Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – May 1, 2020 – Stimulus Checks Spur Increased Income Tax Identity Theft
Just when you thought the financial problems tied to the Coronavirus pandemic were lessened a bit by the federal government’s program of payments of up to $1,200 to eligible people, we are now seeing a double whammy of increases in income tax identity theft resulting in not only the needy person not getting their $1,200 payment, but also having their legitimate income tax refund delayed by months. This was what happened recently to Jim and Dawn Ackerman of Illinois who were expecting $1,200 stimulus checks, but instead not only discovered that their checks had been paid to someone else, but also found out that they were victims of income tax identity theft where an identity thief had filed a phony income tax return in their names so that when the Ackermans recently filed their 2019 federal income tax return, they were told by the IRS that they cannot obtain their legitimate income tax refund until a full investigation of their case has occurred which will most likely take many months.
The reason for the plight of the Ackermans and others in their situation is that the payments under the CARES Act are determined in the vast majority of instances by the information contained on your 2019 income tax return or if you have not filed a 2019 income tax return yet, by your 2018 income tax return. These tax returns will be used to determine both the amount of the stimulus check that you shall receive as well as to where the stimulus payment will be made. Income tax identity theft causes taxpayers to lose billions of dollars each year and it can be expected that that the problem will worsen this year.
TIPS
In addition to protecting the privacy of your Social Security number, the best thing you can do to protect yourself from becoming a victim of income tax identity theft is to file your income tax return as early as possible. A criminal can successfully make you a victim of income tax identity theft only if he or she files an income tax return using your Social Security number before you file your legitimate income tax return. Therefore the earlier you file your income tax return, the more likely you are to avoid becoming a victim of this crime. Although, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the IRS has extended the filing deadline for 2019 income tax returns to July, you would be well advised to file your income tax return as soon as possible if you have not already done so in order to avoid the problem encountered by the Ackermans.
The IRS has lowered the time to resolve the income tax identity theft cases of individual taxpayers to 166 days, which, although to my mind, is still too long, is a significant improvement over previous years, however with reduced staffing and more to do, the delays in processing claims of income tax identity theft victims may be longer this year. Through the joint efforts of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the IRS, you can now file electronically an IRS Form 14039 which is the form necessary to report if you have become a victim of income tax identity theft to the IRS. Being able to file this form now electronically should speed up the process of the IRS investigation of instances of income tax identity theft and reduce the time before you can get your income tax refund if one is due. You can obtain the form at the FTC’s http://www.Identitytheft.gov website where you will be asked questions necessary to automatically complete the form. Once the form is completed, you will be able to review it and, if it meets with your approval, submit the form directly to the IRS through the http://www.Identitytheft.gov website. You should also download and print out a copy of the form for your own records as well. You should receive a confirmation from the IRS of receipt of the form within thirty days. You also should file a police report immediately
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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 30, 2020 – Coronavirus Small Business Administration Loan Scams
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) contained not only provisions for payments to millions of citizens, but also included a number of provisions for financial assistance to small businesses. Many small businesses have suffered tremendously as a result of the Coronavirus and are eager to obtain whatever measure of critical financial relief they can get from the federal government. Unfortunately, recognizing this desperation, despicable scammers are targeting small businesses with a variety of scams intended to further harm these businesses which are already hurting.
Some of the scams involve businesses being called on the phone or receiving emails or text messages from the Small Business Administration (SBA) soliciting the businesses to participate in various financial assistance programs. These scammers, posing as government employees will then either ask for personal information that can be used for purposes of identity theft or ask for processing fees for loans or other programs that never provide any financial relief.
In other instances, companies that have filed for loans or other financial relief with the SBA are asked in emails from scammers, posing as government or bank officials, for personal information that actually would be consistent with the information required by the SBA to process these financial assistance applications, but when the email comes from a scammer, you end up providing the information to a scammer who then uses it for purposes of identity theft.
Finally, some businesses are being contacted by scammers promising to get fast approval of SBA loans, but charge illegal fees and never provide the assistance they promise.
TIPS
Even before the CARES Act was passed, the SBA provided a number of financing programs. Now, the CARES Act has authorized new programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program which provides loan forgiveness for retaining employees through a temporary expansion of the SBA’s 7(a) loan program, a $10,000 loan advance program, SBA Express Bridge Loans for as much as $25,000 and the SBA Debt Relief program for already existing SBA loans.
