Consumerist
con artists
Posts Tagged “
Scams
”
con artists
bad company
Royal Flowers Hikes Price After You Order Flowers For Mother's Day
Ian in Pennsylvania says Royal Flowers tried to scam him on a recent bouquet purchase:
More »With it being Mothers Day, I was shopping around for flowers to send to my mother. I checked the normal big sites since she lives in another state, like 1-800 flowers. I decided to check the local company I use, since they are always cheap and service is great. So I found a great piece significantly cheaper than the other sites. I place the order and everything is going great.
Then I received the following email.
follow up
EBay Decides To Contact Tim About His Laptop Auction Problems
Timothy, our hapless eBay seller who kept having problems listing his laptop on the auction site, was contacted by a Real Live Human from eBay the day after we posted his story. "Garrison" apologized for the frustration, and said he'd be making a note on Timothy's account to keep it from getting shut down by other agents. He also suggested several listing options that were pretty well-covered by our commenters in the original thread. More »
scams
Watch For Baloney "Reservation Rewards" Charges On Your Credit Card
You know when you buy tickets at Movietickets.com or Fandango and at that end that annoying popup window makes a noise and asks you if you want to save $10 on your next purchase? Yeah, don't enter your email address. In the fine print it tells you that doing so... More »
duped
1800flowers Dupes You Into Signing Up For "LiveWell" For $11.99 Per Month
After reader Vikram ordered flowers online from 1800flowers.com, he realized he was receiving a monthly charge from an obscure company called "LiveWell" for $11.99 per month. He did some quick research and found out that many others were being duped into this program. Yet nobody, not even 1800flowers seemed to know what it actually is. What should he do? His letter and our advice, inside... More »
scams
Man Accused Of Gutting Computers, Returning Them To Best Buy So You Can Buy Them
Have you purchased a computer from Best Buy, only to find that it had no internal parts? No hard drive. No video card. No motherboard? If so, you (allegedly) have Joseph Denice of Silver Spring, MD to thank for your gutted PC. His hobby is buying computers from Best Buy, removing the parts, and then returning the empty shell. Best Buy's employees would then put the computer husks back on store shelves where they would be repurchased by unwitting consumers such as... you. More »
id theft
Fake Credit Card Reader Found At California Grocery Store Linked To Thefts
A small California grocery store chain and its customers have fallen prey to some tech savvy ID thieves, says KPIX in San Francisco. A card reader was secretly replaced with a unit that skimmed card numbers at the Los Gatos Lunardi's — an increasing common scam that targets stores and gas stations where customers can swipe their own credit cards. The theft was discovered when the grocery store called to report that one of their readers had been switched. More »
scams
More Info On The $9.87 Credit Card Scam
MGD at dslreports read our post last night about Prophotosland.com and its fraudulent charge to reader Megan's credit card. He's been following the scammers—"an organized crime syndicate operated from Eastern Europe"—for nearly three years now, and has a ton of highly valuable information on them, including their recent targeting of military personnel stationed overseas. Bottom line: cancel your credit card, Megan, because they've got access to it now—and report the charge as fraudulent rather than dispute it. More »
fraud
Prices For Stolen Credit Card Numbers Fall
The price for stolen credit card numbers is falling, with card numbers going for prices between 40 and $20 a piece. This Slate article says the reason is falling demand, because credit card companies are cutting down on fraud and making it harder to profit off a stolen number. But people with just a basic understanding of macroeconomics can probably think of another reason for falling prices...say, for instance, a supply glut. The same article even talks about the development of one-stop ID theft "supermarkets" with fixed prices and bulk discounts. Hmm, yes, critical thinking, it's good for the brain. Credit Card Numbers for Sale [Slate] (Photo: largeprime)
scams
Watch Out For $9.87 Credit Card Scam From Prophotosland.com
A reader named Megan noticed an unfamiliar charge for $9.87 from prophotosland.com on her WaMu credit card statement, so she began to investigate it. Not only had she never heard of it, but there was no website that domain, and a Google search turns up hit after hit of scam and fraud reports at various websites. It seems to be but one of numerous fronts charging fraudulent $9.87 fees to credit cards. Read Megan's story below and be sure to check out this page for a list of other bogus companies to watch out for.More »
fines
Wachovia To Pay $144 Million For Bilking "Gullible" Seniors
Wachovia will pay $144 million for helping telemarketers prey upon the elderly. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency spanked the morally bankrupt institution with one of the largest fines ever levied—but before seeing a penny of settlement money, seniors will need to fill out detailed claim forms and navigate a complex bureaucracy. More »
cautionary tale
Seller Gets Scammed On Ebay, PayPal Won't Help
Matt just got his first taste of Ebay, and it wasn't good—as soon as he mailed off the Best Buy gift card to the buyer, the buyer reversed payment on Matt's PayPal account and stopped communicating with him. We're pretty sure he's screwed on this one, but does anyone have any good advice for what he can do next? More »
casual encounters
Craiglist Sex Ads Were ID Theft Trap
A Minneapolis area crime duo have been arrested for luring people on Craigslist to sexual encounters, then stealing their wallets. Amy Ruth Bergquist and Eric Thorsen are accused of then using the wallets' contents to steal the person's identity to forge checks and pay for their Adderal and Dexedrine addictions. Didn't momma ever tell you not to talk to strangers online and then try to have sex with them?
Eagan couple's sex ads on craigslist were a setup for ID theft [StarTribune] (Thanks to Gregg!)
scams
5. "Cramming"
Completely fictional companies pass these charges onto people's credit card bills and bank accounts and cellphone bills. The processing companies just pass them on and it's up to consumers to monitor their bills and dispute the charges. So the fake company is just very nice about canceling all the charges from the people who complain, and then they rake in from all the people who don't check their bills close enough. More »
5 Credit Card Scams To Beware
5. "Cramming"Completely fictional companies pass these charges onto people's credit card bills and bank accounts and cellphone bills. The processing companies just pass them on and it's up to consumers to monitor their bills and dispute the charges. So the fake company is just very nice about canceling all the charges from the people who complain, and then they rake in from all the people who don't check their bills close enough. More »
Marketplace Money reminds you to watch out for "rescue scams" and "phantom counseling" when you're at risk of foreclosure. [Marketplace]
consequences
Man Sentenced For $3.6 Million Credit Card Fraud
A Californian named Andrew Michael (not pictured at left) was sentenced to four years in federal prison last week for scamming Citibank and credit card companies by fraudulently applying for an $8.5 million commercial line of credit—some $2 million of which he spent on personal goods for himself, including "170 troy ounces of silver, 479 tubes of gold flakes, [and] a Rolex watch." More »
auto repair
Caliber Collision Center Damages Car Brought In For Repair
Sean's car had a blowout over the Easter weekend, and he had it towed to Caliber Collision Center for repair. Three weeks later he "forcefully retrieved" it from their lot—they kept telling him it wasn't drivable due to "very serious suspension damage," but he visited the shop in person on April 11th "to find that their shop gate is wide open, and my vehicle is unlocked." Now there are scratches on the bumper and one of his speakers has a hole in it, and when he called USAA to complain he was told the scratches would constitute a second comprehensive claim within a month and that his premiums will consequently go up.More »
spam
