SCAM EXAMPLES

f you’re shopping online and make a purchase, only to be told your card was declined, stop! You may have stumbled into a new scam.

Multiple victims have reported that when their card was declined they tried another card or two, only to get the same error message. But they weren’t on a legitimate e-commerce site. It was a site designed to look like a well-known retailer’s site but operated by scammers.

Each time the victim entered their credit card, the scammer stole their credit or debit card information and made a series of fraudulent charges. Making matters worse, the victims were also instructed to enter personal information, such as name, address and phone number before entering their credit card information.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/a-card-declined-message-when-shopping-online-may-be-a-sign-of-a-scam-092324.html

RECEIVED THIS STORY FROM OUR CLIENT ON 9-4-24. THIS IS PRESENTLY ONE OF THE MOST COMMON SCAMS!! BEWARE!! 

"The scam started with a fake text from Norton Security stating I was due a $350 refund. I texted back and arranged a call to what I thought was Norton. The person (male) who answered said he would facilitate my refund. It got complicated and there were a number of calls as he stated various processes he needed to accomplish before I would get the refund. After forming a relationship with me the scam ensued: he stated that he had made a mistake in processing the refund and he would be in trouble with his employer for the error. I agreed to give him access to my bank account as he said it was the only way to get me the refund and cover for his error. In talking with police authorities, they said the scam was common (at that time) and was based on my need to be altruistic and help someone who was helping me. Big lesson for me on a lot of levels."

RECEIVED THIS STORY FROM OUR CLIENT ON 9-6-24

"A posting on FB showed a video of a very authentic, large workshop in Montana with the lady walking around the shop, explaining this was her Dad making hand-made knives. It was a very authentic-looking shop with three older American men making these knives, and explaining what they were doing. The story was her Dad was getting old and could no longer make the knives. You were directed to Shop Now, where these beautiful knives were offered at a discount. I placed two orders. When the confirmation of my orders came in an email with a Chinese company's tracking system, I replied with many questions, basically asking why knives made in Montana would be shipped from China. The only response I got was an email saying I should receive them soon. I returned to the FB site and found several comments under that posting saying this was a total scam, and not to do business with this person. At this point I filed two disputes with my bank over these two credit card purchases. I kept all the emails involving these transactions. I had taken screenshots of my orders which included photos of the knives I ordered. I did receive knives, but they were all identical, and were definitely not the knives I ordered! I took photos of these knives, and the packaging they came in, with the return address of an Online Vendor with a Los Angeles address. The bank does not accept photos or screenshots in their system, so I scanned them, put them and all emails in a PDF, sent it in an email to the bank's Dispute Department, which they did accept. The bank contacted the seller, I don't know the outcome of that, but I was fully credited for these two fraudulent transactions. I have since seen this same posting on FB, with supposedly pleased customers with their orders. I have no idea if some Chinese company hijacked this posting, or if the whole operation is a scam. I should have known better when the knives were offered at such a discount. I won't be ordering anything on FB in the future. Buyer beware."

RECEIVED THIS STORY FROM OUR CLIENT ON 9-4-24. 

" Several months ago, my husband and I were having trouble with our Alexa device. We contacted Amazon's customer support. The agent was able to resolve the issue. THEN... he told us he could see our computer had been compromised by spyware (from Russia?!) and that we needed to have the malware scrubbed from our computer. After allowing him further access to our computer, being transferred to several other technical agents (from all over the US!), we were pressure-talked into purchasing a lifetime plan that would prevent this... for only $599.99. The original Amazon agent got back to us, saying he was sending a contract, which was more like a receipt, and that was listed for 2 years. We called him on this so he had someone send us an updated contract. It did not specify services, or any other contractual obligations. Geesh, how could we possibly fall for this, but we did! By the next morning, we were quite certain we had been scammed, filed a complaint with both Amazon and our credit card company. Luckily, for us, our $599.99 was credited back to us . Luckily, for everyone else, Amazon has employed an investigative company that is tracking how an Amazon customer service agent could also be selling illegitimate products through their service center(s). I kept a log of all the phone numbers the scam company called us from, as part of their sales and pressure tactics, and photos of the emails sent to us by this scam company, TEK SOLUTIONS, and even audio of some of the conversations we had with them!!! (My husband intuited that something was 'not right' so took a video, with sound, of them talking with us AND manipulating our computer!!!) We have been naive and gullible, but at least we were able to provide Amazon some evidence that one of 'their own' was operating outside their realm, illegally. We now know that even legitimate BIG corporations can have scammers in their midst and will be extremely more vigilant and cautious in all future transactions. "

  "A few years ago my mom was looking for flight costs. She used BING to  search for Delta's phone number to ask questions. She called the first  number on the results. They told her she'd get tickets at a huge  discount if she paid in Google Play cards within 2 hours. She didn't  tell her husband or I about this and went shopping all over town to get  $2,000 (yes that much!!!) within that 2 hour time frame. They called her  cell phone every 20-30 minutes to remind her that time is running out.  Multiple stores, like Walgreens, asked her if she knew who she was  buying these cards for and she insisted she knew. They each had a limit  on how much/many cards they'd sell her. She kept shopping around town  until she obtained that $2,000 worth of Google Play cards. Went home and  provided them with all the numbers. Then they laughed in her face and  hung up. Then we learned about the scam she fell for. Because the  purchases at each store were legit, we couldn't get her money back." 

