Knowing how to prevent fraud is an essential step in protecting your finances. You need to gather the tools and a mindset if you want to be effective in fraud prevention.
Who doesn’t need money? Having enough of it may mean more freedom and choices. But how much is enough? Is it really that important? For many, it’s not as important as time. Having money is great, but it takes time to produce it. Time is limited, and money is not. If you want money, you can trade it with your time. And if you lack the time, you can buy it with money. That principle makes freelancing work. You see, …
You wake up one day and find notices you can’t explain. As you login to your account, you find programs you didn’t sign up for: insurance, loans, other banks. People reach out to you with false claims on email and phone calls, and the money you saved is gone. Yes, identity theft can be devastating. It only takes a few verification steps for someone to take control of your life. If you realize it too late, you won’t be able …
Cramming happens when minor expenses are added to an invoice by a third party without the agreement or authorization of the subscriber. Usually cramming is connected and practiced by phone companies and third parties connected to these companies. Cramming is a type of phone scam. You can be charged for many types of services that will appear on your bill. In addition to billing for its own services, your company may bill you on behalf of other companies for services …
The best way to steal is the subtle way. No matter how it’s done, there’s a better chance to succeed if the victim never notices. That’s why modern thieves prefer more elusive and nonviolent methods, like cashpoint scams. ATM Fraud is as old as the machines themselves. When you enter your credit card into an ATM machine and provide the proper associated PIN number, you should in normal circumstances establish a “link to your bank account” . However, once the …
“Congratulations, you won the lottery! Pay $200 to claim your prize!” Ever found a lottery scam? You land on a pop-up website or get an email about a prize. The algorithm has blessed you: here are your X million dollars. BUT FIRST, someone needs to cover those admin fees and logistics. Scammers may further use the information you provide them to steal their identities. And when fake lotteries don’t work, they use other variations to cut it: Bitcoin cash prices, …
The real tragedy of fake drugs can not be measured in monetary value. These schemes impact many people who are seriously ill, sometimes on the very edge of despair when they run into these deceptive medications that generate false hope. Rather than receiving proper medical treatment on time, a lot of this time goes wasted on false drugs and medications. Soon after the realization that these drugs simply do not have any effect, ill people may even lose their last …
Nowadays, buyers may prefer to find deals online, but when it comes to newspapers and magazines, many still prefer print subscriptions – and fraudsters see this as an opportunity. Magazine subscription scams are offered either online, door to door, or as a variation of telemarketing theft where false, pretending to be telemarketers persuade consumers into paying subscriptions for magazines they don’t want, can not afford or even don’t know of. The fake magazine subscription may be presented to you with …
Credit Cards are a convenient payment method, but this conveniences brings about some risks. Fraud with the use of stolen credit cards is committed for the purpose of obtaining goods without paying, to obtain unauthorized funds from a bank account or to sell stolen information further. What Is Credit Card Fraud? Credit card fraud costs cardholders and issuers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. While physical theft is the most obvious form of credit card fraud, it is not …
The pyramid scheme or MLM (multi-level marketing) seems like a good idea at first glance, but these schemes can be far from beneficial and may take up more time and money than they initially promise. These schemes entice potential sign-ups with images of good fortune, luxury holidays and the chance to start a very profitable business and live the self-employed lifestyle that many people dream of. But what is the truth behind these schemes? Are they scams or are they …
What is black dollar money? In short, it is a scam, also known as “Black Dollar Scam” or “Chemical Wash Scam”. In the scheme a victim is convinced they inherited cash by various means. Why is the money coated black? The scammers will make you believe that the money had to be painted black to avoid attention from the authorities. Now you have to pay the chemical cleaning fee in order to gain access to the clean cash. Is Black …
Even in our digital technology era, many still prefer to pay by check or bankers draft. One reason for this is that people do not trust computer technology and have misconceptions about online banking. This is understandable because of the fact most of these people may be computer illiterate and what is unknown to human mind causes fear or rejection. In this case however, fear is totally obsolete, for statistics show online banking is safer than checks. To protect yourself …
Phishing is an online term used to describe data theft. Phishing is an acronym to “fishing” because the victim is “baited” into giving their info to a third party masquerading as a legitimate company. The same tricks are employed across all popular payment platforms such as eBay, PayPal, online banks, crypto wallets or any other website where sensitive information could prove to be useful to a scammer. How Phishing Works – The Basics If a scammer attempts to steal your …
The insurance industry collects more than $1 trillion in premiums each year in the United States. Insurers as well as the insured are trying to take a piece of that pie. When they do it in a dubious way, we call it insurance fraud. When we think of insurance fraud, we usually imagine individuals or people collaborating to defraud an insurance company. However, elaborate schemes exist to scam people off of their money by the insurance companies as well, or …
Which one would you choose? Would you like to receive a million dollars right now? Or perhaps get a penny and double it for thirty days? If you do some simple math, the second option yields five times more gains than the instantaneous reward. Thus, compound interest is the secret of how Warren Buffet made his money, and how you could do it too with a High Yield Investment Program. You may have heard their promotions: “Make large returns from …
Ebay’s corporate mission takes a unique approach to trading. Consumers can buy anything they want, no matter where they are. And sellers get a large client base to grow their e-com brands. eBay’s corporate mission is to: to provide a global trading platform where practically anyone can trade practically anything.” What makes eBay different and perhaps more appealing than Craigslist or Amazon? A lot of people are moving money on eBay. There’re two ways to win — either by earning …
Work from home. How does that sound? No alarm clocks, no need to go outside or dress fancy. As long as you get results, you live on your own rules. If your work is simple, it’s even better. These opportunities do exist, although they may not be as valuable as real jobs. Why? Because if it’s easy, anybody can do it. Yet, you can expect to find data entry jobs that pay several hundred for dozens of hours of your …
Have you been on the lookout for cheap electronics, mobile phones, game consoles and digital cameras for your own private use or to turn a profit? There has been an increasing hype to buy electronic items at a much lower price than the retail price. Many individuals are looking to buy items for a low price and then resell them on eBay or similar auctions websites and turn a profit. Online electronic product shopping scams involve perpetrators pretending to be …
Started in the 80’s this scam has run per normal post, fax and per telephone and now in our internet age only increasing the number of victims. Stolen funds are subjects to a very low rate of recovery. Organized thieves are scamming people from all over the world. Many online schemes promise you the moon, only to take away your hard-earned money. Variations of advanced fee fraud are countless and can appear in new fashionable ways daily. “I’ve learned that …
Paypal is a safe online payment option if you know who the recipient is. Everything is possible to manipulate in our computer world though, and we can do so with paypal as well. A fake paypal account can be opened in a couple of hours and verified with fake documents later on. Therefore you should not base your thrust on the fact a seller is using paypal. A step by step method on how to open a stealth paypal account …
Western Union. To use or not to use? Let’s say you have a friend in a remote country who suddenly lost his money and ID documents. Western Union has created a convenient, immediate method to send money abroad. Western Union works great IF you’re the one who receives the money. As a sender, wire transfers require caution to avoid Western Union scammers. What Are Western Union Scams? Reliable? It depends on who you ask. With an effective payment method, you …