So you’ve received an e-mail from Comcast saying you’re $25 late on your cable bill and that if you don’t resolve the issue ASAP, you could be arrested. First, that’s simply not true, and second, that message isn’t from Comcast. [More]
scams
Man Pleads Guilty In Scheme That Scammed $2.4 Million In Free Comcast Service
By 10.2.13
Last year, police in Pennsylvania busted a ring of scammers — including some former Comcast employees — who had talked nearly 6,000 people into paying upwards of $200 to permanently have their Comcast cable bills reduced. Now the man described as being “second in command” of the ring has entered a guilty plea. [More]
No, You Did Not Just Win $2 Million: FTC Sues To Stop Scammy Sweepstakes Letters
By 9.23.13
“OH MY GOD, MOM! YOU WON $2 MILLION!” I may or may not have screamed at my mother at some point in my youth, while brandishing an envelope with that very same claim emblazoned across it. But my mother didn’t join in celebration, because she like, everyone else who gets those letters, didn’t win a dime. The Federal Trade Commission has now sued to stop what it calls a massive sweepstakes scam responsible for bilking more than $11 million from people in the U.S. and around the world. [More]
The Good News: Your Grandson Isn’t In Peruvian Prison. The Bad News: You Just Lost $250K
By 9.17.13
Grandkids, kids, nieces and nephews: Now is a really good time for you to sit down your elders and tell them that you will likely never be locked up in a prison or stranded abroad and in need of large sums of money. Or heck, maybe set up a password — “Grandma, if I ever call and yell ‘BINGO!’ into the phone you’ll know it’s me and it’s safe to send me money.” [More]
Reminder: Don’t Be Taken In By A Charity Scam
By 9.17.13
Between the recent tragic flooding in Colorado and yesterday’s fatal shooting in Washington, D.C., it’s been one of those weeks that make many people wonder want to do something, anything, to help those who are grieving, suffering, or in need. Sadly, as we’ve seen too many times to count, tragedies always bring out the worst in a small number of people looking to cash in on the charity of well-meaning folks. [More]
Scammer Threatens To Blow Up Kmart If Prepaid Debit Card Isn’t Filled
By 9.12.13
While the man in the earlier story who mentioned that he might get a machine gun and use it against the employees of a customer service call center was improperly venting his frustration, the person who called in a bomb threat to a New Jersey Kmart was just trying to scam the store out of some money. [More]
Cops: Woman Flushed Investors’ Hopes Down The Drain In $100K Toilet Fan Scam
By 9.12.13
A good rule to live by: If someone asks you for money to fund a scheme involving toilets, your cash will probably just be flushed down the drain (unless it’s some kind of magical talking toilet that gives out great advice and also cleans your entire house while singing a delightful ditty*). [More]
Who’s Behind The $100,000 Lit Motors Kickstarter Campaign? Not Lit Motors
By 9.10.13 — Updated: 9.11.13
The C-1 from Lit Motors sounds like the perfect commuting vehicle: a small and zippy gyroscopic motorcycle that runs on electricity, and is enclosed and climate-controlled like a car. The first models hit the road in 2014, but you can reserve one of the first ones now, before the dealerships even open, by contributing $500 that will serve as your deposit to the C-1 Design Team’s Kickstarter campaign. Only the company says that they aren’t behind the campaign. Who is? Update: the campaign is down. Yay! [More]
Chase: Refunding A Scam Victim Is The Same As Forgiving A Debt
By 9.9.13
When you successfully convince your credit card company that you were scammed out of thousands of dollars and that a chargeback should be issued, you’d think that would be the end of the story, but not for one Chase credit card customer who just found out — two years after receiving the money back — that Chase now says the refund is actually a forgiven debt, and that he must pay income taxes on it. [More]
Scammers Vomit On Receipts To Trick Walmart Into Taking Back Bogus Video Games
By 9.9.13
Using the power of emetophobia, some scammers in Michigan apparently think they have found the secret formula for tricking Walmart into accepting returned video games — or rather, returned video game boxes containing counterfeit or blank discs. [More]
We’re Glad ‘American Airways’ Scammers Are Sending Out Less Convincing Letters
By 9.5.13
We’re disappointed, actually: we expect scammers to get more resourceful and creative over time, not less. And yet, Jessica sent us this fresh new example of the fake airline voucher letter scam that’s less legit-looking, not more. [More]
What’s Worse Than A Payday Loan? A Payday Loan Scammer
By 9.4.13
Short-term, high-interest payday loans are illegal in several states, but that doesn’t stop consumers from trying to get their hands on quick cash. So when they see a website offering to hook them up with a payday lender and get them up to $1,000 in about an hour, it may seem like a good deal. That is, until that loan never shows up and the borrower has even less money in her bank account. [More]
It’s Against The Law For Car Dealers To Not Give Consumers All Relevant Info About Deals
By 9.3.13
Take a look at the ad to the left promising $12,000 off MSRP for a 2013 Ford F-150. That’s a heck of an offer for a truck that starts at around $24,000. But what you don’t see — and what you don’t find out until you try to buy the vehicle — is that the discount only applies to the $47,000 F-150 Lariat version, so instead of getting a 50% discount on a reasonably priced new truck, you learn that it’s around a 25% savings on a high-end vehicle. [More]
Please Don’t Press Any Buttons When You Get A Scammy Robocall
By 8.27.13 — Updated: 5.23.17
We regularly receive complaints from readers who receive robocalls even though their numbers are on the Do Not Call List or they pressed “2” to have their numbers removed. The fact is that these robocallers simply don’t care about the law or whether you want to hear from them. [More]
Think You Can Buy A Pet Monkey On The Web? Don’t Be Shocked When You’re Scammed
By 8.22.13
There are many things you can buy on the Internet. At least three or four, just off the top of my head. But you’d better be sure the object of your desire is something that’s legal to bring into the country in the first place, otherwise you could end up like the Michigan woman who just wanted a monkey from Cameroon all for her own. [More]
If Someone Calls To Sell You Insurance For Obamacare, Hang Up And Call The FTC
By 8.20.13
While we’re starting to hear more about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act now that there are only a few months left until the health insurance mandate is in place and all Americans are supposed to have coverage. What you should know and remind the people you care about, though, is that no one is supposed to call you up to sell you any kind of special insurance. [More]
Just Say No… To Marijuana Stock Scams
By 8.20.13
Look, we know that all the cool kids in the neighborhood have tried it, and some swear that it’s just the bee’s knees, but before you get lured into a mistake that will leave you penniless and regretful, you should learn to just say no to investing in scammy marijuana stocks. [More]
At Least Three Men Fell For ‘Let’s Have Sex On A Pile Of Cash’ Robbery Scam
By 8.9.13
The man who was robbed of $2,000 that he was bringing to a romantic encounter with a woman he met online isn’t alone. At least two other would-be lovers brought huge quantities of cash to roll around on with the mystery woman, but were robbed instead. Police in Mountain View, California have made three arrests, and have asked any other victims out there to come forward. [More]
