We are not experts and any and all things paranormal, but perhaps auras are a thing, and perhaps it is possible for one person to repair another’s aura and prevent bad things from happening to them. However, it seems unlikely to us that it’s possible to do so by giving the “psychic” all of your savings and family heirlooms to watch over for you. And yet, someone tried this, and someone fell for it. [More]
Psychic Takes Woman’s Life Savings To Repair Her Aura, Prevent Bad Things From Happening
By May 17, 2013
Some Jiffy Lubes Still Charging Customers For Unnecessary And Undone Repairs
By May 14, 2013
For years, Jiffy Lube employees around the country have repeatedly been accused — and sometimes caught — charging for repairs that weren’t necessary or weren’t even performed. The company has promised change, but that memo didn’t seem to reach everyone. [More]
No, You Can’t Pay Someone $700 To Get You On Oprah’s TV Shows
By May 13, 2013
Maybe you’ve got a few things you’d like to weigh in on via a national show on a major network, like CNN or Oprah Winfrey’s eponymous entity. But believe us when we say, if the Rachael Ray people or Today want to get you on TV as an expert, it’ll be free. In other words, you shouldn’t be paying a PR firm hundreds of dollars to appear on talk shows. [More]
Add “Hijacking Customers’ Internet To File False Tax Claims” To List Of Cable Installation Worries
By May 8, 2013
While there are plenty of cable servicemen doing awesome things like saving kittens and well, the normal business of installing Internet so we can read about kittens getting saved, one contractor kept himself involved in his customers lives in a less than savory way. In order to file a bunch of fraudulent tax returns, totaling about $91,000, he simply hooked himself up to customers’ Internet service after he’d installed it. [More]
When An International eBay Seller Says ‘Just Keep Waiting,’ Don’t Listen
By May 7, 2013
I. calls the eBay scam that he encountered recently a “new” scam, but it’s actually an ancient and time-honored one. How it works is simple: an international seller claims to have sent your item, then stalls until after the period during which you can file a complaint against the seller has expired. THis leaves you with no ability to leave bad feedback and no recourse, and eBay knows it. [More]
NY Shuts Down Sham Fundraising Company That Took In Millions Of Donations For Breast Cancer “Research”
By May 3, 2013
Between 2005 and 2011, the Coalition Against Breast Cancer raised around $10 million in donations intended for research to combat the disease, but authorities say that no such research ever occurred, and all that money went to pay for a grand total of 40 mammograms in seven years. [More]
Posing As Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour To Scam Hospital For $100K In Treatment Is Not A Good Idea
By May 1, 2013
Pretending to be a legend of rock in order to rack up a six-figure hospital bill may sound reasonable — to a crazy person — but it’s likely just going to end up with you in a whole mess of trouble. [More]
Don’t Buy Computers Off Craigslist When The Seller Has Suddenly Left For Toronto
By April 26, 2013
Z. found a great deal on an Asus notebook computer on his local Craigslist in Florida. “I am now in Toronto,” the seller explained before going through with the transaction. Z. and his mom ignored every anti-scam warning posted on Craigslist, and just sort of assumed that this meant the seller was on a trip to Toronto and had taken the computer with her. Z. is underage, and his mom used Western Union to wire the money. They waited. No computer came. [More]
AP Twitter Hack Shows That Not Every Scam Email Is Created Equal
By April 25, 2013
So you think you’re savvy when it comes to scams, huh? Maybe you’d never click on a link in an email from someone you don’t know with a funny email address asking to send money to Nigeria — but what if it seemed to come from a coworker you know very well including a link that looks totally legit? That’s apparently how the hack of the Associated Press Twitter account went down, with a scam called “spear-phishing.” [More]
No, You Did Not Randomly Win A Vacation From Travelocity
By April 25, 2013
Remember when we told you about the scammers out to trick people into thinking they’d won travel vouchers from the nonexistent (at least in the U.S.) United Airways? Since then we’ve heard of two apparently separate-but-similar scams using the Travelocity name to deceive unsuspecting consumers. [More]
Bank Investigators Do Not Need You To Withdraw $6,000 Cash And Give It To Them
By April 25, 2013
Bank fraud is pretty serious business, and investigating it is important work. Banks do not, however, need you to help. If someone calls you up claiming to need your help with an investigation, do not help them. Do not withdraw thousands of dollars from the bank and give it to the “investigator.” It’s too late for two elderly women outside of Albany, New York, who withdrew $5,800 and $6,400 from their accounts, respectively. [More]
Bogus Weight-Loss Products, Fraudulent Prizes Top List Of Biggest Scams
By April 19, 2013
More than 1-in-10 American adults fall victim to some sort of fraud, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission. And scams related to fraudulent weight-loss products are by far the most prevalent. [More]
FTC Accuses Company Of Cramming Millions Of Dollars Of Bogus Charges On Wireless Bills
By April 17, 2013
In the first case of its kind for the wireless industry, the Federal Trade Commission has accused a company and its owners of raking in millions of dollars by charging wireless customers for text services they never signed up for. [More]
More Than 125 Sketchy Domains Registered Within Hours Of Boston Marathon Explosions
By April 16, 2013
Yesterday, many of us stopped giving a hoot about — at least for a few minutes — about problems with our wireless bills and cable connection to watch with concern as news reports tried to piece together exactly what happened during and after the explosions that rocked the Boston Marathon. Then there were those jerks who, as will all high-profile tragedies, sought to cash in. [More]
No, You Didn’t Earn Two Free Travel Vouchers From ‘United Airways’
By April 11, 2013
For at least the last year, something calling itself ‘United Airways’ — which is the name of a regional carrier in Asia that has nothing to do with this story — has been sending out versions of the above letter to consumers, promising free reward travel, but both the airline industry and the Better Business Bureau say it’s nothing but a scam. [More]
Walmart Worker Stops Woman From Wiring $2,100 To Fake Stranded Grandson
By March 7, 2013
With all the news of scammers out there stealing money from unsuspecting folks using the lowdown, dirty “Help, I’m your grandson/niece/other close family relative!” act, our hearts are warmed all the more when observant customer associates stop those scams cold. Here to brighten the day comes the tale of the Walmart employee and the loving grandma. [More]
5 Warning Signs That A Craigslist Rental Listing Is Probably A Scam
By February 27, 2013
Even though it’s nothing new, we’ve recently started seeing a resurgence of reader e-mails asking if a really awesome-sounding rental listing on Craigslist might be a scam, so we figured it was time for a refresher course. [More]
Months After Newtown School Shooting, Facebook Finally Gets Around To Dealing With Scammy Tribute Pages
By February 26, 2013
It’s been more than two months since the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT, and just as long since heartless, greedy scammers immediately jumped on the event as an opportunity to enrich themselves with fake Facebook pages. Now the site is finally doing something about it. [More]
