VRI RED ALERT - Internet Scams Increase Over Valentines Day
With the arrival of Valentine's Day come an increase in spam and internet scams. Dave Marcus, Director of Security Research with McAfee Labs says online frauds prey upon those who aren't as tech-savvy as them. Marcus says that these criminals expect a failure rate of well over ninety percent due to spam and internet filters, but says that they still make a lot of money with the few consumers that do fall for their deceit. He says that these con-artists can make a lot of money with a very small investment. Several of these criminals can effectively hide their tracks by using other computers infected with spyware over the internet to carry out their crimes.

Marcus says with the spammers and scammers becoming increasingly tech-savvy, internet users must be vigilant and take all of the available steps to protect themselves. He concedes that there is no rock-solid way to make yourself one-hundred percent safe from online fraud, but that by taking some simple steps, your online security can go a long way. According to Marcus, the best way to protect yourself includes purchasing good anti-virus and internet protection software and updating it on a daily basis. He also points to some common sense approaches such as protecting your identity on line and to only purchase items from reputable sources.

VRI RED ALERT - Hotline Created to Report Haitian Earthquake Relief Fraud
The FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) have established a telephone hotline to report suspected Haitian earthquake relief fraud. The number is (866) 720-5721. The phone line is staffed by a live operator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also e-mail information directly to disaster@leo.gov. Past tragedies and natural disasters have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions purportedly for a charitable organization and/or a good cause.

VRI RED ALERT - Haiti Earthquake: FTC Warns Consumers to Give Wisely
In the wake of the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti, the Federal Trade Commission warns consumers to choose carefully when considering urgent appeals for aid in the news, online, and at social networking sites. The best way to provide immediate help is to donate money directly to established national relief organizations that have the experience and means to deliver aid. The FTC, the nation’s consumer protection agency, has these tips to help consumers give wisely:
• Donate to recognized charities that you have given to before. Watch out for those that have sprung up overnight. They may be well-meaning, but lack the infrastructure to provide assistance. And be wary of charities with names that sound like familiar or nationally known organizations. Some phony charities use names that sound or look like those of respected, legitimate organizations.
• You don’t have to donate to someone who contacts you out of the blue with an unsolicited e-mail, phone call, or text message. It’s better to give through a Web site or phone number that you know is legitimate.
• Give directly to the charity, not the solicitors for the charity. Solicitors take a portion of the proceeds to cover their costs, which leaves less for victim assistance.
• Do not give out personal or financial information – including your Social Security number or credit card and bank account numbers – to anyone who solicits a contribution from you. Scam artists use this information to commit fraud against you.
• Check out any charities before you donate. Contact the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance at www.give.org.
• Don’t give or send cash. For security and tax record purposes, contribute by check or credit card. Write the official name of the charity on your check. You can contribute safely online through national charities like www.redcross.org/donate.
• Ask for identification if you’re approached in person. Many states require paid fund-raisers to identify themselves as such and to name the charity for which they are soliciting.
For more information, visit ftc.gov/charityfraud. In addition, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, David C. Vladeck, has a blog post on this subject at:
‘Haiti Relief’ Scams - FBI Warning
As the images of devastation from Haiti come into our living rooms from numerous news outlets, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says everyone should be careful when donating to the relief efforts. Unfortunately, during natural disasters like this, on-line scammers go into over-drive with phishing e-mails hoping to hook people into taking their bait. That's why it's recommended that you shouldn't let your emotions blind you from the signs of potential scams.

VRI RED ALERT - Scareware distributors stole $150 Million sez FBI
Bangalore: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is aware of an estimated loss of more than $150 million to internet users, who have been victims of scareware scammers. According to a note posted by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the number doesn't reveal the full picture, because in a single year over 40 million people observed globally were victims of rogue antivirus scams. From a cybercriminal's perspective, the conversion rate of exposed and infected scareware users, looks much more favorable than the conversion rate of several users who clicked on a spam message, but purchased nothing, reports ZDNet. The estimated financial losses to customers caused by scareware, greatly exceeds the revenue generated by spam in general, which due to its large number is wrongly considered as a very profitable cybercrime effort. During 2009, scareware successfully matured as a fraud scheme and positioned itself as one of the most profitable monetization tactics applied by cybercriminals. Experts feel that the fraud tactic is prone to escalate in 2010 due to the fact that it's profitable and the business model has already been positioned as a cash cow in Cisco's Cybecrime Return on Investment Matrix.

