It’s not always easy to spot con artists. They’re smart, extremely persuasive, and aggressive. They invade your home through the telephone, computer, and the mail, advertise in well-known newspapers and magazines, and come to your door. They’re well mannered, friendly and helpful—at first.
Most people think they are too smart to fall for a scam. But con artists rob all kinds of people (from investment counselors and doctors to teenagers and senior citizens), of billions of dollars every year. Cons, scams and frauds disproportionately victimize seniors with false promises of miracle cures, financial security and luxury prizes.
One easy rule to remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Many scams have hit the St. Louis area in the past. In 2001 the City of Florissant, Ferguson and Hazelwood residents had a company claiming to be “Movie Location Scouts”, that sent letters to residents requesting to take photos of your home for use in an upcoming movie production. The company went as far to give a detailed description of the movie to be filmed, along with announcing current casting choices for the movie as Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, Anna Chumpsky, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. The problem is, there were no movies planned for the St. Louis area during this time, according to the Movie Industry.
The internet plays part in many scams because the “Bad Guys” can target a lot of victims with one e-mail. Even the Crime Prevention Officer of the Florissant Police Department receives numerous e-mails a week, wherein the sender claims to have a large sum of money in a foreign bank and they are willing to share this with you if you provide your bank account number with them. “Yeah Right!...Not happening!”
Another scam being investigated is a subject claiming to be from the Florissant area, but stuck in the country of Africa on a peace keeping mission. The person befriends his victim via an on-line dating service and eventually e-mails his victim a check and asks her to print it and cash it, sending him the money via Western Union. Can everyone say this with me, F-R-A-U-D!
AARP recently posted a scam alert in their ‘AARP Bulletin’ for on-line romance scammers. The author of the article Sid Kirchheimer added these tip-offs to bogus on-line lovers:
Lousy writing. Romance scammers often portray themselves as wealthy, educated U.S. or British businessmen, but since most are foreigners-primarily operating in Africa, Eastern Europe or East Asia-their prose is littered with poor grammar.
A 23401 Zip Code. You may see this code listed on dating websites. The number is taken from the telephone code (234) for Nigeria. But postal zip code 23401 is actually in Keller, VA.
Eye Candy. Scammers often take their profile photos from websites featuring models.
Corporate Connections. “Paychecks” may come from legitimate U.S. corporations. You can contact the company to verify employment and alert them that their payroll accounts may have been infiltrated.
Address Request. He/She wants to send you “love” gifts (usually paid for by stolen credit cards) as a way to set you up for a reshipping scam. This is where they purchase items with a stolen credit card, have the item shipped to your address and request that you reship it a foreign address.
The Biggest Red Flag. Savvy scammers seduce you to gain your trust before moving in for the kill. If you say you are an animal lover, they will respond by saying they run an animal or pet rescue shelter. If you say you’re struggling financially, they will say that they are millionaires.
To learn more, go to www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/fraud/romance.html which is a site sponsored by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. To report a suspected scam to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, go to www.ic3.gov
A victim who lost money in this type of romance scam has set up a web site for others to share their story at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancescams. They report that within a year of this website going on-line, they have over 4,500 registered users.
Telephone Lottery Winner Scam
This office received a call from a Florissant resident this morning, January 7, 2008, concerning a possible telephone scam.
The Florissant resident said he received a phone call and was told he was a lottery WINNER of $2,500,000. The caller had a Jamaican accent and told the resident all he needed to do to collect his winnings was wire $750.00 to:
Geovanie Salmon
#1 U.S. Freeport
St. James, Jamaica, WI
Fortunately, this resident was alert enough to spot this call for what it was, A SCAM! Remember, “IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE…”
This resident didn’t fall victim to a common technique of a scam artist. Take a moment and think about it. You’ve never entered, bought a ticket, or solicited any information from the lottery the caller is talking about, and yet, the caller says you were selected saying you’re going to receive a large sum of money as a lottery winner, “IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE…”
The next step the caller requests you to send a small sum of money, $750, or some other amount to receive your winnings to pay for a processing fee, or some other type of tax. They need you to use a wire transfer type of service to send the money. ALERT!!! The person you’re going to send the money to can pick this up from any location providing the service, not just to the location you’re sending it to.
Once you send this money whether it’s called a tax, processing fee, or some other charge, it’s not uncommon for the caller to re-contact you saying there has been some type of delay or issue that will require you to send additional money.
Be aware, if you send some money they will attempt to extort more money from you. If you were the winner of this huge lottery wouldn’t it make sense to just have them take the processing fee or taxes right from the winnings and not your bank account? “IF IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE…”
These type of scams are nearly impossible to investigate due to the caller residing outside of the United States of America. The use of disposable cell phones, frequent moves on the part of the caller and use of wire transfer type services that allow the caller to have the money wired to one location while they can retrieve it thousands of miles away.
Please, don’t part with your hard earned savings for some scam that “SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!”
