Some email users have lost money to bogus offers that started as spam in their in-box. Con artists are very cunning; they know how to make their claims seem legitimate. Some spam messages ask for your business, others invite you to a website with a detailed pitch.
Here are some basic tips to help you avoid being a victim of a scam: • Protect your personal information. Share credit card or other personal information only when you’re buying from a company you know and trust. • Know who you’re dealing with. Don’t do business with any company that won’t provide its name, street address, and telephone number. • Take your time. Resist any urge to “act now” despite the offer and the terms. Once you turn over your money, you may never get it back. • Read the small print. Get all promises in writing and review them carefully before you make a payment or sign a contract. • Never pay for a “free” gift. Disregard any offer that asks you to pay for a gift or prize. If it’s free or a gift, you shouldn’t have to pay for it. Free means free.
FILTER TIPS: SCAMS TO SCREEN FROM YOUR EMAIL
While some consumers find spam informative, others find it annoying and time consuming. Still others find it expensive: They’re among the people who have lost money to spam that contained bogus offers and fraudulent promotions. Many Internet Service Providers and businesses offer filtering software to limit the spam in their users’ email in-boxes. In addition, some old-fashioned ‘filter tips’ can help you save time and money by avoiding frauds pitched in email. When you screen spam for scams, send unwanted spam on to the appropriate enforcement authorities, and then hit delete. Here’s how to spot some common spam scams:
Work-at-Home Scams
The Bait: Advertisements that promise steady income for minimal labor – in medical claims processing, envelope-stuffing, craft assembly work, or other jobs. The ads use similar comeons: Fast cash. Minimal work. No risk. And the advantage of working from home when it’s convenient for you. Some email users have lost money to bogus offers that started as spam in their in-box. Con artists are very cunning; they know how to make their claims seem legitimate. Some spam messages ask for your business, others invite you to a website with a detailed pitch.
The Catch: The ads don’t say you may have to work many hours without pay, or pay hidden costs to place newspaper ads, make photocopies, or buy supplies, software, or equipment to do the job. Once you put in your own time and money, you’re likely to find promoters who refuse to pay you, claiming that your work isn’t up to their “quality standards.”
Your Safety Net: The FTC has yet to find anyone who has gotten rich stuffing envelopes or assembling magnets at home. Legitimate workat-home business promoters should tell you – in writing – exactly what’s involved in the program they’re selling. Before you commit any money, find out what tasks you will have to perform, whether you will be paid a salary or work on commission, who will pay you, when you will get your first paycheck, the total cost of the program – including supplies, equipment and membership fees – and what you will get for your money. Can you verify information from current workers? Be aware of “shills” – people who are paid to lie and give you every reason to pay for work. Get professional advice from a lawyer, an accountant, a financial advisor, or another expert if you need it.
Weight Loss Claims
The Bait: Emails promising a revolutionary pill, patch, cream, or other product that will result in weight loss without diet or exercise. Some products claim to block the absorption of fat, carbs, or calories; others guarantee permanent weight loss; still others suggest you’ll lose lots of weight at lightening speed.
The Catch: These are gimmicks, playing on your sense of hopefulness. There’s nothing advertised through email you can wear or apply to your skin that can cause permanent – or even significant – weight loss.
Your Safety Net: Experts agree that the best way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories and increase your physical activity so you burn more energy. A reasonable goal is to lose about a pound a week. For most people, that means cutting about 500 calories a day from your diet, eating a variety of nutritious foods, and exercising regularly. Permanent weight loss happens with permanent lifestyle changes. Talk to your health care provider about a nutrition and exercise program suited to your lifestyle and metabolism.
Cure-All Products
The Bait: Emails claiming that a product is a “miracle cure,” a “scientific breakthrough,” an “ancient remedy” – or a quick and effective cure for a wide variety of ailments or diseases. They may announce limited availability, require payment in advance, and offer a no-risk “moneyback guarantee.” Case histories or testimonials by consumers or doctors claiming amazing results are not uncommon.
The Catch: There is no product or dietary supplement available via email that can make good on its claims to shrink tumors, cure insomnia, cure impotency, cure cancer, and prevent severe memory loss. These kinds of claims deal with the treatment of diseases; companies that want to make claims like these must follow the FDA’s pre-market testing and review process required for new drugs.
Your Safety Net: When evaluating health-related claims, be skeptical. Consult a health care professional before buying any “cure-all” that claims to treat a wide range of ailments or offers quick cures and easy solutions to serious illnesses. Generally speaking, cure-all is cure none. Check Overpayment Scams The Bait: A response to your ad or online auction posting, offering to pay with a cashier’s, personal, or corporate check. At the last minute, the so-called buyer (or the buyer’s “agent”) comes up with a reason for writing the check for more than the purchase price, and asks you to wire back the difference after you deposit the check. The Catch: If you deposit the check, you lose. Typically, the checks are counterfeit, but they’re good enough to fool unsuspecting bank tellers; when they bounce, you are liable for the entire amount, even if the check had cleared. Your Safety Net: Don’t accept a check for more than your selling price, no matter how tempting the plea or convincing the story. Ask the buyer to write the check for the purchase price. If the buyer sends the incorrect amount, return the check. Don’t send the merchandise. As a seller who accepts payment by check, you may ask for a check drawn on a local bank, or a bank with a local branch. That way, you can visit personally to make sure the check is valid. If that’s not possible, call the bank the check was drawn on using the phone number from directory assistance or an Internet site that you know and trust, not from the person who gave you the check. Ask if the check is valid. Forward check overpayment scams to spam@ uce.gov and your state Attorney General. You can find contact information for your state Attorney General at naag.org.
FIGHTING BACK Con artists are clever and cunning, constantly hatching new variations on age-old scams. Still, skeptical consumers can spot questionable or unsavory promotions in email offers. Should you receive an email that you think may be fraudulent, forward it to the FTC at spam@uce.gov, hit delete, and smile. You’ll be doing your part to help put a scam artist out of work