It’s not what it sounds like. Actually, it’s exactly what it sounds like if you were thinking in literal terms. Now,this may sound like a seriously silly scam, but a few have fallen for it and awareness is key. It’s called the “Black money scam”. The fraudsters show their victims this case of $100 bills that are colored black and in stacks. The person is then told that this cash is dyed black so that it can escape the eyes of customs authorities.

They are then told that in order to turn the money into using cash yet again, a expensive solution is required. The scammer will happily sell the solution to the victim for a bargain $100,000 or something. It’s a small price to pay for getting your hands on millions.

Here’s the back end of the scam: The bills are real $100 bills, but they are just stacked upon black construction paper and they have not been dyed, but rather they are coated in Elmer’s glue and iodine. The secret solution in the “black money scam” is just water and crushed vitamins. You don’t really need the vitamins to dissolve the glue and iodine, but they add a nice “this is a real solution” quality to it.

No tags

You did not read that wrong. Yet another scam. So yeah, there are now scams running which prey on our basic instinct: feeding. This alert is for all, but more targeted at those in the central Florida area. A native to that area, I feel a firm obligation to give this scam an alert; just in time for summer vacation.

There are bogus flyers being left on cars and distributed in the Orlando area for bogus pizza places. The idea is that tourists don’t know any better and thus, the criminals can obtain their credit card numbers. What’s worse is that these scams are now gaining popularity and are essentially running unchecked.

This is the breakdown:

The tourists/travelers get to their hotels to jovially find flyers for pizza on their cars and under their doors. The helpful person who answers to take the order gets the customer’s credit, or worse, debit card numbers and then they politely let the customer know their pizza pie will be delivered to their room shortly. Your credit or debit card number is immediately tossed around the world to purchase things as part of a criminal ring.

A ban of the use of flyers was considered by the Florida legislature, but it was realized this would have a severely negative impact on the state’s free market. So now there is a reporter who was in Orlando and came across the scam. Even though the reporter is from Detroit’s WXYZ-TV, he followed up on the scam while he was in town.

What’s the fix?

While you are traveling, and when you get what looks like a excellent promo flyer, take a few seconds to call the front desk and ask if the flyers are legit. Google search the name of the company. If you are really skeptical now that you have read about this, try just asking the front desk for recommendations for legit restaurants.

No tags

So for those who didn’t hear, Facebook recently teamed up with skype to offer video calling. Zuckerberg called the new feature “awesome” and offered it up to the 750 million users. Paul Ducklin had already alluded to the possibility of new scams and new threats in a post in the middle of week. Well, in the days following the release, such was the case. Facebook users were first duped by the spread of an app which pretended to be the “Video Calling” feature. By playing off the publicity for the new feature, this app was able to spam Facebook friends with the same thing that found its way to you. The idea is that the pyramid generates referral fees for the fraudsters asking you and whoever you inadvertently spammed to fill out a ubiquitous line of surveys.

This could just be the beginning. I mean, this type of spam-scam isn’t new to the world of Facebook. Whether we see the emergence of fake “Support Calls” or some good old “Stranded in Brazil/Spain/Austrailia/etc.” scams with a goodwill price tag on the end will all be played out in time. The fact is that it is a whole new way to target victims.

For now, just make sure to avoid clicking on the “Enable video calls.” posts and be sure to send your friend who sent it a message, making them aware of the issue.

No tags

State and federal aid is more limited than ever. The post-secondary educational system has been hit hard by the continued economic strife. Students are not being given the same amounts, or even opportunities to receive, financial aid.

*In this bloggers opinion, this is ironic, given that a larger educated, skilled, and experienced workforce would assists in turning things around. A hefty group of those unemployed are nothing more than those who refuse to keep up with the times by re-educating themselves in a more marketable skill set.

In any case, alarms and eyebrows were eventually raised when Solomon Hobbs Junior, age 48, developed a scheme to obtain $37,395 through fraudulent financial aid applications.