For additional information, you may contact the Florissant Police Department Crime Prevention Unit at 314-830-6042.
Secret Shopper Scam
Another area resident reported a scam that involved being recruited as a Secret Shopper. The resident stated that she was contacted by a company calling themselves the North American Service Evaluators. The company representative stated that they receive her (the victims) information from her resume, which is legitimately posted on monster.com.
This bogus company then recruited the victim as a Secret Shopper to evaluate a local chain stores ‘Money Gram Service’. The company forwarded a Money Order to the victim and asked her to deposit the Money Order into her personal banking account. The company then instructed the victim to purchase a ‘Money Gram’ at the chain store and wire the money to another predetermined account, keeping $150.00 out of the original Money Order for her services.
You guessed it; the Money Order was a FORGERY! The money was wired to an account in Canada and then forwarded to Malaysia. The victim is scammed with no way to retrieve her money.
The Missouri Office of the Attorney General’s office received so many complaints on the next fraud, that they posted a warning on their web site at http://www.ago.mo.gov/newsreleases/2006/020106.htm The caller identifies themselves as the National Choice Government Grant Program and advises the ‘will be victim’ that they won a government grant, and the recipient only has to pay a $5.00 fee. Of course you must give the caller your bank account information so they can deposit the grant money directly into your account. Again, F-R-A-U-D! Click on the link to read more on this fraud.
Jury Duty Scam
Most of us take those summonses for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of scam has surfaced. Fall for it and your identity could be stolen, reports CBS News.
In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn't show up for jury duty. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Soci al Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Sometimes they even ask for credit card numbers. Give out any of this information and bingo! Your identity just got stolen. The scam has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado. This (scam) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try and bully people into giving information by pretending they're with the court system.
Other typical cons that target older residents are…
- Obituary Column Sting. Swindlers read the obituary column and then send the surviving spouse a phony bill supposedly owed by the deceased. Or they deliver an item (like a Bible), which they say the deceased relative ordered.
- The Bank Examiner. The con artist, posing as a police officer or bank investigator, draws the victim into a plan to catch a dishonest teller by withdrawing cash and turning it over to the “official” so he/she can check the serial numbers. Banks don’t do this. Don’t be fooled!
- False Charity Rackets. Some swindlers start their own charity – one that helps only them – to take advantage of people’s good will. You can make sure that any money you give gets into the right hands when someone solicits for a donation. Ask for identification on both the charity and the solicitor. Find out the charity’s purposes, how funds are used and if contributions are tax deductible. If you’re not satisfied with the answers and feel something is not quite right, don’t give.
- You Won A Prize. You get a postcard telling you you’ve won a prize and asking for payment to buy something or for processing fees, customs or taxes. Remember, legitimate sweepstakes don’t ask for payment because it is ILLEGAL.
- Nigerian Letter Scam. Click here for details...
You can Protect Yourself…
*Never give your credit card, phone card, Social Security Number or bank account number over the phone. It’s illegal for telemarketers to ask for these numbers, “to verify a prize or gift”.
*Beware of 900 numbers. Remember, if you call a 900 number to claim a “prize”, you end up paying for the call. Make sure you understand all the charges before making any calls.
*Take your time and shop around. Don’t let an aggressive con artist pressure you into making a decision. Demand information in writing by mail. Get a second opinion. Ask your family, friends, and neighbors what they think about certain offers. Check to see if there is a charge for estimates.
*Be suspicious of high-pressure sales tactics and get a guarantee on any work that is done.
*Pay by check, never with cash, so you can stop payment if dissatisfied. Arrange to make payments in installments: one-third at the beginning of the job, one third when the work is nearly completed and the remainder one third when the job is done.
*Remember, you have the right to say NO! If the caller on the other end of the telephone makes you wary, be assertive and end the conversation. Cons know that the longer they keep you on the telephone, the higher their chances of success. They often prey on the trusting, polite nature of many people or on their excitement over getting a supposed prize or bargain.
"WARNING SIGNS THAT TELL YOU IF A FRIEND OR RELATIVE IS A TARGET FOR TELEMARKETING FRAUD"
The person receives lots of junk mail for contests, “free trips” or prizes/sweepstakes; the person gets frequent calls from people offering valuable awards, great moneymaking opportunities, or charitable donations; the person has lots of cheap items such as costume jewelry, watches, pens and pencils, small appliances, beauty products, water filters or other products they had to purchase in order to “win” something or receive a so called “valuable prize”; The person has made numerous checks or withdrawals to out-of-state companies; the person begins to act secretively about phone calls; the person is having sudden problems paying bills or buying food or necessities.
Don’t blame or call the person for being stupid or foolish. Help them assemble information to report the fraud to the consumer protection agency in this flier; emphasize the criminal nature of telemarketing fraud and help them learn how to identify it; encourage the person to hang up on telephone solicitations that seen suspicious; and have a calm discussion and try to come to an agreement on the best way to handle the person’s finances in the future (you may want to help them change their telephone number).
