I have a dozen topics lined up to be published about once a week but I'll interrupt that schedule to post a public service announcement. While the emphasis is now on internet scams (Nigerian scam, etc), you still need to steer clear of off-line scams.
Just today, my mom got a call saying my car was towed. I needed $200 ASAP to get my car out of impound and someone would be by to get the cash for me. Of course, I didn't make the call because my cellphone was supposedly locked in the car. Now, this entire attempt in my mind was completely laughable. (1) I don't need $200 from my parents. (2) I certainly would be in no hurry where I'd send some random stranger to my mom's house. (3) I have no problems walking home or to my office in order to get access to a phone. However, the fact this scam attempt happened says some people do fall for it -- especially the elderly.
This is not the first time somebody has tried to scam my parents. A while back, she got a call saying my brother owed $10,000 but if she would give them her bank account info right then and there, they would cut the amount due to $4,000. My mom actually got her check book out before she asked a few more questions about this supposed past due. That was when the gig was up as the info they had was from multiple people. However ... if they had nailed that part right (which is not too hard considering how wide our personal data has dispersed), she might be out $4,000 as we speak.
So if you have parents and relatives getting older and hitting the age where their minds are slowing down, periodically reinforce that there are a lot of scammers out to get them. It's bad enough with the scammers that come at you legally (e.g. unethical mortgage/stock/insurance brokers) -- let's at least avoid outright fraud.
(Filed in misc)
Watch out for scammers
Posted by Mossy
February 12, 2008 9:11 PM
Just today, my mom got a call saying my car was towed. I needed $200 ASAP to get my car out of impound and someone would be by to get the cash for me. Of course, I didn't make the call because my cellphone was supposedly locked in the car. Now, this entire attempt in my mind was completely laughable. (1) I don't need $200 from my parents. (2) I certainly would be in no hurry where I'd send some random stranger to my mom's house. (3) I have no problems walking home or to my office in order to get access to a phone. However, the fact this scam attempt happened says some people do fall for it -- especially the elderly.
This is not the first time somebody has tried to scam my parents. A while back, she got a call saying my brother owed $10,000 but if she would give them her bank account info right then and there, they would cut the amount due to $4,000. My mom actually got her check book out before she asked a few more questions about this supposed past due. That was when the gig was up as the info they had was from multiple people. However ... if they had nailed that part right (which is not too hard considering how wide our personal data has dispersed), she might be out $4,000 as we speak.
So if you have parents and relatives getting older and hitting the age where their minds are slowing down, periodically reinforce that there are a lot of scammers out to get them. It's bad enough with the scammers that come at you legally (e.g. unethical mortgage/stock/insurance brokers) -- let's at least avoid outright fraud.
(Filed in misc)
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