ScamsOnline

Is It Time To Say Goodbye to Paper Money?

For 15 million Japanese, paper money and checks are a thing of the past, according to the Japan Research Institute. No longer solely used for online purchases, e-money, accessed via a smart card or mobile phone, has become a way of life for many consumers in Japan.

The reasons usually given are for convenience and security: paper money and paper checks are too easily lost or stolen.

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A Phone Call from Jail

This is not an online scam but it deserves some publicity. In a new telephone scam, unknown person(s) calling people at random. Upon answering the telephone a recorded message says "This is a collect phone call from the County Jail from (name of supposed inmate is given)." The message then disconnects. Two or three days later, the phone rings again with a recorded message that says, "if you received a call from the County Jail please call this 1- 800 - number for important information concerning the call."

Tax scam alert: Don’t be fooled by fake IRS queries

Common sense says the IRS doesnt e-mail taxpayers offering tax refunds in exchange for confidential personal information. And yet, every year people are fooled by those and other bogus tax schemes.

If somebody comes to you and says "What's your bank account number," its probably not us, Internal Revenue Service spokesman Anthony Burke said. We contact taxpayers by U.S. mail first and provide a toll-free number to call the agency.

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Feds Asked to Take Action Against Adware Creator

A consumer watchdog group has asked the Federal Trade Commission to take action against 180solutions and CJB.net for unfair and deceptive business practices. The Center for Democracy and Technology submitted over 150 pages of examples of 180s bad practices.

180Solutions deliberately and repeatedly duped Internet users into downloading intrusive advertising software, according to a Center for Democracy and Technology complaint. The company continued these practices even after it pledged to better itself and after receiving warnings from spyware experts and privacy advocates, the group said.

You can read the details here.

Fake Messages Claiming to be from eBay

An old scam has been polished and is now circulating again. You may receive an e-mail from eBay with a subject of "Question about Item -- Respond Now" or something similar. The message appears to be generated by an eBay seller and suggests you respond. To do so, you would expect to click on the link within the e-mail message to go to eBay, log in and then post your reply.

There's only one problem: when you click on the link and sign in, it's not eBay's site. Oh, it looks like eBay but it is not. You just entered your user name and password into a rip-off artist's "look alike" site. He is now free to take your user name and password and buy all sorts of things in your name!

Site rips off free software, then sells it

Have you found a site that claims to sell "Microsoft Office Compatible Products" for low prices? Watch out! This guy is actually charging money for programs that are available free of charge elsewhere!

US Marine scam email hits inboxes

Security companies are warning of a new email scam that is posing as a letter from a US Marine serving in Iraq.

Phone Records Obtained Through Spoofing

Your cellphone provider may have a detailed privacy policy that would seem to protect your calling records and other personal data from data brokers. But it looks like the data pirates have the upper hand as they've begun stooping to tactics like pretending to be handicapped customers and service provider employees, with the aim of wresting your info from gullible call-center workers.

According to a suit filed by Verizon, data brokers have made thousands of calls to the company's customer service center, often posing as employees from a nonexistent "special needs" division of Verizon, which, according to the callers, was designed to help speech-impaired customers.

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New Debit/Credit Card Scam

In case you haven't heard, there is another new credit card scam. The caller doesn't ask for your credit card number - they already have it.

The clever new telephone approach is simple: the phone rings and the caller says, "This is (gives a name), and I'm calling from the security and fraud department at VISA. My employee ID badge number is 3736214."

New Debit/Credit Card Scam

In case you haven't heard, there is another new credit card scam. The caller doesn't ask for your credit card number - they already have it.

The clever new telephone approach is simple: the phone rings and the caller says, "This is (gives a name), and I'm calling from the security and fraud department at VISA. My employee ID badge number is 3736214."