Imagine you’ve been a victim of that old “woke up in a bathtub with my kidney gone” urban legend. As you stumble out of the hotel in urgent need of medical care, you come across a helpful doctor who will tend to your wounds… only to wake up in another tub with another missing organ. Replace “unauthorized donation of precious, life-sustaining organs” with “telemarketing fraud” and you’ve got the basis for a scam that took in nearly $3 million from people who had already been the victims of fraud. [More]
scamalamadingdong
Supplement Company Owner Gets 30 Months In Prison For Selling Diet Pills Containing Unsafe Ingredients
By 10.19.15
One slogan used by the folks at now-defunct Floyd Nutrition on weight-loss “supplements” like ZXT Bee Pollen and ZXT Gold Infinity was “Offering the gift of health,” but a more accurate statement might have been “Offering the secret gift of drugs that were pulled from the market years ago for potential health risks,” or rather, “Offering products that will land this company’s founder in federal prison for two-and-a-half years.” [More]
Man Recruited Homeless To Help Him Steal As Much As $800K From Home Depot
By 10.6.15
There’s shoplifting, and then there’s organizing a network of people help you pull off illegal activities: law enforcement in Detroit said a man who recruited homeless people and others on the streets to steal from Home Depot made as much as $800,000 over a few years, by returning those shoplifted items for store credit. [More]
$80 iPad For Sale In Supermarket Parking Lot Was Actually A Tile
By 10.1.15
There’s one important rule that can save you from a number of scams: when a stranger walks up to you in a parking lot and offers to sell you something, say no. Always say no. If a woman in California had obeyed this rule, she’d still have $80 in her pocket and no pieces of tile masquerading as iPads. [More]
Moms Try To Snag Taylor Swift Tickets, Get Scammed Twice
By 9.30.15
Two moms wanted to take their daughters to see Taylor Swift when she played in St. Louis recently, but didn’t have tickets. That’s fine: that’s what the underground ticket economy is for, right? In theory, but they managed to get scammed twice in one night by two different ticket sellers, and almost missed the concert. [More]
Possible Scammer Threatens To Call Police On The Police Asking Questions About Suspicious Mailing
By 9.28.15
Who’s a scammer to turn to for help when they feel they’re being harassed? Apparently, the authorities: police in Massachusetts say they were investigating a possible scam targeting senior citizens, and called up the alleged scammer with a few questions — who then threatened to call the cops. [More]
New Scam Preys On Facebook Users’ Desire For A “Dislike” Button
By 9.25.15
There’s one relatively simple way scammers can hook their prey: by knowing exactly what you really want and acting like they’re giving it to you. But as much as you want to be able to express something other than “like” with a button on Facebook, it’s not here yet, and it’s not going to be invite-only when it does arrive. [More]
Wedding Venue Fined $305K For Taking Deposits For Events It Couldn’t Possibly Host
By 9.24.15
Imagine you’re about to get married and then find out that the venue you booked for your reception is not only closed, but that the venue operators knew it be shutting down and took your deposit anyway. This is exactly what happened to nearly 60 people who were tricked into making deposits with a Seattle gallery for weddings and other events that could never have possibly been held there. [More]
Supplement-Maker Who Diluted Products With Other Powders Sentenced To 40 Months In Prison
By 9.9.15
When you buy a food product or a dietary supplement, you should be confident that the product’s ingredients are listed on the label, and that you’re getting what you paid for. Federal prosecutors say that one dietary supplement wholesaler in New Jersey spent four years selling products diluted with products like maltodextrin or rice flour, increasing profits but defrauding customers. The company’s owner now must forfeit $1 million in profits and has been sentenced to 40 months in prison and one year of supervised release. [More]
Fake Boss Wire Transfer Scammers Have Now Stolen $1.2 Billion From Companies
By 8.28.15
All year, we’ve been sharing information about a scam hitting companies all over the world, where very clever and resourceful scammers impersonate bosses and extract money on false pretenses. The best protection against this kind of fraud is education, and while law enforcement are doing their best to let people know about the scam, the number of victims is only increasing, and law enforcement estimates that the scammers have drained $1.2 billion worldwide from businesses’ bank accounts. [More]
Surprise! This $200 Off Kroger Coupon Is Actually A Scam
By 8.10.15
This coupon promises to get you $200 off your next $20 shopping visit to the supermarket chain Kroger. Well, except for how the coupon doesn’t actually work at Kroger. Or exist. The promise of unrealistically amazing coupons is used to get people to click on a link that could harm your computer. [More]
Don’t Fall For The Mail-Order Puppy Scam
By 8.7.15
Getting a dog from a breeder can run you thousands of dollars, so it might be tempting when someone offers to sell you a baby puppy for a fraction of that. But if that seller is just some random person who demands that you wire them a cash payment, you’re probably getting rooked. [More]
Stupid Scammers Sell Play-Doh “iPhones,” Get Caught When Victim Asks To Buy More
By 7.28.15
Dear dumb criminals: If you’re lucky enough to trick someone into buying an iPhone box full of Play-Doh, consider your crappy, evil job done and move on to the next victim. Because if that buyer calls you back asking to purchase more “iPhones,” they’re either less-intelligent than you, or you’re about to be arrested. [More]
Telemarketers Took Millions From Senior Citizens In Medicare Card Scam
By 7.27.15
There’s now one less unsavory, immoral, disrespectful group scamming senior citizens of their savings, as federal regulators took action against the operators of a scheme in which telemarketers pretended to be Medicare representatives in order to bilk millions of dollars from older consumers. [More]
3 Obvious Signs This “Walt Disney-World.” Facebook Giveaway Is A Scam
By 7.16.15 — Updated: 5.23.17
Another day, another Facebook scam that has suckered more than 25,000 people in just a matter of hours — in spite of the fact that nothing about this supposed giveaway indicates that it’s legitimate. [More]
Payment Processor Pleads Guilty After Allowing Fake Payday Lenders To Raid Bank Accounts
By 7.16.15
If a payment processor — the intermediary between a merchant and the banks — facilitates transactions that it knows aren’t on the up-and-up, it’s not just a no-no; it’s a federal offense. Just ask the California man who pleaded guilty to wire fraud for enabling the operators of fake payday loan sites to steal money from consumers’ bank accounts. [More]
Warn Your Parents And Grandparents About The Fake Grandchild Debt Scam
By 7.10.15
It seems like as soon as we warn the public about a nefarious phone scam, another slight variation sprouts up to vacuum more money from the pockets of innocent people. This new scam that we’ve learned about combines a focus on grandparents with the urgency and fear of the overdue taxes and jury duty scams that we’ve shared with you recently. What these scams have in common, of course, is that the problem can always be solved with the number from a prepaid debit card. [More]
Man Behind IRS-Impersonation Scam Sentenced To 14 Years In Prison
By 7.8.15
One of the more insidious scams of this decade has been the IRS impostor phone scam, where someone posing as a police officer or federal agent calls you up and threatens to arrest you over your tax balance. Of course, that balance is payable immediately by prepaid debit card. A Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to running such a scam from 2011 until his 2013 arrest has been sentenced to 175 months in prison and $1 million in forfeiture for his crimes. [More]
