Almost immediately after Nintendo released its new Switch gaming console, videos and banner ads touted emulators that could let you play Switch games on your PC, meaning you don’t have to pay the $300 retail price. Problem is: There currently aren’t any freely available, legitimate emulators. This hasn’t stopped hopeful Switch fans from downloading these apps anyway. After multiple warnings from journalists and tech security companies went unheeded, the Federal Trade Commission is officially advising gamers to not fall for this con. [More]
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Now The Federal Government Is Warning Against Scammy Nintendo Switch Emulators
By 4.18.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
FTC Shuts Down Tech Support Scammers Pretending To Work For FTC
By 4.11.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Con artists love pretending to be from the federal government; it can lend an immediate air of far-reaching authority to whatever scam they are pulling. Similarly, play-acting as a tech support expert can take advantage of everyday folks’ lack of knowledge about the inner workings of their electronics. One Florida man allegedly tried to combine these two beloved character types into one Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of fraud, only to be shut down by the very agency he impersonated. [More]
Kingpin Of IRS Scam That Made $225K/Day Arrested In India
By 4.10.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Police in India say they’ve arrested the suspected kingpin behind a scammy call center operation that raked in $225,000 per day by pretending they were agents for the Internal Revenue Service. [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]
If You Use A Tax Preparer, Make Sure They Don’t Get Taken In By ‘Last-Minute Email’ Scam
By 3.20.17
Taxes can be complicated, and you may have last-minute tweaks to make as you pull together paperwork. Scammers are now taking advantage of this fact, posing as taxpayers to siphon away their annual refunds. [More]
Maybe Don’t Answer Calls From These Area Codes If You Don’t Want To Be Scammed
By 3.7.17 — Updated: 3.8.17
Yesterday, in honor of National Consumer Protection Week, we highlighted four scams consumers should be aware of in order to keep their money. One way to avoid some of these telephone-based scams is to just avoid picking up the phone at all when receiving calls from certain area codes. [More]
19 People Indicted For Money Laundering, CEO Scams, Imaginary Car Scams
By 3.1.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Have you ever wondered about the people who lurk behind scam emails asking for mysterious wire transfers, or who post ads for suspiciously cheap cars that never materialize after the buyer sends a payment? Today, the Department of Justice outed a few of these unscrupulous types, indicting 19 people for allegedly laundering money and perpetrating a variety of international financial scams. [More]
Looking For “Facebook Customer Service” Online? Don’t Call This Scammy Number
By 2.1.17
When it comes to customer service, Facebook is notoriously difficult deal with, which is why people go searching on Google and elsewhere for any sort of reliable contact information for the site. But beware: There’s a scammy phone number lurking on the internet, passing itself off as “Facebook customer service.” [More]
Don’t Fall For The ‘Missed Delivery Notice’ Email Scam This Holiday Season
By 12.9.16
If you’re like everyone else you know, you’ve probably been doing — or plan to do — a bit of online holiday shopping this year. Missing a delivery could put a serious kink in your day, but don’t let that fear draw you into a scammer’s net. [More]
FCC: Don’t Be Fooled By Callers Posing As Utility Employees Demanding Payment
By 11.15.16 — Updated: 2.2.17
We’ve heard about scammers who call up consumers and pretend to be utility company workers, demanding immediate payment. And as we head into the winter, when many people might be endangered by an interruption in heat, the Federal Communications Commission is warning folks to be especially wary of such calls. [More]
Feds Shut Down Telemarketing Scam That Pitched Money-Making Schemes & Bogus Grants
By 10.28.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
As wonderful as it might sound, odds are that no one is trying to call you to give you free money, and anyone who dangles a get-rich-quick scheme in front of you should be quickly ignored. Yet federal regulators say telemarketers tricked seniors and veterans out of their money with these sorts of scams.
[More]
Feds Arrest 61 For Alleged Indian Call Center Scam That Bilked Millions From Consumers
By 10.27.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
Earlier this month, police in India detained hundreds of employees in three different call centers for allegedly proliferating a scam that involved calling unsuspecting consumers masquerading as employees with the Internal Revenue Service and threatening to arrest if the person didn’t pay up. This week, federal authorities in the U.S. followed up on the case, ending a three-year investigation by arresting dozens of people in the U.S. and India for allegedly scamming tens of thousands of consumers out of millions of dollars through the sophisticated call center scheme. [More]
Police: Woman Scams First Date Out Of $300 Gift Card At Dinner
By 10.18.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
We’ve heard of jerks who take advantage of folks looking for love, from dining-and-dashing to elaborate scams that swindle romantic targets out of thousands of dollars. Now, police in Connecticut say one woman fleeced her date after he paid for dinner — and used the money to go out with other men. [More]
Feds Shut Down Scam That Used Pop-Up Alerts To Scare People Into Thinking Computers Were Hacked
By 10.12.16
If you’ve ever browsed some of the internet’s seedier nooks and crannies, you might be familiar with a particular type of scam: The pop-up warning (usually accompanied by a loud, alarm-like sound) telling you that your computer has been compromised and you must call tech support immediately. To people who know better, it’s a minor nuisance but to people who aren’t as scam-savvy, it’s a ruse that brings in millions of dollars to jerks around the world, including a Missouri-based operation that has been shut down by the Federal Trade Commission. [More]
Scammy Indian Call Centers Made Up To $225K/Day Pretending To Be From IRS
By 10.6.16
No one wants to get a call from the Internal Revenue Service, and for many people the tax return process is confusing and fraught with potential for errors. So when someone calls claiming to be from the IRS and in need of more information, or saying you need to pay up or face arrest, you might assume it’s a legitimate call. It’s not. This week, police in India detained hundreds of employees from three different call centers for allegedly making these sorts of scam calls — and raking in big money in the process. [More]
Listen To This Creepy Robocall & See Why 750K People Want Free Robo-Blocking Tools
By 9.27.16
As if auto-dialed, pre-recorded robocalls weren’t bad enough, scammers are now blasting out robocalls that use poorly synthesized text-to-talk programs in an effort to try to frighten people into thinking they are being sued. [More]
Why Did A Stranger Send Me A Fake Rolex Watch?
By 9.26.16
It’s not every day that you get a package out of the blue from someone you’ve never met, containing an expensive (looking) watch. So when that exact situation happened to a California woman recently, she had a sneaking suspicion that something was fishy — and she was right. [More]
Man Behind $31 Million Mortgage Telemarketing Scam Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison
By 9.16.16
A California man has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for his part in what prosecutors believe is the largest mortgage modification scam in history, defrauding victims out of $31 million. [More]
