Scam of the Day
Scam of the day – October 27, 2023 – High School Sports Streaming Scams
We are in the middle of the Fall high school sports seasons and more and more people are choosing to watch the games streaming online rather than attend the games in person. Streaming of high school sports increased dramatically during the pandemic and even now that the pandemic has ended, many people still enjoy watching the games streamed. Unfortunately, anything that many people enjoy will always be something that scammers take note of and scammers are going on social media posing as a streaming service and posting links through which people can sign up for streaming of their local high school’s games. People clicking on these links are prompted for personal information including their credit card to sign up for the service that they never receive. Instead all they end up doing is becoming victims of identity theft and credit card fraud.
TIPS
The simplest way to avoid this scam is to ignore any posts on social media or through emails, text messages or phone calls that offer to provide streaming of high school sports because it is pretty much impossible to know if they are legitimate or not. The best way to find out where you can stream your high school’s games is to contact your local high school’s athletic department and ask if they stream their games and if they do, where do you sign up.
Also, as I constantly remind you, never use your debit card for any purchase because you do not get the same protection from fraudulent use of your debit card that you do with your credit card. With your debit card, potentially your entire bank account tied to your debit card is in jeopardy in the event of fraudulent use of it.
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Scam of the day – October 26, 2023 – UN Doctor in Syria Romance Scam
Romance scams continue to be a major problem. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Americans lost more money to romance scams last year than to any other scam and the situation is getting more serious. In 2022, nearly 70,000 people reported a romance scam to the FTC, and reported losses hit a staggering $1.3 billion and as large as this figure is, it is probably understated as many victims out of embarrassment don’t report being scammed.
Romance scams generally follow a familiar pattern with the scammers establishing relationships with people, generally women, online through various legitimate dating websites and social media using fake names, locations and images. The scammers often pose as Americans working abroad or in the military serving abroad. Recently I have learned of a number of romance scammers posing as United Nations doctors working in Syria. These scammers have been using Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and dating sites to make contact with their victims.
While anyone can be the victim of a romance scam, according to the FBI, the elderly, women and people who have been widowed are particular vulnerable. Most romance scams are online and involve some variation of the person you meet through an online dating site or social media quickly falling in love with you and then, under a wide variety of pretenses, asking for money.
TIPS
There are various red flags to help you identify romance scams. I describe many of them in detail in my book “The Truth About Avoiding Scams.” The most important thing to remember is to always be skeptical of anyone who falls in love with you quickly online without ever meeting you and early into the relationship who then asks you to send money to assist them with a wide range of phony emergencies.
In the case of this particular scam, it is important to note that the UN does not employ doctors in Syria. This scam has also been done by scammers posing as UN doctors in Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
Here are a few other things to look for to help identify an online romance scam. Often their profile picture is stolen from a modeling website on the Internet. If the picture looks too professional and the person looks too much like a model, you should be wary. You also can check on the legitimacy of photographs by seeing if they have been used elsewhere by doing a reverse image search using Google or websites such as tineye.com.
Particular phrases, such as “Remember the distance or color does not matter, but love matters a lot in life” is a phrase that turns up in many romance scam emails. Also be on the lookout for bad spelling and grammar as many of the romance scammers claim to be Americans, but are actually foreigners lying about where they are and who they are.
Of course you should be particularly concerned if someone falls in love with you almost immediately. Often they will ask you to use a webcam, but will not use one themselves. This is another red flag. One thing you may want to do is ask them to take a picture of themselves holding up a sign with their name on it. In addition, ask for a number of pictures because generally when the scammers are stealing pictures of models from websites, they do not have many photographs. Ask for the picture to be at a particular place that you designate to further test them. If you meet someone through a dating website, be particularly wary if they ask you to leave the dating service and go “offline.”
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Scam of the day – October 25, 2023 – FTC Shuts Down Skin Care Marketing Scam
While not all offers of a “free” trial of a product from a company are scams, this is the basis of many scams. The scams begin with ads that appear to offer a free trial of a product with the consumer only being required to pay a small shipping and handling charge. . While there are companies that indeed do offer free trials of their products, the scammers use fine print that the consumer never reads or even sees that charge the victim of the scam’s credit card.. Making things even worse, many of the scammers also automatically enroll the victims of the scam to receive monthly deliveries of their products, all of which are paid for by the credit card which the victim of the scam provided thinking the card was only to be charged the small fee for shipping and handling of their “free” product. This business practice is called negative option continuity plans and they are highly regulated by the FTC which requires clear and conspicuous disclosure of all relevant terms of the offer as well as require that the company get the expressed informed consent of the customer before charging their credit cards.