The most important thing to remember in order to avoid these scams is that the SBA will never contact any business to solicit an SBA loan by email, phone, text message or regular mail. Anyone contacting you who tells you that he or she is an SBA employee seeking to enroll you in a financial assistance program is a scammer. Regardless of how legitimate appearing any letter or email may be, it is easy to copy an official logo on to an email or letter.
The SBA limits the fees a broker can charge a borrower to 3% for loans of $50,000 or less and 2% for loans $50,000 to $1,000,000 with an additional 1/4% on amounts over $1,000,000. You also should be avoid anyone asking for advance payments to help you procure an SBA loan or who is offering to loan you money through a high interest bridge loan until your SBA loan is processed.
If you have already applied for an SBA loan, you may get an email asking for personal information as a part of the application process, however, scammers are aware that many businesses are seeking such loans and they are contacting small businesses posing as SBA representatives asking for this information. The best way to avoid giving this information to a scammer is to make sure that the email being sent to you includes the application number of your application for an SBA loan. Scammers would not have this information. Also make sure the email address for any communications you receive purporting to be from the SBA end in sba.gov.
If you have questions about SBA loans and other financial assistance programs you can contact the SBA by phone at 800-659-2955 or by email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 29, 2020 – Puppy Scams During the Pandemic
According to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), pet scams involving the online sale of non-existent dogs have increased 39% since 2017 and now during the Coronavirus pandemic we are seeing an increase in this scam as people are interested in the wonderful emotional support dogs provide us during stressful times. People buy dogs or other pets online and although they think they are taking proper precautions, they often end up getting nothing in return for the money that they wire to the scammer who may have a website or some other way of marketing their non-existent pets with photographs and false information. Often the scammers hook their victims for more and more money, such as when even after the victims has paid for the non-existent dog, the victim is asked for further fees for a special crate to transport the dog along with additional transportation company fees.
TIPS
It is simple for a scammer to construct a website that appears to be legitimate and scammers can readily steal the name of a legitimate animal breeder. Always check into the reputation of the breeder with the Better Business Bureau, your state’s attorney general and even Google the name with the word “scam” to see if a legitimate breeder’s name that is being used has been stolen for scams previously. Be wary of anyone who asks you to wire money because that is a telltale sign that a scam is going on because once the money is wired, it is impossible to get it back. If you are told that a courier company is being used to transport the animal, check out the company to make sure it is legitimate and actually shipping the dog. There also are a number of ways such as using the website http://www.tineye.com to search the photos sent to you of the dog to see if they appear elsewhere other than the website attempting to sell you a puppy. If so, this is a good indication that you are being scammed. Also, always get a veterinarian report on any animal before you consider buying it. Finally, you are always going to be better off buying a pet that you can see in person prior to buying the pet.
Some phony breeders claim they are certified by the American Kennel Club (AKC) however, the AKC doesn’t certify breeders. Legitimate breeders will however, register their litters with the AKC and you can find out by calling the AKC’s customer service line 919-233-9767 if a particular litter has been registered.
Here is a link to a television interview I did about pet scams:https://turnto10.com/i-team/consumer-advocate/12-scams-of-christmas-phony-pet-breeder
You also might want to consider getting a dog from a local animal shelter where you can both get a great dog and give an animal in need a loving home.
