Top 10 Obvious FRAUDS People Actually FELL
FOR 10. Nigerian Prince Scam The Nigerian Prince Scam has been around as
long as email has been available. This kind of scam involves an email from a
prince in Nigeria and they want to give you money to hold for them until they can access
it later. This means giving them your bank account information
and they will transfer the money to you. People fall for this one pretty fast and lose
a lot of money. This scam was named the Advance Fee Fraud
or 419 Scam after the Nigerian Criminal Code that outlawed fraud in their country. A woman from Sweet Home, Oregon fell for this
scam and lost almost a half a million dollars. She sent these people money hoping for a big
pay out. Janella Spears, a registered nurse and reverend
started getting emails, the first one stated that she would get twenty million dollars
from her grandfather, which the family had lost touch with years ago. All she had to do was send a hundred dollars
and she would get her inheritance. This scam went on for over two years and each
email and letter kept asking her for more money to get her inheritance. They even used President Bush and FBI Director
Robert Mueller in the letters and email to gain her trust. She was even told by friends, family, and
law enforcement to stop, that she was getting scammed but she still thought she was going
to get a big payday so she kept going. The emails and letter had multiple spelling
errors but she didn’t seem to notice. This is just one story of a victim of the
Nigerian Prince Scam. 9. Craigslist The list of things that you get scammed with
on craigslist is pretty big. These are usually people that don’t know
what “to good to be true” stands for and end up losing money or worst. The first scam that craigslist sees a lot
of is renting or buying a house or apartment. Scammers post picture of a house that is maybe
vacant or on the market on there and talk people into putting a down payment down on
it. They say that they aren’t in the state or
some other made up story to get you to give them money. Another one that really gets people is being
given a fraudulent check, money order, or cashier’s check for a large ticket item,
like a car. When you go to cash it, they tell you its
fake or if they do cash it you will lose money from your account to cover it while the scammers
are enjoying your ride. Counterfeit tickets are also a way for someone
to scam you on Craigslist, whether airline, concert, or sporting event, they have become
pros at making fake tickets and selling them to unknown purchasers. These are just some of the scams you can come
across on that site. People still fall for these scams today and
the site even has a disclaimer about what to look for in a scam on their site. The renting scam seems to be the one that
works the best because people are so trusting. In Tulsa, Oklahoma a widowed mother fell victim
to this scam. Kimberly Mayfield found a house on craigslist
and was shown the property and gave the “landlord” seven hundred and fifty dollars to move in. He then told her that his wife was in the
hospital having a baby and that he would draw up a lease for her and he would bring it by. Mayfield moved into the house but shortly
after that, all of her electronics were stolen and she tried to call the guy that rented
her the property but her calls went unanswered. As it turns out, the guy that rented her the
property didn’t own it and stole her money. She found out that the house was in foreclosure
and that he had no rights to the property. This meant that she would be homeless and
would have to move out before the sheriff’s sale of the property. 8. Get Rich Quick Schemes The internet has made it easy for people to
find these schemes pretty easily, a simple Google search of work at home businesses will
give you millions of results of scams that are just waiting to take your money and leave
you nothing. Most of these sites want you to pay a fee
to work with them, which is a big red flag that it is a scam; you should never have to
pay for a job. The most famous of these schemes is the pyramid
scheme; this is when you pay money to own your own business by selling products from
one of the websites that they provide you. The thing is, no one will buy from your site
but they tell you if you get friends to sign up you will make money from their sales and
get a bonus for your hard work. This is a waste of time and money and the
only ones making money is the scam artist. One group of people that fall for this scam
the most are people that are looking to work from home. The jobs are advertised as stuffing envelopes,
becoming a mystery shopper, and data entry. A woman from Aiken, South Carolina found out
the hard way about this kind of scheme. Laura O’Neal, a mother of a two-year-old
little girl, saw an ad for a job stuffing envelopes that paid her twelve dollars per
envelope. She was happy to be making some extra money
and being able to stay at home with her daughter. So she sent thirty seven dollars to the company
for a starter kit so she could start her job but the kit never came and when she went to
complain to the company, there was not contact information on the website. That’s when she sent a complaint to the
Better Business Bureau and it was forwarded to the Loveland, Colorado police department,
where the scheme had originated and where the scammer was living. The culprit, twenty-seven-year-old Matthew
Whitley, was arrested for stealing money from multiple people and made about one hundred
and twenty thousand dollars in a nine-month period off the scam. This is just one example of a pyramid scheme
where the only person that makes money is the scammer. 7. Phishing What is phishing? Well, it is when you receive an email from