 "I was trying to resolve a problem with  UNNAMED BUSINESS (UB) by phone when I was transferred to a  representative in Pennsylvania. She was helping me access the local UB  office and gave me a phone number that was apparently off by one digit. I  dialed the number given and a man with a heavy accent, very difficult  to understand, tried to talk me into giving my credit card information  to purchase a plan that would save me all sorts of money at various  stores. When I refused, he became aggressive, telling me that I was "not  cooperating." Because I was having trouble understanding him, I didn't  realize right away that I had not called UB... and did give him my name  and address. When he demanded my credit card information, and told me I  was not cooperating, I hung up immediately."

This heartbreaking story was shared with us by a local bank manager:

The scammer made fraudulent transactions on their account (withdrawals) then THE SCAMMER called the customer to “report” they have fraudulent activity on their  account. Since the scammer was the one that made the fraudulent  transactions, they knew the dates, the name of the business that made  the withdrawals and the dollar amounts…making it all sound legit. They  sent the customer a link to “try to reverse the transactions” but used  it to wire themselves the contents of the account. It was over  $100,000!  If only the customer had called their bank directly rather  than interacting with the scammer! 

"In a nutshell, we did what we warn  others not to EVER do! Because I called Amazon Prime to cancel a movie, I  trusted the very nice, knowledgeable man on the other end. After all, I  called them! I was told our account was being hacked + we needed to pay  $1500 to Amazon for them to take care of it. We needed to go to one of  our local outlets (Safeway in this case) + purchase 1,500 dollars worth  of gift cards + Amazon would reimburse us for this cost immediately.  They took control of my computer + I made it as far as Safeway when I  told my husband, let's swing by the bank + tell them what was going on.  Thank God we did! B of A said NO!, don't send any money to anyone.  Scammers have gotten very smart + they trick so many people. Immediately  leaving B of A we went to Quietech to have them help us. And help us,  they did! Looking back at this, my husband + I were embarrassed to have  gone that far with these scammers. I felt since it was ME that called  THEM that it was on the up + up. I was told that these cretins change  ONE number on Amazon's official site so it's not noticed. And they sound  so official! Beware of what site you go to, to call a company. Make  sure its THEIR phone number. If this could happen to me, I believe it  can happen to others. I've always been so suspicious of things that  don't sound right. This didn't sound right + yet I still went along with  it. ANY time someone asks for money, DON'T DO IT! "

 "What happened to us was our bookkeeper  was hacked and the scammers were going into her email and sending the  clients we had previously invoiced a followup email explaining we had  been hacked and were shutting down our bank account and have established  a new one because of the hack (the new account being theirs). They  would reply to everyone one from the original email (our customer) and  then they would ever so slightly change everyone from our business name  and our bookkeepers email address.  For everyone @ourdomain.com it  became @our-domain.com and then they just added an "s" on the end of our  bookkeeper's email address. They bought www.our-domain.com domain name  as well as our bookkeeper's domain name with the added "s".
 

So at a quick glance it would appear that all the players were looped  into that our banking info was changing (they even went as far to say I  would send the new info) so they had a general idea of the players  involved. The only email that was correct was our bookkeeper's address  who had been hacked and the customers' emails.
 

Thankfully one of our customers thought it was a little strange coming  from our bookkeeper and not our business and ended up calling me. After  a  phone call she forwarded the email to me and we figured it out.  Thankfully none of our payments got redirected but they very easily  could have. Had to go through all our customers and found that anyone  that we had an invoice out to had gotten the same email or one very  similar.
 

I talked to a friend and his brother in law had just had the same thing  happen (different bookkeeper). But pretty scary stuff as even one  invoice getting stolen could be devastating)."
 

 "Just the  other day, I lost a beloved elderly aunt and her memorial service is  coming soon. I warned her kids to be diligent... In other words, be VERY  careful about what is posted online and/or on social media platforms  during this difficult time.
 

It reminded me of when my father passed away and his funeral service was  pretty much common knowledge in Grass Valley/Nevada County. He was a  great guy that gave a ton to his community. Long story short, my mom got  robbed while she was at his memorial near Lake of the Pines. 
 

TIP #1: Consider having someone trustworthy stay at your residence while they are away during this difficult time.
 

TIP #2: If someone is there, they'll be available to accept  gifts and/or steer friends and/or relatives to where the service is  being held if they're unsure or confused.
 

Almost nothing is sacred to these dirtbags. Public postings of someone's  passing are often an open invitation to criminals to take advantage of  those who are grieving and confused. In other words, relatives may see  phone calls, messages, with other offers to: 

• Purchase vehicle(s) at much less than their market value
• Provide or offer some kind of assistance from housesitting to cleaning
• Peruse the property or house to sell items, again at less than market value

Consider  them open doors that are a way for thieves to "case the joint" for a  possible potential future robbery. If the family knows of a "sketchy"  friend or relative, keep them at arm's length and watch them closely. 
 

DON'T FALL FOR ANY OF THESE PLOYS! Argh! It makes me SO  angry because many of scammer's favorite targets are the elderly. It's  even worse when taking advantage of them during these difficult times."

 "She responded to a help wanted notice  for a data-entry work-from-home job with a Disney World business entity.  After being told she was hired there was a series of transactions where  a check for about $3,500 and account info were emailed to her to print  out and deposit in her account, with the idea she needed to pay $400  back to the company and then purchase software to do the work by sending  the money from the check to a vendor. She checked with the bank after  depositing the check and was told it cleared and everything was fine.  Then after she sent funds to the “Vendor” the deposit was reversed and  her account balance and overdraft protection were used to pay the  “overdraft”.  Fraud report was made to the bank this morning, when the  overdraft showed up."