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled a legal action against Goopalkrishna Pai and eight companies he owned that marketed a variety of skin creams online as free with the only cost being a nominal shipping and handling fee of $4.99, however, Pai would then charge his customers full price for the product and bill them monthly for continuing deliveries with the details of the fees hidden in fine print not readily seen. Under the terms of the settlement, Pai is banned from negative option continuity plans marketing and must turn over funds to the FTC to refund to customers he scammed. As further information becomes available about these refunds, I will let you know.
TIPS
This scam is very easy to avoid. If there ever was an offer that was too good to be true, this is it. This is also a good time to remind you to never use your debit card for purchases. Only use your credit card. If you are scammed by fraudulent charges on your credit card, you can easily get the charges taken off of your credit card. The consumer protection laws that govern debit cards are not as strong and if you delay notifying the bank where the account tied to your debit card is located, you can potentially lose everything in that bank account with no recourse.
Also, because there rarely is anything fine in fine print, it is important whenever you purchase something to read the fine print that contains the terms of what you have agreed to. Particularly be on the lookout for negative option continuity plans not conspicuously disclosed.
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Scam of the day – October 24, 2023 – More Scam Danger at the Gas Pump
In 2020 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a warning about the dangers presented by skimmers on gas pumps. I have warned you about the dangers of skimmers for many years. Skimmers are small electronic devices that are easily installed by an identity thief on gas pumps, ATMs and other card reading devices. The skimmer steals all of the information from old style magnetic strip credit card or debit cards which then enables the identity thief to use that information to access the victim’s credit card or bank account when the skimmer is used on a debit card. Each skimmer can hold information on as many as 2,400 cards.
MasterCard and Visa announced in December of 2016 that the deadline for the installation of EMV chip card readers on gas pumps was being delayed three years to October 1, 2020. This deadline was further delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic to April 17, 2021 at which time less than half of the gas pumps in the United States complied with the requirement to install EMV chip card readers. And although that deadline has long since passed, due to the cost involved, many gas pumps still are not enabled for your chip credit card.
Wider implementation of the use of EMV chip cards at retail stores where their use has been mandated since 2015 has resulted in a dramatic reduction in data breaches and credit card fraud at retailers using this equipment. EMV chip cards are far safer than the old-style magnetic strip cards. Around the country there has been a dramatic increase in the use of skimmers installed by criminals at gas pumps and while the deadline for gas pumps to install chip readers has passed, many gas pumps still do not use EMV chip card readers and so skimmers at gas pumps continue to be a problem.
Recently the Aurora, Colorado police department issued a warning that scammers were drilling holes in the contactless payment screens on gas pumps where you can merely scan your credit card with its RFID chip rather than insert it into any card reader. By damaging the contactless payment screen, it becomes inoperable thereby requiring the customer to use the credit card reader on the gas pump where the identity thief had already installed a skimmer to steal your credit card or debit card information.
TIPS
Always look for signs of tampering on any machine you use to swipe your credit card or debit card although the more advanced forms of skimmers are installed in the gas pump’s interior and cannot be detected from an inspection of the outside of the pump. Keys to open the gas pumps to allow the installation of the skimmer are readily available online. If the card inserting mechanism appears loose or in any other way tampered, don’t use it. In regard to the contactless payment screen, if it is not working, there is a high likelihood that it may have been tampered with so in that instance pay for your gas inside the gas station office.
Debit cards, when compromised through a skimmer put the customers at risk of having the bank accounts tied to their cards entirely emptied if the theft is not promptly reported and even if the victim reports the theft immediately, the victim loses access to his or her bank account while the matter is investigated by the bank. Debit cards should not be used for purchases at gas pumps. Instead use your credit card and monitor your account regularly to find out early if you have become a victim of this scam. With a credit card, your liability for fraudulent purchases is limited by law to no more than $50 and I am not aware of any credit card companies that hold their customers responsible for any fraudulent purchases. However, fraudulent debit purchases do not come with the same federal legal protection.
When choosing a particular gas pump, you may wish to pick the pump closest to the building and within the sight line of the attendant. Criminals are less likely to install skimmers in pumps where they could be observed making the illegal installation of a skimmer.
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Scam of the day – October 23, 2023 – VA Warns About PACT Act Scams
Since the passage of the PACT Act in 2022 which expanded VA benefits and health care for veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances, there have been numerous companies and lawyers offering assistance in filing for benefits for conditions related to such toxic exposures in return for a percentage of your benefit award. Recently the VA issued a warning about scammers contacting veterans through phishing emails, text messages and social media with phony offers of help in applying for PACT Act benefits. It is important to know that you don’t need to pay to file a claim. The VA can assist you or help you identify a VA-recognized organization or VA-accredited individual to help you with your claim. You can submit your application securely online via VA.gov. There is no cost for the forms and no fee to apply. VA will never charge you to apply for benefits. In addition, Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) and representatives are available to assist in filing claims. To help guard against fraud and scams, validate the credentials of anyone offering to help you with a VA claim by using the Office of General Counsel’s Accreditation Search tool or by contacting your local representative or VA Regional Office
TIPS
There is no deadline for filing for benefits under the PACT Act, however, if you are eligible for benefits and filed prior to August 9, 2023 you could receive benefits retroactive to August 10, 2022.
