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Posts Tagged ‘consumer information’

During A Crisis, Mortgage Scammers Abound

October 13th, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 6 Comments | Filed in Consumer Tips

When an economic crisis hits – whether personal or national – there is a certain group of people who come out of the woodwork, just like cockroaches, scammers who want to separate you from your money. These days with millions of people struggling to pay their Home Foreclosuremortgages and millions more finding that their retirement funds have taken a hit, scammers are preying upon vulnerable consumers like never before.

Quite frankly, it takes an extra special amount of alertness on the part of consumers to avoid being scammed.

One area where scam artists are performing their dirty deeds is when it comes to home ownership. Because much of your personal information is publicly available, these crooks will often know that you are having financial problems and are waiting for the opportunity to give you their solution. Unfortunately, their solutions are meant to help themselves at your expense, possibly costing you hundreds of dollars or even the outright loss of your home.

Scam artists operate in a number of different ways, but they always work on your emotions to force you to make decisions that can bring you much harm. Let’s take a look at some of the methods scammers use to convince you that they are looking out for your good when they really aren’t:

Fear – Fear is a big motivator for people – we either fight or take flight. With their backs to the wall, some consumers make snap decisions, choices that they later regret. A scam artist will use the fear of you losing your home to convince you to sign away your home to them in exchange for some money. Each scam operates a bit differently from the other, but most likely you’ll give them the title to your home without receiving just compensation.

Ignorance – Ignorance of the law is no excuse for not knowing the law, but many homeowners simply don’t know their rights when it comes to home ownership and foreclosure. Some scam artists will try to intervene in your foreclosure, by offering a “white knight” solution which they say will solve all of your problems. Oftentimes, this involves extracting a fee from you – let’s say, $500 – which involves making phone calls on your behalf you can make for free. Worse, are those scammers who take your money and run.

Pride – Knowing that people who get scammed are often too prideful to admit that they were taken, scammers know that they can operate without impunity, going from homeowner to homeowner with their plans to extract money from them. Don’t let your pride get in your way – report a con job to the police and be prepared to file a complaint and testify in court if need be.

When con artists come a calling, they’ll offer to you a number of solutions including:

Telling you you’re in foreclosure when you are not. If you are behind on your mortgage payments, that doesn’t mean that you’re being foreclosed…yet. Contact your lender and find out where you stand and let them know you fully intend to meet your obligations. Don’t involve a third party (unless it is an attorney representing you) to tell you otherwise.

Offer to provide counseling. Personal business counseling is fine, but what are you getting for their advice? Moreover, what fees are being charged? Some financial counselors are legitimate while others are offering services you can do yourself, but for a fee.

Sign over the deed to them. Never sign your home’s deed over to another party, especially without having an attorney represent you. In addition, do not make payments to a third party as they may not be representing your lender. Again, contact your lender and remain in communication with them throughout your personal financial crisis.

Ultimately, if you are behind on your payments and have no way out, putting your home on the market could help you avoid foreclosure while also protecting your finances and credit. Never sign or do anything out of duress, recognizing that scammers will take advantage of your fear, ignorance, or pride to steal money from you.

Adv. — If you’re looking for additional consumer advice, please visit our sister site at SayLowerBills.com to find information about managing your income, handling debt, and other money saving tips.


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FTC Reveals Current Sweepstakes Scams

July 8th, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 6 Comments | Filed in Consumer Financing

Con artists are always at work, coming up with ways to get people to part with their money. Some scams are small, involving the selling of a product that doesn’t live up to its reputation while others involve the pilfering of entire life savings.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent arm of the United States federal government tasked with providing consumer protection for U.S. citizens. The FTC monitors allegations of fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace, providing information to consumers to help them spot, stop, and avoid them.

One scam that has received a lot of attention lately are sweepstakes prizes designed to lure people to send money in to claim a prize that they supposedly won. The money is a fee to cover service charges and taxes, but no prize is ever delivered.

Old Scam, New Twist

The latest twist on this particular scam is that the thieves are using names of various government agencies and legitimate phone numbers which mask where they’re calling from. In the May 2008 FTC report outlining the scam, the commission says that the callers will identify themselves as being representatives of “the national consumer protection agency” or the bogus National Sweepstakes Bureau, with even the boldest crooks asserting that they represent the FTC itself!

