A Look Back – Scams of 2014

Warning Scam Alert

A Look Back – Scams of 2014

Scammers are ruing the perfectly good name of companies and people that have spent years dedicating their lives to making a business that is there just to help people.

Here at Gephardt Daily, we’d love to say that scams will be on the decline in the new year.

Not so.

Scammers may change how they target you and your money, but unfortunately, they’re not going anywhere.

Lets take a look at the top 2014 scams.

Warrant for Your Arrest Phone Scam

The scam starts by having the victim receive a telephone call with a spoofed caller id to make it appear to be from either the IRS or 911.

Then the victims are told that they have committed a crime like running a red light and being caught by a traffic camera, failing to appear for Jury Duty, failing to pay your taxes or the government is having a problem with the immigration paperwork.

The victim will then be instructed to send a payment immediately, with amounts ranging from $500 to $2,500, and are threatened with immediate arrest if they fail to comply.

So what should you do?

Keep evidence of all that has been said and done. Law enforcement doesn’t know if this is one large organized crime group, ten groups, twenty groups, or a thousand individual con men acting alone.

The best place to report any type of online scam is the FBI’s Internet Crime & Complaint Center. To go directly to their complaint page:  https://complaint.ic3.gov

If you have lost money be sure to ALSO report this as a crime to your local Police Department.

Secret Shopper Scams

What is secret shopping? Some retailers hire companies to evaluate the quality of service in their stores; they often use secret shoppers to get the information. They instruct secret shoppers to make a particular purchase in a store or restaurant, and then report on the experience. Typically the shopper receives a small payment, as well.

Don’t pay to be a secret shopper. Dishonest promoters use newspaper ads and emails to create the impression that secret shopping jobs are a gateway to a full time jobs when it is not. It’s unnecessary to pay anyone to get into the secret shopping business.

There is a list of companies that hire secret shoppers is available for free on the internet. Never wire anyone money.

Granny Scam

This is an on-going magic game, where someone will call and convince your grandmother that her grand-son or daughter is locked up in jail in say England. The only way that you can get them out of jail and back home is to send a thousand dollars by Western Union. Somehow this scam just keeps working and millions of dollars a year are sent to overseas con artists.

What should you do if your receive a “Granny Scam”?
  1. Remain Calm – Despite the emergency nature of the call try to verify the identity of the caller. Don’t get caught up in the urgency which can lead to making emotional rather than logical decisions.
  2. Make direct contact –Confirm the status of the individual by calling them directly or verifying the story with other family members before taking action.
  3. Wire transfers –Any request to wire money through Western Union or MoneyGram should be seen as a “red flag” and an immediate tip-off that the call may be part of a scam.
  4. Report the call –If you have been victimized by this type of distressed loved-one call, immediately contact your local police department and the Illinois Attorney General’s office.

So if someone calls saying that one of your loved ones is in jail take the time and call the local authorities just to make sure. Get the name of the jail from the con artist and then look them up. I promise that if you have someone in jail they won’t be going anywhere.

Robo Calls for Medical Alert Devices/ Insurance Offers

Robo calls for medical alert devices, insurance offers, or car warranty offers. They are all scams! How do I know that? Well it is generally illegal for companies to make robo calls and you would never do business with a company which starts out by breaking the law right?

Robocalls are unsolicited prerecorded telemarketing calls to landline home telephones, and all autodialed or prerecorded calls or text messages to wireless numbers, emergency numbers, and patient rooms at health care facilities.

If you answer your phone and you hear a prerecorded message and it is a sales pitch, just hang up the phone. Do not press 1, do not press 2 to get yourself removed from the list. These calls are illegal in the first place, so it’s unlikely that somebody will actually be creating a list and not calling you back the second time.

Take the time out of your day and report this scam to the Federal Trade

Commission at DoNotCall.gov, these reports are crucial to getting targeting these criminals.

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Attention: Important Notice Web Domain Scam

Your domain name is one of the most vital pieces to your online business identity. You should always be aware of who you have your domain registered through, who has access to it, and who to direct questions to. If you have registered your domain with My Web Maestro or transferred it to us, you can always email or call when in doubt regarding notices like the one shown below.

Only send money when you’re sure it’s not a scam – typically a domain name registration is renewed annually, unless you’ve opted for a longer period. When you include other services like domain privacy those are usually renewed at the same time.

If you send money I promise that you won’t see it again.


Here are some other organizations that have a list of top scams:

2014 Top Ten Scams

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