The Scam Alert Blog

There are widespread reports that many banks continue to get calls from their customers, as well as from people who are not their customers, regarding email messages they have received. These questionable emails are asking customers for their username and password credentials, or information related to their credit cards. Here is one example here.

These emails of course don’t come from the banks themselves and are attempts by scammers to get this sensitive information. Don’t fall for it, always call or make a face-to-face inquiry with the bank itself to confirm that there is a problem that needs fixing.

Don’t give these scammers the ability to clean out your bank account.

There are those involved in law enforcement that say that there are more scams reported recently and they chalk it up to the tough financial times that we are having. Hard financial times bring out scammers for two reasons:

1. You may see people that did operate honestly, or even semi-honestly, driven by hard financial times to a position where they feel they must take the next step and operate dishonestly. You may also see scammers who are having tougher times up their level of scamming too.

2. Scammers know that when people experience hard times they are more desperate, more desperate people fall for scams easier because they truly want to believe that the money making opportunity they’re looking at is real.

Always be on the lookout for scammers who are trying to separate you from your money.

With Hurricane Ike having passed through the Texas coast, the work of finding and helping those that survived this natural disaster has begun. People in the area need to remember that there are those that would take advantage of them during these hard times. This is one of the more disgusting behaviors that does follow national tragedies and though not incredibly common, it is important to beware of people offering to help who may have other goals and motivations.

We always warn people against being scammed, but in this case watch out for your neighbors and family members too.

Most people will take this word of advice and apply it to the online world:

“Beware When You Buy Autographs”

But, sadly this also applies to offline as well. Autographs are a relatively easy thing to fake. Many are very hard to double check and if they slightly resemble an authenticated one, the person who bought it usually “wants” it to be real so bad that they talk themselves into believing it is. Some people put a lot of trust in so called “certificates of authentication”, but if a person is dishonest enough to sell a fake autograph, then they wouldn’t really stop at including a fake certificate of authentication. Be very careful when buying autographs. Only buy from reputable sources, and even then double check the authenticity as best you can.

See one person “brag” about selling fake autographs. This postcard was sent in and included in the recent secrets displayed on Post Secret.

PC World recently released it’s Top 5 Online Scam list. Much like the Federal Trade Commission list released earlier, their number one online scam is Auction Fraud. For the entire article, click here.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) recently released it’s list of top ten online scams. Right at the top of the list is a type of scam that has touched many people recently, internet auction fraud.

The entire list is as follows:

-Internet Auction Fraud
-Internet Service Provider Scams
-Internet Web Site Design/Promotions – Web Cramming
-Internet Information and Adult Services – Credit Card Cramming
-Multi-level Marketing/Pyramid Scams
-Business Opportunities and Work-At-Home Scams
-Investment Schemes and Get-Rich-Quick Scams
-Travel/Vacation Fraud
-Telephone/Pay-Per-Call Solicitation Frauds (including modem dialers and videotext)
-Health Care Frauds

Keep this list (at least mentally) handy and remember that the next time you are entering into an online transaction… it may be with a scammer.

The Louisiana State Police along with other law enforcement agencies both national and local, are warning against ticket scams pertaining to the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) football games.

Because of the large amount of people who want tickets to these games (college football fans, locals, and fans of the schools involved) compared to the relative scarcity of seats available, many scammers are going to be trying to take advantage of the situation.

Some steps you can take to avoid being victimized in ticket purchasing scam:

If purchasing the ticket online, verify the seller’s contact information by making a phone call. This doesn’t rule out that the seller is not a scammer, but makes it less likely as most scammers are reluctant to publicize their contact information.

If purchasing from a ticket reselling company, check the Better Business Bureau. Another easy to use research procedure is to just type the name of the company, the state they are located in, and the word “scam” into Google or any of the other search engines and see what comes up.

Avoid sending money through the mail to a post office box. Most reputable ticket sellers will have a physical address available. Someone providing a physical address doesn’t prove that they are not a scammer, however it does indicate that they may not be one as most scammers prefer to not publicize their contact information.

If purchasing a ticket online you can verify the authenticity of a web site by checking their certificate or through a company like Verisign.

Avoid any online transaction that comes with unusual payment methods (making the check out to someone other than the seller, sending the payment out of the country, etc.).

While following these steps will not guarantee that you will not be scammed, it will decrease the likelihood.

Finally, as in every financial dealing… not just online transactions, remember… if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Scammers come in all sizes, some are tried by individuals who can use their anonymity as a disguise, while others are performed by large recognizable entities who use their social acceptance as a stamp of approval for everything they do. The second type of scammer is who we’d like to talk about here.

Many of the largest online flower shops are scamming local florists out of legitimate sales. The victims here are, indirectly the customer through price compensation, but mainly the local florists who both establishes face-to-face relationships with the customers as well as fulfills most of the orders from these big online flower companies.

What flower companies are we talking about?

1-800-Flowers
TeleFlora
FTD
…and more!

What exactly are they doing?

You can read the full letter to the FTC about 1800Flowers here, but in a nutshell: These large online flower companies are deducting the service charge they normally charge for transferring an order from them to the local florist and calling it “free shipping”. This is not true in the slightest and gives an unfair advantage as many online retailers, marketers, and marketing experts will tell you that nothing increases sales online like an offering of “free shipping”.

You can find out more information on this and other issues affecting the florist trade by reading The Real Florists Blog regularly.

If you’d like to find out about more florist related scams, check out The Florist Detective.

Scams happen all the time and being ‘in the know’ can help you avoid costly financial losses. I found a new finance directory that actually has a whole category dedicated to finance related frauds. It is resources like this that help the web be a safer place for personal enjoyment and business. If you know of a finance related fraud site or know anyone that owns/runs one, please tell them about www.Portal4Finance.com.

Yeah, that’s just what I need… another bank account.

Seriously, you do… and here’s why.

First, with all the competition among major banks these days it is hard to find banks that charge for a checking or savings account anymore. They have to offer free accounts just to get people in the door to buy their other services. So, your first step is getting a new free checking or savings account.

Now, here’s why you need that account. Internet scams are everywhere these days. You can find many examples right here at The Scam Alert Blog or just search Google for “Intenet Scam”. Everyone’s biggest fear is that some unknown person is going to come up with a way to separate you from your money. It happens every day, in fact it happens thousands of times everday.

For a wide variety of transactions online you will need to pay for purchases or services somehow. You can pay by credit card, checking account, or with an online bank account like Paypal. What if the worst happens to you? What if someone hacks into your computer, or just as likely they hack into someone’s computer who has your personal information because you purchased something from them? There goes your credit card. There goes your bank account. It’s all just gone.

But, if you take this advice you can at least limit the damage done to you. Get that second checking account, even get it at a different bank if you’d like. Keep a limited amount of funds in there, or better yet only transfer money into this account when you are going to purchase something. Now, your primary account remains active but private. Don’t share any information from that account. Still be protective of your secondary account, you don’t want to lose a penny to one of these worthless crooks, but use this account for your online purchases. Now, if the worst happens, they don’t drain your main account, they most likely get a minimal amount of money and you are saved from financial devastation.

The same advice goes for a credit card, get a second one with a low limit. Use this one for your online purchases, and if the worst happens then it can’t go very far.

Using common sense and the knowledge and awareness that these people are out there trying to victimize you everyday is one way to stay one step ahead of the crooks.