Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – January 14, 2022 – Gift Card Scams Increase Dramatically
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported that in the first nine months of 2021, consumers lost 148 million dollars to scams in which gift cards were used as the payment method. This amount was more than in all of 2020. Scammers are big fans of gift cards because they are easy to purchase, easy to send to the scammer and impossible to trace to the scammer. It is not even necessary for the scammer to be in possession of the actual gift card to use it. Sending the gift card numbers or taking a picture on your phone and transmitting it to the scammer is sufficient for the scammer to use the gift card to buy things that can then be sold and converted into cash.
In many instances the scams involved scammers posing as large companies or government agencies such as the IRS demanding payments. It is important to remember that no legitimate company and no government agencies asks for or accepts gift cards as a payment method so anytime you are asked for a payment by gift card, you can be confident it is a scam.
In an interesting development, the FTC noted that Target gift cards were the most popular choice for scammers with scammers asking specifically for Target gift cards in twice as many instances as the next most popular gift card and even when the gift card requested by the scammers was not a Target gift card, the scammers asked their victims to purchase the particular gift cards at a Target store.
TIPS
Although it is impossible to stop payment on a gift card or trace the user after the scammer has used it, if you recognize immediately that you have provided a gift card to a scammer, you can report it to the issuer to cancel the card. Here is contact information for some popular gift cards.
Amazon
- Call 1 (888) 280-4331.
- Keep the Amazon card itself and your receipt for the Amazon card.
- Learn about Amazon gift card scams and how to report them. Click on “Contact us.”
Google Play
- Report the gift card scam to Google.
- Keep the Google Play card itself and your receipt for the Google Play card.
- Learn about Google Play gift card scams and how to report them.
iTunes
- Call Apple Support right away at 1 (800) 275-2273. Say “gift card” to connect with a live representative.
- Ask if the money is still on the iTunes card. If so, Apple can put a freeze on it. You might be able to get your money back from them.
- Keep the iTunes card itself and your receipt for the iTunes card.
- Learn about iTunes gift card scams and how to report them.
Target
- Call Target GiftCard Services at 1 (800) 544-2943
MoneyPak
- Report gift card scams to MoneyPak.
- Keep the MoneyPak card itself and your receipt for the MoneyPak card.
- Learn about MoneyPak gift card scams.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide has been cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – January 13, 2022 – Scammers Exploit Interest in the New Spiderman Movie
While attendance at movie theaters generally continues to be dramatically reduced from pre-pandemic levels, in-theater attendance at the new “Spiderman: No Way Home” movie is breaking box office records around the world. Unlike Marvel studio’s” Black Widow” which was released simultaneously both in theaters and online last summer after having its release postponed repeatedly due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the new Spiderman movie is presently only available in theaters However, there are many people who either don’t want to go to a theater due to the pandemic or merely prefer to watch movies conveniently at home and scammers are taking advantage of this situation by setting up sites that purport to provide you with a streaming version of the movie, but end up either taking your money or harming your computer.
Just prior to the previous scheduled release dates of a number of popular movies during the last couple of years including Black Widow, John Wick 3, Joker and Avengers Endgame scammers set up phony streaming services offering to show the movie for free, but in fact just scammed their victims out of their money.
In some of the scams an online search for websites promising to provide the movie for free will take you to sites that appear to provide the movie, but a few moments after the movie starts, it stops and a pop up appears requiring you to set up an account. The pop up says that the account is free and that all you need to do is provide your email address and a password. Once you do this, you are then instructed to provide a credit card number and the CVC security code on the back of the card merely to verify that you are located in a country where the website is licensed to distribute the movie. Unfortunately, the website does not provide “Spiderman: No Way Home.” The few minutes of what you initially see of the movie is just scenes taken from the readily available trailers for the movie. So not only do people falling for this scam not get to see the movie, they end up providing their credit card information to the scammers in addition to providing a password, which, in too many instances, is the same password the scam victim uses for other online services such as online banking.
In an unusual twist on the scams tied to the new Spiderman movie, ReasonLabs, a cybersecurity company discovered a scam whereby people attempting to download the movie end up actually downloading a crypto-mining tool used to mine Monero, a cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, this tool will slow down your computer and otherwise negatively affect your computer’s use as well as increase your electric bill as it requires much electrical power for mining.
