Mail scam - traditional scams still prevalent

The Ins and Outs of a Mail Scam

If you think that the only way scammers can target you is through the internet, you’re sadly mistaken. Scammers can target you through your very own mailbox! Mail scams have been popular since the mid 80’s, but due to the staggering advances in technology, most scammers took their mail scam online and began to run internet based mail scams (email scams). However, there are still mail scams going around in the current times. If you’ve ever received a “Congratulations, you’ve won $5,000!” letter in the mail, you’ve received a mail scam. Read below to get a description of what mail scams are.

What are Mail Scams?

Though it may be hard to differentiate, there certainly is a difference between direct mail pieces and a mail scam. Direct mail pieces try to convince you to purchase a legitimate product or service. However, mail scams lie to you in order to convince you to send them your hard-earned money. Mail scam operators typically rely on two tactics to convince you to fork over your cash. The mail scam may convince you that you’re in financial trouble with the government and you must send an immediate payment to the specified address to avoid incarceration. Another favorite tactic for mail scam operators is to convince you that you’ve won an international lottery. But, you’ll be told that you must pay several thousand dollars in transaction fees in order to receive your cash (which you never will). Most mail scams will use a variation of the two tactics.

Mail Scam Operators

If you do receive a mail scam, know that you most likely weren’t a specific target. Mail scam operators simply send out a mass mailing and hope that a few victims will take the bait of their mail scam. Notice that your name will never appear on the mailing itself. Don’t you think if you truly did win a lottery or were wanted by the federal government that they’d at least have the courtesy of acknowledging your name? If you do receive a mail scam in your mailbox, contact the FTC or the IC3, an FBI operated organization.

          

See who is taking your money in the latest scams

The Latest Scams

It’s no secret that there have always been an abundance of scams circulating the internet. However, the latest scams seem to be a bit more believable and therefore effective than popular scams of the past. The latest scams include free full-term subscriptions or trial subscriptions to desirable products and services, such as magazines and website hosting. Below, we’ll discuss the latest scams, why they’re so believable and what you can do to protect yourself from these increasingly popular scams.

Watch Out for the Latest Scams

The latest scams seem to be more effective than popular scams of the past because they’re operated on a smaller scale. In the past, popular scams made false promises of riches. However, the latest scams only promise small tokens of gratitude, such as magazine subscriptions a free t-shirt or niche-specific trial subscriptions in exchange for a survey. In the latest scams, scammers typically call the residence of potential victims or send an email with a request to fill out a survey. Once they’ve filled out the survey, they’ll be sent their prize.
The scammers behind these popular scams may very well provide the promised prize in order to avoid suspicion. However, the victims must provide sensitive information (especially with trial subscriptions) such as bank account information, SS number, address and date of birth in order to be sent their free gift. This information can be used to steal the victim’s identity and amass immeasurable debt. The good news is that you can avoid falling for the latest scams. By taking certain precautionary measures, you won’t need to fear these popular scams.

Don’t give anyone sensitive information over the phone or the internet. Be very wary of the intentions of someone that is offering anything for free. Their motives may be as innocent (but annoying!) as getting you on their mailing list or as harsh as stealing your identity. As a rule of thumb, ignore the offers of free gifts in exchange for completing surveys. It’s the only way to truly ensure that you won’t get caught in one of the latest scams.

          

Types of Email Money Scams

Don't get caught by the Email Money Scams

There are two main types of email money scams. The first is the very common Nigerian email money scam and the second is a far more believable unclaimed funds email money scam. The Nigerian email money scam consists of an email claiming that a rich Nigerian person needs your help to smuggle money out of their country into the states. This email money scam promises to pay the email recipient millions upon millions of dollars in exchange for using their bank account. Of course, the Nigerian scammers who sent the email money scams will require the participants to fork over their bank account number, contact information and other sensitive information in addition to a few several thousand dollars for “transaction fees.”

The lesser known email money scam that has recently surfaced is the unclaimed funds email money scams. This email money scam claims that 9 out of 10 Americans have unclaimed money just sitting in the laps of the government. The operators of the email money scam will help you locate your lost funds (which you can do for free) for a fee and you may even need to send sensitive information to the operators of this email money scam as well.

