Scammers pose as representatives from phony loan companies and use authentic-looking documents, emails, and websites to appear legitimate...
Advanced fees / Prepayment
Scammers pose as representatives from phony loan companies and use authentic-looking documents, emails, and websites to appear legitimate...
Mystery shopper
Mystery shopping scams are popular with criminals who target employment websites. The ploy’s simple: Scammers send victims a check and...
Overpayment
You receive a check for an amount higher than the agreed-upon price and are asked to send back the excess funds using money transfer, but the check is fake...
Lottery / Prize
You receive notification you have won a lottery/sweepstakes and need to send money to claim the prize...
Rental property
You are interested in a rental property and asked to send money for reasons that seem legitimate, but the property is not real...
Emergency / Grandparents
You are asked to send money to a friend or family member for an emergency situation...
Internet purchase
You are asked to send money to pay for a product, auction item or service advertized online...
Relationship
You meet someone online, develop a relationship with them, then you are asked to send money to them...
Fake check
You receive a check and are asked to send a portion of the money back for what seems to be a legitimate reason, but the check is fake...
Scammers pose as representatives from phony loan companies and use authentic-looking documents, emails, and websites to appear legitimate. They charge “fees” in advance of making loans. Consumers pay, but the loans never come through. Scammers are long gone and they sometimes regularly change the name of their “businesses” to avoid law enforcement.
This is one variation of a scam called the “advance fee” or “prepayment” scam. Scammers can also lure victims in with promises of investments or inheritance gifts in exchange for a fee. But it all comes down to the same theme: Victims pay money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value and then receive little or nothing in return.
Also see Fake Check Scam.
Mystery shopping scams are popular with criminals who target employment websites. The ploy’s simple: Scammers send victims a check and tell them to use the funds to “evaluate” Western Union’s money transfer service. Victims wire the money only to find out later that the checks bounce and they’re responsible for paying the bank back.
Also see Fake Check Scam and Employment Scam.
With overpayment scams, fraudsters play the role of buyer and target consumers selling a service or product. The “buyer” sends the seller a legitimate-looking check, usually drawn on a well-known bank, for an amount higher than the agreed-upon price. They contact an explanation for this overpayment and instruct the seller to deposit the check and wire back the excess funds. Weeks later, the victim learns the check is fake, but is still on the hook to pay the bank back for any money withdrawn.
Also see Internet Purchase Scam and Fake Check Scam.
Employment scams generally start with a too-good-to-be-true offer—work from home and earn thousands of dollars a month, no experience needed—and end with consumers out of a ‘job’ and out of money. They generally follow one of three patterns:
Also see Mystery Shopping Scam and Fake Check Scam.
Lottery or prize scams follow two similar patterns:
Also see Advance Fee/Prepayment Scam and Fake Check Scam.
Sophisticated scammers use the Internet, and particularly free classified websites, to prey on unsuspecting real estate victims. Rental property scams generally happen in one of two ways:
Also see Internet Purchase Scam and Fake Check Scam.
Emergency scams play off of peoples’ emotions and strong desire to help others in need. Scammers impersonate their victims and make up an urgent situation—I’ve been arrested, I’ve been mugged, I’m in the hospital—and target friends and family with urgent pleas for help, and money.
Emergency scams also come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the Grandparent Scam where con artists contact the elderly claiming to be their grandchild, urgently asking for money. And the Social Networking Scam where con artists hack into social networking accounts and then target friends with frantic requests for money, claiming injury, arrest, etc.; they do the same by hacking email accounts. They use the information in these accounts to supply enough personal detail to make their requests appear legitimate.
In the internet purchase scam, criminals prey on victims who bid on items using an online auction website or service. It generally plays out in one of two ways:
Also see Overpayment Scam, Rental Property Scam and Fake Check Scam.
The relationship scam starts simply: A man and woman meet on the Internet. The relationship progresses: They email, talk on the phone, and trade pictures. And, finally, they make plans to meet, and even to get married. As the relationship gets stronger, things start to change. The man asks the woman to wire him money; he needs bus fare to visit a sick uncle. The first wire transfer is small but the requests keep coming and growing—his daughter needs emergency surgery, he needs airfare to come for a visit, etc. The payback promises are empty; the money’s gone, and so is he.
Fake checks play a starring role in lots of different scams: advance fee or prepayment scams; mystery shopping scams; lottery prize scams, and more. Victims get an unsolicited check or money order and directions to deposit the money and immediately wire a portion of it back to cover various expenses, like processing fees or taxes. Weeks later, victims learn that the checks are counterfeit, but they’ve already wired the money and can’t get it back. And they’re on the hook to pay their banks back for any money they withdrew.
Also see Advance Fee/Prepayment Scam, Mystery Shopping Scam, Employment Scam, Overpayment Scam, Internet Purchase Scam, Lottery/Prize Scam and Rental Property Scam.