TIPS
The first and foremost tip is not to do use illegal streaming services. They are illegal and what they are doing is also unethical. Don’t trust search engine searches to provide you with legitimate websites for streaming services. A prominent position in a Google or other search engine search only means that the websites appearing high were adept at understanding the algorithms used to position websites. Never provide a credit card as a means of verification. It is only a means of payment and as for the justification in this particular scam that the credit card was needed to verify that you are located in a country where the website is licensed to distribute the movie, pirated versions are not licensed anywhere. Finally, as always, you should have unique passwords for all of your online accounts so that in the event that a password on one of your accounts is hacked or otherwise compromised, all of your accounts will not be in jeopardy.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide was cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and insert your email address where it states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – January 12, 2022 – Winter Weather Brings Upswing in Utility Scams
With the return of cold weather throughout much of the United States there has been a dramatic increase in telephone scams involving scammers posing as utility company customer service representatives demanding payments and threatening to turn off electrical power if a payment is not made immediately. Scams involving utility bills for electric, water, oil or gas services have long been popular with scammers. These scams have multiple variations.
In one common utility scam, potential victims receive telephone calls purportedly from their utility company informing them of a special company promotion for which they are eligible. They just need to provide some personal information. This, of course leads to identity theft.
In another version of the utility scam, potential victims are called on the phone and told that their utility service will be terminated for non-payment unless they pay by credit card, debit card. Zelle, Venmo or gift cards. A demand for payment by way of a gift card is a good sign that you are dealing with a scammer since legitimate utility companies never require payments or accept payments through git cards. You also should never pay for a business charge through Zelle or Venmo because of the lack of protections from fraud.
In a third version of this scam, potential victims receive an email that has a link to take them to their bill, but if you click on the link, you either download malware or are prompted to provide information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
TIPS
You can never be sure when you get an email, text message or a telephone call if it is really from a legitimate source. Email addresses can be hacked to appear legitimate and even if you have Caller ID, a scammer can use a technique called “spoofing” to make it appear that the call is from a legitimate caller. Trust me, you can’t trust anyone. Never provide personal or financial information to anyone in response to a telephone call, text message or email until you have independently confirmed that the communication was legitimate.
In the case of a utility bill, merely call the number on the back of your bill and you will be able to confirm whether or not the communication was legitimate. Also, never click on links unless you have confirmed that they are legitimate. The risk is too great. It is also important to remember that no legitimate utility company will require you to immediately pay your bill over the phone through a gift card.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide has been cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/
Scam of the day – January 11, 2022 – Beware of Fake Endorsements for Phony Erectile Disfunction Products
The Kraken is a mythological sea monster of epic proportions so it is not surprising that scammers have taken that name for a totally phony erectile disfunction (ED) supplement that the scammers represent as being as being the equivalent of legitimate ED treatments Cialis and Viagra. The scammers advertise the worthless supplements primarily on social media and contain totally false representations that the supplements were endorsed by Clint Eastwood, Dr. Phil and Fox News.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to consumers to avoid approximately fifty male enhancement and weight loss products found to contain hidden ingredients that pose serious health risks. Here are links to lists of the specific products that make up this most recent warning. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/medication-health-fraud/tainted-sexual-enhancement-products and https://www.fda.gov/drugs/medication-health-fraud/tainted-weight-loss-products It is important to note that merely because a particular product does not appear on this list does not mean that it is legitimate or safe. Indeed many of these products are not only ineffective, but are harmful to your health.
TIPS
Anyone considering using over-the-counter products for sexual enhancement, weight loss, bodybuilding or pain relief should always check with their primary care physician before buying and using these products. Some of these products may merely be ineffective and a waste of money, however, other of these products may contain ingredients that negatively interact with medications you may be taking. Always be wary of advertising of such supplements and medicines and particularly wary when the products are only sold online.
Remember my motto, B.S. Be skeptical. Merely because a product appears to be endorsed by celebrity does not mean that the celebrity has actually endorsed the product. For example, Clint Eastwood won a 6.1 million dollar lawsuit against a company that falsely implied he endorsed their products.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide has been cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/
Scam of the day – January 10, 2022 – Beware of Phony Covid-19 Test Sites
With the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus wreaking havoc around the country, many people are desperately trying to get tested and unfortunately, in many places around the country finding a testing site can be difficult, which provides an opportunity for scammers to take advantage of the situation for purposes of luring victims into identity theft. More and more we are seeing pop-up testing sites in parking lots and shopping malls throughout the country and while many of these are legitimate, many of them are not. In St. Louis a Covid testing site in a mall parking lot was asking people to provide their Social Security number which you don’t need to do to get a test. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has warned Baltimore residents to avoid “illegal, unlicensed pop-up COVID-19 testing sites” that collected personal information that could be used for purposes of identity theft.