Spotting an Email Money Scam

Spotting an email money scam can be done with some attention to detail. An email money scam will relay an extreme tone, such as an urgent tone in a Nigerian email money scam and an overly ecstatic tone in the unclaimed funds email money scam. Email money scams will typically be very lengthy and tend to regurgitate the same information throughout the email. Your best defense against an email money scam is to think logically! Will a rich Nigerian really contact a complete stranger and trust him with millions of dollars? No, it’s an email money scam. Will a respected agency really send you a promotional-sounding email telling you they want to give you money? No, these are all email money scams.

          

What is the Bank of America Fraud Email?

Don't be taken By the Bank of America Fraud Email

The Bank of America fraud email is sent to hundreds of thousands people daily. These Bank of America fraud emails look very real and authentic. The logos on the Bank of America fraud emails look exactly the same as the real Bank of America ones and have a very official feel and urgency to them. The Bank of America fraud emails are usually asking for some information about you and your bank account, tell you that your account is in danger and/or are looking for a response in some way. DO NOT respond to these Bank of America fraud emails. They are nothing but hoaxes trying to get either information from you and even something a small as responding “take a long walk off a short pier” will give them information they could use.

So What can I do about these Bank of America Scam Emails?

After not answering, responding or calling any number in the Bank of America fraud email, the best thing to do is to forward the Bank of America fraud email to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov. You can put “Unwanted Spam email”,”suspected Bank of America fraud email” or something to that affect. The FTC will then investigate and hopefully stop the Bank of America fraud email scammers from sending out anymore of the Bank of America fraud emails.

If you are worried that this might be a real Bank of America e-mail (not a scam), look up your local Bank of America number online and call them. DO NOT use any number that might be in the email. Once you are sure you have the real Bank of America, ask them to verify whether or not there is a problem with the account. They then might ask you to forward the Bank of America fraud email to them.

Forward any e-mail you get to abuse@bankofamerica.com

Also remember to always check your credit report!

          

What do you know about a Ponzi Scam?

Charles Ponzi was an Italian-born swindler who eventually made his way into the states in November of 1903. Charles Ponzi is one of the biggest scam artists to have ever touched American soil. Not surprisingly, the Ponzi scam is named after Charles Ponzi. A Ponzi scam is based on the premise of gathering money from several investors and promising them a large profit in an unrealistically short amount of time. To gain their trust, the conman behind the Ponzi scam will pony up the promised amount and the investor will reinvest because of the initial favorable results.

A Ponzi scam can continue for years without detection and grows each time a new investor jumps on the unknown Ponzi scam band wagon. Eventually, the conman behind the Ponzi scam will run with all of the money or the entire Ponzi scam will unravel and the conman behind the Ponzi scam will be thrown in jail for fraud.

Example of a Ponzi Scam…

Jim decides to run a Ponzi scam to gain millions of dollars and then run with the money after a few years. Jim promises his clients a 55% profit on their initial investment within 30 days. Clearly, this will be nearly impossible to accomplish, but it’s the premise of a Ponzi scam. Jim pays his clients the promised amount. His clients are pleased, yet unsuspecting of the underlying Ponzi scam that they reinvest with triple the initial investment. Over time, Jim’s client base grows. He continues to pay his clients the promised payout with money from new investors. Eventually, Jim gets caught in his Ponzi scam because his colleagues grew suspicious. Jim goes to jail and his clients are out of money all because of his reckless Ponzi scam.

          

How does the FBI Nigerian Scam work?

The FBI Nigerian scam puts a new twist to the played out Nigerian lottery scams. In the FBI Nigerian scam, con artists steal FBI letterhead and names of actual FBI officials. They then send FBI Nigerian scam letters to just about anyone they can think of. These FBI Nigerian scam letters intimidate the recipient by claiming they owe a substantial amount of money to the FBI; if they don’t pay, they’ll be put behind bars. There are many different threads of the FBI Nigeria scam emails; this is just the most common version of the FBI Nigerian scam.

