Archive for Scams
Get-Rich-Quick Scams – Government Intervention
Posted by: | Comments
After years and years of rip-offs by unscrupulous website operators, the Federal Trade Commission has finally been jolted into taking a stronger more aggressive stand against this type of activity.
The first question for me is what took you so long?
We all know that in tough economic times, be it globally, nationwide or simply within your own household, people will become desperate to find some means of income to help them stay afloat.
Enter the sleazy scammer, always lying in wait. After raising your hopes, they promise you the world for a small fee then disappear quicker than a cold drop of water on a hot griddle.
On July 1st 2009, the Federal Trade Commission announced a major crack down on these low-life operations, whose sole purpose is to take advantage of individuals in trouble and separate them from the few remaining dollars they may have.
Sure, people should know better than to fall for these schemes, but the reality is that many are just too trusting. The fancy squeeze pages used by many of these operations are quite sophisticated and convincing, so there seems to be an unlimited supply of victims for these crooks.
As the FTC uncovers these culprits, they should run TV ads announcing the actual offending companies and their CEO’s and owners. Put their photos up for all to see and make them famous. Prosecute these individuals and give them some of that Bernie Madoff love (extremely long prison sentences).
Unfortunately this type of enforcement will probably be a long time coming, if it ever arrives. In the meantime, billions of dollars will be lost to scammers over the coming years.
Admittedly, the FTC has it’s hands full and the criminals know it. There are so many scams going on that it will be tough to get them all under some degree of control anytime soon.
I think the best weapon against these scams is education. More must be done in terms of keeping people informed of the various scam techniques as they unfold and put the names and faces of the perpetrators out there. Otherwise, this illegal transfer of wealth will continue unabated.
When you hear the stories of people who are already suffering anxiety due to the loss of a job, being further damaged because of misleading ads, it just makes you realize how desperate and helpless many citizens feel.
Some of these scams are as old as the hills, but continue to work because of snazzy repackaging and presentations. The underlying ruse remains the same. Promise quick and easy money, then delivery something to keep you occupied while the scammer makes off with your fee.
Hopefully the FTC’s latest effort to prevent rip-offs will be more successful than in the past. In the meantime, make money online hopefuls should make themselves aware that get-rich-quick programs only work for those presenting them to others.
What do you think should be done with these scammers once identified?
Scammers – The Unrelenting Business of Deception
Posted by: | Comments
The internet is a wonderful place to gain knowledge on a variety of subjects. Many lessons have been taught and learned in this electronic world known as cyberspace. But just like the real world, there is this constant undercurrent of scammers looking to separate people from their money.
I regularly check my spam folder, insuring that nothing of real value is there and dumping the rest. Today there was an email with a familiar tone to it, and in case you have forgotten about these attempts to defraud, I thought I would share this to keep you above the fray.
Most will recognize the patterns of a flim-flam from the very beginning, but apparently these scams pay off often enough to make it worthwhile to continue the hunt.
“I know that you might be surprise on this mail, but I am telling you the truth. I know that it is against my official duty to release confidential information like this to an outsider. There is nothing I can do to help you beside this”.
When someone starts off with “…I am telling you the truth”, look out. Next you will notice that they have already admitted to breaching their “official duty”, so what kind of low-life is this anyhow? They just admitted to being a crook, but you should trust them.
“What I want to tell you is about your fund with the Federal Government of Nigeria, the President, Alhaji. Umaru Yar’Adua, has mapped out $1.3 Billion to off-set Nigeria ‘s foreign debt, which includes; over due contract payment, next of kin inheritance, lotto beneficiaries and other payments. My main concern about this payment is that the Government and her agencies are not sincere on this payment; rather some government and bank officials have seen it as an avenue to make extra money for them. Their plan is to secure approval of these funds on creditors name and later divert it to another off shore bank accounts for their personal benefits”.
When and how did I ever acquire funds with Nigeria? I’ve only seen Nigeria on the map and “60 Minutes”. The government and her agencies are not sincere and this crook is going to promise me something, you can see it coming.
“As I am writing this mail to you now, arrangements have been concluded by the some top placed government officials and the Central Bank Of Nigeria Governor Prof. Charles Soludo, to divert your approved part payment of $8,300,000.00 (Eight Million Three Hundred Thousand United States Dollars only) to another bank account. And they keep on deceiving and frustrating you by demanding up-front payment from you, if I tell you that they are using all these money to work against you, you might not believe it. But it is reality”.
Now this is where you are suppose to be hooked in and exited about the promise of $8.3 million dollars, delivered right to your bank account, no strings attached. Are you lucky or what? Just think, no more day job, blogging or internet marketing for you. You’ll be set for life.
Now for the closing.
“There is ways I can assist you get your fund, it is risk but one have to take it. What you have to do now is to get back to me as soon as you get this mail with these details; your private telephone number, your banking details where you would like your fund to be transferred into, your fund details and contact address. I need these details as soon as you get this mail so that I can make the transfer without further delay
Get back to me as soon as you get this mail with the above requested details through this my email address: drmrsIHAVESUBSTITUTEDTHENAMEOFTHISBOZO@hotmail.com
Treat this ASAP
Dr Ms. Phoney Name Amadi
KTT Dept Central Bank of Nigeria”
Folks, I found it amusing on the one hand that such an idiotic email message could be sent to people around the world in hopes of fishing for bank account and personal identification info. On the other hand, it is sad that the greed of many will lead them to take that chance in hopes of this fairy tale coming true.
Nobody would fall for that you might say. Then why do they continue the ruse?
When times are tough and people become desperate maybe, just maybe there are those who will participate in such a scam, only to bring additional heartache and damage to themselves.
This is no different than most of the get-rich-quick-while-making-money-online scams on the internet. They don’t exist. Honest hard work is the only way to success, short of the 1 in a gazillion shot of the lottery or an inheritance left by Uncle Louie.
So it’s back to blogging for me. I’ll leave the business of deception to others.
See you next post.
