Posts Tagged: ‘FTC’

Scam of the day – May 13, 2013 – FTC refunding 1.7 million dollars to victims of government grant scam

May 13, 2013 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

Unfortunately, it is not very often that I get an opportunity to tell victims of a scam that they can get some of their money back, but today is one of those happy exceptions.  In 2009 the Federal Trade Commission first took action against a number of phony websites that promised that they could provide the consumer with tools to be able to easily locate fifteen billion dollars worth of free grant money and to qualify for those grants.  The websites looked official with pictures of President Obama and Vice President Biden.  The one-time charge was indicated to be between 99 cents and $2.78, however people signing on for the service actually ended up being charged monthly fees of $70 per month for unrelated services.  To make things worse, the information provided about obtaining grants was misleading, false or useless.

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Under a settlement with some of the scammers and court orders regarding the others by which the scammers approximately 1.7 million dollars is being paid to the FTC to be paid back to 22,764 victimized consumers.  The money is being administered by Gillardi & Co. a third-party refund administrator.  Checks are being sent now and must be cashed within 60 days of receipt.  It is expected that victims can expect to receive about 80% of the money they paid for the worthless service.  If you have been victimized by this scam and have not been contacted by the FTC, you should contact them at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or go to the FTC’s website at www.ftc.gov.

In the future, you should always be skeptical of any service that sounds too good to be true.  Scammers sometimes say that they are from the Federal Grants Administration, but in truth, there is no such entity.  Government grants are not easy to get and if you have to pay money to obtain a free grant, it isn’t free.  The government does not charge for lists of grant providers.  If you are truly interested in information about federal grants, the only place to go is the federal government’s grant website of www.grants.gov.

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Scam of the day – April 3, 2013 – Robocalls update

April 2, 2013 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

Automated robocalls, such as those which we have all received from “Rachel from card services” that try to induce us to get a new credit card or any other service are a scam that has been with us for many years and despite the best efforts of the Federal Trade Commission, still is victimizing many people.  The calls sound legitmate and if you are not sufficiently skeptical, you can end up having your identity stolen or scammed out of money for a worthless product being sold.  It is easy to identify a robocall that is a scam.  If you get a robocall, it is a scam.  Robocalls are illegal.  Recently the FTC, in an effort to combat robocalls held a contest with a $50,000 prize to the person who came up with the best solution to stop robocalls.  Yesterday, the winners were announced.  They are Aaron Foss and Serdar Danis who split the prize.  Their solution involves new software that will filter out calls being placed by a computer or someone identified as an unwanted caller.

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The software developed by Foss and Danis is not yet readily available, however, a good low-tech solution to the problem which I have been using for years is to merely hangup whenever I get an automated call without a real person on the line.  Robocalls are illegal and anyone who is making them to sell me a product or service cannot be trusted.  Bye Bye Rachel.  I can’t say it was good knowing you.

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Scam of the day – November 17, 2012 – FTC files actions against job scammers

November 17, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

The FTC just announced that it has brought actions against Shopper Systems, LLC, Revenue Works, LLC, The Veracity Group LP, American Business Builders LLC, ENF LLC, UMS Groupp LLC, The online Entrepreneur, Smart Tools LLC, The Zaken Corp and other companies for operating scams promising business opportunities as mystery shoppers, credit card processors, website operators and government insurance refund processors.  Unfortunately, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleges that all these companies were doing was stealing people’s money and providing them with worthless information.  The sad truth is that the actions by the FTC represent just the tip of the iceberg and as soon as one fraudulent enterprise is shut down, another springs up.  Particularly in hard economic times, people are particularly vulnerable to job scams out of desperation.

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Many of these job scams had the common theme of promises of large amounts of money for little effort.  Not quite “Money for nothing and chicks for free” as sung by the band Dire Straits, but pretty close.  You should always be skeptical of such promises.  If indeed these jobs were legitimate, why isn’t everyone doing it?  Before giving money to any company promising you an employment opportunity you should research the company with the FTC, your local state attorney general, the Better Business Bureau and even use the easy tactic of going to Google and typing in the name of the company along with the word “scam” and see what comes up.

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Scam of the day – July 1, 2012 – Wyndham Hotel Data Breach

July 1, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

The Federal Trade Commission has just sued Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, the franchiser for Days Inn and Super 8 Motels in regard to data breaches that caused its customers to lose more than 10.6 million dollars in identity theft fraud losses.    According to the FTC, Wyndham misrepresented the security measures that the company took to protect the private data of its customers.  The FTC alleges that Wyndham’s security measures to prevent large scale data breaches are inadequate.  Wyhdam is disputing the charges.

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The lesson here is that it is important to remember that your private information such as credit card numbers and Social Security numbers are only as secure as the weakest place that holds this information.   Before you do business with anyone where you will need to provide personal information that if it fell into the wrong hands could put you in danger of identity theft, confirm that they take adequate measures to protect your data that they hold.