VRI RED ALERT - Warning Out About Scammers Posing as Census Workers
U.S. Census workers will begin gathering information about you within the next few weeks. Someone from the bureau is likely to show up on your doorstep and speak with you face to face. But now scammers are posing as government workers to try to get access to your bank and credit card accounts. This has become such a problem that the Better Business Bureau put out an alert warning people not to give any information bank or credit card account to anyone claiming to be Census workers. It's a common sight at the end of every decade, thousands of Census workers descending on neighborhoods gathering information about the community to take back to Washington. But this time, there are others hard at work. "We've actually had a couple of phone calls and a couple of employees here that have brought us the information that a parent has been given and it seems they are preying on senior citizens," said Sidna Chambers with the U.S Census Bureau. They are a group of scammers that are posing as Census workers with the goal of getting access to your financial information. "They'll never ask for a credit card number, your bank institution number, none of that kind of stuff," Chambers said. What's more, Chambers said that Census workers stand out. "Every Census employee that's out there should be identified with a federal badge that has their name and their position on the badge and the person in their home needs to be asking for that if it's not visible," said Chambers. Bob Manista with the Better Business Bureau has received several calls about the scam. Some of them are even trying to get your information through electronic inquiries. "We've seen already some email scams asking for phishing information, looking for bank account numbers and other personal information that nobody should be giving out," said Manista.

VRI RED ALERT - FLORIDA: Police seek victims of Coral Springs mortgage investment fraud
Margate and Coral Springs detectives are looking for victims of an alleged fraud scheme involving a Coral Springs mortgage company. The company's owner is accused of approaching potential investors at the Oriole Golf and Tennis Country Club in Margate, according to Margate police Detective Efrain Suarez. The man offered them high returns if they invested in mortgage notes through him, police said. He allegedly took victims' money, promising large payouts at the end of their contracts. But they never got their money back, police said. The man had fled the country by the time investors tried to contact him. Police are now looking for more victims who may not know about the ploy because their contracts have not yet ended. Authorities ask anyone who has invested with the company to call Margate Police Detective Lori Eller at 954-935-5445 or Coral Springs police Detective Robert Ames at 954-346-1281.

VRI RED ALERT - FDIC Phishing Scam Strikes More Banks - Iowa Bank Customers Hit in Latest Flurry
For the second time in recent months, bank customers have been sent phishing emails purporting to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). The e-mail claims that the financial institution is on a list of banks that are "failing" and that the FDIC is taking control of that institution's assets. The e-mail then instructs the recipient to click on a link that supposedly takes the recipient to the FDIC website, when in reality the website is actually fake. When recipients click on the fake FDIC website, they are prompted to enter sensitive information such as account numbers for checking and savings accounts. This latest alert comes after a similar phishing attack was reported against banking customers in late October, asking recipients to check the amount of insurance their bank had with the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund.

VRI RED ALERT - The Missouri Secretary of State's office is warning the public to beware of phone calls pitching oil and gas investments.
The calls in question are unsolicited, with offers of high returns and very low financial risk. Abe Rakov is with the Secretary of State's office. "Because it's ongoing, I can't get too specific, but there have been multiple complaints...it also has been happing in other states: Recently, Colorado filed a complaint alleging fraud in connection with the marketing of investments in oil and gas drilling operations," Rakov said. Rakov also says some of the promoters calling Missourians have had past run-ins with state and federal regulators. He adds that enforcement action will be taken against any company found to be violating the Missouri Securities Act. People who get such calls are being advised to ask for information on all risks and for the full history of all key players involved. They can also call the state's Investor Protection Hotline at 1-800-721-7996, or log on to MissouriSafeSavings.com.