TIPS
While there are both federal and state regulations for clinical laboratories, not all of the pop-up testing sites are affiliated with clinical labs and also may not be subject to regulation by state departments of health because they often are not classified as health clinics so even if you go to a ‘legitimate” testing site, you may not be getting dependable results. However, even worse are the scammers who are setting up phony testing sites and asking for personal information they don’t need or charging for tests that should be free.
You don’t need to give your Social Security number to a legitimate testing site so remember my motto – B.S. Be skeptical. Only go to confirmed legitimate testing sites at real clinics and sites that you know are legitimate and don’t give personal information that can be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide has been cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/
Scam of the day – January 9, 2022 – Phony Norton Life Lock Invoice
The phony invoice scam is a common scam popular with scammers because it is quite effective. It starts when you receive an email that purports to be from a popular company with which many of us do business that indicates that you owe them a significant payment. The scammers count on people being concerned that they are being wrongfully charged for a product they did not order. You are provided a telephone number to call if you dispute the bill. If you call the number, you will be prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
The copied email below, which I personally received, appears to come from Norton Life Lock, a company that provides a wide range of digital security services and identity theft protection services. As always, the purpose of a phishing email is to lure you into clicking on links contained within the email or providing personal information, in this case by phone if you call to dispute the phony bill . If you click on links in phishing emails, you end up downloading malware and if you provide the requested information, it ends up being used to make you a victim of identity theft. This particular phishing email provides a phone number to call if you wish to dispute the obviously phony invoice. If you call the number in the phishing email you will be asked for personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft. The phone number is not one of Norton Life Lock. The real phone number of Norton Life Lock is 800-543-3562.
There are a number of red flags that indicate that this is a scam. Your name does not appear anywhere in the invoice. Only your email address appears in the phony invoice. Also, the email was sent from an email address that has no relation to Norton Life Lock. Finally, the email provides what it says is a toll free number to call if there are any issues with the invoice, but the area code 432 which is indicated in the email is not a toll free number, but rather an area code used in Texas.
Here is a copy of the invoice being circulated.
 |
- Download your NortonLifeLock subscription by clicking on the “Get Started” button or go to your Norton account
- Follow the instructions to install your NortonLifeLock service on one or more devices
You have just joined over 5 million other LifeLock Members.
IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE THIS PURCHASE , CONTACT AT OUR CUSTOMER SUPPORT DESK TOLLFREE NUMBER
DO NOT REPLY ON THIS EMAIL
Your subscription is active and will renew on January 02, 2023 for $ 499.48/ year + applicable tax
Norton™ 360 with LifeLock™ Select
Scam of the day – January 8, 2022 – Rental Scams Getting Worse
Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, more and more people have been going online looking for home and apartment rentals rather than meeting with landlords in person. Fortunately, there are many online listings of legitimate real estate agents and landlords. These websites can be easy and efficient ways to locate a home. However, unfortunately there are also many scammers attempting to rent apartments to you that they do not own. Recently the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre indicated that rental scams were one of the most common scams during the past year and this scam is by no way limited to Canada. It is being perpetrated around the world. Scammers often go to Craigslist and other similar sites to post their phony apartment listings. The scam usually starts with a listing that looks quite legitimate and there is a good reason for that. The listing is often a real on-line listing that has been copied by the scammer who merely puts in his or her name and contact information. The price is usually very low which attracts a lot of potential renters. The potential renters are sometimes told that the owner is out of the country and that there are many people interested in the property so if the tenant wants to be considered for renting it, the tenant has to wire money to the landlord somewhere outside of the country immediately. As I have warned you many times, wiring money is a scammer’s first choice because it is all but impossible to retrieve once you learn that you have been scammed. Too often, unwary potential tenants wire the money and never hear anything further from the scam landlord. As for the money, it is gone forever.
TIPS
There are a number of red flags to look for in home rental scams. First, as always, if the price looks too good to be true, it usually is just that – not true. Also be wary of landlords who are out of the country. Never send your payment by a wire transfer or a cashier’s check. Use a credit card, PayPal or any other payment system from which you can retrieve your funds if the transaction is fraudulent. It is usually best to deal with websites that specialize in home rentals but you must remember that they cannot possibly successfully monitor every listing to ensure that it is legitimate. A great and easy way to determine if the listing is a scam is to check out who really is the owner of the home or apartment by going on line to the tax assessor’s office of the city or town where the property is located and look up who the real owner is. If it doesn’t match the name of the person attempting to rent you the home, you should not go through with the rental.
You also can search the address online to see if the property is listed for sale by a different real estate agent or owner or if other listings show different contact information elsewhere. This is an indication that the listing is a scam. Finally, search online the name of the owner with the word “scam” next to his or her name and see if anything comes up to make you concerned.