For more information about the PACT Act and how to apply for benefits go to https://www.va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-va-benefits/
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Scam of the day – October 22, 2023 – Grandparent Scammers Arrested
I am sure by now all of you are familiar with the grandparent scam where a grandparent receives a telephone call from someone purporting to be their grandchild who has gotten into some trouble, most commonly a traffic accident, legal trouble or medical problems in a far away place. The caller pleads for the grandparent to send money immediately to help resolve the problem. However the caller also begs the grandparent not to tell mom and dad. One would think that no one would be gullible enough to fall for this scam, but don’t be so hard on the victims of this scam. Scam artists have a knowledge of psychology of which Freud would have been envious and are able to use that knowledge to persuade their victims to send money right away. While this scam has been going on for approximately fourteen years, it continues to victimize people.
Recently, through the cooperation of American and Canadian law enforcement agencies thirteen people were arrested in regard to an ongoing grandparent scam that had been going on since 2018. However, while this is good news, the grandparent scam is getting worse due to technological advances.
Through the use of readily available AI voice cloning technology, a scammer can obtain a recording of the grandchild’s voice from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or anywhere else the grandchild might post a video with audio and use that audio to create a call to the grandparent that sounds exactly like that of the grandchild and all it takes is AI voice-generating software and as little as 30 seconds worth of the grandchild’s audio. Recently, Ruth Card of Regina, Saskatchewan was swindled out of 3,000 Canadian dollars by a scammer who used AI voice cloning technology to make a call to Mrs. Card that appeared to come from her grandson, Brandon in which it sounded like Brandon was in jail and needed the money immediately for bail.
TIPS
Scammers often use the nicknames of the grandchildren when speaking to their intended victims. Sometimes they get this information from social media while in other instances they get this information from reading obituaries which may contain the names of grandchildren so merely because the correct name is used in the call is no reason to believe the call. Don’t respond immediately to such a call without calling the real grandchild on his or her cell phone or call the parents and confirm the whereabouts of the grandchild. If a medical problem is the ruse used, you can call the real hospital. If legal problems are the hook you can call the real police. You can also test the caller with a question that could be answered only by the real grandchild, but make sure that it really is a question that only the real grandchild could answer and not just anyone who might read the real grandchild’ s social media postings. Prudent families can also come up with a code word to use in an emergency which a scammer will never know.
Never wire money unless you are absolutely sure about to whom you are wiring the money and it is not a scam. Once you have wired money, it is gone forever. Also, students traveling abroad should register with the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/. This program can help with communications in an emergency situation.
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Scam of the day – October 21, 2023 – Utility Company Free Money Scam
Recently customers and even people who aren’t customers of Columbia Gas of Ohio have been receiving letters from scammers posing as Columbia Gas of Ohio with counterfeit checks. The letters tell the targeted victims to deposit the check and then email the scammer posing as the gas company a copy of the deposit slip in order to confirm that the free money has been deposited. Of course no company is giving away free money to anyone. The method behind the madness of this scam is that if you deposit the check (which of course will bounce) and send the deposit slip to the scammer, you will have provided the scammer with your bank account number and your bank’s routing number.
Unfortunately, once the scammer has your bank account number and the routing number for your bank which is used for wire transfers, they are able to use that information to make purchases where money is wired from your account and the goods purchased are sent to the scammer who then can sell the goods thereby laundering the proceeds of the scam. Other scammers will create counterfeit checks using this information and make checks payable to themselves. Some scammers will even use your banking information to set up recurring payments such as for utilities.
TIPS
Never give your bank account information to anyone or any company that you have not thoroughly researched to make sure that they are legitimate. In fact, if you are a bit paranoid, like me (remembering even paranoids have enemies) you can avoid the problem altogether by not providing your bank account information to anyone and have payments sent to you by a check.
If, however, you do become a victim of this type of scam where a scammer has your bank account information, freeze your accounts immediately and notify the police and the fraud department of your bank. Change your online banking password and make sure you are using dual factor authentication as well. Fortunately, if you notify your bank within sixty days of receiving your monthly statement indicating that your bank account has been accessed you are not liable for the money taken from your account.
The good news is that for this type of wiring of funds fraud, you are not liable for the money withdrawn from your account if you notify the bank within 60 days of when you receive your monthly statement. Frankly you should notify your bank within 60 seconds of receiving your monthly statement indicating the crime. Banks are required to investigate the crime promptly and replace the money into your account within one business day of determining that the loss of funds from your account was fraudulent.
