New Investigative Series Wants to Help You Settle The Score!

Exciting New Investigative Series Wants to Help You Settle The Score!

Have you been the victim of a bait & switch?
Have you been stung by a scammer?
Have you been duped by an online seller, shamed on the internet or outright ripped off by someone on social media?

The internet is something we use everyday...but dangers lurk everywhere.
Online thieves, con artists, shysters & scammers are having a heyday, and their crimes are often too small scale to call the cops or file an expensive & time consuming lawsuit.

You don't know where to go, or who to turn to...so turn to us.

If you've been burned by an online thief, if you've 'clicked this link' and ended up losing money, or had your reputation tarnished by a facebook or Yelp type post, then this is your chance to stand up & let your frustration be heard!

New TV Series for a Major Cable Network wants to help you find the perp, settle the score, and get even.
We'll find out what happened, what went wrong, and chase down the person you think is guilty.

Please send an email to LetsEvenTheScore@gmail.com and tell us your story!
And please tell them that Shawn from Scam Victims United sent you!

Give To The Max

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, many people are counting their blessings and looking at all of the things they are thankful for.  One way to show that you are thankful for what you have is to help others out.

November 15th, 2012 is Give To The Max Day.  Here is a statement from the Give To The Max website

Give to the Max Day was created in 2009 to increase giving to nonprofit organizations across the state and move more giving online. It is a day for Minnesotans to come together to raise as much money as possible for nonprofits and schools in 24 hours – starting at midnight on November 15, 2012 through midnight on November 16, 2012. By engaging as many donors as possible to give to their favorite Minnesota charities in one day – Give to the Max Day — GiveMN.org is showcasing Minnesota’s unparalleled generosity to the world!

We at Scam Victims United encourage you to Give To The Max.  You can donate to Scam Victims United and help to educate other about scams and fraud.

Online fundraising for SCAM VICTIMS UNITED at Razoo

What would you do?

I wanted to share the following link with you.  The show What Would You Do sets up scenarios and sees if people will jump in to assist.  The one that aired last night had a segment on Nigerian Scams.  The producers of this show actually had contacted me some time ago because they wanted a scam victim to speak with, but we were not able to find one that was willing to speak with them.

You can watch the video of the episode at

http://abc.go.com/watch/what-would-you- ... you-do-225

or read the transcript at

http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/woman-falls-online-nigerian-scam/comments?type=story&id=12981644

I would also encourage you to leave your comments on the topic at the link with the transcript.  

Scammers use fear to get money

When a potential victim thinks that they might be on to the scammer, the scammer may use fear to try and get the person to send them the money.  Sometimes it is the fear of "I know where you live" and sometimes it is the fear of arrest, as once scammer tried to use in the email below . . . .

From: Charles Boothe ;hondaprelude7188@gmail.com

This is to inform you that due to your illegal action in the process of the Cleaner job offer to you concerning the check issued to you. I was informed by my bank that the check issue has been cleared and yet i haven't got any reply from you,
For your information as you know all your contact details is with me so i have get the FBI informed,i also gave them your contact details for them to locate you. You may have any explanation to tell them and any information you may be holding for them concerning the payment i sent to you.I know they will get you soon,You may think that i have acted so rude by doing this but i am very sorry.You make me act like that because you never let me know what is going on.
I am very sorry for any inconvenience that i might have cause concerning this job offer and the way i act. Get back to me to confirm you get this email.
Best Regard

No matter what the scammer says, do not send them the money.  They did not contact the FBI, because the check that you were sent was counterfeit.

Mr Pavarotti

I was contacted by the someone who operates another scam fighting site that they have gotten several reports of victims who have lost money to an inheritance scam from someone using the name Mr. Pavarotti.

Here are the two emails addresses connected with these emails

billkennedy.judy@yahoo.co.uk

michaelharryx@gmail.com

Remember, the name and email addresses alone cannot fully warn you if the person YOU are dealing with is a scammer or not.  The scammers change their names and email addresses often.  If their offer involves sending a cashier's check to you, you cashing or depositing it, and then wire any portion of that money back to them or on to someone else then it is a scam.

Scam Victims arrested - adding insult to injury

Being arrested can be one of the most frightening experiences for a person, but when you add that to being the victim of a scam, you can defiantly feel like you are on an emotional roller-coaster.