Here is the breakdown:

• $4,885-University of Texas at Tyler
• $5,905-UT El Paso
• $5,305-UT Arlington
• $8,112-Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls
• $6,615-Texas State University in San Marcos

These amounts were spread out over a period of 4 years. According to the indictment, Hobbes used the information (SSN included) of another man to be awarded another $6,615 to attend UT El Paso.

Hobbes was not investigated until the man whose information complained to UTEP, after finding out about the financial aid he never applied for when applying for a mortgage. Hobbes is now facing federal charges of wire fraud, student assistance program fraud, and identity theft for allegedly taking tens of thousands of dollars in federal student aid.

No tags

Not all of us have had the privilege of experiencing a ebay deal gone bad or have been taken for a “iPhone 4”. I’ve been often asked to write a bit about making sure you all don’t get stuck with a counterfeit item from shopping the web. Here are some tips for avoid getting taken advantage of on the web:

It’s a good idea not to ever buy an item that you learn about by way of a bulk/junk email, otherwise known as “spam” (aka “the devil’s courier”, “electronic toilet paper”, or “that thing that wastes the first 20 minutes of your day”). If you do hear about it from there, you can still go pop it into the search engine and see what rises to the top. You’ll probably be met with “Do Not ORDER”s and “SCAM ALERT”s. You probably won’t get the deal promised and a good portion of the time you won’t even get the item. The skinny? If it’s spam, it’s scam.

Moving along… It’s also a good idea to always use a credit cards to purchase online. NOT DEBIT CARDS! This protects you. There are already enough credit card scams to worry about. No need to get your debit account involved too. Your maximum exposure is $50 using a credit card. Low risk all things considered.

When buying from reputable online auction site (ebay, Amazon, etc.), always check out the references on the particular seller. Buy only from sellers who have good references. And take advantage of online auction guarantees, such as those offered by Amazon.

Anonymous: picture a guy in an alley with a hoodie covering his face and his merch is spread out on a cardboard box. You wouldn’t conduct business with them in real life. Don’t do it online either. Get the person’s real name, business name (if applicable), address, and phone number. Verify this before buying. And don’t send your payment to a PO box. Ever.

Be more cautious if the seller uses a free email service, like as hotmail, yahoo, etc. Of course, most people who use these free services are honest. However, problems can occur when a free service is used. It’s easier to keep to the shadows with one of these email hosts as well.

Save copies of everything. Paper evidence is your best friend when dealing with the 3^rd party company. It will document any issues or problems and illuminates the he-said-she-said. If the merchant host site has a messaging feature, this is preferable, since all correspondence will be on their own server.

Above all, use common sense and trust your intuition. If you don’t feel right about a situation, don’t buy it. You’re very likely right that it is counterfeit.

No tags

Do You Know Where Your Signal & Data Go?

For starters, no one is more thrilled about WiFi, cloud computing, smartphones or any form of wireless tech than I. But do you know where that little signal goes when you update your Facebook status from your iPhone 4 in the Starbucks on 3^rd and Cherry? Fact of the matter is: I didn’t either. So I did some searching. What I found made me seriously uncomfortable.

Dan Wallach and his undergraduate security class were able to listen in on his Android smartphone as it sent out the signals required to perform certain processes. In particular, the focused on Facebook, Google, and twitter. The used Wireshark, a “network protocol analyzer”, which basically means it grabs traffic midstream and lets the user “browse and analyze”.

What these kids found out is that certain apps, like Soundhound and ShopSaavy actually transmitted the phones GPS coordinates when they were used to make a request. Clicking on some ads within apps will do the same thing too. The VPN configs Android will let you do won’t stop the transmission of these coordinates either. Eerie right? It gets worse.

Google did the best job encrypting your traffic. Still, it doesn’t do it for your Google Calender. This means an eavesdropper can definitely see all your calendar transactions.

