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CONSUMER PROTECTION -
Internet Scams
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BE SCAM SMART
"Internet/email scams
The Nigerian scam
Overseas lotteries and unclaimed prizes
Don’t be a ‘sucker’
Miracle cures
Work-from-home schemes
Pyramid schemes
Chain letters
Cold calling
Wealth creation seminars
Computerised betting/stock market schemes
Bogus charity collectors
Business scams
Invoice Fraud
Fax-back schemes
If it
sounds too good to be true it probably is a lie!
Scams can turn up anytime and anywhere – in the mail,
over the telephone, via email, on the street, at a
seminar or in an advertisement.
They also creep into special interest groups like clubs
and church congregations.
A scam can succeed because it often looks like the real
thing. It appears to meet your needs or desires. There
are thousands of scams in the marketplace. Some are new,
but most are simply updated versions of scams that have
been around for years.
Many scams use the same tactics to continue to fool
people.
As a quick guide, look
out for:
• offers that appear too good to be true (they usually
are);
• unsolicited offers or requests for money;
•
personalised letters, faxes or emails from people or
businesses you don’t know;
• prizes from competitions or lotteries you haven’t
entered;
• operators who discourage you from seeking independent
advice;
• cold callers offering shares in overseas companies and
investment schemes;
• free inclusion on business databases and websites;
• mail-order goods that you haven’t requested;
• overseas sweepstakes, contests, lotteries or
promotions;
• offers to help recover money you’ve lost to a scam
(usually
for a small fee);
• contests that require you to pay money to claim the
prize;
• ‘official’ requests for money from "government"
agencies
(governments do not solicit);
• operators that go out of their way to prove the
legitimacy of
their offer;
• operators that use a post office box or suite number
but don’t have a street address (this makes them harder
to track down);
•
false invoices;
• glowing testimonials;
• operators who insist the offer can’t wait until
tomorrow;
• letters or emails that ask for your help in exchange
for large sums
of money;
• requests for your bank account details;
• miracle cures, quick-fix remedies and cure-all
products.
If you believe you have been targeted by a scam or want
to warn
others, contact the Office of Fair Trading."
(in Australia or relevant
government organisation in your country)
"Remember, if you send money overseas it’s unlikely you
will ever
see it again as offshore scams are outside the
jurisdiction of
Australian authorities."
© The State of Queensland (Office of Fair
Trading, an office of the Department of Tourism, Fair
Trading and Wine Development Industry) 2004.
For more
information on how to protect yourself from common
consumer scams, visit Web sites created by federal,
provincial, territorial governments and their partners
specifically to provide citizens with convenient,
one-stop access to hundreds of objective, reliable,
current consumer information sources.
Beware of
Business Opportunities
Often in local newspaper classified ads or business
publications you will see ads for business
opportunities. These can be vending routes, rack
jobbing, all sorts of schemes. With the age of
technology and the Internet there have been many of
these scams going around.
From time to time, I
receive a copy of the infamous Nigerian letter that
explains how I can make a fortune by helping some
Nigerian business people avoid currency controls. All I
have to do is give these people access to my bank
account. Amazingly, hundreds of people have lost
millions of dollars to this long-lived scheme.
f you're thinking of
responding to a business opportunity ad-watch out! Fraud
and rip-offs run rampant! If it sounds too good to be
true-like "Make $35,000 a year part-time stuffing
envelopes"-don't touch it!
Hot businesses
today-including 900 telephone number services and
computer-related businesses-are ones to be particularly
careful of. I have heard of people investing $25,000 in
a computer-related business and still having no idea how
to go out and get customers!
http://lists.jammed.com/ISN/1998/05/0047.html
The Biggest Rip-Off!
The World Wide Web is becoming the biggest business
rip-off of the decade! A lot of corporations are
spending huge amounts of money on Web access only to
have many of their employees spend their time getting
sports scores, playing games in cyberspace, and visiting
sites sponsored by adult magazines.
But a lot more money is
being lost by smaller companies and entrepreneurs who
think that they can make a killing by selling products
on the Web. For the foreseeable future, this is a pipe
dream! Today, the only people making money on the Web
are promoters selling "get-rich-quick seminars" and
consultants who build the sites. On our main Web site (careercity.com),
for example, even with traffic of 150,000-plus hits a
day, some days we don't even get a single order for a
book or software package
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