Scams are everywhere – hang-up, delete or pay

If you have a home phone, a cell phone, a computer or just a plain old mailbox, you are a target. {{more: READ MORE …}}

 

Have you gotten calls, emails or Facebook messages that you need to fix something, pay something or win millions of dollars but you must act immediately. You are not alone.

 

billion+ lost to scams …

 

According to AARP, Americans lost an estimated $1.5 billion to scammers posing as tech company employees. But the same can go for scammers as IRS agents, lawyers, lonely widows with lots of money or a relative that is in jail and needs bail money. But no matter what tactic they use, scammers have one purpose: to take your money.

 

it’s not just the elderly …

According to Microsoft, the majority of people losing money to tech scams are millennials. By contrast, only 3% of users who listed their age as 55-65, or users who listed their age as 66+ years old, had lost money by continuing with a scam. Regardless of age, everyone needs to know what to watch out for.

 

we want to believe that there is a pot of gold of us …

 

Scammers call and try to gain your trust or your sympathy. They play on your greed and/or your gullibility because secretly everyone wants to believe that there is a pot of gold just for them. They pretend to be experts or authority figures and use technical terms or legal threats.

 

Here is a sampling of scams that have been reported recently in the DFW area. Information is provided by AARP at AARP Map of Scams

 

don’t do it …

• Scammer called from 518-418-7004 and said Windows was infected on my computer and he would need to fix it.

• A person with a foreign accent kept on calling and leaving me a message, saying the IRS is going to sue me if I don’t call them right now. Of course I never called them back , but they called me three more times with the same message.

• I had one of those incidents where there was a pop-up on the screen that froze my computer.

• My Facebook account was hacked. They were using my picture in some type bogus investments.

• Received a voicemail message saying it was a final notice from the IRS and I owed the IRS and they have filed a lawsuit against me. I am prompted to call 347-637-6194. The call came from (213) 141-5163 and the voice was a male computerized sounding voice.

• There is a someone calling herself, Laura Nancy, claiming to be dying of cancer and whose late rich husband left her with so many thousands of dollars. She says that because she have no kids to leave her money to, she heard from God to seek out someone to distribute her money to those underprivileged. Once you agree she tells you that she will send you a form to fill out to send to her bank. She then have all your personal information. Bank, home, job, ss#, and more.

• Costco is ending it’s relationship with American Express and has announced that they will no longer honor American Express charge cards after April 2016. Costco also announced that customer will be issued Visa cards to replace the American Express cards. I received an email at an address totally unknown to Costco or Visa with a link for me to provide information to assist with this change. I recognized the email as a fraud and did not click on the link. It probably contained a virus.

• On 12-24-15 my PC screen was blocked with a warning to call 888-545-5093 (press 1) for help in correcting my problem. The person who answered was attempting to take control of my computer with authority to download or change any files. I asked him who he was and who he worked for. He did not answer. I told him that I suspected he was a scam. No response. I noted one screen he showed was identified as “AKASH” which I suspect was Indian. I shut down my computer and he hung up.

• I keep receiving e-mails from USAA stating that there had been an un-authorized withdraw from my account and that I should log-in to see details. I do not have any dealings with USAA.

• Beware of “Wells Fargo” phony email Subject: “Your Wells Fargo Online access has been suspended,” with link to reset your online password.

• Guy sent me a friend request on Facebook. I accepted, he says I won $500,000. All l have to do is send him my email address & phone # & home address for verification. Send $100 to Fed Ex & I’ll get my winnings.

• We get calls daily from people that say they are from Medicare and we have been approved for a back brace or a knee brace, whatever we feel we need. Just give them our Dr’s name and they will take care of it. No matter how many times we tell them we don’t need a brace. They just call back the next day. You can tell English is not their first language.

• The latest scam/fraud is coming to us from 855-465-6806. The calling name that appears is “LEGAL SERVICES.” A male voice speaking rapidly states that ‘you are being sued.’ When I went online to check out the phone number it is a private number located in Kansas City.

• Excited caller tells me I have become a winner of the annual Facebook giveaway…says I have won $60,000 and that Zuckerberg himself picked the ten winners. All I have to do is send them all kinds of financial information so I can be “legitimized.” Isn’t that a farce. I asked for a telephone number so I could call the head of the giveaway, but after two days of refusing (and even giving two British numbers), they gave up. They did send me two ictures of people standing with big sign claiming wins.

• Got a prize alert. Won millions of dollars if I send in twenty dollar “fee”. Came in the mail and looked so official.

• My son has been searching the Internet for employment. There was a site which said you can be hired in the oilfield, but first you must read our book and we will send you a copy for $39.00. I sent the money to a site called career alternatives. They in turn sent me a welcome letter called “my oilfield training.info” in which I was supposed to open up a portal with my sons name and password which would begin his training information. This a scam. There is no such portal.