Posts Tagged ‘Scams’

Save Money – Don’t Fall For Internet Scams

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November 22nd, 2011

Financial scams abound on the Internet.

Since the Internet crosses borders and allows people to create fake identities for themselves, money scams keep cropping up. However, people still fall for them. Here are 5 financial scams that you should be on the lookout for. If you get an offer or Email like these, delete it. Replying to them confirms that you exist and use your computer.

The Nigerian Banker

These letters still arrive and lately there have been some from countries other than Nigeria. There are many variations of it, and they are usually recognizable as scams by poor spelling and bad grammar. The only bank account referred to in these letters is yours, meaning hit the delete button when you see the letter

I’ve just been mugged

When it comes to Internet financial scams, this one has become quite fashionable. I’ve received emergency emails from friends. All of them have been on holiday in Barcelona, Rome or London where they were mugged, though miraculously, their passports were spared. And they want me to please wire them some money. This is another obvious financial scam, in spite of the fact that it seems to come from someone you know. What has actually happened is that your friend or relative’s Email password was hacked and the hacker is sending out these Emails to their entire Email address book.

Your eBay/PayPal/Bank account has been frozen or limited

The trouble with this financial scam is that it can really happen. You could get a real Email from any of these companies telling you that there was a problem and they’ve temporarily frozen your accounts. Fortunately, there are two foolproof ways to find out if it’s for real or not: First, if they ask you to Email back a password, that’s a sure sign that it’s a fraudster. No financial institution would ever ask you to send a password, account number or other information via Email since it’s not secure. Mouse over any links in the Email. Then, look down at the bottom left hand corner of your screen. It should show where the link goes to. If it’s not ebay.com, paypal.com, etc. it’s a financial scammer and you should stay far away.

Low Cost Viagra

This one ought to be obvious by now, but people fall for it every day. There is one way to get Viagra: you go to a doctor and get a prescription which you then fill at a pharmacy. If you get an Email for low cost Viagra or other drugs or other products which should be expensive, delete it. At best, you’ll get a worthless knockoff. At worst, your credit card number will be stolen or you’ll be sent fake Viagra which contains dangerous chemicals which can kill you.

Free Music, Games, Porn, etc.

No matter what it is, don’t download things from the Internet unless you know the website is reliable. If you do download stuff, be sure to scan it first with a virus scanner. Many of these so called “free” products are fakes. They are financial scams where they install a key logger along with your free game or music. Then, they can harvest your bank password and other information, stealing every last penny you own.

Tags: Downloading free stuff, internet, Nigeria letter, Scams, Viagra
Posted in Business, Credit Cards, Economy, Employment, Finance, Money, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

Welcome To the Retired Old Geezers’ Club

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October 31st, 2011

We are here to protect you from yourself

It’s open season on retirees like me: We are fair game to the predators. The hunters are out there, watching you, checking on you waiting for you. The instant that you slow down or lose concentration they will pounce in and strip you of every cent you have.

Look at my story

I worked my entire working life. I opened a pension saving account way back near the start of my career. I paid into it faithfully every month, moaning about the high premiums. Eventually I retired with a smile knowing that I had a nice plan going. But now that I’m there, it’s not what they told me. Sure, the money is there, I’m here but things have changed. Dramatically.

What changed

Everything has changed. Prices have soared beyond belief. Things we used to buy without thinking in my salary days are now totally beyond our means. We used to eat out at restaurants. These days if we decide to eat out at all, it’s a choice between different burger places. Gas has become a problem. A service on the car leads to a major debate between my wife and I. For that we have to miss out something else. We have money. In the days when I socked it away with a holiday in mind, a hotel room ran to $100 a night. Today we’re looking at $250. Clothes? We hardly buy anything new these days. The supermarket? We do minimum shopping. Now comes the bad news…

Investing

In all my planning over all the years, I counted on being able to invest my nest-egg money and earning interest on it. In the early years it was at least 10%, then it dropped to 8%. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought about 0 or 1%. Is this what I was saving for?

Offers to retirees

I saw this small ad in the paper the other day: “We promise you at least 8% on your money.” So I called and I got a very professional voice who started by saying: “Sir, I need to know what amount we are talking about. Can you please indicate if it is less than $20,000 or over $100,000?”

“It’s well over a hundred,” I say. The guy got very excited and said, “Sir, with an amount like that I believe we can promise you a return of well over ten percent on your investment.”

No such thing

I got quite excited at the thought that I could be earning a monthly amount of say $2,000 in interest on my investment. That would me back in restaurants and a couple of nice sweaters for the coming winter. I could even afford a set of new tires for the car. “How do you invest the money?” I asked. “Oh…, er…, um…, it’s a, you, know…”

I hung up at that point.

Retirement Wreckers

I was breathing heavily at this point. I nearly fell for it. Retirement scams could leave you in the poor house. These days, retirement scams range from the out and out fraud, where scammers intentionally separate seniors from their capital, to the more benign cases such as employers misusing or squandering the assets in a 401(k) plan.

Tags: Pensions, Retirement, Savings funds, Scams
Posted in Business, Economy, Employment, Money, Personal / Internet, Retirement | No Comments »

Risky Places to Use Your Credit Card

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April 11th, 2011

Stay alert when you use your credit card
You can still be a victim of credit card fraud even if you use the utmost caution. Credit card companies and banks often put the onus of catching phony or incorrect credit card charges on the consumer.

Check your statement
The most important thing is to check your billing statement. And there are organizations like Creditcards.com that offer tips on how to keep your cards safe as well. Read on and take a look at some of the riskiest places you might use your card, according to Creditcards.com, and see what you can do to avoid the dangers.

Non-bank-owned ATMs
Encryption at these ATMs is often not as good as at bank ATMs, meaning some locations are just not as safe. These ATMs also are more likely to be hacked. In some cases, devices that look like ATMs but are not. They are just card-skimming devices aimed at stealing your credit card or debit card information.

Flea Markets
If you’re going to the flea market, take cash. Flea market merchants are often transient and can be difficult to locate if there is a problem with charges. Stay away from vendors who don’t have online credit card terminals and instead make carbon copies of your credit card. Of course not all flea market vendors are fraudulent…

Small Shops/Cafes in Foreign Countries
These smaller merchants have a significantly higher percentage of credit card fraud as reported by large banks and credit card companies. Many of these transactions end up being written off by the banks because the merchants simply can’t be located. When in doubt, use cash.

Wi-Fi Hotspots and Public Computers
It’s not advisable to ever transmit personal data when you’re in a public connection environment, especially on non-secure wireless. If you’re going to be making online transactions over an unsecured wireless connection like in cafes, parks and other hot spots, data can be compromised or seen while in transit, even if you’re on a secure page while you’re checking out. The same goes for public computers like libraries.

Recurring Bills/Subscriptions
Instead of using automatic billing, ask to be billed on a one-time bill by bill basis instead. When you use your credit card for purchases that involve weekly, monthly or annual billings, you can encounter the headache of over-billings, continued billing once a subscription has ended, etc.

Unsolicited e-mail offers
Unless you’ve signed up for solicitations from particular companies, be wary. Check the URL in the e-mail. If it looks suspect, don’t click on it.

Suspect Swipe Terminals
If there’s something that looks suspicious at an ATM or a gas pump credit card swipe terminal, like a separate stand-alone device for you to swipe your card through, or something looks like it’s been added onto the terminal, think twice about using it. More often than not, those types of add-ons are put there by criminals so they can steal your credit card information.

Tags: Credit card fraud, Credit cars, email scams, Scams
Posted in Credit Cards, Economy, Finance, Identity Theft, Personal / Internet | No Comments »