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SCAMS BULLETIN Host Jay White is an inactive attorney in San Mateo County, California.

February 17, 2022

LATE THREATENING SCAMS

Courtesy Scambusters

Late Scams That Threaten YOU Right Now

Every day, scores, sometimes hundreds, of scam reports pass across our research desk. Some of them are ingenious and many of them follow a pattern that relates to current issues.

Here’s a look at top scams happening right now.

TAX SCAMS

With tax reporting season in full swing, crooks have lined up a full collection of scams to catch out the unwary.

The IRS reports that crooks are using text, emails, and phones to trick people with messages and bogus links relating to returns and refunds.

There’s a particular risk of unemployment fraud in which scammers file claims for benefits in the names of people whose identity has been stolen.

CYBERCURRENCY SCAMS

There has been a jump in the fast-moving and poorly-regulated virtual currency marketplace scam this year. 

One of the biggest scams active right now is an SMS text phishing trick targeting the world’s biggest cybercurrency exchange, Binance. Victims are taken to a phony sign-on page where their personal details are stolen and then used to drain the account.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Scams are perpetrated on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A favorite haunt for the crooks is Facebook’s Marketplace, which members use to sell stuff locally.

One of the biggest Marketplace tricks currently in operation is the shipping insurance scam. Crooks pretend to be buyers but demand that their target pays for insurance upfront, after offering a mouthwatering price for the item being sold. They pay but, of course, there’s no sale.

Another big, new social media scam is a pyramid scheme in disguise. It’s a “book exchange” scheme in which participants supposedly send out one book and get 36 back in return.

Big offenders right now are fake technical support and call center reps, mostly based on the Indian sub-continent.

IMPERSONATORS

Scammers impersonate utility company reps or law enforcement with threats of supply cuts or arrest if they don’t pay immediately. Or they may pretend to be government officials offering phony loans and grants.

COVID SCAMS

Two years on from the outbreak of COVID, scammers have been stepping up their campaigns of false remedies, fake face masks, and more.

So far this year, phony testing programs have taken the spotlight. These are often run from vans that set up business near genuine testing stations. Visitors are asked to provide confidential information by filling in a form that may then be used for marketing or even identity theft. The perpetrators may go through a routine similar to testing but victims rarely, if ever, get the results.

Fake testing kits that simply don’t work are also being sold online.

ROBOCALLS

Have you noticed a big rise in the number of automated calls to both your cell phone and landline in recent weeks? Or, more importantly, an increased number of voicemails that you didn’t even hear going through?

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), these “ringless voicemails” are being used to try to get around existing bans on robocalls

Furthermore, they’re not only a nuisance in themselves but they can also result in overflowing voicemail inboxes, so important legitimate callers may not be able to leave messages.

The FCC wants to ban these ringless messages or impose the same requirement for consumer consent that currently applies to other robocalls.

MONEY TRANSFERS

The popularity of mobile payment apps like Zelle, Venmo, and many others has attracted thousands of scammers and some clever ways to trick people into allowing access to their accounts or to simply fool them into transferring their money to the crooks.

Current scams include fake pet breeders demanding successive payments via Zelle for non-existent puppies and kittens; get-rich-quick schemes promoted in online videos (“send $500 and get $5,000 back by the end of the day”); and sales of supposed tech equipment at knock-down prices.

Money transfer scammers also impersonate victims’ banks and persuade them to transfer money to themselves for security reasons.

Reversing scam transactions can be difficult or, in some cases, impossible.