If you are bogged down in debt then looking for a solution can be quite bewildering.
Obviously the best method is to increase your income to match your outgoings, however, this isn’t as easy as it sounds and some people’s level of debt requires other action too.
For this reason there are many people searching locally and on the internet for debt elimination programmes.
As with all financially related matters, scammers have seen an opportunity and got in on the action.
One of the latest developments in debt elimination scams is for companies to operate under names that are very similar to established financial institutions, thereby trading on the reputation of these other businesses.
Also, they are increasingly found operating within networking or multi level marketing schemes.
This means that the agents selling the services often have little to no knowledge of legitimate debt elimination techniques.
As such, they are often unaware that the service they are promoting is a scam.
Of course some know full well that it is a scam and proceed anyway.
So how can you tell the difference between a scam and a genuine debt elimination service?
Quite simply, by carefully reviewing the options put forward by the person or company offering the service.
Most debt elimination scams evolve around the (false) principle that many, if not all, lenders are operating illegally and do not have the right to lend you money.
Therefore, they go on to say, you are not legally obliged to repay any of it.
Of course, this is utter nonsense.
There has never been a case yet where a judge has ruled that a plaintiff does not have to pay back sums owed under a bona fide credit arrangement.
Ignoring creditors, or refusing to pay them for this reason is just a sure fire way to become blacklisted, bankrupt or sued.
Oftrn these debt elimination scammers will offer to right off huge methods via this technique, charging their victims a very modest 20% of their total debt in order to wipe the rest clean.
This means that a great many people who are already in financial strife are handing over large sums of money that they will never see again and are then finding themselves in a much worse situation, their credit destroyed and creditors knocking at their doors. Or worse.
If you have been the victim of one of these debt elimination scams then you should try to recoup your money from the firm that gave you this misleading advice.
If that fails then try law enforcement or the courts, however, it is likely you will just have to write off anything you have paid out.
As a matter of urgency get in contact with your creditors - most are understanding and willing to help as much as they can if you maintain a good level of contact with them.
Explain what has happened and how much you can afford to pay - after all, receiving some money is preferable to a creditor than having to write a debt off or having to pursue someone through the courts or via debt collection agencies.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) email scam is nothing new, having first become prevelant in 2005.
The basic function of the email is to try and trick the recipient into believing that they are due a refund of tax.
Typical IRS scam emails follow these basic steps
- The victim receives an email that looks very official and appears to be from the Internal Revenue Service
- The email strongly suggests that the recipient is due a refund of tax
- The email looks quite genuine - it has a subject line of ‘IRS Tax Refund’ and the sender’s address has been spoofed to appear as tax-returns@irs.gov
- A hyperlink in the email points to a site where the victim is told that they have to fill out a form in order to proceed
If this hyperlink is followed then the target website offers up an official looking form to be filled in with personal details, such as name, address, social security number and credit card details.
They are advised that it may be several weeks before they receive any confirmation of their tax refund. (This is to give the scammer time to get away with their money and their identity)
Obviously what is happening here is that the scammers are taking their victims to a fake site from which they are extracting their personal financial details in order to steal both their money and their identity.
The best solution for this is to remember that the IRS would never initiate a refund through email. Also, as ever, remember NEVER to click on links in emails.
If you believe the IRS owes you a tax refund then contact them by phone or type their website url directly into your browser.
This evening whilst i was at work I received a telephone call to my mobile phone from a number I didn’t instantly recognise - 08450229900. As I was waiting for a call from a bank I thought it may be them so when I had a break I called the number back, only to find out it was for a company called Prize Direct.
Thinking it may be a scam I hung up immediately - some of these numbers you get missed calls from redirect you to a high cost per minute number. When I got in I decided to look prizedirect.net up on the internet.
It turns out that they are a ‘game’ website. Seems that it is some sort of turn based affair played via SMS. Strangely, on the terms and conditions page they go to great lengths to explain that it is not a lottery. Why, I don’t know.
They mention something about awards for less than 10000 Euros being paid in gift certificates that allow you to buy from over 100 items in the UK World Gift Catalogue, another scam I shall be coming back to in the near future. Needless to say, this catalogue offers Siny televisions and Pinasonic electricals that are worth less than the postage costs of receiving them! (more…)
On the face of things Love Calculator would appear to be a harmless plaything that you can access through the internet. Their web page is a cutesy pink with nice graphics. What lurks beneath it, however, is not so cute.
To anyone who doesn’t read the very small print at the bottom of the second page it looks like it is just a plaything for working out the name of your soulmate, the useless but fun sort of script you see offered free to use on many a website.