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Scam of the day – October 20, 2023 – Student Loan Forgiveness Scams Soaring
I have written often about phony student loan debt relief companies and with good reason. More than forty-two million Americans have student loans with an outstanding balance of more than 1.4 trillion dollars so it is no surprise that scammers are focusing their attention on these students and former students through scams that falsely promise to provide debt relief. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that President Biden’s program for student loan forgiveness was unconstitutional. Interest on student loans began accruing again on September 1st and repayments resumed in October, leaving many people scrambling as to what to do about their student loans.
Leaping into this opportunity in the last two weeks scammers posing as companies purporting to help eliminate student loans placed more than 350,000 illegal robocalls.
As you can imagine many people with large student loans are susceptible to scammers promising to reduce or eliminate student loan debt. Scammers promoting phony loan forgiveness services are targeting people through robocalls, emails and text messages. 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.
TIPS
For information you can trust about federal student loan repayment option, go to https://studentaid.gov/repay . 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.
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. You also should never share your FSA ID with anyone.
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
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Scam of the day – October 19, 2023 – Israel Gaza Charity Scams
Human tragedies such as terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel and the resulting dire situation in Gaza bring out the best charitable impulses of many people, but unfortunately, they also bring out the worst impulses in scammers who use tragedies such as this to solicit contributions to phony charities.
You may be receiving phone calls, emails or text messages seeking contributions to charities that purport to be helping the victims, but unfortunately, whenever you receive a phone call, text message or email, you can never be sure that the caller is legitimate.
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.
In addition to charity scams related to the attack on Israel and the Israeli response, you can expect to receive emails, text messages and social media posts that purport to provide important information about the situation in Israel and Gaza. These communications may require you to click on links to obtain the information or videos. Unfortunately, if you do click on these links you may end up downloading dangerous malware on to your phone or computer. Never click on links from sources that you have not verified as legitimate. As for news and information about the war in the Middle East, the best thing to do is to limit your sources to respected, legitimate news sources with which you are familiar.
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. Charity Navigator has a vetted list of legitimate charities helping the people of the region. https://www.charitynavigator.org/discover-charities/where-to-give/israel-hamas-conflict/
Also, don’t use your debit card when making a charitable donation because if you are scammed, the laws protecting you are far less than the laws that protect you if you are scammed when using your credit card.
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Scam of the day – October 18, 2023 – FBI Warns About “The Phantom Hacker”
The FBI recently issued a warning about a scam they call “The Phantom Hacker.” The scam starts with a pop-up on your computer, a text message, email or phone call from the scammer posing as a legitimate tech company informing the victim that here appears to be a problem with their computer and that they need to call a tech support number for assistance. When the targeted victim calls the phony tech support number he or she is advised that in order to resolve the problem they need to download a software program that gives the scammer remote access to the victim’s computer. The scammer then informs the victim that their computer has been compromised and that they should then go online to their bank account to see if any funds have been withdrawn by the fictional hacker. The truth is that the victim’s bank account had not, at that point, been hacked, but now through the remote access provided to the scammer, the victim’s bank account is now identified to the scammer. The phony tech support scammer then informs the targeted victim that he or she will soon get a call form their bank’s fraud department with further instructions.
At this point the targeted victim gets a call from another scammer posing as an employee of the bank’s fraud department who tells the targeted victim that their bank account was hacked by a foreign hacker and that in order to protect their funds they must move their money to a safe third party account with the Federal Reserve. The scammer then instructs the targeted victim to wire the money to a “safe” account provided by the scammer. Unfortunately, the money is far from safe and the account to which the funds are wired is an account of the scammer which is often in another country. Once the funds have been wired, it is all but impossible to retrieve them.
TIPS
Whenever you get a pop-up, email, phone call or text message that appears to tell you that you have a security problem with your computer, you should never click on any links contained in the message or call the telephone number provided. Real tech companies do not use pop-ups, phone calls or text messages to tell you that you have suffered a security breach.
If you call the scammers in response to concerns about your security, they often ask for you to enable them to get remote access to your computer to assess the problem. Providing remote access to anyone to your computer can lead to a myriad of problems including identity theft and the downloading of ransomware. Neither AOL, Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft or any of the other tech companies ever ask for remote access to your computer to fix problems.
No bank will ever ask you to wire funds out of your account to protect your funds. Wiring funds is a favorite method of payment for scammers because once funds have been wired, they are all but impossible to get back.
If you have any questions that you may have a problem with your bank account, merely call your bank directly at a phone number that you know is legitimate and not the number provided in communications such as emails, text messages or phone calls which are most likely from scammers.
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