Scams in the News

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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:28 pm

Quote:

Victims of scams tell troubles

By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star, Niles, Michigan
Friday, March 28, 2008 4:16 PM EDT

NILES - Scams, identity theft and stolen credit cards and checks are a scary thought for anyone. Unfortunately, these problems have been around for some time now and only seem to be getting worse.

This week, the Daily Star visited local businesses and residents to find out if they have been victim's of scams and what they do to try to protect themselves. Not surprising, everyone we talked to has dealt with such problems before.

Billian Austin, a clerk at Belle Plaza Party Store, said she gets a lot of customers who try to "quick change" her.

"They come in, ask for change and if you give it to them, they claim they gave you a higher amount of money than what you gave back. We once had someone come in, try this, and claimed they gave us a $20 bill, when they really gave us a $10. Luckily, we had no $20s in our drawer, so we caught them right away," Austin said.

She added that several times, people also tried using credit cards that do not belong to them or write bad checks.

"We have a check machine that actually takes the funds directly out of their account. If the funds aren't there, they cannot purchase their items unless they pay another way. We also always check the names of credit cards with the names on driver's licenses," Austin added.

She even recalled a recent situation with a good friend of hers, whose credit was almost ruined due to someone stealing his personal information.

"My friend has always been very good about paying his bills and keeping almost perfect credit. Not too long ago, he went to Sprint to get a new cell phone and Sprint told him he owed $1,900. He was so upset. He has never even had a Sprint phone before. Now he's trying to figure out what to do to clean his record," Austin said.

Teresa Herman, owner of Niles Scrapbooking, Etc., said someone overseas tried to order a Dell computer with her credit card number. Luckily, the scam was caught before anything was charged.

"I am so thankful for Dell. They actually called us right after the order was placed to verify it was me purchasing the computer. I did not order anything. They explained that someone had tried ordering a computer with my credit card number. The only difference was the address. The shipment was supposed to go to Columbia. The order was stopped and our card was never billed," she said.

Teresa and her husband assumed their credit card number was stolen on a recent trip overseas.

Brenda Gaedtke of Niles had her identity stolen, which almost cost her a job with the United States Postal Service.

"I applied for a job and knew they had to do extensive background checks through the federal government, which was not a problem because I have a clean record. But when the postmaster called me back one day, he asked if I had any other aliases other than the names I had given him. I knew I didn't and he explained that someone was possibly using my name," she said.

Worried, Gaedtke contacted the Michigan State Police, who had no record of her whatsoever. However, when a federal check was done, it revealed that a lady from the Detroit area was using Gaedtke's maiden name.

"This lady had 26 other names she was using and mine was one of them. Because she used my name, it showed that I was a prison escapee, I had several drug charges and larceny charges. I could not believe it. I've never even had a speeding ticket and now I am someone who escaped from prison. It was comical, but very frustrating," Gaedtke said.

Luckily, Gaedtke was able to clear her name of any wrong doings. However, it took almost one month to clear everything up.

"I have no idea how she got my information. None of my personal accounts were ever messed with. She just used my name and gave my date of birth when she got into trouble," Gaedtke said.

Dev Singh, manager at Crockers Party Store, said people always try to scam him and other employees.

"People steal a lot. They put things in their pockets and walk out. We also have a lot of people who try to use credit cards that aren't theirs. We even have people come in and tell us they need money for gas because they left their wallets at home. People always try to scam you," Singh said.

Rhonda Conover-Groothuis of Fisher Innovative Technologies said she was scammed just recently by a lady who approached her with a young child, who appeared to be under 2 years old.

"She came in, said she needed help getting home and affiliated herself with a local business that I am familiar with. This girl was very nice and since she had a small child, I gave her money," Groothuis said.

It wasn't until a few days later that Groothuis found out she was scammed.

"I was talking to another business owner nearby who said they, too, were approached by this woman. Only this time, the lady just asked for money. Later, we found out several other businesses in the downtown area were approached by this lady," Groothuis said.

She said what sold her, and most business owners, was the fact that this lady had a small child. But after hearing story after story, they realized the lady was just out to get money.

"We want local businesses to be on the look out. It's sad that there is a child involved, but her stories are not true," Groothuis added.

Avoiding a scam may be a lot easier than it seems. Use common sense when giving out personal information, never throw away mail with your name and personal information on it and, if you see a scam happening, call local authorities immediately.

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:38 pm

Quote:

Scams Too Good To Be True

by Glenn Kauth, Edmonton Sun
Thursday, March 27, 2008

Brad Buxton knew the mystery shopper gig he signed up for was a scam when he received a cheque for $2,500 just days later.

All he had to do was cash the bogus funds at a MoneyGram outlet and wire $2,200 of it to Toronto. He would get to keep the rest of the money as a so-called participation fee for helping evaluate MoneyGram's customer service.

But if he had gone through with the scheme, he would have been on the hook for the $2,500 once the bank realized the cheque was fake.

