Key Post Tips to avoid being scammed

Brendan Burgess

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1 Don't click on anything in an unsolicited mail. No exceptions. Ever
(This wording from Dub Nerd inspired this post)

2 Be careful of emails from friends asking for help. Call them to see if it's genuine. The email address may have been compromised

3 Never pay for anything by Western Union

4 Don't buy from a website just because it's impressive looking

5 If you are asked to provide credit card details for a free trial, there is probably a catch and you will be charged

6Check your bank account and credit card account regularly and pursue items you don't recognise. Don't ignore small transactions - these may be a tester to see if they get through

7Use different passwords for all financial accounts e.g. banks, eBay, PayPal etc.

8 Protect your identity - don't put up too much information about yourself on Facebook which could be used for identity theft

9 Make sure your anti-virus software is up to date

10 Check out the special anti-scam measures of eBay

By telephone
11 Don't ever take calls from people selling you investments, computer services, free trials etc.

12 If you take a call from your credit card company - do not give them any information. Tell them you will call them back and call the number on the back of the card . Make sure you get a dial tone first.

14 Don't allow yourself be pressurised "This deal finishes today..."

By post

15 Ignore letters telling you that

Door to door salesmen

15 Simply don't engage them. Cold calling roofer - bill went from €60 to €5,100

Selling a car


Buying a car
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Suggestions , ideally with links to examples, welcome
Click to expand...
Worked examples on way

On a more serious note, perhaps you would add in a line on door to door stuff: eg:
we are working in the area, doing work for you neighbours, (and scoping the gaff for a bit of B&E later) ....
 
Heres a scam I came across last year;

Elderly neighbor, let’s call him Joe drives to local shopping centre to do some shopping. When Joe returns to his car he is approached by three young men who informed Joe that he had clipped their car as he entered the car park. The driver, let’s call him Gurrier showed Joe a small dent in a door.

Joe was sure he did not hit anything, but the three young men were well presented, polite and all three were adamant that he had, so he considered it a possibility.

Gurrier explained to Joe that it was not his car but belonged to a friend and although the damage was small it would have to be fixed before he gave the car back, if it was his car he would let it go.

Gurrier also explained that given Joe's age, his insurers would not be impressed, he would also lose his NCB, and the wise thing to do would be for Joe to pay for the repairs and not involve his insurers.

Gurrier gave Joe a name and address (False) and a phone number. Joe gave Gurrier his name, address and phone number.

Joe went home and within an hour of the incident Gurrier rang to say the car was now being repaired, and he would call to Joe’s home in 30 minutes to collect €600 cash needed to pay for the repairs.

Joe called in to me, to ask what he should do, I phoned Gurrier and told him he would be getting no money, any further communication on this matter is to be through the local Garda Station. Gurrier then described in great detail what he would like to do to me and Joe, then reminded me he had Joe’s address and hung up.

The local Garda Station was informed and was aware of this scam aimed at the elderly.

I think there are many elderly out there that would have paid in the circumstances outlined.
 
Hi two for 1

A very interesting scam.

How about a separate thread for scams aimed at the elderly?

When it is complete, I will convert it to pdf so people can print it off.

Brendan
 
An extremely effective way of preventing online accounts from being compromised is the use of 2-factor authentication (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-step_verification)

For example, when I log in to my Facebook account from a new computer it asks for my password, then it sends a single-use verification code to my personal phone, which I also have to key in. So if someone tries to hack my account they have to have both my login details and physical access to my mobile phone, which itself has a 6-digit pin.

Major sites that offer this include: Gmail, Dropbox, LinkedIn, PayPal, eBay, Twitter, Yahoo
 
A useful starting point for addressing many of these scams is to get an end put to the availability of unregistered SIMs for mobile fones here in Ireland.

I am surprised that the big campaign to criminalise the oldest profession has not made that issue a corner stone of their campaign.
It would also put an end to the pletora of advertising that costs the Local Authorities 100's of 1000's in cleaning up every year.
Of course now that criminal activity is part of Irish G(D)(N)P, perhaps we want to increase crime rates.
 
Brendan,

How how about including the scam where you receive an email saying your online banking account has been compromised and that you must click on the attached link to confirm your details.

I get these on a regular basis and they can be very convincing on first glance.

Also how about the email or letter from a foreign country where writer has come into vast sums of money and they want to use your account to access it. (promising you a cut of course if you send them money for administration costs)
 
I thought of another one!

The one where you receive a call to your mobile that vaguely looks like a local number. You ring back and it turns out to be a premium rate line in another country.
 
New line in the estate management letters
"He named his wife Mrs. Maria Schranner as the NEXT OF KIN to his Estate; unfortunately Mr. and Mrs. Maria Schranner were killed in the 31 July, 2000 aboard German Concorde Flight AF4590 heading"
 
Brendan Burgess said:
7Use different passwords for all financial accounts e.g. banks, eBay, PayPal etc.
Click to expand...

The problem today is that we have so many requirements for passwords , pin numbers , access codes etc., etc., etc. , that its impossible to remember them all . AND of course we are advised to change them on a regular basis . So any suggestions on how to save all passwords in a secure location .
Of course you would need an encrypted code and password to protect your list of passwords and codes . Beginning to feel like the dog chasing his tail here .
..
 
If you have elderly parents, relatives or neighbours, please prime them to say to callers, either at the door, or on the phone, that they need to check with you before they can proceed with anything. It can act as a sufficient deterrent to get rid of them.
It saddens me when I read or hear of elderly people being conned into letting people into their homes, on production of fake identification, or scammed into paying them for shoddy or non existent work.
 
Door to door salesmen can be very convincing. It would be worth having a list of the usual tricks. I had one call yesterday, so it refreshed my memory. I'd like to say I'm clever enough to spot them, but in my case I'm afraid it's once bitten twice shy.

The guy yesterday was the classic "power washer, clean your driveway, patio, windows, soffits, fix your gutters etc. etc." The first warning sign is this jack-of-all-trades approach. Next he trotted out the classic line: "You know your neighbour up the road, Mr. X... I'm doing his patio for him". Now, I don't know how he managed to get Mr. X's name, but seeing as Mr. X is the person who put me wise to this carry on and said he wouldn't ever touch door-to-door stuff with a barge pole, I knew this was a lie.

Next was the brochure: a cheap piece of rubbish that I could have run off better on my own printer in five minutes. No address, just a mobile phone number. There was a web address -- I checked it immediately he left and not unexpectedly it didn't exist. The brochure offered "cheaper rates while we are working in your area" -- another classic.

Then there was the hard sell. The only thing I said to him was "I'll have a look at your brochure". He offered to give me a quote there and then -- we hadn't even discussed what I might be interested in buying. I said no, I'll call the number on the brochure. He said "ah well, that's the boss's number, he'll charge more if he comes out; my rates are cheaper". I nearly laughed at that one. It means he couldn't be bothered reprinting the brochures since the last time he had to change his burner phone.

Anyway, I sent him on his way. My only regret is that the Garda website advising against dealing with cold callers doesn't have a way of reporting them. Obviously I have no hard evidence on this guy, but there is absolutely no doubt he's a scammer (exactly the same modus operandi as the last one who did scam me), and will take somebody local to the cleaners.

P.S. Just in case I do hear of someone in the locality being scammed, I always copy down a cold caller's vehicle reg. number as they leave, in case it comes in useful.
 
This is an interesting article on the methodology of the scamming industry.
It's more sophisticated than most people imagine.



Be very careful!
 
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