Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – July 2, 2021 – Police Impostor Scam
Impostor scams have long been among the most lucrative for scammers. While there are many variations of this scam, the most common variations have involved scammers calling their intended victims on the telephone posing as some governmental agency such as the IRS, the Social Security Administration or your local police department The scammer then, under a wide variety of pretenses, demands an immediate payment by gift cards, credit card or wired funds. Being asked to pay by gift cards is a definite indication that the call is a scam since no governmental agency requests or accepts payments by gift cards. Alternatively, the scammer demands the victim supply the phony governmental agent with personal information such as your Social Security number which will then be used for identity theft purposes.
Recently the Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina Police Department posted the following notice on its Facebook page about a local impostor scam.
“Kill Devil Hills Police Department
We’ve received several calls in the last two days about a phone scam targeting local area residents. The Kill Devil Hills Police Department phone number is being spoofed (ends in 5337) and actual officer’s names are being used by the scammers. They are telling people they have a warrant for skipping court and have to pay a fine over the phone.
Please do not fall for these scams: they originate overseas and it is almost impossible to recover money that is lost to the scammers. The Kill Devil Hills Police Department will never call you and demand money.”
TIPS
As I have often reminded you, through the simple technique of “spoofing” it is very easy for a scammer to manipulate your Caller ID to make a call coming to you appear legitimate when it is not. Therefore you can never truly trust your Caller ID. Trust me, you can’t trust anyone. Never provide personal information to anyone who calls you unless you have absolutely confirmed that it is legitimate. In the case of this kind of impostor scam, no police department will call you and demand a payment over the phone.
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 insert your email address where it indicates “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – July 1, 2021 – BBB Report Shows 227 Million Dollars Lost to Lottery Scams in 2020
Lottery scams are one of the most prevalent types of scams. Scammers cheat people out of millions of dollars each year by tricking people into sending money to the scammers after being told that they have won a lottery, but are required to pay some fees or taxes in order to collect their prize. It is hard to win any lottery. It is impossible to win one that you have not even entered and yet scam artists, the only criminals we refer to as artists, have found that it is extremely lucrative to scam people by convincing them that they have won various lotteries.
Most lottery scams involve the victims being told that they need to pay taxes or administrative fees directly to the lottery sponsor; however no legitimate lottery requires you to do so. As with many effective scams, the pitch of the scammer seems legitimate. Income taxes are due on lottery winnings, but with legitimate lotteries they are either deducted from the lottery winnings before you receive your prize or you are responsible for paying the taxes directly to the IRS. No legitimate lottery collects taxes on behalf of the IRS from lottery winners. Other times, the scammer tell the “winners” that in order to collect their prizes, they need to pay administrative fees. Often, the victims are told to send the fees back to the scammer by prepaid gift cards or Green Dot MoneyPak cards. Prepaid cards are a favorite of scammers because they are the equivalent of sending cash. They are impossible to stop or trace. Again, no legitimate lottery requires you to pay administrative fees in order to claim your prize. A recent report done by the Better Business Bureau indicates that Americans lost approximately 227 million dollars to lottery scams last year. As startling as these figures are, they are probably understated as many victims of the scam fail to report that they have become victims.
TIPS
As I have often told you, it is difficult to win a lottery you have entered. It is impossible to win one that you have not even entered. You should always be skeptical about being told that you have won a lottery you never entered. It is also important to remember that it is illegal to play foreign lotteries except when you are actually present in the other country so those calls you receive from the phony Jamaican Lottery are coming from scammers.
While it is true that income taxes are owed on lottery winnings, legitimate lotteries never collect tax money from winners. They either deduct the taxes from the winnings or leave it up to the winners to pay their taxes directly to the IRS. You also should never pay a fee to collect a legal lottery prize.
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 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 – June 30, 2021 – WhatsApp Amazon 30th Anniversary Scam
More than a billion people use the WhatsApp mobile messaging app that helps you send text messages, photographs, videos and audio. Due to its extreme popularity, it is not surprising that WhatsApp has become an attractive platform for scammers. I have reported to you for years about the various scams targeting WhatsApp users. The latest WhatsApp scam involves a message that purports to be from Amazon offering “free gifts” (aren’t all gifts free?) to everyone to celebrate the company’s thirtieth anniversary. The message has a link which if you click on it takes you to a page where you are prompted to enter personal information that can lead to your becoming a victim of identity theft if you provide it.