Most people know the saying "Innocent until proven guilty" but the scam victims that I have spoken with that have been arrested would say that they were seen as guilty until they could prove they were innocent. Why is this? Over the years some businesses and banking institutions have gotten better at detecting a counterfeit cashier's check or money order, but instead of warning the customer that the item is a counterfeit and that they are involved in a scam, they instead call the police into the matter and press criminal charges against the customer. These businesses and financial institutions will charge that the customer was aware that the document was counterfeit and that they were trying to defraud them . . . basically, that they were in on the scam. Most times the customer is truly an innocent person who really believed that the cashier's check sent to them was good, or was only going to the bank to ask them to verify it and then before they know it then end up in handcuffs in a police department.


If you find yourself in this situation you need to read the document "The At Risk of Arrest and Arrested Fraud Victim Manual" This document will cover you and your relationship with law enforcement, your attorney, how to write a narrative of what happened to you, as well as defining some of the legal terms that you will hear so that you know better what to expect.


One of the really important things that this document says is that if you are a fraud/scam victim and you feel you are at risk of being arrested, keep a copy of this manual with you at all times. If something happens, you can refer to this document so that you don't panic and say or do something that will make your situation worse. NEVER wave you Miranda Rights.


While we were never arrested in our case, I do understand the feeling of panic of becoming a scam victim. My first thoughts were "Who do I call? Where do I report this?" That is exactly why we have the Resources page on our site. When you feel like your world has been turned upside-down and you don't know what to do, write up one letter that includes all of the information on what happened . . . names, dates, who said what and when . . . and then send that one letter to all of the agencies listed at our Resource Page.  We also have information on banking terms on this page along with other helpful tips like

• Close any other accounts that you have at that bank so they cannot freeze those accounts
• Turn off any direct deposits you have going into that account
• Turn off any automatic payments or withdrawals you have coming out of that account
• Open an account at another bank

Also, for support from others who have been in your shoes, you can talk to other scam victims at our message board.  Many people find this to be like an online therapy session.

Look inside your emails

I have never claimed to be a internet or computer know it all, so I have learned to do some research and look to those who do know more on the "technical" side of how things work when I need to. When I decided I wanted to talk to my readers about the information inside of an email, spoofing, hacking and IP addresses I knew I was entering into a world that I am not comfortable with . . . seriously, all of the technical talk starts to sound like "blah, blah, blah" to me. So that is when I contact my friend and fellow scam fighter at CyberCrimeOps.com

Ironically, he wrote an article just this month about a LOT of the things that I wanted to touch on. Here is a sample . . .

Some of you reading this article may have seen news reports of people getting alarming email messages from their friends.

Tales such as "Help, I'm stranded in Nigeria and need money" have come to many people as a surprise in recent months, and the trend seems to getting more widespread. The messages are coming directly from the email accounts of someone you know, and at first glance it may seem real. The truth, once discovered, is that the email account has been taken over (hacked [link]) by a fraudster, and the solicitations for money being sent out are a simple fraud. One question that seems lost in all of these news reports is "how did this happen?" -- Let's investigate this a little further and shed some light into this dark corner.

From Hack To Phish

Hacking covers a wide range of techniques, such as Security exploit; Vulnerability scanner; Packet Sniffer; Spoofing attack; Rootkit; Social engineering; Trojan horse; Virus; Worm and Key loggers; but for the purpose of this article we will concentrate on only one of these, social engineering.

"Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim." (Source Wikipedia: [link])

Phishing [link] of course, comes under the general umbrella of social engineering and is a technique of fraudulently obtaining private information. People may associate Phishing with financial institutions (banks, credit cards and credit unions), eBay, PayPal and others due to a great many reports in press. However, one form of this phishing hides in relative obscurity, and asks not for banking details, but for your email account login credentials. If you get one of these emails, it may actually look very real indeed.

To read the rest of this article, go to CyberCrimeOps.com

Don't get mad, get even

So many victims of scam and fraud just get upset about it, but with the world if the internet it makes it so much easier for people to "get even" with someone that they feel did them wrong.  Their are sites like ours, ScamVictimsUnited.com, where people can post their stories.  There is the site Rip Off Report where people can report businesses that they have had issues with.  The other way to "get even" is to create your own website that sole reason is to share your story with the world.  That is the situation with www.raycline.com

http://www.raycline.com/Ray_Cline_Rip_Off_Report.html tells the story of one person's battle to be heard and hold a business accountable for their actions.

Spam 2 Scam - Book

This is a book about SPAM, e-SCAMs and how to be safe from them. Here is a book written in a simple style and straight forward language to suit every reader irrespective of his/her background. Plenty of information is already available on 'what' ranging from advisories to blogs to actual, published works. There are commercial products offering varying degrees of security too. However, the efficacy of those solutions depends on the 'awareness' of the user concerned, because you have to take the call ultimately on what is a real deal and what is a potentially fraudulent product or service. This book also attempts to provide the 'why' and 'how'. With over 30 illustrated examples, this book prepares readers to recognise patterns of fraud and thereby helps them not to fall victim to such schemes. Readers will also find some simple yet practical suggestions on fortifying their information environment easily too

Cashier's Check Survey

For some reason this poll is not working when I moved it into these space. Please scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to take this survey.

