I just found out that I am a scam victim . . . what do I do now?

I am asked this question many times, and because I was once a scam victim I can relate to the feeling of just finding out that you have been scammed. When we were scammed there was a lot less information out on the internet about scams and what to do. Because of this I spent many hours calling people or on the internet searching for where to report this information. Now we have all of that in one place for you at http://scamvictimsunited.com/resources_cashier's_check.htm

I would also suggest writing a summary of what happened to you. Include dates, times, names and locations. You can read my letter/summary at http://scamvictimsunited.com/our_story.htm

Get a notebook and keep track of everything that happens from this day forward in regards to this scam. Each time you speak with the bank, anything you agree to with the bank needs to be recorded and documented.

If you would like to help to educate others about these scams, contact your local media and try to get your story in the news.

Shawn Mosch
Co-Founder of ScamVictimsUnited.com

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

Email account verification scam

Here is a scam email that I just got today . . .

Dear CS.COM Owner alertrectfiers2009@gmail.com
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Dear CS.COM Account Owner,
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This message is from the CS.COM technical support department messaging center to all CS.COM Webmail account owners. Due to high rate of spam and scam phishing emails you receive to your mail box,We hereby use this medium to inform you that we will be carrying out some maintenance/Upgrading operations inorder to install in your mail box aspam detection/blocker to your mail box, This will also Increase the Storage bite of your mail and also protect your mail box from spam. As a result of this we will be deleting all expired and unused account to create more rooms for new updated/upgraded ones. To prevent your account from being closed unnecessarily, you will have to update us with the following information's below for propal verifications to prevent the unwarranted close of your email account.
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CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL IDENTITY BELOW
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1.Full Email Address:......................
2.password:...............
3. Re-type password:....................
4.age/country:.................
5.date of birth:................
6.First name/Last name:.............
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJWarning!!!
Account owner that refuses to update his or her account Within Three days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently. Thank you for using CS.COMWebmail!
Warning Code:VX2G99AAJ
Thanks,CS.COM Alert team
==========================

The give away for this one was that it came from a gmail account and it was asking for my age and date of birth . . . why would my email service need that info???


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

Find us on Twitter, Facebook and more through
http://www.retaggr.com/page/ShawnMosch
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Has this site helped you? Then help us to continue to fight scams by donating at http://www.scamvictimsunited.com/donations.htm

More on Secret Shopper Scams

For a listing of legitimate Secret Shopper companies, go to http://www.mysteryshop.org/

We have spoken with representatives at both Western Union and Money Gram. Money Gram does NOT use Secret Shoppers as a normal business practice. Western Union does use Secret Shoppers, but the shoppers are NEVER paid by cashier’s check or money order. If you have been contacted to shop Western Union or Money Gram, and it involves you receiving a cashier’s check or money order, IT IS A SCAM.

Often, the email address used by the representative of the company “hiring” you will be coming from a generic email address, and not one associated with that company. For further assurance, search out that company on your own and contact them for verification.

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

Secret Shopper Scams

Many news reports are referring to this as the “newest” scam variation, but we have been seeing reports of these scams on our message board since 2005. The job description can be Secret Shopper, Mystery Shopper or Customer Service Evaluator, but it is all the same scam.The scammer will either place an ad in a legitimate classified listing, online or in print, or they will collect their victim’s names and email addresses off of resumes posted online. Some of them are even making “copy cat” websites of legitimate Secret Shopper companies to use in their scam to help convince the victim that this is all legitimate. For a listing of legitimate Secret Shopper companies, go to http://www.mysteryshop.org/

The victim will be told that they have been hired as a Secret Shopper and will be sent a cashier’s check or money order to cash and use on their assignments. One of the assignments is to review the service at a Western Union or Money Gram location. They are given a name and address to wire money to, from the check that was sent to them, and told to fill out an evaluation form on the service received and email or fax that back to the company they are working for. Everything seems fine, and some victims may even complete a few “assignments” before the check is discovered to be counterfeit. On average, it takes about 10 business days for the bank to realize that the check is counterfeit, but we have seen some cases where it has taken over 6 months. Once the bank dose find that the check is counterfeit, they will contact you demanding the return of the money and deduct the full amount of the check from your bank account. This sometimes leaves the victims with negative bank accounts.For more information on the check clearing process and the banking terms, please read http://scamvictimsunited.blogspot.com/2009/08/banking-terms-not-as-clear-as-they.html

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

Report Online Scams | Scams, Frauds,Ripoff,Fraudster,Con-artist Reported Online

I was just introduced to a new website that I would like to share with you.

Report Online Scams Scams, Frauds,Ripoff,Fraudster,Con-artist Reported Online

This site was created by a group of men that were scammed and wanted to do something about it. I can relate to that, since that is why my husband and I created our site.


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

Lottery Scams

How the Lottery Scams works
A typical Lottery or Sweepstakes Scam begins with an email telling you that you have won a large amount of money, and giving you the name of a contact person or agent that you are supposed to work with in order to claim your money. The “lottery winner” will be told that they need to pay a processing fee in order to claim their winnings. For some, these scams become an addiction much like gambling. There is the promise of a large amount of money, and it feels like it is so close, that they continue to send the “agent” more and more money to cover all of the fictional fees and transfer charges.

In other variations, the “winner” will receive a check from the fake lottery agent. They will be told that the check is a partial payment on their winnings, and that to receive the remainder of the winnings they must cash the check and wire a portion of that check, for fees or charges, to the agent. From here, this variation follows the path of a typical Counterfeit Cashier’s Check Scam. The scam victim takes the check to the bank, deposits it and waits for the bank to tell them that the check is clear. Once they believe that the check is clear and has been verified as legitimate, the scam victim then wires the “fees” on to the agent. In about a week, the scam victim is contacted by their bank and told that the check is counterfeit and that they must return the money and are fully liable for the entire amount of the check.

The website http://www.thinkjessica.com/stories/jessica.htm tells the story of a victim of one of these scams.

Chris Malta

Chris Malta is a scam fighter on a mission . . . to travel across the country to educate people about the scams out there that are costing people thousands of dollars every day. Go to http://chrismalta.com/busting.asp to see if Chris will be traveling to a town near you. Chris will tell you the good, the bad and the ugly of the EBiz world.

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