So where are you social media outlets at? Well:

“Twitter does everything in the clear, but then your tweets generally go out for all the world to see, so there isn’t really a privacy concern. Twitter uses OAuth signatures, which appear to make it difficult for a third party to create forged tweets.”

and

“Facebook does everything in the clear, much like Twitter. My Facebook account’s web settings specify full-time encrypted traffic, but this apparently isn’t honored or supported by Facebook’s Android app. Facebook isn’t doing anything like OAuth signatures, so it may be possible to inject bogus posts as well. Also notable: one of the requests we saw going from my phone to the Facebook server included an SQL statement within. Could Facebook’s server have a SQL injection vulnerability? Maybe it was just FQL, which is ostensibly safe.”

No tags

It’s getting to be a real mess out there for jobseekers. The economy is drowning in a sea of uncertainty. Everyone is unsure and thus, the spiral continues. Big corporations are worried about markets, pending tax laws, and government intervention. So they are hoarding assets and screwing with liquidity. They are also making cutbacks in staff. I guess it’s cheaper to pay one guy with overtime than two salaries.

Now we have got small business owners picking up the slack with taxes too. Small business owners might not be taking home $250,000 after expenses, but if we stay on the same track they will soon be taxed like it. Knowing this, would that make you go out and hire on a few new workers?

So everyone is scared because the things being proposed to fix the problems do nothing to fix the instability today. And so, the uncertainty continues and the job creation stands at a halt. Some of you are undoubtedly saying “Wait, you forget about the jobs Obama just made! And the stimulus package!”

Amen I say to you, I have not. First, we will tackle the “long-term job program” our President talked about Monday. Roads, highways, rails, and the jobs that go with them? Sounds like déjà first off. Obama promised this while running for office. When in debt…excuse me, doubt, spend more. The stimulus package was supposed to be a quick fix, targeting the immediate creation of jobs. Where is that $787 billion in stimulus money the government approved last year at now?

This transportation thing is just silly. First off, back in August, 42% of all unemployed persons were going on over 27 weeks of not having a job. We have 6.2 Million unemployed, and 554,000 new claims. What stimulus are we talking about? This transportation thing will make jobs building stuff we don’t need or don’t use. Trains?! Seriously. Trains.

With Congress nearing enactment of a bankruptcy reform bill, a long overdue bankruptcy comes to mind: Amtrak. That’s right. Despite receiving $29 billion in federal subsidies over its troubled existence, Amtrak is a private corporation and, as such, is subject to the nation’s bankruptcy laws. And like any other private business that hemorrhages money year after year, it is time for Amtrak to declare bankruptcy and get itself reorganized for a better future.^[1]

Fix the roads. Thanks. That’s groovy. People get paid and we get shocks and tires that last a few months longer. But new roads? Has anyone been carpooling along recently (gas is expensive) and think ‘Gee, I wish there were a six lane superhighway right there.’ If that isn’t enough, these jobs in Obama’s long-term plan will be gone in 5 years! How many roads and railtracks does one country not producing much of its goods need?

No we got all these people looking for jobs. Desprate, they are willing to do anything to provide for their families. They get painted with targets; hunted by others who see their vigor to obtain gainful employment as a way for they themselves to make money. The whole country is going to Hades and we are preying on each other? This is just sad.

So, I am going on the offensive. Everyone I know who is unemployed is getting this link. Despite my passionate political views, I still have faith in our government. Having said that these rules the FTC laid out about job scammers are of note: http://www.ftc.gov/jobscams. Spread awareness. Learn to spot them too, even if you are not unemployed. You might try to be helpful to a friend or family member by forwarding them an email you got promising employment, but instead get them into a bad situation. Job scams can if fact be spotted. The “Six Signs It’s A Job Scam” page of CNN Living will help you to learn how.

Cited Sources

1)      http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2005/03/amtrak-bankruptcy-its-time

No tags

It is way easier to nab the 16 digits and corresponding information from your credit card than you ever thought.  You and millions of other Americans give their plastic to strangers several times a day. Bartenders, servers, hotel clerks, cab drivers, coffee shop baristas, or even movie theater ticket counter personnel can grab your info.

