Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – December 21, 2021 – Student Loan Scams Will Soon be Increasing
I have written many times over the last ten years about student loan scams because scammers have successfully targeted college students and their parents for a variety of scams related to these extensive loans. In October of 2017 the Federal Trade Commission, working with the Attorneys General of eleven states, launched what it cleverly calls, Operation Game of Loans to jointly target these various student loan scams. Some scammers promise dramatic reductions of debt of 50% or more in return for upfront fees of between $500 and $2,500. Often these scam companies have names that make it appear that they are endorsed by the federal government in order to trick people into trusting them. Another student loan scam involves promises related to consolidating student loans. Sometimes the scammers represent that they are associated with the U.S. Department of Education although the Department of Education does not associate with private lenders in regard to student loan consolidation. These scammers also charge significant fees for their student loan consolidation services when the truth is that there is no fee for legitimate student loan consolidation. It is also important to remember that consolidating your student loans does not lower your interest or monthly payment. Instead, after loan consolidation the student’s monthly payment is equal to a weighted average of the interest rates on the student’s current loans.
The present pause on student loan payments and interest put into effect during the pandemic has been extended numerous times, but is scheduled to end on January 31, 2022 with payments required to resume in February. The sudden resumption of payments by 40 million student loan borrowers is prompting scammers to contact students and their families with a wide variety of scams related to repayment or forgiveness of student loans. Some scammers will be contacting students posing as the student’s loan servicer. In order to verify that you are being contacted by your real loan servicer, you can go to the Department of Education’s federal student aid website where you can get detailed information on your current student loan servicer including contact information. Here is that link. https://studentaid.gov/
TIPS
The old adage still is true. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. Many of these student loan debt relief scammers promise quick loan forgiveness, which is unrealistic. In addition, you should never pay any upfront fees for student loan debt relief assistance. Those fees are illegal and are a sure indication that you are being scammed. Also, remember my motto, “trust me, you can’t trust anyone.” Don’t trust scammers merely because they use names that sound like they are affiliated with the government.
Also, never give out your Federal Student Aid ID or your Social Security number to anyone who calls you representing themselves to be a student loan servicer. Scammers can use this information to log into your student loan account, change your contact information or even direct payments to themselves. Rather than give your Federal Student Aid ID or your Social Security number to someone contacting you when you can never be sure if they are legitimate or not, contact your servicer directly if you have any questions. https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/servicers
For information you can trust about federal student loan repayment option, go to https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans . There you can learn about loan deferments, forbearance, repayment and loan forgiveness programs and there is never an application fee. If you owe private student loans, contact your loan servicer directly. You can also look into student loan refinancing rather than consolidating the loans. Refinancing student loans can result in a lower interest rate. For more information about student loans go to https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/1028-student-loans Here is a link to a calculator that can help you determine whether you will save more by consolidating or refinancing student loans.https://www.makelemonade.co/calculators/student-loan-consolidation-refinancing-calculator/
Here also is a link to an FTC video that explains student loan scams and what you can do to protect yourself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TjSI4Q6ztQ
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 – December 20, 2021 – Delayed Delivery Scams
Ever since the start of the Coronavirus there have been a tremendous amount of online purchases and while Federal Express, UPS and the United States Postal Service are doing a very good job in delivering packages in a timely fashion, a significant number of items that should have been already been delivered are late or out of stock. As always, when something affects many people, scammers take advantage of it to scam us. In this case, scammers, posing as the United States Postal Service, Federal Express and UPS and Amazon are contacting people apologizing for the delay in receiving their orders and offering a refund of their money. The emails contain a link for you to click on to process your claim for a refund, but unfortunately, if you click on the link either you will automatically download harmful malware or you will be prompted to provide information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.