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide was cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – January 7, 2022 – Justice Department Shuts Down Bogus Tax Return Preparers
Last week the federal court for the Southern District of Florida issued an order permanently barring Gerald Vito, James Eleby and Gerald Vito LLC d/b/a Income Tax Services from preparing income tax returns. According to the Justice Department who brought the civil action against these defendants, they prepared income tax returns for their clients that claimed phony and overstated charitable deductions, medical expenses and employee business expenses that fraudulently reduced their clients’ income taxes. Often these defendants deducted additional fees from their clients’ refunds without disclosing the fees to their clients.
Tax season is about to start and there are many phony tax preparers who commit a variety of crimes including those of the Florida defendants who not only attempted to defraud the IRS, but also made their clients, who signed the returns, criminals as well. Criminal tax preparers also often steal the personal information provided by their clients to make them victims of identity theft.
TIPS
Fraudulent income tax preparers can be found everywhere and because when you hire someone to prepare your income tax returns it is necessary to provide him or her with personal information that can result in your becoming a victim of identity theft or a party to a fraud, you should be particularly careful to check out the legitimacy of anyone you entrust with this job. The IRS has information on its website to help you choose a tax preparer. https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/choosing-a-tax-professional
The IRS also offers a free directory of tax preparers in your area who currently hold professional credentials recognized by the IRS or who hold an Annual Filing Season Program Record of Completion. This can be very helpful in finding a legitimate and competent tax preparer.https://irs.treasury.gov/rpo/rpo.jsf
A red flag for determining a phony tax preparer is when the tax preparer refuses to sign the tax return. These scammers are referred to as “ghost” tax preparers. Here is a link to information from the IRS about how to avoid “ghost” tax preparers. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/beware-of-ghost-preparers-who-dont-sign-tax-returns
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide was recently cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and type in your email address on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – January 6, 2022 – Important Google Chrome Security Update
As was made abundantly clear by 2017’s massive Equifax data breach which affected 148 million people and was perpetrated by hackers exploiting a vulnerability in Apache software for which Apache had already issued a security update, but Equifax failed to install, constant updating of the software we all use with the latest security patches and updates is a critical part of avoiding scams and identity theft threats. When new security updates and patches are issued, we provide access to these so that you can update your software to provide better security on your computers, cell phones, laptops and other electronic devices. Updating your software with the latest security patches and updates as soon as possible is important because identity thieves and scammers are always finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in the software that we all use. Delay in updating your software could lead to disastrous results. However, it is also important to be sure that you are downloading legitimate patches and updates rather than being tricked by an identity thief or scammer into downloading malware under the guise of downloading a security patch or update. Today’s security update involves serious vulnerabilities in the popular search engine Google Chrome. It is important to remember that while Google will automatically send your computer the updates as soon as they are issued, you need to restart your browser to install the updates. Some people leave their browser open for days at a time so it is important to download and install any Google Chrome security updates as soon as they are available.
TIPS
Here is a link to this recent security update as posted by the Department of Homeland Security: https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/current-activity/2022/01/05/google-releases-security-updates-chrome
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide was cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/
Scam of the day – January 5, 2022 – Massive Data Breach of Florida Health Care System
Broward Health, a network of more than thirty health care facilities has just disclosed that it suffered a massive data breach in which sensitive personal information including Social Security numbers, patient medial history and bank account information of more than 1.3 million people was stolen in a data breach that occurred in October of 2021.
As I have reminded you many times, we are only as safe and secure as the security of the companies, government agencies and websites that have our personal information. So even if you are extremely diligent in protecting your personal information, you can be in danger of identity theft and scams if your personal information falls into the hands of hackers.
So what can you do to protect yourself from these data breaches that will be occurring?
TIPS
One important lesson is to limit the amount of personal information that you provide to companies and websites whenever possible. For example, your doctor doesn’t need your Social Security number for his or her records.
You should make sure that you have a unique password for each of your online accounts so that if one of your passwords is compromised in a data breach, all of your accounts will not be in danger. If your information is compromised in a data breach, you should immediately change the password for that account.
If you have not already done so, set up dual factor authentication for each of you accounts where it is available. This will protect you from having those accounts stolen by someone who may have access to your password.
https://www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html
For those of you receiving the Scam of the day through an email, I just want to remind you that if you want to see the ever increasing list of Coronavirus scams go to the first page of the http://www.scamicide.com website and click on the tab at the top of the page that indicates “Coronavirus Scams.” Scamicide has been cited by the New York Times as one of three top sources for information about Coronavirus related scams.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/