a company that looks legit about a problem with your account or that someone stole you
identity, and by clicking on the link to verify your information, you can avoid losing your
identity or money to scammers. But the truth is that they just scammed you
if you click on the link. This is where they start to steal your information. This can cause simple stuff like spam piling
up in your account, or as severe as a virus being downloaded onto your computer that steals
all of your information. Recently, celebrity nude photos were leaked
and the FBI started investigating if the victims could have been victims of a phishing scam. They believe that an email sent from what
they thought was Apple about their accounts might be the culprit, but they are still investigating
it. Even famous people can fall victim to this
scam. This scheme happened to some UC Berkeley employees:
several of the employees received an email about something being wrong with their accounts,
so they clicked on them and put in their campus information and it was stolen. The scammers used this information to change
the direct deposit on their accounts to go to different ones and even changed some to
receive a paper check. After the employees didn’t get paid, they
went to the payroll office and that was when they found out about the email scam. Luckily, they were able to stop most of the
payments before the scammers could get a hold of the funds, but this made the school upgrade
their security so this couldn’t happen again. That is how they get you, they tell you something
is wrong in an email and you click on the link and they send you to a site that looks
legit but it isn’t. 6. Senior Fraud Seniors fall victim to scams all the time,
probably because they are trusting and don’t know how to spot a scam. This leaves them vulnerable to losing money
to scammers. Some of the recent scams that have plagued
their community are health care scams. This kind of scam calls for information for
verification and then they are victim to identity theft. Another one is Prescription Drug Company Online,
which sells their medication at a lower price than their insurance. Let’s face it; prescription drugs can be
really expensive. The thing is that the drugs that they are
sent are counterfeit and puts users in danger if they take them. Since most seniors don’t use the internet,
phone scams seem to be the most popular scam to reach them. Phone scams usually have them give money to
a person in need posing as one of their relatives and just like that, the money is gone. They also use phones in telemarketing and
lottery scams, like saying they won something but need to pay a fee to release it and they
believe the caller and send money. One elderly couple fell victim to one of these
scams, they lost seventy two hundred dollars to a con man that claimed to be one of their
grandsons that had been in an accident and needed money. After giving the man the money, a few days
later the elderly man called his son to check up on his grandson but found out that he was
okay and home; not in the Dominican Republic, like the man said on the phone. This left the man feeling betrayed and out
all that money. But this happens to more elderly people than
you would think because they are so trusting. 5. Tourist Scams Traveling to a new country can be fun but
locals have devised schemes to dupe you out of your money because they think you don’t
know any better. That is why you should always be prepared
when you are going on a trip abroad. When you go somewhere that you are unfamiliar
with you usually use public transportation to get around, like a cab. Cab drivers can spot tourists and they will
sometimes charge you more by taking a longer route to your destination. They are also known to “accidentally”
leave a piece of your luggage in the trunk and before you realize it’s gone it’s
too late. When you are at a shop or store and the person
ringing you up seems to be on their phone while doing it, they might be stealing your
credit card information by taking a picture of your card. Another thing to look for is a local that
asks for help or is a little too helpful; they could be picking your pocket while you
are distracted. In Europe, some taxi drivers will tell the
tourists that their hotels are being renovated and take them to a more expensive hotel. This kind of scam is being investigated by
the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau as booking fraud and lost millions of tourist
money last year. Travel writer Eva Holland a seasoned traveling
veteran fell to one of these scams. While visiting Istanbul, she was lost and
had to take a cab back to where she knew where she was but after giving the lira that she
had just got transferred over from American currency, the driver gave her back discontinued
notes that were worthless. The cab driver had been waiting for a tourist
to take advantage of and she was his target. 4. Modeling Scams Modeling scams have been around for a while
and they prey on young kids that want to be rich and famous. They offer all kinds of work but just want
money upfront to get them a job and to make their dreams come true. Most modeling scams happen when you are asked
to pay upfront fees, which don’t lead to a job. These can be registration fees, photos, schools
or conventions. This is how 99% of people are scammed, the
other 1% is when they start to work but don’t get paid or get paid late. They have even been known to keep the money
from their clients and not pay them, which is stealing. There are some signs to look for to avoid
this scam. If the person is pressuring you to do something