TIPS
A good place to start in recognizing that this is a scam is the fact that Amazon was founded in 1994 which means that its thirtieth anniversary won’t happen until 2024 so you know that this is a scam. Further, you should never click on links in emails, text messages or social media posts unless you have absolutely confirmed that the communication is legitimate. In this case the best way to confirm that this is a scam is to go to Amazon’s website where you would be able to find information about such “free gifts” if the company actually was sponsoring such a program. Clicking on malware infected links can cause you to become a victim of ransomware or other types of malware. Additionally, if as in this scam, the link did not download malware, but took you to a phony website where personal information was requested, you would end up becoming a victim of identity theft if you provided the personal information. Never provide personal information to a company that you connect through from a link in an email or text message. Only provide such information to companies that you know are legitimate and by going directly to their website at an address you are sure is accurate in order to avoid providing such information to an identity thief.
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 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 in the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 29, 2021 – Norton Renewal Scam
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.
This email appears to come from Norton, a company that provides a wide range of digital security 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.
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 appears to have nothing to do with Norton.
Here is a copy of the invoice being circulated.
We Are Renewing It For You
Dear Customer,
Your Personal Subscription With NORTON Will Expire Today. The Subscription Will Be Auto Renewed. Hope You Are Happy With The Services.
Customer Support – +1 (866) 726-0114
Order ID – #786-553-5082332
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Account Type:- Personal Home Subscription
Product :- NORTON Premium
Quantity :- 1
Tenure :- 3 Years
Payment Mode:- Auto Debit
Renewal Amount – 249.99
This charge appears on your statement as payment to “NORTON LIFELOCK INC”
Terms & Conditions
The subscription period will automatically renew unless you turn it of no later than 24 hrs before the end of current period. To cancel auto-renewal or to manage your subscription.
if you didn’t authorize this Charge, You have 74 Hrs From The Date Of Transaction to open a dispute against this charge or claim for the refund.
We Recommend you to call our customer care service immediately, Please Keep The Order Number Or Transaction ID handy for assistance.
Thank You
Team NORTON
Customer Support:- +1 (866) 726-0114
TIPS
Once, I received a large invoice from a company with which I do business for goods I did not order, but rather than click on the link provided in the email, I went directly to the company’s website to question the invoice. When the website came up, the first thing I saw was a large announcement that the invoice was a scam and that many people had received these phony invoices. If you ever receive a phony invoice such as this and you think that it may possibly be true, don’t click on links or call phone numbers provided in the email. Rather, contact the real company directly at a phone number or website that you know is legitimate where you can confirm that the phishing invoice was a scam.
Never click on links or download attachments in emails or text messages unless you have absolutely confirmed that they are legitimate and don’t call companies at telephone numbers that appear in the email such as this one. Instead, if the email appears to come from a legitimate company, you can call them at a telephone number you confirm is legitimate . Don’t call the number that appears in the email. In the case of Norton, the real telephone number to call for customer service is 844-993-1307. One of the indications that this is not legitimate and is a phishing email is the fact that the email address from which it was sent has nothing to do with Norton. Most likely it is the email address of someone whose email account was hacked and made a part of a botnet used to send out thee phishing emails. Also, nowhere in the email does your name appear. The email does contain good graphics and the Norton logo, but these are extremely easy to copy. More telling are the grammatical errors that appear throughout the phishing email which are often a result of the scam originating in a country where English is not the primary language.
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 – June 28, 2021 – Don’t be a Money Mule
Laundering money derived from a scam is an essential element of many scams. Scammers can be extremely clever at distancing themselves from their scams in order to avoid detection. The people they enlist either as willing or unknowing participants in the laundering of the proceeds of a scam are called money mules. Scams in which innocent people are lured into being unknowing money mules are numerous. One of the more common of these involves work at home scams where your job is to receive goods, often electronics that have been shipped to you, inspect them and then reship them to an address provided to you by your new employer. The problem is that these goods have been purchased with stolen credit cards and you have just become an accomplice to the crime when you ship them to someone else who will then sell them to turn the merchandise into cash. Other times the scammers will say that your job is to receive funds sent to you by the scammer, deposit the funds in your own bank account and wire the funds to people who the scammers tell you are either clients or suppliers of the scammers phony company. This was what happened recently in Utah where a young woman went to a branch office of the Bank of Utah to deposit money into her account and then immediately withdraw it to send to her “employer.” Fortunately, the branch manager, Melissa Bernson recognized the scam and put a stop to the scam and earning the gratitude of her customer who didn’t realize she was unwittingly about to participate in an illegal activity. In another related scam, you are asked to purchase gift cards with the money sent to you and to send the gift card numbers to someone. Finally, money mules are also used is in a variation of the romance scam where you are asked by your romantic partner to wire funds to someone on behalf of the scammer on a variety of pretenses.