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is," said the 47-year-old, who works as an internal auditor with the government.

That's the same message police delivered yesterday during an information session about scams, such as the mysterious lottery winnings people get letters about telling them they can claim their prize as long as they pay a processing fee.

But while people like Buxton can spot fraud, many don't, said Det. John Ellens.

"If you're asked to send money to get a prize, don't do it because 99.9% of them are scams," Ellens said.

Ellens, who works in the city police economic crimes section, emphasized that it's important for potential victims to recognize a fraud scheme since police can't actively investigate every scam that's out there.

"It's difficult for us to find out who's actually doing it," said Ellens, who noted most scams originate from elsewhere, often other countries.

Even quantifying the amount of fraud out there can be a challenge since many victims are too embarrassed to tell police about it.

But the amounts can be staggering. In Chicago, for example, efforts to track a scam originating from Toronto showed the fraudsters had sent out bogus cheques worth more than $500 million to U.S. households in one month.

If just a fraction of the recipients had fallen for the scheme, the scam artists would still have pulled in major profits, Ellens noted.

In Buxton's case, he became particularly suspicious when he noticed the fake CIBC cheque he had received didn't list a postal code in the address. Often, such oddities are telltale signs of a scam, Ellens said.

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 8:42 pm

Quote:

Mohave County hit by recent assassination e-mail scams

By JIM SECKLER/The Daily News

Friday, March 28, 2008 1:20 AM CDT

KINGMAN - The number of e-mail scams threatening assassination in Mohave County is on the rise.

The Kingman Police Department has seen an increase in the number of e-mail scams that tell the victim that the sender has been hired to kill them and offers to reveal the identity of those who hired them in exchange for money. The amount of money requested is often in the thousands of dollars, Kingman police Sgt. Rusty Cooper said.

Cooper said a group called the �Al-Quaeda Networks� has sent some of the recent e-mails from the e-mail address deadlykillers@ yahoo.de. The e-mail is to create fear in the victim and to have them send money to the sender by moneygrams or Western Union. Thousands of these types of scams have surfaced across the country, Cooper said.

Bullhead City Police Department spokeswoman Emily Montague said her department has received at least two reports of this type of e-mail scam.

One of the e-mails was sent March 18 to Bonnie Nickles, the administrative assistant for District 2 Sup. Tom Sockwell's office in Bullhead City. The scam e-mail, which does not include the victim's name, demanded $15,000 to spare the recipient's life.

�Someone who knows you very well wants you dead,� the e-mail states.

The e-mail is from Musa Husan (killer), with a United Kingman e-mail address, and asks if the victim wants to live or die. The writer says his men have tracked the victim down and are monitoring her. It also threatens the recipient not to call the police or he will know.

In Kingman, Cooper said his department is investigating about a dozen e-mails sent in the past six months, e-mails that ask the victims for money between $3,500 and $10,000.

Mohave County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Trish Carter said her office has not received any death threat scams in the county.

Anyone who gets this type of scam should not consider it valid and should delete the e-mail and block the sender. Anyone who receives a threat should contact law enforcement or go to the police department's Web site. More information about scams and rumors can also be attained at the Web site www.snopes.com, Cooper said.

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:08 pm

Quote:

Banker: Beware of scams, fraud

By Mike Reilly 03/27/2008
Marco Island Sun Times

Keith Dameron prepares to speak about bank fraud and identity theft before the Marco Island Yacht Club ladies luncheon. With him is Betsy Beaver, who organized the event. Marco Island may be relatively free of overt crime involving banks, but when it comes to covert crime and identity theft, look out.

That was the message presented by Orion Bank Manager Keith Dameron at the Marco Island Yacht Club ladies luncheon.

"If someone walks into a bank with a weapon, hey, even I know what's going to happen," said Dameron. "But not so easily recognizable is 'covert' bank robbery, as in bank fraud. And I have to tell you that while your headline-making serious crime is down on the island, believe me when I tell you that almost all types of fraud and scams are up."

Dameron told the women wealth on the island not only attracts nice things, but bad things such as fraud and scams as well.

"One of the largest risks to you and your bank as far as fraud loss goes is counterfeit check scams," said Dameron. "Checking accounts are the second most popular scam targets, with credit card fraud being first."

Computers and access to the Internet have been a gold mine to scammers around the world, according to the banker.

"Many of these scam artists used to work out of Nigeria, where corruption and a lack of law enforcement made it easy," he said. "But some of these groups have left Africa and have moved to other parts of the world, including the U.K. and Canada; and there are a lot of them in Canada."

So much of the success of these scams is dependent on the victim using a bank's wire transfer service to move funds. He stressed that once a wire transfer is sent, the funds are gone ... period.

Dameron continued by touching upon four specific categories: counterfeit checks, ATMs, scams and identity theft.

