "act now"; If the buyer's offer is good now, it should be
good when the check clears.
- If
you accept payment by check, ask for a check drawn on a local bank or a bank with
a local branch. You can visit that bank branch to determine if the check is legitimate.
- Consider
an alternative method of payment, such as an escrow service or online payment
service. If the buyer wants to use a service you have not heard of, be sure to
check it out to be sure it is reliable – check its Web site, call its customer
service hotline, and read its terms of agreement and privacy policy. If you do
not feel comfortable with the service, do not use it.
In
another version of the scam, a consumer is asked to pay taxes or fees on "foreign
lottery winnings" When he or she goes to cash the "winnings" check,
the sender claims to be trapped in a foreign country with no way to produce the
cash. The FTC offers the following advice for consumers: throw away any offer
that asks you to pay for a prize or "free" gift; and do not enter foreign
lotteries; most solicitations for them are fraudulent, and it is illegal to play
a foreign lottery through the mail or by telephone. If
you think you've been targeted by a check overpayment scam, file a complaint with
the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or
by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). For more information on buying or
selling via an Internet auction site, visit www.ftc.gov/onlineshopping. Here
are some more helpful links online for more information on fraud prevention: www.ftc.gov
www.consumer.gov
www.privacyrights.org
www.ifccfbi.gov For
further information contact Crime Prevention at 235-9406 |