Internet technology allows scammers to make it look as if they are calling from a government phone or from your own area code, both of which can catch unsuspecting people off guard. People who fall for this ruse will wire money via Western Union which ends up in the hands of a scammer who is usually based overseas.

The FTC offers some tips on how consumer can prevent being victimized including:

  • Don’t pay to collect sweepstakes winnings. If you have to pay to collect your winnings, you haven’t won anything. Legitimate sweepstakes don’t require you to pay “insurance,” “taxes” or “shipping and handling charges” to collect your prize.
  • Hold on to your money. Scammers pressure people to wire money through commercial money transfer companies like Western Union because wiring money is the same as sending cash. If you discover you’ve been scammed, the money’s gone, and there’s very little chance of recovery. Likewise, resist any push to send a check or money order by overnight delivery or courier. Con artists recommend these services so they can get to your money before you realize you’ve been cheated.
  • Look-alikes aren’t the real thing. It’s illegal for any promoter to lie about an affiliation with — or an endorsement by — a government agency or any other well-known organization. Disreputable companies sometimes use a variation of an official or nationally recognized name to try to confuse you and give you confidence in their offers. Insurance companies, including Lloyd’s, do not insure delivery of sweepstakes winnings.
  • Phone numbers can deceive. Some con artists use Internet technology to call you. It allows them to disguise their area code: although it may look like they’re calling from Washington, DC or your local area, they could be calling from anywhere in the world.
  • Take control of the calls you receive. If you want to reduce the number of telemarketing calls you receive, place your telephone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. To register online, visit www.donotcall.gov. To register by phone, call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236) from the phone number you wish to register.
  • File a complaint with the FTC. If your number has been on the National Do Not Call registry for at least 31 days, and a telemarketer calls, file a complaint with the FTC. To file a complaint online, visit www.donotcall.gov. To file a complaint by phone, call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236). If you receive a call from someone claiming to be a representative of the government trying to arrange for you to collect supposed sweepstakes winnings, file a complaint at ftc.gov. It’s most helpful to enforcement officials if your complaints include the date and time of the call and the name or phone number of the organization that called you. Although scammers may call using a telephone number that disguises their location, law enforcers may be able to track that number to identify the caller.

To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

(Source: Federal Trade Commission)

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Protect Yourself Against I.D. Theft This Season

December 17th, 2007 by Matthew C. Keegan | 2 Comments | Filed in Money Management

The final week of Christmas shopping is upon us, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is done shopping. This year, sales are down suggesting that many consumers are waiting for last minute bargains to appear or perhaps cutting back on their spending. Regardless of how, where, or when you shop there is something you need to keep in mind in order to protect yourself as some thieves may try to steal your personal identity.

Identity theft continues to cost consumers, credit card companies and merchants billions of dollars annually in lost revenue, time, and in that hard to measure category — aggravation. You can prevent identity theft by keeping the following in mind:

Save Those Receipts — Nobody likes to be swamped with paperwork, but keeping receipts for all purchases going back as long as 90 days is great way to cross check your credit card bill against purchases. Once your purchases are verified, then shred the receipts you will not need (with a cross cut shredder), but keep those with guarantees/warranties attached for later reference. Also, keep copies of your credit card statements for up to seven years.

Watch Those Checks — Banks have moved away from requiring consumers to post their social security numbers on checks as this step has been a proven contributor to identity theft. If you are planning to give a gift this season and your social security number is printed on your checks, then give cash or a gift card instead. Make a resolution for the coming year to order new checks without sensitive personal information printed on them.

Shop Online, Carefully — Some would say that online shopping is dangerous. On the contrary, identity theft occurs more often through the carelessness of shoppers who leave receipts behind at stores, share personal information over the phone, etc. When shopping online make sure that your computer’s firewall and anti-virus software packages are up-to-date and only shop on a secured site. Look for a closed padlock in the corner or bottom of your browser when making a purchase and that web address should start off with https when you are at the point of purchase — the “s” means that the site is secure.

Run Your Credit Reports — By law, the credit reporting bureaus are required to provide one free copy of your credit report to you annually. Order your reports and check it for errors; if incorrect charges are being made under your name they’ll likely show up in your reports.

Update Your Passwords — One company had their accounts tampered with when the thief discovered that the password being used was the word password. Passwords should be at least eight characters long, contain numbers and letters, even symbols.

Identity theft can happen at any time of the year and in ways completely unexpected for consumers. Situational awareness — whether shopping online or in a store — is crucial to protecting your privacy and securing your identity.


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