Scammers Are Out There Beware

Today my sister got a check that was sent by UPS... It was for $3000.00 and thankfully we already knew it was a scam since we have been watching things from people that keep trying to contact her. If you get a check and someone wants you to cash it, you may want to be careful. Alot of the times they will have you keep some of it and then send them the rest.
My sister and I called our friend who works at a bank and then called the actual companies telephone numbers... But we are taking all the information to the police department and they can do what they need to do... Scammers are extremely difficult to catch... But if we are all careful, we can avoid being scammed... 


Always make sure the account is real. Don't call the number on the check, they are the ones scamming you. Get onto Google or Yahoo and find the number for the business. Alot of times they will have a website that looks real and have you set up an account, but its fake and if you fill this out, you gave them all they need to take your identity away. And once you cash that check at your bank, they then can have access to a whole lot of information you may not even trust those that are closest to you. If you cash these checks, not only do they get the money, but you end up owing the bank and it could cost you alot more than you can ever imagine. 


Nigerian  and Ghana- Romance Scams


They're perfect. In fact, they're someone you could see yourself spending the rest of your life with. A decent person with a good job or business in search of a good, honest partner to settle down with. 
You or someone you know may be dating this person online right now. However, be warned. Things aren't what they appear to be. In reality you're talking to a criminal sitting in a cybercafe with a well rehearsed script he's used many times before. He's hunting through chat rooms, dating sites and social networking sites searching for victims, looking to cash in on romance. If you are over 40, recently divorced, a widow, elderly or disabled then all the better in his eyes. Scammers are adept at psychological profiling, and use any weakness they find to their advantage. 


The best weapon against this crime is education. The more people that are educated in the ways the scams work, the harder it is for the scammers to make money and the more scammers that can be put out of business. 


These scammers are really good at their scams. They put up pretty pictures, nice profiles, get your attention, gain your trust, then need your "help". They say they are from your local area..... but are currently taking care of some reasonably believable business in Nigeria, Ghana, West Africa, etc. They claim to need cash money... or help to cash their checks and money orders, or want you to open a bank account for them... BEWARE!
The people in the pictures are NOT the people you are talking to. It is just part of the show they put on, to get money out of us. This is NOT the typical "Get Rich Quick" scam. These scammers prey upon your trust, love, and decency.
There is an excellent support and information group on yahoo. The group is the Romancescams Group. Lots of pictures that the scammers use are posted there, and lots of information. Lots of caring people, that will help.
The URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancescams/
 The FBI gets about 10,000 reports of these scams every month. It could happen to you.


Phishing

(fish´ing) (n.) The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user??s information.

Lottery Scams - How to Recognize Them

"Congratulations!

You may receive a certified check for up to $400,000 U.S. CASH! 

One Lump sum! Tax free! Your odds to WIN are 1-6."

"Hundreds of U.S. citizens win every week using our secret system!

You can win as much as you want!"

Sound great? It's a fraud.

Scam operators — often based in the Netherlands, Canada and Nigeria— are using the telephone and direct mail to entice U.S. (and other global) consumers to buy chances in high-stakes foreign lotteries from as far away as Australia and Europe.

There are several different types of lottery scams:

1. A lottery notifies you (email, mail or phone) that you won*, or
2. You go to a lottery website, or by phone or mail to "play" / buy a ticket, or
3. You buy a "program" of "secrets" on how to win lotteries.
4. Green card (immigration VISA) lottery
5. Sweepstakes scams (Sweepstakes are not actually a lottery, but are often confused with them)

This page discusses the first type, the fake lottery winning notification.  Click on the links above for the other types.

* Remember, no legitimate lottery will EVER notify you that you won.  They don't work that way!

Next of Kin Scam

Next Of Kin Scam Sample- 

I am Mr. Andrew Stephens, an attorney at law, a deceased client of mine, By name Mr. Robert De Groet, who herein after shall be referred to as my Client, died as the result of Tsunami incident in Indonesia. I am Contacting you to help assist me in ensuring that the funds lodged by my Client with his Financial and Security Firm is not declared unclaimed Hence my reason for contacting you. This Financial Firm has issued me a Notice to contact the next of kin or the account will be confiscated. My Proposition to you is to seek your consent to present you as the Next-of-kin hence the original next of kin of my late client also had Died along side with him on that faithful morning, my effort to get him a next of kin has since been proving difficult. No relatives or friends Could be traced for the claim of the said fund, as the beneficiary you Will have all access to make claim of the funds, Then we shall discuss how We can use the fund to help the needy on a based Charity programmed also for investment.  Blah Blah Blah- You get the point... 

Nigerian Scams - 419 Scam Information
Nigerian, or "419", scams are one of the most common types of fraudulent email currently hitting in boxes. Nigerian scam messages can also arrive via fax or letter. The messages generally claim that your help is needed to access a large sum of money, usually many millions of dollars. In fact, this money does not exist. The messages are an opening gambit designed to draw potential victims deeper into the scam. Those who initiate a dialogue with the scammers by replying to a Nigerian scam message will eventually be asked for advance fees supposedly required to allow the deal to proceed. They may also become the victims of identity theft. 
There are many sites out there that will help you identify whether someone is  trying to scam you or not...
Here are a few that I found:

My Favorite Source of Scams and Stupid things sent to my email- Snopes

Hoax-Slayer
Names used in Scams
Internet Crime Complaint Center
Puppy Scams- Dog Buyers and Breeders Beware
Scambusters
Consumer Fraud Report a Scam
Lottery Scams
Kelvin Brown

Places that scammers like to hang out at are;
Myspace, Facebook, Ebay, Craigslist, Singles and other pages like this... Be careful with what information you put out there... I know way too many people who have their addresses, numbers and all kinds of stuff out for anyone to take... I am sure I even have too much on my pages...