11/07/2024
SCAMS update Please share
Does anything below sound familiar? Click or tap on a scam below to view more details:
Problems with your Amazon account
Dating, Marriage, and Romance
Online Dating Apps and Websites
Army / Military Scam
Overseas and Out of Country
Money Forwarding and Check Cashing
Payment for Goods or Services
Craigslist
eBay
Air BNB
Tech Support Scams
Time-sensitive and Emergency Situations
Airport and Travel
Overseas Bill Payment
IRS, Government, and Utility Bills
Job, Payroll, and Housing Scams
Problems with your Amazon account
Scammers often try to impersonate Amazon customer support and inform potential victims that their Amazon account has made large unauthorized purchases, and that a bitcoin payment is needed to clear up the problems with the Amazon account. Users who are contacted in this way should simply disconnect the communication and contact Amazon directly themselves to verify any potential issues with their Amazon account. The real Amazon does not accept bitcoin payments and does not need any payment at all to resolve account issues or unauthorized charges.
Dating, Marriage, and Romance
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Online dating and marriages are some of the most common scams on the internet. Many scammers will create fake online profiles to attract their victims. Scammers will maintain relationships for multiple years if that's what it takes to get money.
- Online Dating Apps and Websites
Scammers utilize popular dating apps such as Tinder, POF, Bumble, and Facebook. After creating fake profiles, fraudsters will sometimes spend years building relationships before finding the right moment to ask for money.
- Army / Military Scam
A popular scam is to create the illusion that the scammer is in the military. Military personnel are generally considered trustworthy and honorable, making them an ideal persona for dating scams. Being deployed overseas is a great excuse to steal money from their victims.
- Overseas and Out of Country
Other popular scams involve sending money out of the country. For example, a scammer will claim to be a worker on an oil rig or deployed in the military.
Learn More: FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION: What You Need to Know About Romance Scams
Money Forwarding and Check Cashing
Forwarding money as a favor or being paid to deposit a check is a very dangerous scam to watch out for. Not only can you lose all your money, but you could be held criminally liable for money laundering and face legal consequences.
- Money Forwarding
This is the most dangerous scam. The scammer, often pretending to be in love or having a lucrative business deal, asks you to forward their own money to them. The scammer deposits money in your bank, mobile app, mobile bank account, or has you pick money up from a bank / money transfer service. Common examples are:
Scammer needs you to pick up their "paycheck" and send it to them.
Scammer's "family" needs to send you money so you can forward it to them.
Scammer needs to send you money and have you send it to the scammer's "friend or family member".
What makes money forwarding so dangerous is that the money is actually coming from an illegal source, likely other scams, drug smuggling, or other illegal activities. This is also known commonly as "money laundering". Cleaning money for criminals is illegal, and you can face large fines and jail time for doing this.
- Deposit / Cash a Check
Check cashing is a very common and old scam. The scammer will send you a check and you will deposit it into your bank account. Your bank assumes the check is good and gives you the money. The scammer typically requests you keep a little bit of money for yourself so you hurry up and send them the rest of it. Once you send the money to the scammer, the bank notifies you afterwards that the check was fake or no good. The bank then takes the money back it gave you for the check, meaning you sent all your hard earned money to the scammer.
Payment for Goods or Services
Often, scammers will use popular services that provide goods or services to pretend to sell a non-existent product. This will usually start by posting fake ads on these sites, then fabricating legitimate looking correspondence from the website including legitimate looking headers and logos. The scammer will typically swap out the payment instructions to coerce the victim to send the payment via a non-reversible route.
- Craigslist
A popular scam is asking for full payment or a deposit down using bitcoin. It’s never a good idea to pay someone on Craigslist before physically meeting with the person. Never make a rent or housing deposit using bitcoin.
- eBay
Making an eBay payment outside of eBay’s listed payment methods is a large indicator of a scam. eBay does not currently support bitcoin payments. Sellers should not be asking you make payments using bitcoin. Contact eBay support if a seller is requesting you to pay with bitcoin.
- Air BNB
Hosts requesting payment outside of the normal Air BNB app, or offering a discount for paying with bitcoin, are scams. This includes putting down “rent deposits”. If someone is asking you to make a payment outside of the Air BNB app, you should contact Air BNB support immediately.
Tech Support Scams
In a recent twist, scam artists are using the phone to try to break into your computer. They call, claiming to be computer techs associated with well-known companies like Microsoft. They say that they’ve detected viruses or other malware on your computer to trick you into giving them remote access or paying for software you don’t need.
These scammers take advantage of your reasonable concerns about viruses and other threats. Once they’ve gained your trust, they may ask you to give them remote access to your computer and then make changes to your settings that could leave your computer vulnerable or trick you into installing malware that could steal sensitive data, like user names and passwords.
Time-sensitive and Emergency Situations
A favorite trick scammers will use is to create a false sense of urgency. When people are being rushed to complete a task, they often can’t think about anything else until it's complete. Scammers use this to their advantage because taking your time to think over a situation is the last thing a scammer wants you to do.
- Airport and Travel
One popular example of a time-sensitive scam involves being stuck somewhere and needing immediate travel arrangements. Scammers, often pretending to be a love interest, will request money for travel. They will claim to need a flight, bus, or train ticket and only the victim can help them.
Overseas Bill Payment
Scammers will often impersonate a large company or overseas business by demanding you pay a fake invoice. A few popular examples are fraudsters pretending to be an employee of a hospital, lawyer, or insurance company. The scammer may also threaten legal action or collections if the bill is unpaid.
IRS, Government, and Utility Bills
IRS impersonation scam is an aggressive and sophisticated phone scam targeting taxpayers, including immigrants. Callers claim to be employees of the IRS, but are not. These con artists can sound convincing when they call. They use fake names and bogus IRS identification badge numbers. Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation, or suspension of a business or driver’s license.
Job, Payroll, and Housing Scams
Online Job Scam Warning Signs
You're offered a job without an application, interview, or discussion with the employer.
The company asks you to wire money or asks for your credit card information.
The company asks for personal information like your social security number or driver's license number.
You are promised high pay for not much work.
The company asks you to pay for a credit report as part of the application process.
You are told you have to pay for training.
You're asked to cash a check and forward some of the money to a third party.
The salary details aren't clear. If the company doesn't pay an hourly rate or a salary, carefully investigate the details.
