Tag: scam

  • Don’t Be Duped By a Text Message

    There’s been a marked increase in text messages with a spoofed Caller ID that ask the recipient to click on a hyperlink — that’s always the objective of this type of scam. It is their methodology to hijack your device. Two Major Risks include: The recipient does not know who really sent the message; and…

  • Lottery/Sweepstakes: An Overview

    If I were to open a crime college, a place to learn the fine art of thievery, one class that would assuredly be on the curriculum would be Advance Fee Frauds, commonly known as sweepstakes and lottery frauds. This con involves the victim being told the lie that money is coming their way (usually from…

  • ‘What’s My Line?’ Elder Abuse-style

    “What does a con artist look like?” The answers I receive are oftentimes humorous. Descriptions of used car salesmen and politicians are shouted out, with visuals of “shifty eyes,” bad toupees, rapid speech, and loud aloha shirts added in for effect.

  • Beware of ‘Spoofing’

    Telephone scams have been around for years, even before the birth of the internet, and they are just as dangerous as their online counterparts. Because modern telephone networks use digital technology, it is easy for cybercriminals to manipulate what appears in the Caller ID to trick you into thinking you are receiving a call from…

  • Is It Time for Medicare?

    Were you a high school senior in 1972, singing Alice Cooper’s classic hit, “School’s Out” (for Summer)? Then you may be turning 65 soon and wondering if you need Medicare insurance. Figuring it out on your own may leave you clicking through a lot of scam websites and staring at a mountain of brochures and…

  • Boo! Now Give Me Your Money

    Fear has always been a tool criminals use to get money from others. Whether it is created by holding a weapon to a cashier to get their compliance, or simply using a verbal threat against someone on the street to make him/her surrender their wealth, a robber wants his victim to believe they have to…

  • Sweetheart Swindles

    An elderly man was in the gym working out with his trainer when they saw an attractive young woman enter the workout area and begin to exercise. The older man asked his trainer what machine he should use to impress the young woman. The trainer replied he should use the ATM machine in the lobby.…

  • Better Business Bureau: Scammers Take Advantage of Health Reform

    Con artists are always seizing on the public’s financial struggles and confusion in order to make a quick buck. Not long ago we saw them come out of the woodworks during the housing crisis and now we are seeing a pattern again as health care reform laws are upheld. Scammers are already trying to cash…