TIP
As always, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Check out work at home scams with the big three – your local attorney general, the Better Business Bureau and the FTC. And as always, you can Google the name of the particular company offering you the work at home program with the word “scam” next to it and see what turns up. As for reshipping goods as a work at home job, they are always a scam and you should steer clear of them. You also should never use your own bank account to transfer funds for an employer. Asking you to purchase gift card numbers and send that information to someone is also always a scam and finally, you should always be skeptical of someone with whom you have recently established an online romantic relationship who either asks you for money (the most common scam) or asks you to pass on money to a third party as directed by the scammer.
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 – June 27, 2021 – Facebook Cloning
Today’s Scam of the day is one about which I have written in the past, however it continues to pop up frequently as evidenced by one of my long-time friends becoming a victim recently. If one of your friends received a Facebook friend request that appeared to come from you, it does not mean that your account was hacked. It does mean however that your account was cloned in the sense that someone has set up a Facebook account or some other social media account in your name or a slight variation of it in order to trick people into trusting messages that they post, to lure them into scams or to trick them into clicking on links containing malware. This is nothing new. Facebook estimates that there are as many as 60 million phony cloned Facebook accounts including hundreds of its founder Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook tries to remove the cloned accounts when it becomes aware of them, but they consistently spring up again soon thereafter. You also should let your friends know that your account has been cloned and warn them not to accept any new friend requests from you. If you do find that someone has set up a Facebook account in your name, you should contact Facebook as soon as possible in order for Facebook to take action to cancel the phony cloned account. Here is a link you can use to report such a phony or cloned account. https://www.facebook.com/help/306643639690823?helpref=uf_permalink
TIPS
As indicated above, if you do receive a friend request from someone who already is a Facebook friend of yours, you should contact the friend to let them know that their Facebook account has been cloned so they can report it to Facebook and get the phony, cloned account taken down. It is also important to remember that there will be times that you are contacted by what appear to be real friends or acquaintances where the truth is that it really is not them contacting you, but someone posing as them. Never click on links in any email or text message unless you have absolutely confirmed that the communication is legitimate. Never provide personal information in response to any communication as well until you have confirmed that it is legitimate. As I always warn you, trust me, you can’t trust anyone.
This is probably also a good time to remind you about steps you can take to actually make your Facebook account more impervious to actually being hacked. The first thing you should do is make sure you have a strong password. For some advice about choosing a strong password, go to the Search scams tab in http://www.scamicide.com and write in “strong password” which will bring up a number of Scams of the day in which I described how to pick a strong password. You should also enable two factor authentication for your account which will dramatically strengthen the security of your Facebook account. Here is a link with more information about how to install dual factor authentication for your Facebook account. https://m.facebook.com/help/148233965247823?helpref=faq_content You also may want to review your privacy settings on Facebook to make them less vulnerable to hackers. Here is a link with more information about adjusting your privacy settings on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/help/193677450678703?helpref=hc_fnav&refid=69
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 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 indicates “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 26, 2021 – FTC Sending Refunds to Victims of Deceptive Website Scam
The FTC has settled its claims against Career Education Corp. (CEC) and as a result is now sending refunds totaling thirty million dollars to victims of CEC’s scams. CEC bought leads from companies that constructed bogus websites to attract people looking for information about jobs, how to enlist in the military and Medicaid information. CEC would then use that information to contact them and made high-pressure sales calls to induce people to enroll in their schools that would not provide the services they desired. According to the FTC, CEC used telemarketers to make aggressive enrollment pitches to people who had signed up for the federal Do Not Call List.
TIPS
Whenever you are searching online for information about jobs, the military or government benefits, you should be wary of scammers. Merely because a search brings up a website high on a search does not mean that the website is legitimate. The website may either have paid for that position or manipulated the algorithms used to rate websites to get a high position in a search. Therefore, if you find an unfamiliar website that appears to have the information you are seeking, you should do an additional search putting in the name of the unfamiliar website with the words, “scam,” or “complaint” and see what comes up.
In regard to looking for a job, check out the Department of Labor’s American Job Centers for information about jobs in your state. Here is their link https://www.careeronestop.org/localhelp/americanjobcenters/find-american-job-centers.aspx
For information about enlisting in the military services, a good place to get reliable information is this site of the Department of Defense. https://www.todaysmilitary.com/joining-eligibility/questions-ask-recruiter
For reliable information about Medicaid benefits go to https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/index.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/
Scam of the day – June 25, 2021 – McAfee Phishing Scam
McAfee is a popular security software company so it is somewhat ironic that scammers are using their name in phishing emails to scam people. Recently, law enforcement officials in Nevada warned about a scam that starts with an email that purports to be from McAfee informing you that you are being charged $300 for McAfee Total Protection anti-virus software unless you cancel the order by calling a phone number provided in the email. If you call the number provided you will be greeted by a scammer posing as a McAfee employee who will ask for personal information including a bank account number supposedly to verify the account. Anyone providing this information is well on their way to becoming a victim of identity theft.