that you are not comfortable doing, it’s because they want something from you and it’s
not to get you work as a model. They try to sign you up for a monthly fee
to find you work, which is a scam because the agency should be trying to find you a
job, so they can get paid. The best way to avoid this scam is to research
the company and make sure they check out before you start giving them money. But this is not the worst of the modeling
scams; recently Brittney Cason was contacted to work at the Sochi Olympic games this year. A man contacted her about the job and everything
that the man told her seemed legit and checked out but what she didn’t know is this is
how some scammers get women to do something, they offer them fame and sometimes they take
it. Luckily, she didn’t fall for this scam and
instead of flying to Sochi she ended up talking to the FBI and lawyers about the man that
tried to sell her and her friend to human traffickers. Most survivors of human trafficking tell about
the same story, that they were hired to do a modeling job and end up being sold as sex
slaves to the highest bidders. This is the most extreme of the modeling scams
out there. 3. Wire Transfer Scam This scam comes in many forms; one is wiring
money to someone that needs it that you just met or being sent an actual check that you
must cash. The latter then requires you to wire money
back to them allowing you to keep a portion of it. People still fall for this scam but there
are some ways you can avoid these scams. The first thing you should do is to never
wire money to someone that you don’t know, you might believe their story but sending
them money will just be a loss for you. If the person wanting the money is pressuring
you to wire money then they are probably scamming you. Never let anyone deposit anything into your
account and then ask you to wire them the money back. This scam has been disguised as a job as secret
shopper and can come in many forms. Never give your bank account to anyone in
a call, email, or text message; this gives them access to your account and money so they
can transfer it to their own. Two women from east Texas fell victim to a
wire transfer scam within a week of each other. One named “Pam” got a phone call that
she had won the Mega Millions sweepstakes and a Mercedes Benz and since she enters sweepstakes
all the time, she didn’t think anything of it when she got the call. Then, the caller told her that she had to
wire $390 and she was going to, but knew something wasn’t right about it. The other woman, “Jane,” did wire money
to a woman that was selling a Jeep on craigslist. She wired almost $4000 to the woman but never
saw the Jeep and the woman later told her that she moved to Montana and that she had
it in her possession. Both the women lost money because of this
scam and because this kind of scam is hard to trace, they probably won’t ever see that
money again. 2. Money Investment Scams These kind of scams come in all kinds of forms,
like a Ponzi Scheme were someone convinces the investor that they will have a very high
return on their money but end up with nothing because is was a lie or the company never
existed. This is also one of the scams that plague
seniors. They talk them out of their money because
they promise to double what they have but we all know that it’s too good to be true. A promissory note is used to people as a short-term
debt solution by independent insurance agents or companies promising a high return but they
will eventually see nothing. Stockbrokers have been known to participate
in fraud by charging them fees and doing unauthorized trades. Unlicensed people selling insurance that they
don’t know anything about and lying to the consumer about the return on their investment. So basically, never invest your money with
someone that you don’t know anything about or trust. This could save you a lot of money in the
long run. Bernie Madoff is one of the most infamous
scammers to do this to people; he scammed his investors out of almost sixty five billion
dollars and will be spending the rest of his life in prison. Since his conviction, Irving Picard, a trustee
appointed to liquidate Madoff’s estate, has been able to recover almost ten billion
dollars to give to the investors that Madoff stole from but sadly most investors will be
losing about half of the money that they invested with him. The victims that are eligible for receiving
money from the settlements will only be getting about fifty four cents for every dollar they
invested. 1. Religious Scams One of the lowest things a scammer can use
to scam people is the church; a place of sanctuary and worship being used to take people money. Some might say that the church already does
that but we aren’t talking about those people. We are talking about people that take money
away from the church using various scams. The first is the Affinity Church Scam, this
is when a person contacts someone from a church and tells him or her about his or her beliefs,
which are the same as the person and convinces them to donate to a false charity and then
they disappear. Some people even use a sob story to manipulate
the churchgoers to give them money. This can be faking being sick or something
tragic has happened to the person, anything to get money. Another scam is one where the church is offered
free or low cost equipment, like new computers from an organization. They do this by either making them pay upfront
for the equipment and being told that they will be reimbursed but they end up with nothing
but lost money. Some people even go door to door to “collect”
for the church, which is illegal. Religious cults are a whole other scam
to go into which I will not.