The device is called a skimmer. The credit card skimmer takes seconds to us, and what’s worse, you almost never know it happened. The handheld models are responsible for this type of identity theft. The best way to avoid becoming a victim is to use cash when these transactions arise. Do not let your card out of your sight and be able to identify a skimmer.

Authorities are not taking this lightly, but you should also abandon the routines that making yourself vulnerable. Last month an employee of the Cheesecake Factory was arrested and pled guilty to the charge of committing bank fraud and for her involvement in a card-skimming scheme in Washington state. Nicole Ward now faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

Handheld skimmers are not the only threat. ATMs and Red Box units have been recently rigged with scanners/skimmers which are placed on the machine in hopes of getting accidental use. In some cases, they are just placed on or by the real card reader. A person swipes their card, nothing happens, and so they try the other slot. The damage has already been done. Other times they are placed directly over the real slot, so it both steals your info and still allows your card to be read by the real ATM on the backside.

It’s not an urban legend. It really happens. Some may even use wireless hacks. Snopes.com breaks the scam down here.

Best way to not become a victim? Be aware of your surroundings at the ATM. Don’t use it if it looks different that prior visits. Go inside at the bank and use banks where the teller scanner is on your side of the counter. Finally, use cash when possible and never let your card out of your sight. Also, keep your savings and debit accounts separate. Transfer funds on an as-needed  basis.

No tags

Work from Home Scam
SCENARIO: A victim answers an online email or newspaper ad or posts their resume on a popular Internet website and is then awarded a job title called something like “Payment Processing Clerk” or “Accounts Receivable Clerk.” The job description includes receiving checks on behalf of the company, depositing the checks into the victim’s personal bank account, and wiring the monies when the funds are posted to the account. The victim is instructed to keep 5% to 10% of the value of the checks as their “salary.” The victim deposits the checks and sends the money to the employer via wire or Western Union when the funds are available and posted to their bank account.

SCAM: The “employer” was a fraudster and the checks or money orders that were deposited are counterfeits. They are frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so they seem legitimate, but they are not.

Internet Auction/Overpayment Scheme
SCENARIO: The victim sells or auctions goods (usually high-priced items) via the Internet. The buyer sends the victim a check or money order for more than the purchase price and asks the victim to wire the excess money to a third party, often in a foreign country. The victim is informed that the excess money will be used as payment for the shipper who has been hired to pick up and ship the merchandise on the buyer’s behalf.

SCAM: The “buyer” and “shipper” were fraudsters. The check or money order that the buyer has used to purchase the goods is returned as counterfeit or stolen, and the victim has lost the money wired to the shipper. This scheme is often used when selling large items such as automobiles, motorcycles, boats, etc. The check or money order is frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so it seems legitimate, but it is not.

Canadian/Foreign Country Lottery Scam
SCENARIO: The victim receives an email or letter stating that they have an opportunity to receive a substantial sum of money. The letter states that the victim has won the Canadian Lottery (or some other country’s Foreign Lottery). The letter informs the victim that they must pay a processing or transfer tax or fee before receiving the money. A check or money order will be enclosed to cover the required fees, and the victim is instructed to deposit the check into their bank account and wire the money to a third party, usually in a foreign country.

SCAM: The person who contacted the victim about the “Lottery” was a fraudster, and the victim has not won any money. The checks or money orders that were deposited are counterfeits. They are frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so they seem legitimate, but they are not.

Foreign Business Offers/Advance Fee Scams
SCENARIO: The victim receives an email from a foreign official or businessperson who has a business proposal. The businessperson wants to move a large sum of money from a foreign country and needs assistance. The victim is usually offered 25% to 40% of the proceeds as payment for their trouble. If the victim agrees, they usually receive a large check in the mail. The victim deposits the check into their bank account and the funds are posted to their account. However, the businessperson now needs an advance fee of $30,000 to $40,000 to bribe an official, pay transfer fees or attorney fees, settle taxes, etc. The victim believes the previously deposited check was genuine, so they honor the request and wire funds to the businessperson.