TIPS
As always, the first thing you should look at when you get such an email is the address from which it was sent. In many instances the email address of the sender has no relation to the United States Postal Service, Federal Express, UPS or Amazon. Often the email is that of someone whose email account has been hijacked by the scammer and made a part of a botnet of zombie computers used to send out such phishing emails. However, in other instances, the email address may appear legitimate. But remember my motto, “trust me, you can’t trust anyone.” Even if the email address of the sender looks legitimate, you should never click on a link unless you have absolutely confirmed that the email is legitimate. In this case it is important to remember that none of these companies are contacting you by email or text messages offering refunds. UPS offers refunds only to customers who request them by calling 800-742-5877 or through their Billing Center. Federal Express generally offers refunds for late deliveries, but has suspended its guarantee of a timely delivery until after January 16, 2022. Amazon offers customers refunds for certain late deliveries. Here is a link to take you to the information you need to make a claim. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GZ5R2Y8QHENSLW75
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 – December 19, 2021 – Phantom Debt Collector Shut Down by the FTC
Receiving a telephone call from a debt collector is not a pleasant experience. Being hounded by someone attempting to collect a debt you do not owe is fraud. Recently the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled its complaint against phantom debt collector National Landmark Logistics, LLC. The FTC accused National Landmark Logistics LLC with using illegal robocalls to leave deceptive messages that consumers would face imminent legal action or even arrest for unpaid debts that in many instances did not even exist. Collecting payments for debts that are not owed is often referred to as phantom debt collection. According to the FTC, National Landmark Logistics, LLC collected on debts that didn’t exist or that National Landmark knew it had no right to collect. Debt collection through robocalls is always illegal. One of the conditions of the settlement is that National Landmark Logistics will be permanently barred from the debt collection business.
TIPS
Subject to strict federal laws, legitimate debt collectors are permitted to call debtors, however, the law prohibits them from attempting to collect a debt that the debt collector knows is bogus.
It can be difficult to know when someone calls attempting to collect a debt if indeed they are legitimate or not, so the best course of action if you receive such a call is to not discuss the debt with the person calling, but instead demand that they send you a written “validation notice” by regular mail which describes the debt they allege you owe and includes a listing of your rights under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Never give personal information over the phone to anyone who calls you attempting to collect a debt. You can never be sure who they are. If you receive the validation notice and it appears to be legitimate, you may be better off contacting your creditor directly because the person who called you may not be representing the creditor, but may merely have information about the debt.
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 where it states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – December 17, 2021 – Medicare Open Enrollment Scams Getting Worse
The annual open enrollment period for Medicare began on October 15th has been extended from an original ending day of December 7th to January 15, 2022 in most states. This is the only time during the year that people enrolled in Medicare can change their Medicare health plans, Medigap plans and prescription drug plans. By now, people already enrolled in Medicare should have received an Annual Notice of Change from their health insurance providers describing any changes to their plans such as the dropping of particular drugs from their prescription drug plan. If you are satisfied with your plans, you do not need to do anything.
Scammers and identity thieves view the open enrollment period as senior citizen hunting season as myriads of Medicare scams are common during this time. Seniors may be contacted by someone purporting to be from their insurance company asking them to verify information. This is a common tactic of identity thieves trying to trick their victims into providing information. They also may be contacted by people claiming to have supplemental insurance programs that will save them thousands of dollars. Here too, you cannot be sure that they are legitimate when they contact you by phone, text message, email or even regular mail.
This year the Better Business Bureau is reporting that there have been an increased number of phishing emails being sent by scammers that appear to come from your employer asking you to review and approve your health care benefit and then lure you into clicking on malware infected links or providing personal information that can lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft.
TIPS
Never give personal information to anyone who calls you on the phone because you can never be sure who is actually on the other end of the line. Through a technique called “spoofing,” a scammer can manipulate your Caller ID and make it appear that the call is from the government or some legitimate company when in fact, it is from an identity thief who is eager to steal your money. If you want to get information you can trust about what insurance plans are available to you and at what cost, merely go to the “Plan Finder” section of Medicare’s website http://www.medicare.gov. If you want to speak with someone on the phone, call Medicare at its 24 hour hotline 1-800-MEDICARE. Your Medicare options can be quite confusing. Fortunately, the State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP) which is a national network of federally funded programs provides free Medicare counseling. Here is a link to SHIP’s website https://www.shiptacenter.org/
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 in the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – December 16, 2021 – Tornado Relief Charity Scams
As we have seen far too well during the Coronavirus pandemic, scammers are quite capable of taking whatever is happening in society and turning it into an opportunity to scam people. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires are common occurrences and we are about to enter both hurricane and wildfire seasons. Partially due to global warming, last year the United States experienced 22 major natural disasters that cost more than a billion dollars each. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and earthquakes bring out the best in people who want to donate to charities to help the victims. Unfortunately natural disasters also bring out the worst in scammers who are quick to take advantage of the generosity of people by contacting them posing as charities, but instead of collecting funds to help the victims of these natural disasters, these scam artists steal the money for themselves under false pretenses.
