Target: Your Wallet
New Twists on Old E-mail and Telemarketing Scams
By Remar Sutton, DCU StreetWise Spokesperson
- You want to sell your old car for $2,000 online but you'll probably lose thousands if you take up the offer from the customer who wants to send you a cashier's check for more than your price and have you refund the difference after you deposit the check.
- You told the telemarketer you weren't interested in free voice mail or you called about a postcard sweepstake notice you received, and unauthorized fees showed up on your monthly phone bill.
- You got what appeared to be an email from your credit card company, bank or online club that told you it was important to click on the link in the email to double check your records. Trouble is, this scam e-mail takes you to a fake website and steals your personal information.
E-mail and the telephone are favorite tools for scam artists. The three ploys just depicted are new twists on old scams. And one is coming—or has already come—to your phone or computer. Read on to see how they work and what you can do to protect yourself.
Counterfeit Cashiers' Checks—a twist on the Nigerian Money Scam
How the scam works. You have a fairly valuable item for sale at one of the online sales or auction sites. Sellers of such items as cars, furniture, boats, and even purebred puppies and horses have been hit by this scam. A potential customer calls from overseas—usually from Nigeria or West Africa but they could be from anywhere. Let's say you've advertised a car for $2,000. They say they want to buy your car. To pay for it, they'd like to have a creditor in the U.S. who owes them $7,200 send you a cashier's check for that amount. You deposit that check in your account and when it's cleared, they'll trust you to wire that money to them. You say yes.
What went wrong. You receive the cashier's check for $7,200. It appears to be drawn on a legitimate U.S. bank. Your bank accepts it. The money is made available the next day because the law requires a financial institution to make the funds available the next day if you deposit it in person with a bank employee. You withdraw $5,200 and wire it by Western Union to the overseas address. In the next week to three weeks, the cashier's check is returned as counterfeit. The total $7,200 plus fees are taken from your accounts and you may be suspected of fraud.
How to protect yourself. First, be extremely wary of any such offer that has you sending "change" even if it appears to come from within the U.S. For any large sale to anyone, asking for a cashier's check or money order is usually wise. But wait for the cashier's check or money order to clear—even if it takes a couple of weeks—before you deliver the goods. Alternatively, call the bank that issued the cashier's check (its name will be on the check) and ask if they issued.
Read more about this variant and the usual forms of the Nigerian Money scams:
Unauthorized charges on your phone bill for third-party services—a twist on telephone cramming
How the scam works—four variants.
- The free website: A telemarketer phones you at your small business offering a month's free website. They "confirm" a little information about you and/or your company. You say, NO you are not interested. But at the end of the month, there's a $25 or $30 charge on your phone bill from that company, maybe under a name you never heard of.
- Call the toll-free number to respond to the direct mail sweepstakes offer and you've unknowingly signed on for voice-mail, paging services, or the like. That news may be in the fine print of the postcard or the charge on the phone bill may be the only notice you get.
- Return a call on your cell phone or pager to a strange number. Just returning the call—the message may say it's urgent or say there's a family emergency to get you to act—signs you up for the "service."
- Other variants. In researching this, I read of one man who ended up with such charges on his phone just because he tried to sign up online for free grocery coupons and that "sign up" supposedly authorized the charges for a totally different service—one that was not mentioned on the website.
What went wrong. These scammers are highly skilled in trickery and sleight-of-hand. It's easy to fall into their traps. A couple of easy mistakes are not reading the fine print on any solicitations carefully and giving out any information on your business or self without asking first for the caller's name, company and contact number. Another mistake is ever saying "yes" to a tape recorded question whether you placed the call (say about the sweepstake) or they called you. Their objective is to record your "yes" as authorization for charges.
How to protect yourself. First, look over your telephone bill each month as carefully as you look over your credit card accounts or checking/savings account statement. Question any unauthorized charges; local phone companies require that third-party services provide a customer service number. Charges on Your Phone Bill from the Federal Communications Commission describes the type of legitimate fees. Knowing those will help you distinguish potential unauthorized charges.
Learn more about telephone cramming schemes.
Fake Bank and Credit Card Website—a Twist on Identity Theft
How the scam works. You receive an e-mail that appears to be from your bank, credit-card company, Internet service provider (ISP), or online membership organization (such as an online auction site). The e-mail asks you to click on a link or go to the URL given in the e-mail to update some information the sender needs (or some other request). You click on the link and go to a website that appears to belong to the institution referenced. Since the site looks okay, you give the requested personal information. Typical requests include Social Security number, account numbers, passwords, and the like. The problem? The site is fake and the con artist has just ripped off information they can use to steal your identity and your money.
What went wrong. In general banks, credit unions, credit card companies, other financial institutions, ISPs never send e-mails asking for personal or account information they already have on file. Always be suspicious of any request for information that comes from an unsolicited e-mail. When you initiate the online contact with your bank or a reputable merchant, you may provide information to purchase merchandise or handle your account.
How to protect yourself. If you go to the website, make sure that the URL is really that of the company. Be extra careful with personal information. I recommend that you respond to no unsolicited request for personal information. Instead, call the institution using the number on your statement and ask if the request is legitimate. Don't call any numbers provided in the e-mail or the website it directs you to.
Read more about these type scams:
Some general steps you can take to cut down on junk e-mail and telemarketing calls.
- Major Internet service providers allow you to set your browser to screen out a lot of spam or bulk e-mail. Check the "help" function on your provider's website to find out how.
- Some states offer "Do-Not-Call" registries for consumers who want to block some types of calls. This service is free or costs a nominal fee. A national "Do-Not-Call" registry is in the works but not available yet. Beware of a scam that tries to sell you a "do-not-call" service and asks for personal information. See Beware of Telemarketing Scam from the FCC.
So, what do you think?
If you find this review helpful, please pass the word to your friends. Also email me with any comments or suggestions. Remar Sutton
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