Archive for the 'Scam' Tag
FTC Shuts Down Fake News Sites Selling Acai Berries
FTC: Six online marketers agreed to settlements with the Federal Trade Commission that will permanently halt their allegedly deceptive practice of using fake news websites to market acai berry supplements and other weight-loss products. As part of its ongoing crackdown on bogus health claims, the proposed settlements will require that the six operations make clear [...]
A snake oil salesman is someone who sells something phony — typically a medicine that promises to cure all that ills you. Funny enough, though, the original snake oil actually worked! In the 1860s, when Chinese laborers were building the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States, they brought with them a ointment made from Chinese [...]
Fake Amazon Receipts Targeting Online Merchants
PC Mag is reporting that researchers at GFI Software, formerly Sunbelt Software, have uncovered a scam that generates fake Amazon.com receipts in order to dupe merchants into paying unwarranted refunds. The online tool asks for the details of the fake transaction to enter in the fake receipt, and then generates an HTML file containing the [...]
Don’t Get Taken By This Invention Scam
Victor Baca thought he had an invention that would make him rich… but ended up calling KUSI’s Michael Turko with a real problem. Turko says the man spent big bucks trying to turn his dream into reality, but ended up with next to nothing to show for it.
Colorado Warns Bizs Of Theft Scam
Colorado’s Secretary of State and other officials are warning the state’s 800,000 or so registered businesses to watch out for scammers who have been forging business identities to make fraudulent purchases from several big-box retailers in recent months, reports PC World. The corporate identity thefts itself were possible because of what appears to have been [...]
Is putting a sandwich in a can and calling it a “Candwich” the next can’t-miss billion-dollar idea? According to The New York Times, even if it is, investors in Utah who put $145 million in the hands of a money manager named Travis L. Wright will still have thinner wallets. A lawsuit by the federal [...]
Work At Home Scams Popping Up On Twitter
With thousands of people out of a job right now work at home schemes are popping up all over the internet, Vegas’ 13 Action News reports. The latest one involves Twitter. Scammers are using the pitch that you can make money by sending emails or posting links on Twitter or by placing ads on Google [...]
Scammer ingenuity knows no bounds. In 2010, as in years past, more criminals are taking the trouble to craft schemes, fudge websites, and get rich off the tight economy and the consumer desperation that goes along with it. WalletPop presents a list of the top ten scams to look out for. “Free trial” scams Deceptive [...]
Scams So Rampant on Facebook, Top Exec Falls For One
Lies, fake news about Facebook and outright scams have grown more common on the giant social network than weeds in a Farmville player’s fields. ReadWriteWeb reports that now the problem has reached the very top of the organization, with one of only four members of Facebook’s hyper-exclusive Board of Directors apparently handing his account credentials [...]
Google Sues Work-At-Home Scammers
CNNMoney reports Google filed a lawsuit against Pacific WebWorks and other unnamed defendants for allegedly using the company’s name and colorful logo to promote fraudulent work-at-home money-making schemes. Thousands of people have been tricked into sending payment information and being charged hidden fees by questionable operations,” Google said in a blog post. The search engine [...]
What To Watch For With Work From Home Scams
photo credit: pena2 With the holiday season approaching, there are many people looking into work from home jobs to make a little extra spending money for the holidays. The problem is that the true work from home jobs can be very hard to find through all the scams and hustles that are going around. Look [...]
Which Trolls Are Lurking Under Your Business Bridges?
photo credit: Roshan V Just like in the fairy tale movies created by Disney, businesses also contain trolls that lurk under your bridges to other business adventures. These trolls can be seemingly harmless provided you don’t fall into their trap. However, if you slip and fall right into their hands, these trolls can prove to [...]
Inventor’s Digest: Inventor Web sites are a way to get good information. The trick here is to be sure you have found a trustworthy site. The invention scammers often have slick, professional Web sites that lure unsuspecting novice inventors in with offers of free “invention kits.” This is information that is free on the USPTO [...]
Do The Yellow Pages Really Benefit You?
photo credit: How can I recycle this I recently came across an article posted on Small Biz Survival suggesting that the yellow pages really don’t serve as much of a purpose for small businesses as they used to. The days of people relying on the yellow pages to find a company or service are coming to [...]
Work At Home And Make Big Money?
The New York Times: Most of us think we’re far too savvy to be taken in by some advertisement promoting a work-at-home opportunity that promises great income with minimal work. That’s for those rubes who also fall prey to Nigerian e-mail messages promising untold riches or who believe that a pill a day will melt [...]
A reader wrote: Good afternoon, Are you able to tell if these two websites below are online home business scams? It sounds too good to be true. I am skeptical about these three websites. www.dailyjobstribune.com/jobs/?t202id=12539&t202kw=work%20at%20home dailytribunes.com/finance/?c1=12&c2=72&c3=132&c4=0 rs971.speedypaycheck.com/?pubid=23829 Thank you in advance! Right now I don’t have a job. Currently, I am looking for an online [...]
Scams That Target People Looking For Work
WOAI.com: Laura Garcia found an ad on CraigsList for house cleaning. The posting offered $25 an hour. “We do get some jobs for our construction company off of it, so I go to it everyday,” explained Garcia. But she immediately became suspicious when the man offering the job wanted to pay her in advance. He [...]
Beware Of Telephone Relay Fraud
Star News: The Better Business Bureau warns small business owners that reports of scammers plying their trade through telephone relay services — typically used by the hearing impaired to make phone calls — are cropping up all across the country. BBB has received reports from many types of businesses that received suspicious orders through TTY [...]
CNNMoney: Tough economic times make fertile breeding ground for scammers and this recession is no different. Since the $787 billion stimulus bill became law in February, dozens of websites have popped up offering advice for a fee on how to get government grants on everything from small business initiatives to paying off student loan debt. [...]
Scam Artists Already Using Stimulus Plan As Bait
The Boston Globe: Some people just can’t help themselves when they see an opportunity to make money off those who can least afford it. When times are tough, people tend to be a bit more vulnerable when someone is dangling the idea of free money in front of them. Scammers being who they are – [...]
Consumers Complain About Work-At-Home Scam
St. Louis Business Journal: Consumers say they were misled by a Maryland Heights company, American Publications, that advertises an opportunity for people to work from home, the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois said. Spasser and American Publications advertise in Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and Parenting magazines. The BBB said it [...]
NBCPhiladelphia.com: Stacey Pace runs a small florist in New Castle, Delaware. So small that her office is her kitchen and she works from a laptop. “I got this e-mail directly to my business e-mail address from a John Larry inquiring about Eureka Tents,” Pace told NBC 10. She returned the e-mail explaining she is a [...]
Wallet Pop: 1. Phishing scams related to the financial crisis According to the Federal Trade Commission, there is a new round of email scams out there that are tied to the financial crisis. Many of these emails “phish” for personal information — your Social Security number, account numbers, passwords, etc. The scammer then uses that [...]
Watch Out For These Home-Biz Scams
Forbes: For two years, Eric Louie and brother Calvin pulled the virtual wool over scores of very real eyes. The duo ran several Web sites that sold access to companies looking to farm out scut work–say “data entry,” typing three or four lines of text into an electronic form, over and over again, to fulfill [...]
Is That Biz Legitimate or a Scam?
BusinessWeek: The Internet is littered with offers for home-based business opportunities that promise big profits for easy work. But many of these offers, which range from envelope stuffing to medical billing, are really scams that prey on people’s aspirations to work for themselves. Business opportunities share three characteristics: a solicitation to the buyer, a mandatory [...]
FTC Hammers Invention Promoters With $10M Settlement
NetworkWorld: The owners of an invention promotion operation that charged up to $12,000 to evaluate and promote consumers’ inventions agreed today to pay $10 million in consumer redress to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceived consumers across the country. The defendants — Davison Design and Development and Manufacturer’s Support Services — enticed consumers [...]
Be Wary Of Online Work-At-Home Offers
Taylor Daily Press: How would you like to earn $600 a week while working part-time in the comfort of your own home? Sound too good to be true? Internet employment sites now feature lots of postings for “virtual assistants” (home-based staff) but some of these offers aren’t legit. The virtual assistant industry is now being [...]
WCPO.com: 9 News viewers ask me every day about “work-at-home” jobs. Many of us would like to make a little extra money in our spare time. But how do you find a legitimate job? Unfortunately, if you’ve tried finding work online, you know that most work-at-home jobs advertised online are bogus. But there’s a website [...]
Finding Legitimate Work At Home Opportunities
WiseBread: When you search for work at home opportunities on the internet, oftentimes you will find sites pitching programs that could make you thousands of dollars a week. Usually these programs are scams designed to take your money. So how do you go about finding legitimate work at home jobs that pay you for your [...]
smallbiztechnology.com: There is a scam that’s perpetrating to be a legitimate email from the Internal Revenue Service. Computer Associates, CA’s Brian Grayek provides these tips for a safe 2008 tax season: 1. Don’t click on links sent by the “IRS” or a tax preparation firm. The IRS does not initiate contact electronically. 2. Don’t respond [...]
Wedding Sleuths Find Their Niche
The Washington Post: Like a lot of young Indian couples, they met on a matrimonial Web site and within a matter of weeks were picking out the wedding invitations, reserving the horse-drawn carriages and having the bride fitted for a pearl- and gold-encrusted sari. Judging by his online profile, the groom was suitable and eager [...]
Why Invention Submission Companies Are Still Around
InventorSpot: Dr. Natalie L. Petouhoff teaches in Pepperdine’s business school, coaches inventors and is the author of the upcoming book: Smart Inventors Finish Rich: Ten Steps to Reaching the American Dream. She wanted to share some important information about the inventing process with the readers of InventorSpot.com. Here’s an excerpt of her article: “Why Invention [...]
Illinoishomepage.net: Work at Home” ads are everywhere in print and online. If you’ve been tempted to answer one, you’ll want to do plenty of research before signing up or more importantly paying up. Jessica Tharp of Better Business Bureau says, “The BBB gets several calls on work at home schemes, everyday, all over the United [...]
IDG News Service: Web scammers are turning to online property forums to collect personal information about users for later attempts to swindle them out of money, according to a security researcher. Renters and buyers often post phone numbers, instant messenger nicknames and e-mail addresses on forums along with specific descriptions of the kind of property [...]
Test Your Knowledge of Online Scams
Associated Press: Think you’re smart at recognizing online scams? Take a quiz to find out. McAfee Inc.’s SiteAdvisor service has created a 10-question test to see whether you can spot “phishing” attempts to steal passwords and other personal information by mimicking popular Web sites such as eBay Inc.’s PayPal and News Corp.’s MySpace. In eight [...]
Stay at Home Moms Targeted by Online Thieves
WTSP-TV: Donna Gonzalez wants to work at home for the sake of her daughter Leah. She recently posted her resume on websites like CareerBuilder.Com and quickly got a reply, “They just need people who already had bank accounts set up, so we could cash the checks for them.” According to Donna, a company called Global [...]