If you deposited a cashier's check into your bank account, at what point would you feel safe that the check is legitimate, and that you can use the funds from it with no financial risk to yourself?

(scroll to bottom of page to vote)

Answers will be posted in the following days so that you can check back and see if you are correct.

Rothstein Investment

This press release can be found at http://miami.fbi.gov/pressrel/2009/mm111209.htm

FBI and IRS Seeking to Identify Victims and Individuals with Information in Rothstein Investigation

The Miami Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Miami Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are seeking information from individuals who have invested in the Rothstein Structured Settlement Investment (RSSI) or from individuals who have information that would be helpful to the investigation. To facilitate information gathering, the FBI has established a dedicated e-mail address and an informational telephone line 1-800-CALL-FBI, "Rothstein Option."

Details of the investigation cannot be discussed at this time, as the investigation is ongoing. However, the FBI and IRS are seeking to identify victims and to obtain any information to determine the extent of any potential fraud.

In an effort to determine the scope of the matter and the amount of losses that may be involved, investigators are requesting that individuals provide:

Basic contact information (name, address, telephone numbers, e-mail address.)
Amount of investments/losses with the Rothstein Structured Settlement Investment.
Whether you can verify your investments by providing the most recent statements.
Any additional information that may be helpful.
Information may be provided via dedicated e-mail address Rothstein.Investment@ic.fbi.gov or to informational telephone line 1-800-CALL-FBI, “Rothstein Option” (1-800-225-5324.) If you have investigative information that may aid the criminal investigation, you may also submit it via email or telephone. For those who would like to return funds received from Rothstein please call the 1-800 number and someone will get back with you with specific instructions on how to return the funds.

Hard copy documentation may be mailed to:

FBI Victim Assistance Program
Rothstein Investment
16320 NW 2nd Avenue
Miami, Florida 33169

If it is determined that you are a victim, the FBI will be in touch with you. Please note that due to the expected number of responses, it may be several days before you are contacted.

Romance Scams

Romance Scams, also referred to at Sweetheart Scams, Dating Scams or Love Scams, usually begin on a legitimate dating website or throughonline classified ads looking to meet people. In theses scams, the scammer plays on the target's emotions. They know that they are looking for love or a strong relationship, so they use all of the right words to convince the target that they truly care for them. Many of the scammers will use pictures found on others profiles or even modeling sites as their profile. They will also use a variety of fake names, and some scammers could be operating several "profiles" and names at once. This is why the name of the person or what they look like is not a good way to determine if they are a scammer or not. It is the situation, not the name that matters.

Once they believe that the target is emotionally connected to them, they will tell them that they need money for some reason . . . they were in an accident and have medical and legal fees to pay or simply to pay for a plane ticket so that they finally meet in person. The scammer will ask the target to wire them money, and sometimes will even promise to pay it back as soon as possible. Since the target is emotionallyinvested in this relationship they want to do whatever they can to helpout this person that they love.

The websites Cyber Love Illusions and CyberPaths tell the stories of these scams.

You can also read more at http://scamvictimsunited.com/Romance.htm

Phishing Scam Email

Here is a Phishing Scam email that got into my inbox. This is a classic example of how a scammer will try to get your account information, by saying that it is an urgent matter and providing a link for you.

----------------------------------------------

Dear Member,
Your Yahoo Marketing account has expired. You must renew it immediately or your account will be closed. If you intend to use this service in the future, you must take action at once!

To continue click here, login to your Yahoo Marketing account and follow the steps.Thank you for using Yahoo Marketing!
Yahoo Marketing Services DEP.

Please do not reply to this email.
This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a respons.

--------------------------------------

Not only are their spelling errors, but if you were to hover over the link they provided (which I removed) you would find that it does not go to yahoo, but to a site that they created which has yahoo in it

marketingservicesweb.yahoo.duebymatteo

Seven years

Seven years ago this month my husband and I became victims of a counterfeit cashier's check scam while selling his 1961 Buick Special online. So much has happened in those seven years.

We found that we were not alone, and that this was happening to others.
We started our website Scam Victims United to share our story with others.
We spoke out in the news about this issue.
We have worked with Consumer Protection Agencies to help spread the word about scams.
In the first two years of our site being operational, we helped to stop over 2 million dollars from going into the hands of scammers.