Checks
There are a variety of counterfeit check scams, including "washed" or altered checks, counterfeit cashier's checks and money orders and counterfeit company and U.S. Treasury checks. He added that U.S. Postal Service money orders are trickier for the thief, but said to watch out for Canadian or international checks not payable through a U.S. bank.

There also are a variety of sophisticated ATM scams being used, such as a creative way to "trap" one's debit card inside an ATM.

Dameron said the best thing you can do is just be careful and always alert.

When it comes to scams, the best thing to remember is, "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is."

Among the types of scams Dameron spoke of were inheritance, an Internet auction, lottery scams, work-from-home and mystery shopper scams and scams involving alleged charitable organizations and those going after lonely hearts. A new one is the Jury Duty Scam, which has hit 11 states, including Florida.

If you're unsure or if you suspect something is amiss, Dameron says to contact the local police or the Naples office of the FBI.

Orion Bank has a pamphlet listing ways to protect your identity. Call 239-403-5136 to request one.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

I'm sorry but i have to ask, what are you doing?, is there some kind of link that you forgot or are these random reports?, sorry if i sound a bit thick but i'm confused

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:30 pm

Yeah! Eater is mentioned in the comments. But the last comment is the funniest. Laughing

Quote:

Readers' Platform: Scam, counter-scam

Monday, March 17, 2008

Last Thursday's Chronicle story on the brave soul who took on Nigerian scammers ("He bit into some Nigerian spam - to fight it") drew dozens of reader responses on SFGate, including several offering their own counterattack strategies - which, we hasten to add, The Chronicle does not necessarily endorse.

Below is a sample, edited for space, of comments posted on SFGate. To read more, and link to the original story, go to sfgate.com/ZCSI.

I'm a forum administrator, which sometimes entitles me to 500 spam e-mails a day. One time, I responded to the Nigerian e-mail scam: "We are aware of this scam as it is attempted on a daily basis. Nice try, but no lovely parting gifts for you." The idiot actually responded, "This is not a scam. I am only asking for your help with the money left in my country's treasury." When I told him I could track his IP address to a bounce in Germany, I never heard from him again. I hope they realize if no one plays their game, they will be left standing on the playground alone trying to figure out another way to make money.

- XXX, 59, Livingston, Texas

Yeah, but I have seen some totally real-looking e-mails from eBay announcing I was being invited to be a PowerSeller. And the ones from PayPal are hard to catch. They're not all the Lagos (Nigeria) ones these days.

- XXX 48, Carlsbad, San Diego County

They're like cockroaches. Block a range of IP addresses, and they pop up using proxies or IP addresses from other countries. Seen some on discussion forums hiding behind Falun Gong sites, proxies in NYC and offshore U.K., Oman, and Italy recently. Last year, they were using satellite services through Israel. I haven't received any from this lot in my real account, but have noticed my honey pot mailbox has had a huge increase in Chinese language spam in the past week. I suppose this could be a precursor for more as the Beijing Olympics draws closer.

- XXX, 51, San Francisco

I've been a Yahoo user with the same e-mail address almost since the beginning of time, and I give my e-mail address out like it's candy. Every once in a great while I'll get a rogue message that seems to get through whatever the heck spam protections I have by default. I simply mark it as "spam" and get on with it. I've never paid for an anti-spamming program or an anti-virus program or a "the-sky-is-falling" program. Anyway, sometimes I think being butt poor has its advantages because apparently nobody is interested in stealing your non-money, except maybe an angry ex.

- XXX, 42, Albany

I received an unsolicited e-mail last year after putting an ad on Craigslist wanting to sell a bed that I no longer needed. The e-mail requested personal information like name, address and age etc., so I decided to respond by giving the address of the FBI in Washington, D.C.

- XXX, 54, San Francisco

Here's my suggestion when you get nailed by scammer messages: Sign them up to the WORST Web sites that require that person's e-mail address and they'll be spammed with tons of junk mail on a daily basis.

- XXX, 24, San Francisco

Scam-O-Rama ( www.scamorama.com) documents a great assortment of wags who correspond at length with these types, leading them in a merry and often uproariously funny dance. (Check out) the LOVE BLOOMS episode in which "Fannerman" proposes marriage to the scammer's fake sister.

- XXX, 60, Oakland

419 Eater ( www.419eater.com) is probably the go-to site for stories like on scamorama.com. One guy actually got the scammer to send him some money! Sweet.

- XXX, 33, Oakland

I often reply to scammers that I have an unmarried sister for whom I'm trying to find a husband. This is in fact true. So far nobody has been willing to even look at her picture.

- XXX, 60, Anchorage, Alaska

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:33 pm

Work is a bit boring today so I am looking at all the news articles on scamming. I am amazed at how many there are of them. I wish we did have a special section or link for scamming items in the news. It would be beneficial to us.

I will stop posting them. Sorry for the inconveniences.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

Don't stop doing what you're doing for my benefit, i was just curious as to what was going on Wink