By Michael Toay
“There is nothing new under the sun,” Ecclesiastes tells us. The Better Business Bureau agrees.
They maintain a List of Top 10 Scams, age-old schemes repackaged for the 21st Century. In our on-going series, described below are two more of the most recent twists our human nature has put on the old vices of deceit, theft and greed. Buyer beware.
Much of what follows was gleaned from: www.mbc.bbb.org/top-ten-scams and http://mbc.bbb.org/article/top-ten-scams-2013-%E2%80%93-just-in-case-a-scam-is-around-the-corner-39600
1. Twisted Text Prizes
Like many people, you receive text messages every day. But this one is special. It informs you that you’ve won a major retailer’s gift card. All you have to do is go to a website and enter a PIN to claim the card. After entering the PIN and an email address, you’re taken to a form and asked to fill in your name, cell phone number, mailing address and also asked to answer unrelated personal questions, like “Are you interested in going back to school?” or “Are you diabetic?” and “Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?”
When you (finally) reach the web page to ‘claim your gift card’, you instead find yourself directed to another site to apply for a credit card. In the end, you never receive a gift card ir a credit card, and you’ve given out personal information.
So, how to deal with these twisted texters who have nothing better to do with their time than try to con you into giving away more of your private info?
First, verify your particular text message is real. Be sure it’s directing you to a real deal web address and not just a seemingly similar website name.
Second, ignore instructions to text “STOP” or “NO” to prevent future texts. This is a common ploy by scammers to confirm they have a real, active phone number. Yes, ignoring them is difficult because in today’s society “a ringing phone must be answered”, and of course every text must be responded to. Ignore it just the same.
That said, ignoring is not the same as doing nothing. Forward the suspect texts to 7726 (SPAM on most keypads). This will alert your cell phone carrier to block future texts from those numbers.
2. Pretender Invoices
Scammers send an invoice or bill requesting payment for goods or services. The invoices may say the bill is “Past Due” and threaten that non-payment will affect the your credit rating. The invoices are fake and are for goods or services you never ordered or never received. For example, you might be sent an invoice for a domain name that is very similar to your current domain name, or for some office supplies of some kind, or even a book ordered online- something you’re likely to forget or miss, or something not easy to track. The scammer hopes you don’t notice and pay the invoice.
The solution?
Make sure all employees paying your company’s invoices check that a legitimate purchase order has been created before they pay any invoice. Report any bogus invoice schemes to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at antifraudcentre.ca.