We have come a long way, but we still have so far to go. The Consumer Federation of America released the results of a survey in May 2009 which relates directly to information we at Scam Victims United work to educate people about. They found that fifty-nine percent of the respondents incorrectly believe that when you deposit a check or money order, your bank confirms that it is good before allowing you to withdraw the money. The number goes up to 70 percent among young adults age 18-24, and 71 percent of people with incomes under $25,000 and who did not complete high school. More than 40 percent of those surveyed do not know that they are liable if the checks or money orders they deposit or cash are counterfeit. Fifty-two percent age 18-24 and half of Hispanics incorrectly said the person who gave you the check must pay the bank back. This is precisely the type of information that we at Scam Victims United work to educate people about.

As you can see by the results of this survey, there is a great need for education in the area of banking terminology and the check clearing process. One of the major reasons that counterfeit cashier's checkscams work so well is that when a bank customer hears the terms "the check is clear" or that it will be "verified in 24 hours" it gives them a false sense of security that the check is legitimate and that they can use the money with no repercussions.

And that is our mission.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Looking for victims willing to be interviewed

I received and email from someone that is putting together a PSA on scams and is looking for scam victims to interview. If you fit the following criteria, please contact me so I can get you in touch with her as soon as possible.

She is looking for victims who are:
1) In Washington DC – we will be in Washington DC Wednesday November 4th and 5th – ideally we would like to film them during these 2 days.
2) In California – in either LA, Orange or San Diego Counties – we will be filming in California over the next 2-4 weeks.
3) Available to take half a day to film / interview, preferably at their home.
4) That speak English and/or Spanish
5) From different socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnicities (i.e. white collar workers/ executives, janitors, teachers, middle managers, etc.)
6) Victims of scams where they specifically were looking for a job, paid a service that guaranteed them a job and then were never placed in a new job and were unable to either reach the company or get a refund.

Thanks,
Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Be warned about Google Revolution!

Be warned about Google Revolution! This site is not affiliated with Google and is a big scam.

Because I am always looking for new innovative ideas and trends for our newsroom this one looked interesting. I read about how great Google Revolution was from a column on a large news website.

I visited the site recommended and the information they were offering looked like it might be worth the download charge of $1.88. This is when they got me.
I provided a credit card number for this charge at the end of June and thought everything was fine.

In August I started to receive charges from four web companies all related to Google Revolution.

I called Visa and they said there was nothing I could do about it and to call the companies involved.

I then called the companies listed on my bill and they all said I had agreed to these charges when I downloaded the $1.88 information.

During the call I could hear the background buzz from call operators explaining to others just as shocked as I was. It seemed like the four companies were all operating out of the same call centre.

Can you imagine the money they must be receiving from other innocent victims.

I thought I was pretty savvy about watching out for scams but this one got me good. Hopefully these charges of several hundreds of dollars will not appear on my credit card next month.

Lesson learned.

The above information is reposted with the permission of
Wendy Nordvik-Carr
http://www.linkedin.com/in/wendynordvikcarr

Follow Wendy on Twitter http://twitter.com/wendynordvikcar

One week to Scam Jam

It is only one week until Scam Jam in Portland, Oregon.


Please join us at Reed College on Saturday, October 17th from 9am to 3pm.

Learn how to protect yourself from ID theft, investment fraud, repair scams, financial exploitation . . . plus speak with Shawn Mosch of Scam Victims United!

http://portlandscamjam.com/

You can also go to http://www.chuckwhitlock.com/scamjam.html to see footage from past events.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of www.ScamVictimsUnited.com

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Scammers and Social Networking Sites

This information is re-posted from the FBI Press Release Page

Fraudsters continue to hijack accounts on social networking sites and spread malicious software by using various techniques. One technique involves the use of spam to promote phishing sites, claiming there has been a violation of the terms of agreement or some other type of issue which needs to be resolved. Other spam entices users to download an application or view a video. Some spam appears to be sent from users' "friends", giving the perception of being legitimate. Once the user responds to the phishing site, downloads the application, or clicks on the video link, their computer, telephone or other digital device becomes infected.

Another technique used by fraudsters involves applications advertised on social networking sites, which appear legitimate; however, some of these applications install malicious code or rogue anti-virus software. Other malicious software gives the fraudsters access to your profile and personal information. These programs will automatically send messages to your "friends" list, instructing them to download the new application too.

Infected users are often unknowingly spreading additional malware by having infected websites posted on their webpage without their knowledge. Friends are then more apt to click on these sites since they appear to be endorsed by their contacts.