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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 28, 2020 – Phony Coronavirus Text Message
The scams related to the Coronavirus are seemingly without end. With so much concern about the Coronavirus, scammers are using that concern to lure people through text messages into going to either malware infected websites or websites that will appear to be those of official CDC or other health information websites where you will be prompted to provide personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft. Similar scams will download malware on your phone if you merely click on the link believing you will be directed to a helpful website. Reproduced below is one of these text messages that appears to inform you that you have come into contact with someone who is infected with the Coronavirus and then lures you into going to a website where you are led to believe you can find out more information about what to do. The Kansas Attorney General has issued a warning about this scam. https://www.ag.ks.gov/media-center/news-releases/2020/04/09/consumer-alert-beware-of-new-coronavirus-text-message-scam
TIPS
If you receive a text message such as this, you should ignore it. Never click on a link or download an attachment from any email or text message unless you have absolutely confirmed that it is legitimate and unfortunately, there is no way for you to confirm if you get such an email or text message that it is legitimate. Compounding the complexity of the problem is that you might expect that other states may follow the lead of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker who launched a program through a Massachusetts health care nonprofit Corporation Partners in Health, which is calling people by phone who have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the Coronavirus to inform them of the necessity of getting tested. However, these legitimate calls will not ask for personal information and neither text messages nor emails will be used to notify people of possible danger of infection. If you receive a text message such as the one copied above and have any concerns that it might be legitimate, you should contact your state health department. Here is a link with a list of each of the state health departments as compiled by the CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories/healthdepartments.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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 27, 2020 – Message Not Delivered Scam
Curiosity killed the cat, but it can also cause you to become a victim of identity theft. It also can be a warning that your have been hacked and made a part of a botnet. Reproduced below is a message that a Scamicide reader received indicating that a message she had sent had not been delivered. The Scamicide reader neither had sent an email to the address indicated in the notice nor even recognized the email address to which her message supposedly was sent. For security purposes I have changed the email address in the notice and removed the link where the notice directed you to click on in order to learn more about the message.
Phishing emails where you are lured into clicking on a link under a variety of pretenses is a primary weapon of scammers and identity thieves who infect your computer or phone with a wide variety of malware such as ransomware or keystroke logging malware that will steal your data and use it to make you a victim of identity theft. Alternatively, this notice could be an indication that your computer has been hacked and made a part of a botnet. A botnet is a network of computers that have been compromised and used to anonymously send out massive amounts of malware and scams.
Message not delivered |
| There was a problem delivering your message to noreply@ashed.xxxxxx.icu. See the technical details below. |
| Learn More |
TIPS
If there were a Ten Commandments of safe computer use, the first commandment would be to never click on any link or download any attachment unless you have absolutely confirmed that the communication containing the link or attachment was legitimate. Phishing emails and text messages with infected links and attachments are the most common way that malware is delivered to unwary victims. It is also important to have good security software installed on all of your devices and make sure that you install the latest security updates as soon as they are available, however, even if you are using the most up to date version of your security software, you will still be vulnerable to the newest zero day defects which are new strains of malware which your security software will not protect you against. That is the reason that it is so critical not to be lured into clicking on infected links.
If your computer has been hijacked and made a part of a botnet you can run a boot-time scan which will uncover botnet malware by scanning your computer system before the operating system starts. Fortunately, even in a worst case scenario, botnet infections usually are of very short duration with most lasting less than a day and less than one percent lasting more than a week.
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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 26, 2020 – Schwab Phishing Email
Here is another good example of a phishing email that is presently being circulated. It was sent to me by a Scamicide reader who received it. It makes for compelling reading, but it is a scam. Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which will download malware or providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new. They are a staple of identity thieves and scammers and with good reason because they work. As always, they lure you by making it appear that there is an emergency that requires your immediate attention or else dire consequences will occur. Copied below is a new phishing email presently being sent to unsuspecting people that appears to come from Schwab. This particular one came with a Schwab logo. A telltale sign that this is a phishing email is that the email address of the sender was one that has nothing to do with Scwab and was most likely part of a botnet of computers infected by scammers and then used to send out the phishing email in a way that is not readily traceable back to the scammer.
Here is the email. Please note that I have scrambled the links which the phishing email attempted to lure you into clicking on. I also have scrambled the telephone number it provided.
| Schwab Delivery Alert | ||||
| For your security, Your Online Banking has been locked because the number of attempts to sign in exceeded the number allowed. To regain access,To unblock your account, log on to this link http://www.xxxx.com You will use your same User ID and Password to login and verify your account information.
Please don’t reply directly to this automatically-generated e-mail message. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. |
| UNSUBSCRIBE | PRIVACY | MESSAGES |  LOG IN |
| If you have any questions or concerns, please do not reply to this email. Please contact the Schwab Alliance team at 800-xxx-xxxxx.