The recent tornadoes that devastated parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and particularly Kentucky is the most recent example of how scammers set up phony charities and pose as legitimate charities in order to steal money from generous people trying to help the victims of a natural disaster.
Charities are not subject to the federal Do Not Call List so even if you are signed up for the federal Do Not Call List, legitimate charities are able to contact you by phone. The problem is that whenever you are get a phone call, you can never be sure as to who is really calling you so you may be contacted either by a fake charity or a scammer posing as a legitimate charity. Using a technique called spoofing, the scammers can manipulate your Caller ID to make it appear that the call is coming from a legitimate charity when it is not. Similarly, when you are solicited for a charitable contribution by email or text message you cannot be sure as to whether the person contacting you is legitimate or not.
TIPS
Never provide credit card information over the phone to anyone whom you have not called or in response to an email or text message. Before you give to any charity, you should check out the charity with http://www.charitynavigator.org where you can learn whether or not the charity itself is a scam. You can also see how much of the money that the legitimate charity collects actually goes toward its charitable purposes and how much it uses for fund raising and administrative costs. Charitynavigator.org has a list of specific highly-rated charities that they recommend if you wish to assist people harmed by the tornadoes. These include Americares, Good360 and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. For a full list and descriptions of these charities and others that are good choices for your charitable gifts to help the victims of the tornadoes use this link. https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=9223
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 where it states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – December 15, 2021 – The Dangers of Zelle, Venmo and Other P2P Payment Services
Peer to Peer Payment Payment Services (P2P) such as Zelle, Venmo, ApplePay, PayPal, Square Cash and PopMoney are popular ways to quickly and conveniently send money electronically from your credit card or bank account. These services are used by 113 million Americans. These services also provide easy ways to be scammed and unlike scams targeting your credit cards directly, you may not have as much protection under the law to get your money back if you do get scammed. Zelle which originated in 2017 is operated by a consortium of banks and appears on your mobile banking app. Sending money through Zelle only requires you to enter the recipient’s phone number or email address. In addition to scammers luring their victims to pay for worthless items through P2P services, scammers have also been sending phishing emails and text messages in which they lure their victims into providing their Zelle usernames, passwords and PINs to take over their victims’ bank accounts through their Zelle accounts.
Last year Money Crashers did a did a survey of users of P2P services and found that 52% of users were not even concerned with the security of these payment apps, which is disconcerting considering many instances of fraud involving these services.
TIPS
Before signing up for any P2P service, you should familiarize yourself with their fraud protection rules. In the fine print of many P2P services, you may find that you have little, if any, protection if you use the account to purchase something that ends up to be a scam. While PayPal offers significant protection from fraudulent transactions, Zelle and Venmo, for example do not offer such protection, which is why these services should never be used for commercial transactions, but only to transfer small amounts of money to people you know. In order to protect your account from being hacked and being taken over by a scammer who could access your credit card or bank account, you should use a PIN or other dual factor authentication whenever your particular service provides for it. In addition if you are hacked and your account is tied to a credit card, you should be able to get the amount fraudulently taken refunded from your credit card company in accordance with federal law and if it is tied to a bank account, you should be able to get the money refunded if you report it immediately pursuant to the Electronic Transfer Act. Zelle does not let you use a credit card, but Venmo does. You are always safer using a credit card rather than having your bank account tied to your P2P app.