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Scam of the day – May 18, 2012 – Skechers shoe scam

May 18, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

Skechers is a shoe manufacturer that in 2010 alone made almost a billion dollars selling fitness shoes that it claimed could help people lose weight, strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles although there is no evidence that these expensive shoes could help achieve any of these goals.  Their advertising, including ads with celebrities such as Brooke Burke and Kim Kardashian, were quite convincing.  But it was a scam.  Forty-three states and the FTC brought legal action against Skechers that ended this week with a settlement under the terms of which Skechers is agreeing to pay 40 million dollars back to consumers.  As is quite common in settlements like this, Skechers agreed to pay the substantial financial penalty, denied any wrongdoing and promised not to do it again.

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Just because a celebrity endorses a particular product and the advertisements appear in legitimate media does not mean that the product is legitimate.  Always be skeptical of any weight loss or fitness product without evidence that offers an easy solution.  If you bought a pair of these shoes, it is still too early to get your refund and beware of scammers when you do try to get your money back.  There will be scammers trying to trick you into making payments to participate in the settlement.  For legitimate information about the settlement, you can call the FTC’s Skechers Hotline at 866-325-4186 or go to the FTC’s website at www.ftc.gov.  Once the real refund information is available, we will also have it here at www.scamicide.com so check out our scam of the day every day.

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Scam of the day – May 16, 2012 – Deceptive website business scam

May 16, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

This week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obtained a court order halting North America Marketing and Associates LLC and a number of other associated individuals and companies from marketing a scam in which they promised to build websites for their victims that would permit them to earn commissions when online purchasers clicked through these websites to make purchases at major companies , such as Wal-Mart and Starbucks.  The companies also promised free marketing help which never happened.  Instead when the profits failed to materialize for the victims, the company just sold them more advertising.

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Always beware of get-rich-quick schemes, particularly ones that permit you to work from home with little effort.  Do your research about the companies and people offering you these business opportunities with the FTC, the Better Business Bureau and your state’s attorney general.  In this particular case you could also check with the companies, such as Wal-Mart that the scammers purported to have a relationship with.

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Scam of the day – May 1, 2012 – FTC study on identity theft

May 1, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

From time to time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focuses its attention on particular areas of identity theft and they have just announced that they will be studying identity theft that targets senior citizens.  Any senior citizen who has been a victim of identity theft or who wishes to comment can send their comments to the FTC at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm.  You should title your comments as “Senior Identity Theft PO65411.”  Your comments will be included in public records so it is important not to include any personal information that could actually be used to make you a victim of identity theft.

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Senior citizens should be particularly wary of identity theft schemes involving abuse of Durable Powers of Attorney and financial abuse by family members or advisers such as accountants, lawyers and financial planners.

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Scam of the day – April 18, 2012 – Area Code 876 scams

April 18, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

There is nothing new about phony lottery scams.  They are one of the most prevalent and common scams every year preying upon both the greed and the lack of knowledge of their victims who often don’t stop to consider how it is impossible to win a contest that you don’t even enter.  Often the scam involves the victim being called on the telephone and conned into sending the scam artist money for tax payments or administrative fees although ultimately, the victim receives no prize as promised.  However, what distinguishes the Area Code 876 scam, so-named because of the Area Code for Jamaica where this latest contest scam is based is that these foreign scammers threaten their victims if the victims stop sending money.  Using Google Earth, the scammers are able to describe the victims’ homes and threaten them with harm as if they were nearby.  They also threaten physical harm unless the victims continue to pay.  To make things even worse, these scammers also repeat another common scam technique by also contacting the victims pretending that they are law enforcement and seeking to help the victims when all they are doing is seeking to victimize them again through direct theft or through identity theft.

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Don’t take any calls from the Area Code 876.  Don’t ever get into conversations on the phone with anyone who tells you that you have won a prize.  You haven’t.  Report such calls to law enforcement and the FTC.  It has been estimated that this latest Jamacian scam has stolen as much as a billion dollars from its victims in each of the past few years.

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Scam of the day – April 8, 2012 – Auto loan modifications

April 8, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.

Just as the financial problems of some consumers have spawned many home mortgage modification scams, the latest scam to take advantage of consumers with financial problems is companies promising to modify the loans of consumers who are having problems paying their car loans.  The FTC just announced actions being taken against two companies accused of deceiving customers by claiming that they could reduce car loans for them by as much as 40% in return for up to $800 in fees.  According to the FTC in many instances companies promising this kind of help not only don’t provide the help they claim, but in many instances don’t even contact the lenders.

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Always be wary of companies that require fees paid in advance for their services.  If you are having problems with a car loan, your best course of action is to contact your lender directly on your own to see what options you have.  The sooner you contact the lender, the more options you will have.  Lenders may be willing to either defer missed payments to the end of a loan or extend the loan term to reduce your monthly payments.  That last option may dramatically increase the amount you pay on your loan, but at least you may be able to keep your car.

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