The Art of Scam

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has its hands full nowadays, trying to keep up with all the new forms of fraud.  Are criminals getting smarter or just more creative? Most of us have heard of the Nigerian Lotto Scam, where you are contacted under the pretense of giving you millions of dollars because you have won the lotto in a country where you have never lived, let alone set foot in.  But what about the others?

You are contacted by someone claiming to be an attorney for a deceased relative, that you never knew you had, in a country you have never been to.  You are told that you have to pay the inheritance taxes on the money your dear old departed twice removed on someone’s side Uncle Jack. 

The interesting thing about both of these scams is that they are perpetrated from other countries, sometimes Britain, Ireland, or even Nigeria.  The laws in each of these countries handles such fraudulent activities in different ways. 

If someone in America perpetrates fraud against you, its hard enough for you to get enough evidence to press charges and then send that person to trial, but what happens if someone in another country steals your money, or worse, your identity?

Here are some things you should know to protect yourself from fraud:

1. If you are selected for jury duty in the municipality in which you live, that contact will be the form of a mailer.  The government is not going to call you on the phone, period.  If someone calls you, tells you you have been selected for jury duty and then asks for your social, name, credit card info, or anything else, that person is attempting to defraud you. 
2. Work from Home jobs do not pay you thousands of dollars a month or week, or even a year.  If you have to spend any money to sign up to make money from home, you are wasting your money.  There are many of these schemes on the internet and in magazines. They make it look so easy, and tempting.  For only $150.00, you too can learn to process rebates over the internet and watch the cash roll in….Right! And I am the Queen of England…Where is the maid with my crumpets? Seriously, if you could make thousands of dollars a week from home, don’t you think everyone would be doing it?
3. Snake Oil Sales…Isn’t it nice to know that when you get home from a hard day at work, your cell phone might ring, at the other end of which is someone demanding to sell you something that does not exist and this person will then threaten you if you refuse to buy it? Obviously, no one pays attention to the Donotcall registry anymore.  It’s not being enforced.  It’s up to us to enforce it.  So, when someone you don’t know calls you, get their full name, their contact phone number, the company they are calling you from, and the name and contact phone number for their direct supervisor. 

They may not give you all that information, but if they hang up, its a good indication that you are not considered a good target read: sucker, and will probably be left alone until they come up with something better.

Your best defense is common sense. Don’t give your personal information to anyone you don’t know. Don’t give your social security number over the phone, ever.  Don’t give your credit card information on unfamiliar websites, or anywhere you do not have a secure connection. 

If you need to make purchases online, use a secure site like paypal, which will not divulge any of your personal or financial information to third parties. Shred your checks, don’t toss them in the garbage.  This reduces the possibility of someone digging through your trash and creating checks on their computer with their name and address and your account information.

Ordering a copy of your credit report every three to six months also helps.  There is a new epidemic of debt collectors that are billing people from the distant past, called Zombie Debt.  Check the statute of limitations for your state to find out how to protect yourself against this potentially damaging form of debt. 

No one remembers what they purchased in what store on what day at what time seven years ago.  Most people just get bills and pay them, but do you really look at your bills? Do you look at what the creditor information says?

Call the phone number on the page, and give them the account number they provided on the bill.  Ask for the full name and extension of the person with whom you are speaking, as well as the name and contact number of their direct supervisor. Agree to nothing over the phone.  Ask for the orginal invoice to be faxed or emailed to you.  What you are looking for is your signature. 

You are looking for the date that product was purchased.  You will need a copy of your credit card statement or check to verify for yourself that you already paid in full for the item purchased, and that the check given on that date was cleared by the bank. Many of these zombie creditors will tell you that your check was dishonored by your bank and they are therefore charging you for the item, for tax on the item, and additional fees. 

Here’s a question you should ask yourself.  If you have been in the same place for the last five, six, seven years, why did it take them so long to find you? Why are you getting all of your other bills but not the ones they sent?

Don’t be taken in by threats given you over the phone, or even over the internet.  Notify your local police department immediately if this occurs.  The Federal Communications Commission would take these threats very seriously. 

Don’t keep it a secret.  If you think you are being scammed, let everyone know.  It’s always helpful to keep an eye, or ear out, for con artists.  If we help each other more often, maybe someday, there will be less fraud.