However, if you do bother to read the tiny text at the bottom of the screen then you will discover their terms and conditions are not quite so cheap..
Summary terms: By calculating your perfect match and by entering your personal PIN Code which will be sent to the mobile phone number supplied by you on this website, you acknowledge that you are subscribing to a bi-weekly horoscope. All plans are subject to the Terms and Conditions. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending a text message with STOP, to short code 2228. Your phone must have text messaging capability. The love calculation is priced at $5. The weekly horoscope is sent twice weekly and is priced at $5 per horoscope with a $5 club joining fee. Standard text messaging rates may apply. Information? 0800440619. Please click here to see full Terms and Conditions.
All they say you need to do to discover the name of your soulmate is to enter your name, star sign and mobile number.
I mean, come on, how can anyone even claim to be able to seriously work out the name of your soulmate anyway?
Does such a thing even exist?
Anyways, we digress. Reading that small print thoroughly shows that the true cost of subscribing to this service is an initial fee of $15 - $5 for signing up, $5 to use the love calculator and $5 for the horoscope.
Whilst it’s possible to unsubscribe at any time, it is highly suspect charging that amount of money for something that is most likely used by kids who won’t have bothered reading the fine print. What’s more, it is not instantly obvious that $15 will be the initial charge either. This is deceptive marketing at best.
Looking up lovecalculator.co.nz through a whois search reveals the following information -
version: 1.23.0
query_datetime: 2007-03-10T11:29:27+13:00
domain_name: lovecalculator.co.nz
query_status: 200 Active
domain_dateregistered: 2007-01-12T15:45:15+13:00
domain_datebilleduntil: 2008-01-12T15:45:15+13:00
domain_datelastmodified: 2007-01-12T16:00:02+13:00
domain_delegaterequested: yes
%
registrar_name: 1st Domains
registrar_address1: P O Box 1520
registrar_address2: Christchurch Mail Centre
registrar_city: Christchurch
registrar_province: Canterbury
registrar_country: NZ (NEW ZEALAND)
registrar_phone: +64 3 962-9520
registrar_fax: +64 3 962-9513
registrar_email: hostmaster@1stdomains.net.nz
%
registrant_contact_name: MobileFone
registrant_contact_address1: 20
registrant_contact_address2: Canning
registrant_contact_city: Sydney
registrant_contact_province: WA
registrant_contact_postalcode: 6154
registrant_contact_country: AU (AUSTRALIA)
registrant_contact_phone: +61 2 9999999
registrant_contact_email: support@mobilefone.com.au
%
admin_contact_name: MobileFone
admin_contact_address1: 20
admin_contact_address2: Canning
admin_contact_city: Sydney
admin_contact_province: WA
admin_contact_postalcode: 6154
admin_contact_country: AU (AUSTRALIA)
admin_contact_phone: +61 2 9999999
admin_contact_email: support@mobilefone.com.au
%
technical_contact_name: MobileFone
technical_contact_address1: 20
technical_contact_address2: Canning
technical_contact_city: Sydney
technical_contact_province: WA
technical_contact_postalcode: 6154
technical_contact_country: AU (AUSTRALIA)
technical_contact_phone: +61 2 9999999
technical_contact_email: support@mobilefone.com.au
%
ns_name_01: ns1.ratedhosting.com
ns_name_02: ns2.ratedhosting.com
Now, I may be wrong, but I do believe that hiding behind a PO Box for an address is a violation of ICANN registration for a domain name isn’t it?
Is it a scam? In conclusion, I would have to say that this site is unethical at best. It obviously targets kids for whom $15 (if they unsubscribe immediately, more if they don’t) would be a lot of money, especially when you consider that there are many other little scripts like this on the net that do the same thing for free.
If you have been searching the internet for ways to become wealthy then you may have come across the name of Bruce Berman. He has also been known to advertise his services on the radio.
The offer made is for free information; you just need to visit his website, 9bruce.com, in order to receive his full package which includes a book and an audio cd. Advertised as free, you just need to enter your name and address to sign up for this deal. On the next screen you are asked to pay $3.95 for shipping. Ok, so a shipping fee means it isn’t as free as free can be but then the product isn’t costing anything so that’s ok isn’t it?
If you decide that the shipping fee is a deal breaker then this is where things take a bit of a twist. Try navigating away from the page and a chat window will open. An agent called ‘Rachel’ pops up and tries to convince you to pay the $3.95 fee. The chat makes her look like a bot, despite the fact that she denies it if asked outright (clever programming ;)). (more…)
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Saturday, June 30, 2007
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