VRI RED ALERT - Smishing Attack is New Variation of Classic Fraud
Chase Bank customers in the New York metro area have been receiving bogus text messages claiming to be from the bank, asking for account information. A local New York television station reported the phishing attack last week, claiming that "tens of millions of dollars" have already been stolen by fraudsters.

VRI RED ALERT - Auction Rate Securities scams target Alabama
Joseph Borg, Director of the Alabama Securities Commission (ASC) alerts Alabama investors to be wary of suspected financial scams being marketed via the internet and targeting investors especially those currently holding auction rate securities (ARS). Internet email scammers are promising as much as $1.5 million in compensation for owners of ARS instruments as state regulators continue to probe irregularities associated with the offer and sale of the investments by several large investment houses. Though the emails appear to originate with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self regulatory organization (SRO) whose members are securities business firms, investors need to be aware that the emails being received don't come from FINRA, state or federal regulators and are a "phishing" scam designed to gain sensitive personal financial information from citizens.

VRI RED ALERT - Gmail, Yahoo hit by phishing scheme
SAN FRANCISCO - Users of Google’s Gmail and Yahoo Mail were also targeted in the large-scale phishing attack that harvested at least 10,000 passwords from Microsoft’s Live Hotmail, according to reports Tuesday. Neither of the companies’ US representatives responded to requests for information. But in Europe, where most of the Hotmail phishing victims appeared to be located, a spokesman for Google confirmed the targeting of Gmail users. “We recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for Web-based mail accounts including Gmail accounts,” a Google spokesperson told the BBC. The British network said it has seen a list of some 20,000 hijacked e-mail accounts that included accounts from Gmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL, Comcast and EarthLink. The latter two are major US Internet service providers. The intrusions, which fool users into giving their details to a dummy website, come amid a sharp rise in the number of phishing attacks. According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group some 50,000 mass attacks took place in June 2009, almost double the number recorded in January.

VRI RED ALERT - TOP 10 RISKIEST INVESTMENTS
Every fall various state and other agencies print their list of Top Ten Risks To Investors. Here is a compilation of the risks noted in four such lists. While they were ranked differently in order, the lists were essentially the same this year.
1. Entertainment investments
2. Gold bullion and forex currency scams
3. Leveraged exchange-traded funds - called ETFs
4. Life settlements. Also called viaticals,
5. Natural resource scams. Oil and gas, wind farms etc.
6. Ponzi schemes
7. Private placement offerings
8. Real estate investment schemes
9. Short term promissory notes
10. Speculative inventions and new products Bernie Bicoy

VRI RED ALERT - Don’t Be Fooled by Sweepstakes Scammers Posing as Federal Officials - Callers with Prize News Don’t Work for the FTC
Don’t be taken in by con artists who pose as government officials and claim consumers have won what turns out to be a bogus sweepstakes prize. Although these scammers say they represent the Federal Trade Commission or some other government agency, the FTC would never call consumers on behalf of sweepstakes programs, and consumers should never send money up front just because someone promises them a prize. Crooks often take advantage of Internet technology to make it seem that they are calling from Washington, DC, or the consumer’s hometown. They could be calling from anywhere in the world. To learn more about how to avoid this type of scam, go to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt167.shtm.

VRI RED ALERT - You receive an email from ANYONE claiming that you are entitled to a large sum of money, please delete that email.
Some of these emails are from the IRS, FBI, THE UNITED NATIONS, AMERICAN EXPRESS, UPS, WESTERN UNION AND BANKS (ALL OVER THE WORLD) and heaven alone knows how many ‘’lotteries’’. Since our email address is ‘out there’ we get these emails every day, about 10-20 of them. However, our computer now marks them as **SPAM** and dumps them into a special box aptly named JUNK E-MAIL, which makes it easy to click on ‘’EMPTY JUNK E-MAIL FOLDER’’, and presto, they’re all gone along with tons of other advertisements. This crap has been around so long now it's amazing anyone falls for it...but once a week or so we pick up a story about someone losing a ton of money on some Nigerian scam like this, or another. Truly amazing.

