Posts Tagged ‘#scams’
Super Bowl Sunday . . .
. . . is next Sunday,
so it’s not too late
to get in on a scoreboard lottery.
Crooks Crouch in Cyberspace
The COVID-19 shutdowns, changing regulations and general pandemonium have made it easier for cyberspace vultures to plunder your lifetime savings.
High on the list of scams is a caller pretending to be from a bank or credit-card company seeking to straighten out some issue or threaten you with penalties for a reported late payment. Be wary of similar snail-mail correspondence.
Don’t call the numbers left by the caller or letter writer. Use the contact numbers you have on your bank or credit card statements if you feel you need to follow through on the matter.
Other crooked calls claim you’re late with tax payments, you’ve won a major prize, or face legal prosecution for some fictitious matter.
There’s also the caller checking on a reported attack on your credit line and asks to verify personal information ranging from address to Social Security, credit-card and bank account numbers.
Be suspicious of any unidentified emails that creep into your computer or cell phone.
Got A Telephone Sales Pitch . . .
. . .the other day
for a burial plot
and I just told them
that’s the last thing I need.
Scammers Always in Season
A Social Security scam linked to tax time can reach you any time of year via e-mail, telephone or the postal service. The thieves offer refunds of Social Security taxes you’ve paid over the years, an attractive lure during the economic slough in which everyone has been wallowing.
This is not, repeat – not – even remotely connected to the Social Security Administration.
The schemers usually offer to file a refund claim with the Internal Revenue Service in return for a percentage of the refund and an up-front fee of $100 or thereabouts for doing the paper work. The only sure thing that will happen is that you lose whatever money you send to these crooks.
The Folks Around Me . . .
. . . are constant reminders that
going to church
doesn’t make you a Christian
anymore than standing in the kitchen
makes you a chef.
Crooks Steal From the Dead
Dead men may tell no tales but their obituaries can reveal volumes. Especially to thieves who study death notices to glean information they can use to pluck you clean.
It feels comforting to inform the world of the passing of a loved one and to include details of their life, including birthdate, address, hobbies, achievements, work and career highlights along with a list of surviving family members.
Scam artists gorge on this information. The more detail there is, the more steps you provide them to get closer to stealing your identity, the identity of the deceased, or both.
Listing the dead person’s age is okay, but don’t include their birthday. A death notice including the address of the deceased along the name of their surviving spouse along with other personal details provides a roadmap for scam artist to follow.
It’s been estimated that the identity of as many as 1 million dead people a year is co-opted by crooks who clean out existing accounts or obtain credit cards and apply for loans in the name of the deceased. Some scammers even file tax returns in the name of the dead to collect refunds.
Crooks also call survivors claiming the deceased must pay a debt they have. First of all, there is no legal obligation to pay any such a debt, unless you co-signed for it. So hang up. There’s also the fraudulent insurance scam: the caller claims the deceased took out a life insurance policy but before the benefits payment can be made there’s a final premium payment required for handling fees, taxes and whatever. Hang up.
Mature Life Features 