TIPS
There are number of telltale signs that this is a phishing scam. Emails from the real McAfee company are not sent through Gmail although the scams are sent using a Gmail account. In addition, the phishing emails being sent by the scammers are sent as mass mailings so when you receive one of these phishing emails, not only does your name not appear on the email, but you are able to see that the same email was sent to numerous other people.
As always, you should never click on a link or provide information in response to any email you receive unless you have absolutely confirmed that the email is legitimate. Nor should you trust the phone number in such emails. B.S. – Be skeptical. If you have concerns that the email may be legitimate, merely call the company, in this case McAfee at a telephone number you know is accurate which in this case is. 866-622-3911 which, of course is not the number that appears in the phishing email.
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 – June 24, 2021 – WhatsApp Account Hijacking Inreasing
More than a billion people use the WhatsApp mobile messaging app that helps you send text messages, photographs, videos and audio. Due to its extreme popularity, it is not surprising that WhatsApp has become an attractive platform for scammers. I have reported to you for years about the various scams targeting WhatsApp users. A common WhatsApp scam that is happening frequently involves social engineering used to hack your account and then use your account to scam other people. The scam starts when you receive a message through WhatsApp that appears to come from a friend of yours. The message from your trusted friend tells you that you are about to receive a text message and requests that you send that message back to your friend. The truth is that the message you received through WhatsApp is from an account taken over by a hacker who is looking to take over your account too. The text message that you are sent on your phone is actually a dual factor authentication code sent to you because the hacker is trying to take over your WhatsApp account and if you sent it to your “friend” as requested, you are actually turning over that code to a hacker who can then use it to take over your WhatsApp account in order to send out messages with malware or lure your WhatsApp friends into becoming victims of scams because they believe the messages sent by the hacker with malware and scams are coming from you.
TIPS
In 2017 WhatsApp added dual factor authentication capabilities and you should use this if you are a WhatsApp user. Passwords are just too vulnerable to be the sole method of authentication for important apps or accounts. Whenever you are able to use dual factor authentication for a particular website, account or app, you should take advantage of this. Some dual factor authentication protocols do not require it to be used when you are accessing the account from the computer or phone that you usually use, but only if the request to access the account comes from a different device, which still provides security without even having to use the special code. However, as indicated in the scam I referred to above, dual factor authentication is not foolproof. Never underestimate the power of a fool. Fortunately, there is a way to protect yourself from this scam by setting up a PIN for your WhatsApp account so that even if someone got your dual factor authentication code, they could not access your account. You can set up a PIN by going to the Settings-Account section of the app. Of course, you should also remember to never under any circumstances provide to anyone the dual factor authentication code sent to your phone.
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 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 in the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – June 23, 2021 – The Danger of Criminal Identity Theft
Criminal identity theft occurs when someone steals your identity and then commits crimes using your name and Social Security number. The problems encountered by someone whose identity has been stolen by a criminal who then commits crimes in the name of the identity theft victim are tremendous. Victims of criminal identity theft have been arrested for crimes they never committed and often have had difficulty having the crimes, committed by someone who stole their identity, removed from their records. A faulty criminal record can affect your ability to get a job or obtain various benefits. Last year in Daytona Beach, Florida, Jonah Scott Miller was stopped for a minor motor vehicle violation and when a record check was done, it appeared he had an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear in court for a shoplifting charge. Despite Miller’s vehement protests that he had absolutely no criminal record and that they had arrested the wrong man, Miller was jailed overnight before it was determined that someone had stolen Miller’s identity and had committed the crimes using Miller’s name.
TIPS
If you find that you are a victim of criminal identity theft, you should hire a lawyer and contact the police as well as the District Attorney’s office to straighten out the matter. File a report indicating that you are the victim of identity theft. It will be necessary for you to confirm your true identity through photographs and fingerprints. In addition, show law enforcement authorities your driver’s license, passport or any other identification that you might have that contains your photograph.
Get a letter from the District Attorney explaining the situation to have available if you are ever stopped for a traffic violation and your record is checked. A few states have Identity Theft Passport programs through which anyone whose identity has been stolen by someone who uses it to commit crimes can, upon proving their identity, receive an Identity Theft Passport that protects them and confirms their true identity . Even if your state does not have an Identity Theft Passport program, get a letter from the law enforcement agency that arrested the person using your name known as a “clearance letter” which indicates that you have not committed the crimes which were done by the identity thief who used your name. Keep this document with you at all times.
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 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.”