That big cashier's check is really no gift at all
The old Mystery Shopper scam is going around our area. It comes and goes but this one has a new twist. It’s specifically timed for Christmas, when many are feeling the need for a little more cash to buy gifts or pay credit card bills.
The scam arrives by U.S. mail and includes a “cashier’s check” that is a counterfeit for over $2,000! This offer is a total fraud. DON’T FALL FOR IT! The check will bounce, you’ll be charged a return check fee and you will be responsible for any money you spend from the “proceeds” of the check. Instead of being an answer to a prayer, the results will be a nightmare for you and those who depend on you. If you get one of these requests (sometimes they start with an email), please call me. I’m making up a little package for the U.S. Postal Inspector.
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THE PRICE OF FREE TRIALS: One of the most common complaints I receive is from consumers who answered an ad offering a “free” trial of a product. This includes vitamins, wrinkle creams, and especially dietary supplements and weight loss products.
Read the small print. Most of the time it’s so small you can’t read it. It’s becoming common practice for scammers to not even include the “small print” that says you agree to receive a new shipment each month, at the normal retail price. They just start sending their garbage products (I’m really trying not to use the word “crap”!) every month and hitting your credit or debit card for the regular retail cost of their wares, postage, shipping and handling costs. You don’t even notice it until you’ve carefully examined your credit card or bank statement.
They use names like “ABC Services” instead of the name of the company you thought you were doing business with. Then the fun really begins.
First, you try to find the telephone number of the company to stop the charges. This is usually very hard to do. Second, if you reach the company, they will tell you they aren’t responsible for the sales, just shipping, and further they have no information on the company placing the ad in question. And on and on it goes. If you do manage to reach the actual company, and they admit to sending you products you didn’t order, they will almost always insist that you return the products (expensive, annoying and time consuming) in order to begin the refund process.
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REMEMBER: Idaho law says if you didn’t order it, you don’t have to pay for it OR return it.
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PROTECT YOUSELF: If you just can’t stop yourself — use ONLY A CREDIT CARD — NOT A DEBIT CARD OR CHECK.
Once you realize you’ve been scammed — IMMEDIATELY call your credit card company and put ALL charges from the offending company “IN CONTEST.”
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YOU’RE AN APPRECIATED CUSTOMER: In your dreams! There are a number of variations on this scam.
You are directed to call a “premium-rate” telephone number. You will then be put on hold for several minutes, often until you hang up. Never call these numbers. The number may charge your phone up to $2.99 per minute. The numbers are often outside the United States; this makes enforcement of U.S. laws very difficult and the recovery of your money almost impossible.
You are asked to pay a small fee, the old “shipping and handling” ploy. You’ll be asked for a credit or debit card number, expiration date, and your three-digit security code, or your bank account routing and account number. Once you hand over this information, you won’t receive anything but a massive surprise when your card is charged to the max or your bank account is drained.
QUCIK TIP: HANG UP. Don’t accept any “customer appreciation” gifts!
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PULL THE UNPLUG ON POP-UPS: When you get a certain pop-up on your computer, it’s an attempt to scam you. The message usually is in red and jumps up in your face with a message like, “We Have Detected Your Computer Is Infected With A Serious Virus Or Malware. Do not turn off your computer. If you do so, it may cause serious damage to your computer and you will lose valuable data, like passwords and photographs. Please call Microsoft Technical Support Immediately at XXX -XXX-XXXX.”
DON’T CALL! IMMEDIATELY UNPLUG YOUR COMPUTER FROM THE WALL! Don’t just switch off your computer — unplug it from the wall. Once you’ve done that, wait at least 20 minutes and then restart your computer normally.
If you still get a pop-up, call me, I’ll get you honest, local technical support.
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DON’T FORGET: Bitcoin is “a bubble in search of a pin.” Just my humble opinion. Oh, by the way, the No. 2 guy in the Bitcoin company just bailed and sold all his Bitcoins. On the way out, he warned about the coming, inevitable collapse of the venture. Remember — a fad is different from an investment.
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CAREFUL WITH PASSWORDS: The five most common passwords are: 12345, Password, qwerty, letmein and football. I would recommend if you are using anything like this, change them immediately. If you would like to check the strength of your password you can go to: www.grc.com/haystack.htm. No password checker is perfect but this one is pretty good. Try it.
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MY CONSUMER ADVOCATE WEBSITE: My column appears in The Coeur d’Alene Press on Mondays and Thursdays. For information updated daily, go to my website: BillBrooks.us. I’ve tried to make it simple. Go to the consumer advocate site and check out “Bill’s List.” These are merchants I deal with and believe in. I will add or delete merchants whenever I think it’s warranted. You can’t pay to get on my list. It’s just for my readers.
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BILL BROOKS SAYS: “Have a Very Merry Christmas!”
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I have many more tips and interesting cases that I’m working on. Call me at 208-699-0506, or email me at BillBrooksAdvocate@gmail.com or fax me at 866-362-9266. You can follow me at BillBrooks.us. I am available to speak about consumerism to schools, and local and civic groups.
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Bill Brooks is a consumer advocate and the broker and owner of Bill Brooks Real Estate in Coeur d’Alene.