To avoid having your Zelle account and other accounts from being taken over by hackers, never provide your username, password or PIN in response to any email, text message or phone call unless you have absolutely confirmed that the request for this information is legitimate, which it never is. You can confirm this by contacting your bank or other company by calling them at a telephone number you know is accurate. Even if you get a call that appears to come from your bank or other company with which you do business, your Caller ID can be tricked by spoofing to make the call appear legitimate when it is not.
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 – December 14, 2021 – Letters From Santa Claus Scams
Yes, Virginia, even Santa Claus may scam you. A number of phony websites and postings on social media are offering personalized letters from Santa Claus that you can purchase for your children. Unfortunately, while the spirit of Santa Claus is real, many of the companies offering these letters from Santa are not and all that you end up doing is turning over your credit card number to a scammer who then uses it to make fraudulent purchases while you receive no letter from Santa Claus. There are some legitimate companies offering letters from Santa for a fee, but it is important to check them out thoroughly before hiring their services. An easy first step to do that is to merely Google the name of the company with the word “scam” and see what comes up.
TIPS
While it is a bit late now, some good advice to remember for next year if you are interested in a free letter to Santa for your child is to use the United States Postal Service’s Letters from Santa program which you can reach using this link https://about.usps.com/holidaynews/letters-from-santa.htm
All you need to do is have your child write a letter to Santa Claus. Then write your own response from Santa Claus and mail both letters along with an envelope with the return address of “Santa, North Pole” and mail it to “North Pole Postmark Postmaster, 4141 Postmark Dr., Anchorage Alaska 99530-9998 and your child will get a personalized letter from Santa with a North Pole postmark at no cost to you. The deadline this year for receipt of the letters to Santa was December 10th, but you may wish to take advantage of this free service next year. The only cost is your postage.
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 – December 13, 2021 – Used Car Scams
Due to computer chip shortage, automobile manufacturers are producing fewer new cards and many consumers are turning to buying a used car. A problem about which people often are unaware involves the sale of used cars that were damaged in a storm or hurricane. In the past, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles and other state RMVs have issued warnings to consumers to be on the lookout for used cars with phony title papers that indicate that the particular used car in which you are interested is from a state such as Oregon when in fact, these cars are cars that were from hurricane ravaged areas with many of them containing hidden water damage that could present serious safety problems.
In one instance, a report for a car purported to be from Oregon showed a damage report filed previously that showed the car listed as a total loss vehicle with a salvage title listed in New York and a new title later issued in Oregon. This practice of transporting a car to another state and re-registering it is called “title washing.” In order to protect yourself when you are buying a used car you should always have a mechanic whom you trust check out any used car that you are considering buying.
TIPS
Prior to buying a used car you should always get a full report on its history. The United States Department of Justice operates The National Motor Vehicle Title Information System which provides much information about used cars. The NVMTIS provides a list of various companies such as Carfax that have been approved to provide reliable reports. These companies charge between $2.95 and $12.99 for a report that will provide detailed information including the car’s accident and repair history on any used car you are considering purchasing. You also can get some information about a particular car’s title, most recent odometer reading and condition from the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System for free. https://www.nicb.org/
Also, the National Insurance Crime Bureau has a free database that will indicate whether a particular car was flood-damaged, stole but not recovered or otherwise declared as salvaged if the car was insured at the time it was damaged. https://www.nicb.org/
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 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 – December 12, 2021 – FTC Sending 3rd Round of Checks to Victims of Business Coaching Scam
Business coaches are people who advise and guide business owners in the operating and growing their businesses. They can be quite helpful, particularly to entrepreneurs. However, scammers posing as business coaches take advantage of trusting business owners by selling worthless services to their unwary victims. I have reported on this scam numerous times in the past, but it is timely again with the FTC’s settlement of charges against the operators of Coaching Department and Apply Knowledge who scammed millions of dollars from consumers by falsely promising their victims that they could easily earn thousands of dollars each month if they bought the business coaching services offered. The truth is that the people who bought the business coaching services from Coaching Department and Apply Knowledge lost thousands of dollars. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has previously sent two rounds of refunds to victims of the scam in October of 2019 and June of 2020 at which times I informed you of the refunds here in Scamicide. Now the FTC is sending out another round of refunds bringing the amount being returned to victims to 48% of their losses.