Recipients of the fraudulent FBI Nigerian scam letters are prompted to contact only a specific person (the FBI Nigerian scam artist, of course) and to approach the situation with complete discretion. The FBI Nigerian scam artists eventually ask for a substantial amount of money to “settle the debt” or bury their file. Those who have responded and obliged to send the money are milked for all their assets by the FBI Nigeria scam artists. But, those who question their motives and threaten to contact the US FBI office for confirmation are often misled further, threatened with legal prosecution or even violence. It has been reported that several people have been lured to Nigeria and beaten/killed by the FBI Nigeria scam artists.

What to do if you receive a FBI Nigeria scam letter

I must say that the FBI Nigerian scam letter is by far the most convincing version of the Nigerian scams. If you receive a letter, fax or email and suspect that it is FBI Nigeria scam letter, contact the offices of the US FBI to confirm your suspicions. Never respond directly to the FBI Nigeria scam artists. The FBI Nigerian scam artists are masters of instilling fear into their victims. You can choose to simply ignore the FBI Nigerian scam letter or help save millions of dollars and thousands of lives by reporting the FBI Nigerian scam fraud to the FBI or FTC.

          

What is a Cashier Check Scam?

A cashier check scam is one of the newer scams operated by Nigerian con-men. Cashier check scams are targeted towards sellers who advertise big ticket items through websites like Craigslist and local newspapers. The big ticket items which may trigger a cashier check scam are cars and motorcycles? Why do only motor vehicles trigger cashier check scams? Well, a motor vehicle is the second most expensive purchase to a home. Running a cashier check scam by purchasing a used car through Craigslist is far less formal (and hassle-free) than purchasing a home.

A Nigerian cashier check scam artist will seek sellers of motor vehicles through online classifieds. The cashier check scam artist will offer full price, but with one stipulation: that the seller agree to accept a check for several thousand dollars above the purchase price of the vehicle, and transfer the remainder to an old buddy that the cashier check scam artist owes money to in the states. The seller will agree, while remaining completely oblivious that they’re participating in a cashier check scam. When the seller receives the check, it clears, and they’ll wire the overage to the cashier check scam artist’s friend. Several weeks later, the seller will be notified that the check was a forgery. This leaves the seller out of thousands of dollars that they naively wired directly to the cashiers check scams operator and possibly without a vehicle, if it was already shipped overseas.

Avoiding Cashiers Check Scams

If you’re selling a big ticket item online, protect yourself from cashiers check scams by screening your buyers. Ask for a credit check or payment in cash, it’s the most effective way to avoid cashiers check scams. A cashier check scam will often typically give you an iffy feeling. Listen to that iffy feeling; it will save you from being taken by a cashier check scam. Don’t participate in anything that even remotely appears to be a cashier check scam. If the buyer wants to pay his friend his debt, let him send his own damn check!

          

Ponzi Scheme Defined

With rich man Madoff being all over the news lately, many have been asking “what is a Ponzi Scheme “. A Ponzi scheme involves using new investors’ money to pay off promised money to the older investors (or the first investors). Usually done with investments that go bad when dividends and payouts are promised, are not made and are still paid.

So if I want to start a Ponzi Scheme up I would start by finding an investor, let’s call him Scammee. So I would get Scammee really interested in  investing money into something that sounds promising, lets say they are dingle berries. If the investment goes well, then Scammee can get the money that was expected. Unfortunately, I had to guarantee such high payouts on my dingle berry investment that hitting my mark is going to be impossible.  This doesn’t bother me since I had the intention of spending the money on myself anyway. So I tell Scammee how my dingle berries are really doing well and pay him out. Too bad I am using his invested money to do so.

So over time, Scammee is getting paid and still thinks he has his original money invested and would be able to get it back once he sells his shares of dingle berries.  This is where a Ponzi Scam gets interesting. Either through the happiness of Scammee or me  being able to brag about his payouts, I attract new investors. Now I have picked up two new people interested in my dingle berries, Scammed and Frauded. Since I am almost out of money from Scammee and my luxurious spending habits on wine and arugula, I have to use the money from Scammed and Frauded to now pay off Scammee. This goes on and on until I either catch a plane and escape with my dingle berries intact never to be seen again, or the market tanks, everyone wants their money back and finds out how my dingle berries are a big sham.

          

We are trying to make the world a little safer from all those scammers out there trying to get our cash in underhanded, fraudulent and scammy ways. We will try and list all the scams here but if you have any scams you would like to let us know about then please write a post or comment and add to already written posts.