Consumer Blog
Financial scams in a bad economy
We expect to see the scam artists crank up their efforts to take advantage of people who may be in financial need due to the current economic problems. Three scams to watch for in this climate:
- Phishing scams - these are ever-popular, but with consumers nervous about their bank accounts and investments and the safety of both, the crooks may try to cash in on that. For example, you've been hearing news for months about the down market on Wall Street. Then you get an e-mail that claims to be from your investment house saying there's a problem with your account. That may get your attention. So remember, rule #1 of identity theft is never give out your personal information to anyone who contacts you.
- Work-at-home scams - with consumers feeling a financial pinch, they may look to make extra money while working from home. Check out the tips from our consumer encyclopedia on this topic. There are plenty of good ways to make money from home, but there are also scams.
First red flag is unsolicited contact. To get a good work-at-home opportunity, you need to go out and find it. Any contact that comes to you, by phone or e-mail, is probably a scam.
Second red flag is a request for money up front for processing fees, etc. You should never pay to get a job. Remember, they're supposed to pay you. - "Rescue" scams - this could be credit repair, foreclosure rescue or some other apparent service that will get you out of a jam. Remember that no one can remove negative information from your credit report if it's accurate. Only time and good discipline will improve your credit score. And we've seen plenty of cases of foreclosure rescue scams, including the lawsuits we brought in Operation Stealing Home.
If you're looking to hire a company to help you solve a problem, first check them out for consumer complaints using our KnowMO feature.
Technorati Tags: credit repair, foreclosure rescue, phishing, scams, solicitation, work from home scams, economy scams, moagoconsumer, consumer protection
Posted by on December 22, 2008 5:38 pm :: Comments (10) :: Permalink
10 Responses to "Financial scams in a bad economy"
says:
January 28, 2009 11:52 am
One of the biggest scams are the Indian scams with the Southern Cherokee as one of the biggest. There were 22 signed coumplaints filed to MO Attorney General Jay Nixon against a group operating out of Newburg, MO, persons that resigned from the Southern Cherokee here in OK. You can go to www.southerncherokeeok.com to Historical Documents found on the History link and see the Bureau of Ethnology and the 1866 treaty. To be enrolled in this con will not give you any connection to the true Southern Cherokee-all you will receive is a loss of your money.
says:
February 2, 2009 2:27 pm
Do you have any information on First Universal Lending in Palm Beach Gardens FL?
says:
February 3, 2009 10:28 am
To Barbara:
You can check our KnowMO feature to see if there have been complaints against a company.
says:
February 3, 2009 5:22 pm
Tues. Feb.3, 2009 4:24 p.m. I received a text message that stated there was unsual activity please verify account. It gave me a web site to visit. www.onlinencua.com. when I loged on to this web site it asked for atm bank card number, expiration date, atm pin code ect. This is a obivious scam. My wireless phone carrier is sprint which I have reported it to. Please advise !!!
says:
February 5, 2009 9:54 pm
I have also received an urgent alert via text message on my cell phone. The message says it is from 1stfinancialfcu.net and says that there has been usual activity on my account and to contact them through their website. I have not verified that this is a valid website, as I assumed it was a scam.
says:
February 10, 2009 12:57 pm
I keep receiving this e-mail is it spam and what should i do? --- On Mon, 2/9/09, Mark, David .Dr wrote: From: Mark, David .Dr Subject: OFFICIAL MAIL (CONFIDENTIAL) To: Date: Monday, February 9, 2009, 2:07 PM OFFICE OF THE SENATE HOUSE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN PAYMENT (RESOLUTION PANEL ON CONTRACT PAYMENT) IKOYI-LAGOS NIGERIA Our Ref: FGN /SNT/STB This is to officially inform you that (ATM Card Number 5951390123652671) has been accredited in your favor. Your Personal Identification Number is 822.The ATM Card Value is $6.8MILLION USD. You are advised to contact our Secretary for delivery as soon as possible with your informations below: Mrs. NATASHA REGAN Email: regan.natasha@gmail.com FILL YOUR INFORMATION BELOW: FULL NAME: DELIVERY ADDRESS: PHONE NUMBER: COUNTRY: SEX: AGE: KINDEST REGARDS, (DR.).DAVID MARK CHAIRMAN.
says:
February 10, 2009 3:06 pm
To Wayne:
Yes, this is spam and you can submit it to the FBI at this link.
says:
March 13, 2009 3:05 pm
We keep getting calls from a brokerage firm wanting us to invest with them. The latest call was to invest in the silver market. Is this unusual to get calls from a brokerage firm that you did not initially contact?
says:
March 16, 2009 10:27 am
To Marsha:
It is not unheard of. We discourage consumers from doing business with strangers such as these. Also, they should not be calling you if you're on the No Call list.
says:
March 29, 2009 5:28 pm
Like Sherri above, I recieved a text message from 877-823-0477@1stfinancialfcu.org. They wanted me to call them immediately at 877-823-0477. Verification needed on your atm/debit card. I obviously did not do this. Sounds like a scam to me let me know for sure. Thank you.
