The Top 10 Scams for 2001
Scams on the Internet are growing -- and with the vast
selection, it was hard to only choose ten. We've tried to soften
this list with a bit of humor. But please don't let the humor
make these scams seem any less serious than they really are.
Some of these scams are very dangerous.
A word of warning, so to speak. These aren't ranked by dollars
lost or people scammed. There's nothing scientific about the
list. It's just the ten scams that we find the most disturbing.
You'll note that most of these involve spam. There's a reason
for that. The mentality of a spammer is exactly the same kind of
mindset as a con artist.
As we always say: "If it's spam, it's scam."
Here are the top 10 scams of 2001...
10. Herbal Viagra
This is really a whole category of scams, relating to the sale
of medical or "alternative" medical treatments online. Usually
using spam to get to the "customer."
If you're lucky, these products will do nothing at all. Some of
them are seriously dangerous by themselves. They promise cures
for life threatening illnesses, causing those who buy the
promise to delay proper medical treatment, sometimes past the
point where it would have helped.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before buying into any of
these nostrums. It'll save you a lot of headaches and heartache
later.
Folks, consider this: If you wouldn't trust a spammer to handle
your money, why would you take medical advice from them???
9. Internet Investigator
"Be the first kid on your block to know all the dirty secrets
your neighbors are hiding! Find out what your prospective mate
has hidden in his past! Find the lost city of Atlantis! Find
your lost remote!"
This one is more an annoyance than a real problem. It serves as
a great example of the pure hype that you should watch out for
in online advertising.
Filled with promises of secret knowledge that's not available to
anyone else, it delivers nothing more than a list of places you
can pay to search for information. It's the perfect example of a
pitch that's not quite a scam -- but clearly misleads in its
promise.
Ask yourself this: If this stuff was as easy as the ads make it
out to be, wouldn't you see these "secret techniques" in
magazines and on TV?
8. Pump and Dump
You've probably gotten these. The subject line or first part of
the email says that this is "Highly confidential information."
This scam is based on touting "advance information" on specific
stocks in an attempt to drive up the price past its true worth,
so the promoters can sell at the higher price.
They pump it up, and then dump it. Hence the name.
This is generally illegal. And certainly a bad way to get
investment advice...
Ask yourself: If it's so confidential, why are they spamming it
to millions of people?
7. Credit Scams
There are all sorts of these that prey on the desires of people
to repair or establish credit.
The worst are the alleged credit repair services. They promise
to help you to remove accurate but negative information from
your credit record, or to show you how to get a federal Employer
ID Number, usually in very questionable fashion.
Not only do these techniques not work, they can get you in deep
trouble for committing fraud.
You're not going to fix your credit while you're in jail.
As far as easy credit, guaranteed approval credit cards, and
home equity loans that don't require equity in your home...
forget it.
This one should be obvious: Cheap money? From a BANK???
6. Auction Antics
You can get a lot of terrific deals through online auctions, but
you need to be careful. Before buying anything that seems too
cheap, or that shouldn't be on an auction site at all, ask
questions.
Look at the seller's feedback rating and comments. You'll get a
lot of clues from that. Check the retail price of the
merchandise. If it's new merchandise, you can probably expect to
pay 1/2 to 2/3 of retail, even at auction.
Remember the old story of the fellow who raffled off a brand new
Lincoln at a small town carnival? Tickets were $1 each, and
everyone figured they had a good chance.
He sold a lot of tickets, and, as promised, he delivered a brand
new Lincoln... penny.
For more on auction fraud, you can check out the issue of
Internet ScamBusters called "Online Auctions: Deals or Steals"
at: http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters43.html
5. Chain Letters
"Add your name to position X, move the name in position Y to
position Z, send 200 copies of this letter to your closest
personal friends, and very soon you'll have no personal friends
left!"
Don't believe the claims about legitimacy, folks. These things
are illegal, immoral, and probably fattening.
4. Viruses
Get a good anti-virus program, keep it updated, and keep it
running.
Huh? What are viruses doing in the ranks of scams?
They're actually among the more clever of scams, if you think
about it. Deceptive subject lines, hidden code that causes you
to spread them to your friends, and almost always appealing to
the most common desires.
3. Nigerian Fee Scam
This is an oldie, and a real baddie.
The basic line goes like this:
"I represent some high mucky muck who wants to get a lot of
suspicious money out of my country, and we need help from you to
do it. We'll pay you stupid amounts of cash to be a front
person."
The system escalates until you've got money sunk into the scam,
and they want you to visit the country in question in person.
There have been people who played along with this and never made
it home alive.
Originally this was focused through Nigeria, but with recent
events, you may hear about Taliban leaders wanting help, or
people from other war-torn countries.
Don't respond to these people in any way. People die falling for
this one.
For more on this scam, check out:
http://www.scambusters.org/NigerianFee.html
2. Identity Theft
This is a VERY serious problem. We covered this in our last
issue of Internet ScamBusters. If you haven't read it, do so now
at: http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters47.html
1. WTC Scams
The spams relating to the World Trade Center began within an
hour of the attacks. They range from appeals for aid to the
victims, usually sent through the spammers' web sites, to fake
news items concerning reported attacks.
There's nothing funny to be said about these.
Don't pass them along, and don't contribute through any site
that doesn't belong to a recognizable charity, such as the Red
Cross or the United Way.
You can read more about these scams at:
http://www.scambusters.org/Scambusters46.html
When you consider doing any sort of business online, look over
this list and see if the appeal sounds like one or more of these
scams. If so, check it out carefully before sending money.
Most online businesses are run by honest folks and are quite
safe. Just use a little common sense and caution, and you should
be fine.