SCAM: The “official” or “businessperson” was a fraudster, and the checks or money orders that were deposited are counterfeits. They are frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so they seem legitimate, but they are not.

Romantic Chat Room/Love Losses/Russian Bride Scheme
SCENARIO: The victim has been in an ongoing Internet relationship and is informed that funds are needed to pay for travel expenses for their Internet mate to travel to the United States and begin their life together. The victim soon receives checks or money orders and is instructed to deposit the checks or money orders into their bank account, then to transfer a portion of the funds, via a wire service, to cover their Internet mate’s expenses. The funds are posted to the account and the money is wired.

SCAM: The “Internet mate” was a fraudster, and the checks or money orders that were deposited are counterfeits. They are frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so they seem legitimate, but they are not.

Roommate/Rental Schemes
SCENARIO: The victim posts an on-line or newspaper ad looking for a roommate or to sublet an apartment, condo, house, etc. The victim enters into an agreement with a new roommate and receives a check covering the first and last month’s rent, utilities, security deposit, etc. Shortly after the check or money order is deposited by the victim, the new roommate contacts the victim with a tragic personal tale and informs them they will not be able to rent the property. They are requesting a refund of a portion of the money they sent, minus a fee for the victim’s time and trouble. The money is wired back to the fraudster.

SCAM: The “new roommate” was a fraudster, and the checks or money orders that were deposited are counterfeits. They are frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so they seem legitimate, but they are not.

Nanny Scams
SCENARIO: A wealthy family registers at a nanny-matching website looking for a nanny. They are willing to pay an excellent wage in exchange for child-care duties, and to attract a prospective nanny, they are willing to advance a generous amount of money in the form of a check or money order. The victim signs up, but then the wealthy family immediately says that they mistakenly sent too much money and requests that the remaining balance of the advance be returned via Western Union or other electronic means. The victim sends the requested money back.

SCAM: The “wealthy family” was a fraudster. The key here is, because the fraudsters ask for the money back immediately, the original payment hasn’t cleared the bank yet. The checks or money orders that were deposited are counterfeits. They are frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so they seem legitimate, but they are not.

Inheritance Scam
SCENARIO: The victim receives notification from an authoritative source such as a law firm, an executor of a will, or a barrister, notifying the victim of an inheritance from a long-lost relative or friend. The official has the victim provide their bank account number for funds to be deposited into their account, on the agreement that a fee must be made. The official may then do 1 of 2 things:

1. Tell the victim how much the fee is and request that it be sent via Western Union or other electronic means. The victim sends the requested fee.

2. Send the victim their inheritance as a check or money order, but then immediately say that they mistakenly sent too much money and request that the remaining balance of the advance be returned via Western Union or other electronic means. The consumer sends the requested money back.

SCAM: 1. The “lawyer” is a fraudster who cannot help with any inheritance. The fraudster keeps the fee that the consumer has sent.

2. The key here is, because the fraudsters ask for the money back immediately, the original payment hasn’t cleared the bank yet. The checks or money orders that were deposited are counterfeits. They are frequently drawn off well-known businesses or US Postal Money Orders, so they seem legitimate, but they are not.

Charity Scam
SCENARIO: The victim wants to help charities such as those for the victims of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Sumatran Tsunami, so they sign up online to help out. Through a series of emails, the victim is hired to be the “middleman” or “broker” to receive donations into a new bank account they are told to open. The job description includes receiving checks, depositing the checks into their newly opened bank account, and wiring the monies when the funds are posted to the account. The victim is instructed to keep a certain percentage of the value of the checks as their “salary.” The victim deposits the checks and sends the money via wire or Western Union to the charity when the funds are available and posted to their bank account.

SCAM: The “charity” was fraudulent. And the funds sent to the newly opened bank account and then on to the charity belong to fraud victims’ from other banks, who may have had their identities stolen or responded to a phishing email on the Internet. The victim not only has received and kept fraudulent funds, but has also forwarded a portion of those funds on to the fraudster.

*Complements of Bank of America Corp.

No tags