If you were a victim of this scam, you may be eligible for a refund. For more information about this refund program, click on the FTC Scam Refunds tab in the middle of the first page of http://www.scamicide.com. There are no fees involved with receiving a refund through this program. Anyone contacting you about this refund program who demands a fee or payment of any kind is a scammer.
TIPS
Before hiring the services of a business coach, you may want to find out what helpful advice you can get for free through government agencies such as the Small Business Administration. http://www.sba.gov/starting-managing-business
If you do decide to hire a business coach, you should find out if there are any complaints filed against him or her. An easy way to do this is to just do a search engine search in which you look up the person’s name with the words “scam” or “complaint” and see what comes up. Also, be wary of paying up front for the services of business coaches before they provide any services.
Last year the FTC refunded more than 483 million dollars to scam victims, however the U.S. Supreme Court unfortunately ruled this year that the FTC does not have the authority to make such refunds from money collected by the FTC from scammers. The FTC has asked Congress to restore the FTC’s ability to get money from scammers and return it to scam victims. Fortunately, there is pending legislation, H.R. 2668 which would return that authority to the FTC. I urge you to contact your representatives in Congress and the Senate and tell them to vote in favor of this legislation. Here is a link you can use to contact your representative in Congress. https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative And here is a link you can use to contact your senator. https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
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 in the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – December 11, 2021 – Mavis Wanczyk Lottery Scam Strikes Again
I have been writing about scams related to Mavis Wanczyk for four years but recently I have received many emails from Scamicide readers telling me about various new incarnations of a variety of scams that share the same hook which is that Mavis Wanczyk is giving money away to lucky people. Many of you may not remember the name of Mavis Wanczyk, but she was the lucky winner of a 758 million dollar Powerball drawing in 2017. Not long after she claimed her prize, a scam started appearing in which many people received emails with the message line referring to the Mavis Wanczyk Cash Grant. The email indicated that you were chosen to receive a large cash grant from Mavis Wanczyk. All the lucky strangers receiving the emails had to do was provide personal information in order to qualify for the grant. In addition, phony social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were also set up in Ms. Wanczyk’s name through which people were contacted with the same phony offer of free money informing them that in order to qualify for the grant they merely needed to provide personal information.
Here is a post from the Instagram account of a recent scammer pretending to be Mavis Wanczyk.
Another version of the Mavis Wanczyk lottery scam that victimized a Scamicide reader started with a text message purportedly from Mavis Wanczyk informing the targeted victim that she would give $15,000 to the targeted victim. All the victim had to do was pay some fees. After paying $3,786.68 through untraceable Bitcoin cryptocurrency, the victim still had not received anything who was then prompted to send an additional $300 for expedited delivery of his check. After paying that amount, the scammers still had not sent anything, but did demand access to the victim’s Facebook account. Finally, the greedy scammers even threatened to turn in the victim to the FBI unless they were paid $500. It does take quite a bit of gall for criminals to threaten victims with reporting them to law enforcement, but gall does not appear to be in short supply when it comes to scammers.
TIPS
It is difficult to win a lottery you have entered. It is impossible to win one that you have never entered and neither lottery winners, nor anyone else is sending out messages through the Internet offering free money to anyone who responds with personal information. Never give out personal information that can make you vulnerable to identity theft unless you have absolutely verified that the party requesting the personal information is legitimate and has a legitimate need for the information. Also never pay anything to a lottery claiming you owe fees in order to claim your prize. This is a telltale sign of a scam. No legitimate lottery requires the payment of a fee to collect your winnings or requires you to pay the lottery income taxes on the prize. While income taxes are due on lottery winnings, those taxes are either deducted by the lottery sponsor before giving you your prize or the prize is given to you in full and you are responsible for the payment of any taxes. No lottery collects taxes on behalf of the IRS.
You should never give anyone access to your social media accounts because scammers use your account to scam others who trust you and fall for scams that appear to come from you.
Finally and most importantly, remember neither Mavis Wanczyk nor any other lottery winner is giving away money to strangers.
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 insert your email address where it indicates “Sign up for this blog.”