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Scam of the day – September 17, 2023 – Doctors, Nurses and Other Medical Personnel Targeted by Scammers

Steven Weisman, Esq.

Sep 16

Most new scams are merely variations of older scam and today's Scam of the day is one of those. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning doctors, nurses and other medical personnel of a scam in which the targeted victim receives a phone call from the scammer posing as a deputy sheriff who informs the targeted victim that he or she has missed a court date where he or she was supposed to testify as an expert witness. The scammer goes on to tell the targeted victim that he or she will be arrested unless they pay a fine by gift cards. Of course, anytime you are asked to make a payment by way of a gift card, you can be confident it is a scam. Gift cards are a favorite method of payment for scammers because they are impossible to trace.

The scammer then goes on to tell the targeted victim that the gift cards must be delivered in person to the judge at the local courthouse. The scammer then insists that they stay on the phone with the targeted victim while he or she purchases the gift cards. Then, before they can get to the courthouse, the scammer tells the targeted victim that the judge is not available at this time, but that the targeted victim can give the card numbers over the phone to the scammer posing as a law enforcement official. Gift cards can be readily used online without having the cards in hand so providing the numbers to the scammer is all the scammer needs to access the gift cards.

TIPS

No government agency accepts payments by gift cards. It is a sad commentary that the IRS has had to post on its website that it does not accept gift cards. Additionally, no law enforcement agency will demand a payment over the phone or you will be arrested.

This particular scam has fooled some people by using the names of real law enforcement officers and by spoofing the phone numbers of various law enforcement agencies so that the call appears to be coming from a real law enforcement agency even though it is coming from the scammers phone. As I have often told you, it is a simple matter for a scammer to manipulate your Caller ID to make a call appear to come from whatever source the scammer wishes. Trust me, you can't trust anyone

Site logo image ScamicideScam of the day – September 19, 2023 – Investment Scams at Record Levels

Steven Weisman, Esq.

Sep 18

Investment scams have always been with us, but according to the Federal Trade Commission, they reached 3.8 billion dollars of losses last year which was double the amount of the previous year.

Many of these investment scams are promoted on social media, emails and unsolicited phone calls. Often the investment scams are operated as pump and dump schemes. Pump and dump scams have been with us for hundreds of years, however recently they have evolved to keep pace with today's technology. A Pump and dump scheme is most often done with low priced stocks referred to as "penny stocks." The scammers buy low priced stocks and then artificially inflate the price of the stocks by using text messages, faxes, Internet chat rooms and other means of communication posing as people with inside information that indicates that a stock is about to rise. This prompts victims of the scam to buy the stock and temporarily inflate the value of the stock. Meanwhile, the scammers sell their stock when the stock price gets bumped up and are long gone when the stock deflates and reverts back to its true value.

And, of course cryptocurrency scams are rampant as people too often invest without knowing what they are investing in or with whom they are investing.

TIPS

Before investing with anyone, you should investigate the person offering to sell you the investment with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Central Registration Depository. This will tell you if the broker is licensed and if there have been disciplinary procedures against him or her. You can also check with your own state's securities regulation office for similar information. Many investment advisers will not be required to register with the SEC, but are required to register with your individual state's securities regulators. You can find your state's agency by going to the website of the North American Securities Administrators Association. https://www.nasaa.org/investor-education...t-adviser/ Many investment advisers will not be required to register with the SEC, but are required to register with your individual state securities regulators. You should also check with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for information about the particular investment adviser. https://www.finra.org/investors/protect-...-and-check

It is also important to remember that you should never invest in something that you do not completely understand. This was a mistake that many of Bernie Madoff's victims made. You also may want to check out the SEC's investor education website at www.investor.gov. Scammers can be very convincing and it may sound like there is a great opportunity for someone to make some money, but you must be careful that the person making money is not the scam artist taking yours. Additionally, investing with someone merely because you trust them because you have heard them on the radio or television is dangerous. Having the same person advise the investment and control the investment is a common thread among Ponzi schemers because it enables them to falsify documents to make the investment look profitable. Generally, for additional security it is desirable to have a separate broker-dealer act as custodian for investments chosen by an investment adviser.

For detailed information about cryptocurrency scams and how to avoid them check out this link from the FTC hxxps://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-cryptocurrency-and-scams#scams

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Site logo image ScamicideScam of the day – September 22, 2023 – Ace Rewards Scams

Steven Weisman, Esq.

Sep 21

Ace Hardware is a large, popular hardware store and like many stores has a loyalty program called Ace Rewards. Ace recently sent out a warning to its Ace Rewards members that scammers, posing as Ace Hardware are sending emails to Ace Reward members offering a prize for completing a survey. In order to receive your prize, you are required to pay a small fee to cover shipping and handling. The scammers are also sending emails in which they direct the targeted victim to a fake website that appears to be that of Ace Hardware. Unfortunately, if you take the survey and provide your credit card or debit card to pay for the shipping and handling of your prize, the only thing you will receive will be excessive charges on your credit or debit card. If you to the phony website, you may end up unwittingly downloading malware or providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft.

TIPS

Trust me, you can't trust anyone. The email address from which the phony email is sent may look legitimate, but the easy way to avoid the problem is to merely go to the actual website of Ace Hardware which is hxxp://www.acehardware.com. Any promotion or sale will always be available on Ace's website.

It is always better not to click on a link in an email to go to a website, but rather type in the URL that you know is legitimate. However, you may want to go the extra step and actually do a search to determine who owns the website you are on. There are a number of ways of doing this. One of the easiest is to go to ICANN and enter the domain name and click on "lookup." This will enable you to find out who actually owns the website. So for instance, if you think you are going to the Ace Hardware website and the website you are on is owned by someone in Nigeria, you can be pretty confident it is a scam. Here is the link to ICANN hxxps://lookup.icann.org/

Also, Ace Hardware, like most legitimate companies will never ask for payment information or passwords as a part of any survey.

Finally, as always, you should never use your debit card when buying anything online (or at a brick and mortar store as well) because federal laws protecting you from liability for fraudulent purposes are far stronger for credit card purchases than debit card purchases.

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