Tips on avoiding these tactics:

Adjust website privacy settings. Some networking sites have provided useful options to assist in adjusting these settings to help protect your identity.

Be selective of your friends. Once selected, your "friends" can access any information marked as "viewable by all friends."

You can select those who have "limited" access to your profile. This is for those whom you do not wish to give full friend status to or with whom you feel uncomfortable sharing personal information.

Disable options and then open them one by one such as texting and photo sharing capabilities. Users should consider how they want to use the social networking site.
If it is only to keep in touch with people then perhaps it would be better to turn off the extra options which will not be used.

Be careful what you click on. Just because someone posts a link or video to their "wall" does not mean it is safe.

Those interested in becoming a user of a social networking site and/or current users are recommended to familiarize themselves with the site's policies and procedures before encountering such a problem.

Each social networking site may have different procedures on how to handle a hijacked or infected account; therefore, you may want to reference their help or FAQ page for instructions.

Individuals who experienced such incidents are encouraged to file a complaint at www.IC3.gov reporting the incident.

---------------------
Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch

Why do scammers love Craigslist?

Many websites have become infested with scammers, but Craigslist seems to be one of the places that the scammers really love to hang out. Why is that?

Variety of categories - In the past, when a scammer wanted to find a victim for their overpayment scams they had to go to a website were people were selling items, usually of large value. If they wanted to find a victim for an employment scam, they had to go to a site where people were posting their resumes. If they wanted to find a victim for a romance or dating scam, they would have to go to a dating website. If you wanted to find a victim for renter or roommate scam, you had to go to a site where people were posting housing information. With Craigslist, you can find all of those people in the different categories on the same site.

Includes the entire country - There are other classified ad sites that would have the same variety of categories that Craigslist has, but they are usually for a certain geographic location. If the scammer wants to try and find more victims, they would have to go to another classified ad site that is targeted towards another geographic location. With Craigslist all the scammer has to do is click on a new city and state for their search location and they have a entirely different group of victims to try and bring into their scam.

It's free - Not only is Craigslist free for people to post or creating listings, but it is also free to people looking at those listings. This
works to the scammer's advantage. If the scammer is the one placing the listing, for a Secret Shopper job for example, they do not have to pay anything to place that advertisement. Many of the sites that require you to pay to post have a lower number of scams posted simply due to the fact that the scammer is there to make money, and not to spend it. It works the other way too . . . if the scammer is the one searching the posted ads for their next victim, they do not have to pay anything to have access to those listings.

Craigslist does have warning information on their site, and I think that some of their warnings should hold true if you are using their site or another classified ad site.

Deal with local buyers and sellers. If you sell your item and you need to have it shipped someplace you are taking a greater risk. If you deal locally, you can arrange to meet the person face to face to exchange money and the item for sale.

Never wire funds to someone you only know via email conversations. Scammers use services like Western Union and MoneyGram in their scams because they know that once the money is wired off and picked up on the other end there is no way to recover the money. Also, since they are overseas, our law enforcement in the United States cannot just go and pick them up for taking your money. It becomes an issue for the government and law enforcement in the country that they live in. This all goes back to jurisdiction, which we talked about in the past, and you can review here.

One thing that I think that Craigslist could add to their posted warning is that a cashier's check could take 10 business days or more to go through the clearing process. Just because you take the check to the bank and they tell you that it has cleared, or that it will be verified as good in 24 hours does not mean that the bank knows for sure that this check was written on a good account and has the funds in that account to cover the check. This is the information that is missing from so many of the current internet scam warnings, but is also the piece of information that could save so many scam victims. So why don't the places that post the warnings understand this and include this information? Personally, I feel it is because they are thinking as a "business" and not as a scam victims, and that is one thing that I can do since I have been there myself.

Had we known back in October of 2002 that the check could take up to 10 business days to go through the entire clearing process and that until that happened we would be liable for the entire amount of the check, then there is no way we would have wired any money off any sooner than 10 business days . . . actually, my husband and I had promised each other that what ever amount of time the bank said to wait to be safe we were going to double to be extra safe, so like I said, if they would have been honest with us there is no way we would have become scam victims.

Google it!

I think that Google is a wonderful scam fighting tool. On a daily basis we will have people come to our site and post on our message board that they did NOT become a scam victim because they ran a Google search on something from the scammer's email . . . their name, email address, company, phone number . . . and that search brought them right to a post on our message board. Once they see this information on our message board they know for sure that it is a scam.

If you ask me, it is better to be over cautious . . . Google everything! You never know what information you might find out. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com
There is strength in numbers!

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch