Yesterday I found myself waiting for a prescription in my local CVS. Below the counter at the pharmacy was a magazine
rack with glossy pictures of beautiful celebrities and headlines screaming of this or that going on in their private lives. Tucked away behind the stars and starlets was a supply of the October edition of Consumer Reports. Its headline pronounced “America’s Worst Scams!” While the love life of Tom Cruise may be interesting, I had to know more about the scams!
Scams have been around since Adam and Eve with the serpent and forbidden fruit. The serpent spun a tale too good to be
true and the innocent, naïve humans took the bait. We were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and have had to wear clothes ever since. Now, as then, scammers use the same confidence tactics to convince you to divulge information and the latest high tech tools to separate you from your money, property or identity. The Internet and social media have made this type of theft much easier. According to Consumer Reports, there were more than 1.2 million fraud and identity-theft complaints were logged with the Federal Trade Commission last year – an 800 percent increase over 2000.
In the early ‘80s my apartment was burglarized. They took my beloved Pentax ME Super SLR camera and collection of
lenses, my .22 magnum rifle, a little money and my dirty laundry to carry the loot. They stole my neighbor’s bicycle to make their escape. When I discovered the crime, I felt violated and angry. Someone or ones had entered my home, rummaged through my stuff and stole the most valuable items they could find! Who would do such a thing? I made a police report. The Richmond City police department sent out a car and recorded the serial numbers from the gun. They didn’t look for fingerprints, didn’t talk to the neighbors and told me they would likely never find the thieves.
I was angry. I wanted to find the thugs and have a quiet, private trial. Once I found them guilty as charged, I wanted to
have a quiet, private execution. Really. I must still have some strong feelings on the subject as I advocate firing squads for Internet scammers thirty years later in “Where’s MY Bailout?” (available on Amazon.com for only $5.95).
I suspect most of the handful of people following this blog have been victims of crime whether in person or virtual.
Recently my wife was informed someone tried to purchase a computer from an online credit company “Bill Me Later” which is a division of the online auction site EBay. The scammers didn’t get away with the crime because the credit card company flagged the application as possibly fraudulent. This week one of our FB friends had a credit card number stolen and used overseas.
Consumer Reports quoted Marth Deevy, director of the Financial Fraud Research Center of Stanford University,“Fraud is as high as it’s ever been, because the scam artists are using brand-new channels and technology that didn’t exist 15 years ago.” The Center estimates the direct cost of financial fraud to Americans is between $40 and $50 billion annually. Much of the loss is borne by individuals who can ill afford to lose any money such as the elderly and unemployed who are particular targets of scammers. Not included in the cost estimate is lost time and burden victims have to dispute fraudulent purchases, replace credit cards and deal with the hideous credit bureaus. Also not included is the psychological cost to victims who lose a sense
of security and confidence in a law enforcement system that is supposed to protect them.
In response to the scam epidemic, politicians call the problem a matter of national security and say the government is taking all steps to locate and shut down the fraudsters. The fact is the government is a paper tiger against the tactics used by online crooks. Many are based overseas in Russia, Nigeria, China or the middle east. They can set up accounts in your name and run up charges around the world in a matter of minutes. Heaven forbid they get ahold of your bank or investment account
information and drain your life savings! Once transferred out of the country, the likelihood of finding and prosecuting the perpetrators is almost nil. It took the government a decade to find Bin Laden – the most wanted man in the world. What are the chances limited government resources will be used to find your identity thief? Local authorities are absolutely no help. They can’t even solve local break-ins!
Banks treat the problem as a cost of doing business and can compound the problem if an identity thief has managed to open a
credit account in your name. You must spend countless hours disputing charges and restoring your credit rating with the credit reporting companies.
If the identity and credit fraud problem is indeed a matter of national security, maybe we need to declare war on fraud!
Using the FBI and CIA to identify individuals engaging in various frauds, the military could be employed to take out the targets. The administration is fond of using smart bombs and Predator drones to eliminate individual terrorists (read assassinate), why not expand the use of bombs and drones to financial terrorists? If a dozen or so houses in Nigeria suddenly blew up killing everyone inside, it wouldn’t take long for remaining scammers to get the message that they may be next. What a deterrent that would be!
Make no mistake, with $50 billion being stolen each year and growing fast, this IS a matter of national security. If we lose the ability to earn, save and spend money, our economy will suffer more than it already has in the Great Recession and runs the risk of total collapse. If that is not terrorism, I don’t know what is!
As for America’s worst scams, Consumer Reports lists some old familiar and some new, innovative scams. One in particular involves our own Facebook. We have all received emails from FB friends with a link to a site with “check this out” or just Hey Greg, and a link. More often than not the link is to a scam site interested in your information so it can profit by selling your contacts and information to more scammers. Before you download another FB app, read the fine print. Many give the app creator authority to post on your FB page or contact your friends as if the message was coming from you!
Other scams include upfront fees for future service, fees to remove computer viruses on your computer, low credit card
interest rate offers, and investment seminars ultimately selling annuities, reverse mortgages or other questionable investments. The common advice Consumer Reports has is to protect your personal information from callers or online surveys and if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The full report is available online here:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/10/protect-yourself-from-the-latest-scams/index.htm
As for me, I’m still looking for the punks that broke into my apartment and when I find them I’ll order up a smart bomb to send
them off to be with Adam and Eve.
rack with glossy pictures of beautiful celebrities and headlines screaming of this or that going on in their private lives. Tucked away behind the stars and starlets was a supply of the October edition of Consumer Reports. Its headline pronounced “America’s Worst Scams!” While the love life of Tom Cruise may be interesting, I had to know more about the scams!
Scams have been around since Adam and Eve with the serpent and forbidden fruit. The serpent spun a tale too good to be
true and the innocent, naïve humans took the bait. We were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and have had to wear clothes ever since. Now, as then, scammers use the same confidence tactics to convince you to divulge information and the latest high tech tools to separate you from your money, property or identity. The Internet and social media have made this type of theft much easier. According to Consumer Reports, there were more than 1.2 million fraud and identity-theft complaints were logged with the Federal Trade Commission last year – an 800 percent increase over 2000.
In the early ‘80s my apartment was burglarized. They took my beloved Pentax ME Super SLR camera and collection of
lenses, my .22 magnum rifle, a little money and my dirty laundry to carry the loot. They stole my neighbor’s bicycle to make their escape. When I discovered the crime, I felt violated and angry. Someone or ones had entered my home, rummaged through my stuff and stole the most valuable items they could find! Who would do such a thing? I made a police report. The Richmond City police department sent out a car and recorded the serial numbers from the gun. They didn’t look for fingerprints, didn’t talk to the neighbors and told me they would likely never find the thieves.
I was angry. I wanted to find the thugs and have a quiet, private trial. Once I found them guilty as charged, I wanted to
have a quiet, private execution. Really. I must still have some strong feelings on the subject as I advocate firing squads for Internet scammers thirty years later in “Where’s MY Bailout?” (available on Amazon.com for only $5.95).
I suspect most of the handful of people following this blog have been victims of crime whether in person or virtual.
Recently my wife was informed someone tried to purchase a computer from an online credit company “Bill Me Later” which is a division of the online auction site EBay. The scammers didn’t get away with the crime because the credit card company flagged the application as possibly fraudulent. This week one of our FB friends had a credit card number stolen and used overseas.
Consumer Reports quoted Marth Deevy, director of the Financial Fraud Research Center of Stanford University,“Fraud is as high as it’s ever been, because the scam artists are using brand-new channels and technology that didn’t exist 15 years ago.” The Center estimates the direct cost of financial fraud to Americans is between $40 and $50 billion annually. Much of the loss is borne by individuals who can ill afford to lose any money such as the elderly and unemployed who are particular targets of scammers. Not included in the cost estimate is lost time and burden victims have to dispute fraudulent purchases, replace credit cards and deal with the hideous credit bureaus. Also not included is the psychological cost to victims who lose a sense
of security and confidence in a law enforcement system that is supposed to protect them.
In response to the scam epidemic, politicians call the problem a matter of national security and say the government is taking all steps to locate and shut down the fraudsters. The fact is the government is a paper tiger against the tactics used by online crooks. Many are based overseas in Russia, Nigeria, China or the middle east. They can set up accounts in your name and run up charges around the world in a matter of minutes. Heaven forbid they get ahold of your bank or investment account
information and drain your life savings! Once transferred out of the country, the likelihood of finding and prosecuting the perpetrators is almost nil. It took the government a decade to find Bin Laden – the most wanted man in the world. What are the chances limited government resources will be used to find your identity thief? Local authorities are absolutely no help. They can’t even solve local break-ins!
Banks treat the problem as a cost of doing business and can compound the problem if an identity thief has managed to open a
credit account in your name. You must spend countless hours disputing charges and restoring your credit rating with the credit reporting companies.
If the identity and credit fraud problem is indeed a matter of national security, maybe we need to declare war on fraud!
Using the FBI and CIA to identify individuals engaging in various frauds, the military could be employed to take out the targets. The administration is fond of using smart bombs and Predator drones to eliminate individual terrorists (read assassinate), why not expand the use of bombs and drones to financial terrorists? If a dozen or so houses in Nigeria suddenly blew up killing everyone inside, it wouldn’t take long for remaining scammers to get the message that they may be next. What a deterrent that would be!
Make no mistake, with $50 billion being stolen each year and growing fast, this IS a matter of national security. If we lose the ability to earn, save and spend money, our economy will suffer more than it already has in the Great Recession and runs the risk of total collapse. If that is not terrorism, I don’t know what is!
As for America’s worst scams, Consumer Reports lists some old familiar and some new, innovative scams. One in particular involves our own Facebook. We have all received emails from FB friends with a link to a site with “check this out” or just Hey Greg, and a link. More often than not the link is to a scam site interested in your information so it can profit by selling your contacts and information to more scammers. Before you download another FB app, read the fine print. Many give the app creator authority to post on your FB page or contact your friends as if the message was coming from you!
Other scams include upfront fees for future service, fees to remove computer viruses on your computer, low credit card
interest rate offers, and investment seminars ultimately selling annuities, reverse mortgages or other questionable investments. The common advice Consumer Reports has is to protect your personal information from callers or online surveys and if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The full report is available online here:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/10/protect-yourself-from-the-latest-scams/index.htm
As for me, I’m still looking for the punks that broke into my apartment and when I find them I’ll order up a smart bomb to send
them off to be with Adam and Eve.