Compiled by Sarah Gray Managing Editor
Two Marshall residents say they are again receiving multiple scam calls, and they wanted the public to be aware of them.
One received an estimated 25 phone calls in one day. The most alarming to her was a caller who stated he was from Medicare, and he threatened to cancel her Medicare if she did not provide her personal information.
“Medicare has my information,” she said. “It’s the same people who call.”
Another resident said she received a call from someone stating she won a sweepstakes award – a sweepstakes she never entered.
The Federal Trade Commission stated scammers can fake the name and number that shows up on caller I.D., making it appear as though the call is coming from a local number or even a governmental agency. This is called “spoofing.”
“If someone calls you out of the blue and asks you to hand over personal information or wire money or pay with a gift card, it’s a scam,” the FTC stated on its website.
Robocalls are another type of phone scam and more than likely illegal. According to the FTC, “if you answer the phone and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it’s a robocall. A robocall trying to sell you something is illegal unless the company trying to sell you something got written permission, directly from you, to sell you something is illegal unless the company trying to sell you something got written permission, directly from you, to call you that way. To get your permission, the company has to be clear it’s asking to call you with robocalls, and it can’t make you agree to the calls to get a product or service. If you give permission, you have the right to change your mind later.”
Several types of robocalls are not illegal, including messages that are only informational such as flight delays and appointment reminders; debt collection calls, but robocalls trying to sell you services to lower your debt are almost certainly scams; political calls; calls from health care providers; and messages from charities.
Marshall Police Department Public Information Officer Roger Gibson stated even online scams are illegal, and reporting them helps protect others.
“While agencies can’t always track down perpetrators … they can utilize the information gathered to record patterns of abuse which may lead to action being taken against a company or industry,” he stated. “The federal government takes online fraud very seriously … Fraud convictions bring with them serious possibility of a jail or prison sentence.”
Gibson provided the following information for the top 10 online scams:
1. Advance fee fraud A scammer requests fees upfront or personal information in return for goods, services, money or rewards that they never supply.
Scammers invent convincing and seemingly genuine reasons for requesting payment, such as to cover fees or taxes. They often ask for payment by international wire transfer.
These scams are commonly mass-marketed with scammers sending them out to thousands of people all over the world at the same time, usually by mail or email.
2. Lottery, sweepstakes and competition scams An email, letter or text message from an overseas lottery or sweepstakes company arrives from out of nowhere. It says you have won alot of money or fantastic prizes in a lottery or sweepstakes competition you did not enter. These scams try to trick you into giving money upfront or your personal details in order to receive the prize. Scammers typically claim that you need to pay fees or taxes before your winnings or prize can be released. You may also have to call or text a premium rate phone number to claim your prize. Remember you cannot win a prize if you haven’t entered.
3. Dating and romance
scams
Scammers create fake profiles on legitimate dating websites. They use these profiles to try to enter into a relationship with you so they can get a hold of your money and personal details. The scammer will develop a strong rapport with you then ask for money to help cover costs associated with illness, injury, travel or a family crisis. Scammers seek to exploit your emotions by pulling on your heart strings. Sometimes the scammers will take months and months to build up the rapport.
4. Computer hacking Phishing emails are commonly used by scammers to trick you into giving them access to your computer.
They seek your personal details by encouraging you to click on a link or attachment. If you click, malicious software will be installed and the hacker will have access to files and information stored on your computer. A phishing email often appears to come from an organization that you know and trust, like a bank or financial institution, asking you to enter your account password on a fake copy of the site’s login page. If you provide your account details, the scammer can hack into your account and take control of your profile.
5. Online shopping, classified and auction scams Scammers like shopping online for victims. Not getting what you paid for is a common scam targeting online shoppers. A scammer will sell a product and send a faulty or inferior quality item, or nothing at all. They may also pretend to sell a product just to gather your credit card or bank account details.
These scams can also be found on reputable online classified pages. An online auction scam involves a scammer claiming that you have a second chance to buy an item that you placed a bid on because the winner has pulled out. The scammer will ask you to pay outside of the auction site’s secure payment facility. If you do, your money will be lost and the auction site will not be able to help you.
6. Banking, credit card and online account scams Scammers send emails or text messages that appear to be from your bank, a financial institution or an online payment service. They usually claim that there is a problem with your account and request that you verify your details on a fake but convincing copy of the bank’s website. Card skimming is the copying of information from the magnetic strip of a credit card or automatic teller machine (ATM) card.
Scammers skim your card by putting a discreet attachment on an ATM or EFTPOS machine. They may even install a camera to capture your pin. Once your card is skimmed, scammers can create copies and make charges to your account.
7. Small business scams If you own a small business you can be targeted by scams such as the issuing of fake bills for unwanted or unauthorized listings, advertisements, products or services. A well-known example is where you receive a bill for a listing in a supposedly well-known business directory. Scammers trick you to sign up by disguising the offer as an outstanding invoice or a free entry, but with a hidden subscription agreement in the fine print. Scammers can also call your business pretending that a service or product has already been ordered and ask for payment over the phone.
8. Job and employment scams
These scams involve offers to work from home or set up and invest in a business opportunity. Scammers promise a job, high salary or large investment return following initial upfront payments. These payments may be for a business plan, training course, software, uniforms, security clearance, taxes or fees. These scams are often promoted through spam email or advertisements in wellknown classifieds, including websites.
9. Golden opportunity and gambling scams
Scams often begin with an unexpected phone call or email from a scammer offering a not-to-bemissed high return or guaranteed investment in shares, real estate, options or foreign currency trading. While it may seem convincing, in reality the scammer will take your money and you will never receive the promised returns. Another scam promises to accurately predict the results of horse races, sports events, stock market movements or lotteries. Scammers promise you huge returns based on past results and trends. In order to participate, you may be asked to pay for membership fees, special calculators, newsletter subscriptions or computer software programs.
10. Charity and medical scams
Scammers are unscrupulous and take advantage of people who want to donate to a good cause or find an answer to a health problem. Charity scams involve scammers collecting money by pretending to work for a legitimate cause or charity, or a fictitious one they have created. Often scammers will exploit a recent natural disaster or crisis that has been in the news. They may also play on your emotions by claiming to collect for a cause that will secure your sympathy, for example to help sick children.
Medical scams offer a range of products and services that can appear to be legitimate alternative medicines, usually promising quick and effective remedies for serious medical conditions.
The treatments are often promoted using false testimonies from people who have been cured.
