Fraudsters have no shortage of tricks and sleights of hand to make themselves look like a legit business venture. In an effort to root out these scammers, Facebook is rolling out new tools designed to detect when companies disguise their ads as innocent or benign for moderators, but real users see spam. [More]
scam
Scammer Posing As Starbucks Corporate Convinces Store Workers To Wire $2,600
By 8.9.17
A fraudster in South Carolina combined the tradition of pranking fast food restaurants with a new variation of the CEO scam last week, convincing employees at a Starbucks to give them all of the money in the store. [More]
If You Use Services Like Venmo For The Wrong Purpose, You Could Lose Money
By 7.20.17
There are a plethora of peer-to-peer payment options on the market, think Venmo, Facebook Payments, or Square Cash. Each offer users an easy, convenient way to transfer money between people, but many have very specific intended uses; some are for paying your friends, others are for buying goods or paying for services. Some can be used for both, but may require different accounts. It’s important to know the difference, lest you become the latest victim of a scam or simply become shut out from your account. [More]
Schemer Claims Subway Manager Needs Bail, Scams $200 From Employee
By 5.31.17
Combining the juvenile tradition of pranking fast food restaurants with the “your relative is in jail” wire fraud scam, someone managed to trick employees at a Subway restaurant to fork over $200 to a complete stranger. [More]
77-Year-Old Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty To Conning Customers Out Of $8.2M
By 4.27.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
A Pennsylvania insurance agent could spend more than five years in prison after pleading guilty for his part in a scheme that swindled millions of dollars from customers. [More]
Scammers Buy Stuff With Your Card, Then Trick You Into ‘Returning’ Items To Them
By 4.24.17 — Updated: 4.26.17
Because there is apparently no limit to the amount of effort someone will put in to being dishonest, scammers are constantly evolving their tricks. For example, it’s no longer enough for someone to just steal your credit card number to go on a shopping spree. Now they have to involve you, by tricking you into actually shipping the fraudulent purchase on to them. [More]
American Airlines Workers Targeted In $16.7M Hearing Aid Scheme
By 4.21.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Thousands of American Airlines employees unknowingly became the targets of a multi-million dollar insurance fraud scheme carried out by a father-son duo who claimed to provide the airline workers with free hearing aids for simply taking a test. [More]
McDonald’s Manager Arrested For Refunding $3,800 Worth Of Big Macs … To Herself
By 4.14.17
Each day, fast food managers around the world refund money to unhappy customers, but one burger-brained McDonald’s manager realized she could issue a fake refund for a Big Mac and pocket the money… Then she did it nearly 1,100 times. [More]
IRS Will Begin Working With Private Debt Collectors This Month
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
The Internal Revenue Service has released additional details about its new program that turns certain delinquent accounts over to private debt collectors, giving us some idea of when these collection calls will begin, and how many accounts will be affected.
[More]
The IRS Is Now Using Private Debt Collectors; Here’s What You Need To Know
By 4.3.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
After years of warning taxpayers that the IRS will never cold call you to collect a tax debt, things are about to change as the IRS begins handing over some of its debt-collection work to private firms who probably will call you. [More]
Target Employees Prevent Couple From Losing $4K To Grandparent Scam
By 3.29.17
Every once in a while, a good samaritan — and an informed retail employee — stops customers from becoming victims of a costly scam. Such was the case for a pair of Target employees being lauded for recently helping to prevent a Virginia couple from losing thousands of dollars to the so-called “Grandparents scam.” [More]
Surprise! You’re Not Getting A $250 Walmart Gift Card From That Facebook Link
By 3.22.17
The offer of free money is hard to pass up, but, as we’ve warned before, those promises of hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards, a free car or trip, and other too-good-to-be-true offers are just that. The latest version of this scheme involves a $250 Walmart gift card. [More]
Operator Of Foreclosure Rescue Scheme Sentenced To Four Years In Prison
By 2.17.17
During the housing crisis, consumers in danger of losing their homes were often approached by unscrupulous companies making false promises they could help consumers delay foreclosures or evictions. One such company brought in nearly $3 million, and now the man behind the scenes is headed to prison. [More]
Immigration Fraud Reports Increasing Amid Deportation Fears
By 2.15.17
Four months after New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and a number of immigration advocates warned of a potential increase in immigration scams following the November election and the uncertain status of many consumers, the office says it has seen an uptick in fraudsters preying on immigrants uncertain about their status. [More]
Two Women Charged With Filing More Than 850 Fraudulent Tax Returns Worth $2.78M
By 2.10.17
Every year you hear about identity thieves filing tax returns in other peoples’ names in order to snatch their refunds, but you may not realize what a big business this is for some crooks. Case in point: A pair of Illinois women who have pleaded guilty to filing more than 850 bogus returns worth nearly $2.8 million in refunds. [More]
Feds Ask Victims Of Nigerian Internet Scam To Step Forward
By 2.8.17 — Updated: 2.10.17
Did the “love of your life” scam thousand of dollars from you? Did someone promise that you could make the big bucks working from home? If you answered yes to one of these schemes, federal regulators may be looking for you following the conviction of three Nigerian nationals who allegedly scammed thousands of consumers with internet-based financial fraud schemes. [More]
Feds Halt Phony Rental Home Scheme That Raked In Millions In Bogus Credit Check Fees
By 1.18.17
For years now we’ve been warning consumers about the apartment rental credit check scam: a scheme where homes (that may not even exist) are listed online with the sole purpose of tricking prospective renters into paying for “credit checks” that will never be done. Today, federal regulators announced they had put a stop to one company accused of using bogus listings and fees to swindle millions out of hopeful tenants. [More]
Walmart Employee Stops Elderly Couple From Losing $2,500 To “Grandparents Scam”
By 1.18.17
An elderly Illinois couple still has $2,500 in the bank thanks to an alert Walmart employee who thought something was amiss when the shoppers tried to transfer the funds to prepaid gift cards. [More]