For your protection, we are unable to accept instructions to change your email address sent in reply to this message. To update your address using a secure channel, please log in to your account. For your security, Charles Schwab will never request personal information through email. Learn more about Schwab security practices, including the Schwab Security Guarantee. NOTICE: All email sent to or from the Charles Schwab corporate email system is subject to archival, monitoring, and/or review by Schwab personnel. |
TIPS
Legitimate emails from your bank or stock broker would include the last four digits of your account and include your name. This email had neither. Often such phishing emails originate in countries where English is not the primary language and the spelling and grammar are poor. However this one appears grammatically correct. Obviously, if you are not a Schwab customer, you will recognize immediately that this is a scam. As with most phishing emails, they lure you into clicking on a link by attempting to trick you into believing there is an emergency. However, if you hover on the sign in link contained in the actual phishing email, you will find it does not go to Schwab.
As with all phishing emails, two things can happen if you click on the links provided. Either you will be sent to a legitimate looking, but phony webpage where you will be prompted to input personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft or, even worse, merely by clicking on the link, you will download malware such as keystroke logging malware that will steal all of your personal information from your computer and use it to make you a victim of identity theft. If you receive an email like this and think it may possibly be legitimate, merely call your bank or other institution from which the email purports to originate at a telephone number that you know is accurate and you will be able to confirm that it is a scam.
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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 25, 2020 – Important Tips About Safely Working from Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Here is a column that I wrote for Fast Company magazine about the steps we all should be taking to safely work from home.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90492940/how-to-protect-your-work-from-home-computer-from-cyberattacks
Scam of the day – April 24, 2020 – Important Microsoft Security Updates
It is always important to update all of the software you use with the latest security updates and patches as soon as they are available. Numerous hacks and data breaches could have been avoided if individuals as well as companies installed security updates as soon as they became available. Hackers take advantage of the fact that many of us procrastinate installing security software to our great detriment. The major data breach at Equifax that affected 148 million people involved a security flaw in Apache software for which a patch had already been issued months earlier, but Equifax had not yet installed at the time of the data breach.
Microsoft recently issued a number of security updates including critical updates to correct three zero day defects which are vulnerabilities that have only recently been discovered. It is important when new security updates are issued to not delay in installing them on your devices.
TIPS
Here is a link to the newest updates from Microsoft for a number of their products. https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/2020/04/14/microsoft-releases-april-2020-security-updates
Additionally, you should, whenever possible choose to have all of your software updates installed automatically. Here is a link that informs you how to do this for your Microsoft products. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/311047/how-to-keep-your-windows-computer-up-to-date
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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 23, 2020 – 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. Many people are receiving a Facebook post from friends saying their account had been hacked and not to accept friend requests by them. Many people cut and pasted the message and sent it out to all of their friends as the post asked them to do. However, there is no need to panic. The message is a hoax.
If one of your friends actually received a 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 spring up again soon thereafter. 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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”
Scam of the day – April 22, 2020 – FTC Shuts Down Makers of Phony Supplement
Scams related to cures for various diseases have always been with us. The claims of medical charlatans are as persuasive to us as they were to the early American colonists. Often these scammers take advantage of people desperate to find help for whatever medical condition they may have and the scammers can be very persuasive. Recently the Federal Trade Commission settled a case it had brought against Renaissance Health Publishing, LLC and its owner James DiGeorgia the makers of the worthless pain reliever Isoprex which was sold by Renaissance primarily through direct mail brochures and websites that falsely touted this pill made up of various herbs and spices as being able to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and rebuild joints better than non-steroid anti-inflamatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen. Renaissance also falsely claimed to have clinical studies to support its claims and failed to disclose that the endorsers appearing in their advertisements were all paid for their testimonials or were company employees.
TIPS
Check with your physician before embarking on any medical treatment. As for supplements, you cannot trust any advertisement for any supplement that indicates that it prevents or cures any disease because federal law outlaws such claims. Many medical scammers, like Renaissance, use websites with phony claims and phony endorsements. Be skeptical of such websites in general and certainly be very skeptical of medical therapies that promise to cure so many medical issues as Renaissance claimed. It is also important to remember that even if you see an advertisement for medical cures and products on legitimate media, such as newspapers, radio, television, magazines or the Internet, you cannot be confident that the medicine or treatment being advertised is legitimate. Media companies do not investigate the efficacy of the products or services sold through their advertisements.
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.”
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 click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”