VRI RED ALERT - WE’LL GET YOUR MONEY BACK…New wave of scammers target victims of alleged fraud
Greedy vultures are preying on victims of an alleged Calgary-based Ponzi scheme, who are being told by scammers a further investment of $750 will help them get their money back. Investment watchdogs and law enforcement are reminding investors if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. They are issuing more warnings to prevent unsuspecting people from being caught up in phony investment schemes, which are now easier to run, thanks to the Internet. New technologies are also helping scammers to create fraudulent but realistic looking documents used to snare diligent investors. Other fraudsters are taking advantage of modern gadgetry to more easily skim personal information from debit and credit cards. Police say they are devoting more effort to keep track of white-collar criminals who have been caught and released time and time again.

VRI RED ALERT - If you haven’t figured this out yet…Beware of car-warranty telemarketing calls
On Sept. 3, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson filed suit against Florida vehicle warranty telemarketer C1F Marketing, asking Oklahoma County District Court to permanently enjoin the company from conducting illegal operations in Oklahoma. The suit also seeks civil penalties, costs and payment for the state's investigative expenses. A message from "SageV, junior member" recounts her experience with C1F Marketing. She received a recorded message call from the company saying her car warranty was about to expire. A live operator said although her warranty had seven months and 14,000 miles left on it, her warranty still was considered "about to expire." Or, if she had less than a year before it was to expire, it was considered "set to expire," etc. Not knowing anything about her warranty, she decided to listen anyway and was told she had to make a decision on whether she wanted to buy the extended warranty before she hung up. This was her final chance to get a warranty. The salesman said he could extend her warranty five years or 150,000 miles but wanted a down payment of $500. He could set up financing for what she owed, and after she talked him down to $300, she took the deal — even though the warranty was for longer than she planned to keep the car. She was horrified at the package she got in the mail when realizing she'd be paying $2,500 for a warranty she didn't even need. Upon reading the warranty, she saw it was "extended" five years but "covered, pretty much, NOTHING." She was told her engine, transmission, computers, electronics, etc., would be covered, but the actual warranty wasn't even close. Very few parts in the engine and transmission were covered — no computer, no electrical, etc. Be careful what you agree to on the phone.

VRI RED ALERT - ‘’Unclaimed Money’’ fraud alert
Citizens are cautioned to be leery of any person or business claiming to be able to recover unclaimed money, for a fee. Getting calls or e-mails telling the potential victim that they have unclaimed wealth is a common scam. Occasionally, a person or organization loses track of money or personal property due to unclaimed bank accounts, unpaid insurance policies, unreturned utility and rent deposits, undelivered dividends and shares of stock, uncashed checks, and forgotten bank deposits. In New York, banks, investment companies, insurance companies and utilities are required to surrender inactive accounts to the state. Information is maintained on the State Comptroller’s website at www.osc.state.ny.us. You can also call, toll free, 800-221-9311. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators maintains a list of every state’s unclaimed property program, at www.unclaimed.org.

VRI RED ALERT - Fraudsters add IM to phishing attacks. “Hi! What's your mother's maiden name?”
Conmen are trialling the inclusion of IM features into fraudulent e-banking websites. The tactic is designed to trick prospective marks into handing over the answers to secret security questions, thereby giving cybercrims an increased ability to loot compromised accounts. The so-called "chat-in-the-middle" fraud tactic was discovered by security researchers at RSA in one isolated case involving a US bank, suggesting it's currently at the prototype stage. RSA explains that fraudsters pose as a representative of a targeted bank’s fraud department during a Live Chat session designed to trick the unwary into disclosing their names, address, phone number and other sensitive information.

VRI RED ALERT - “I’m your grandson and I’m in trouble in Canada. Send money for bail.” Not.
Two senior citizens received a call from an individual claiming to be their grandson. In each separate incident the caller, pretending to be a grandson, told the senior citizen that they were in trouble in Canada and needed money to bail them out of jail, according to a statement from the police. In this scam the senior citizen receives a call where the caller identifies himself as a grandchild in trouble with law enforcement in Canada and needs cash sent immediately to be used as bail money. Preying on the senior citizens uncertainty of which grandchild is calling, the caller is able to get the grandchild’s name and then pretend to be that person. Asking the grandparent to not call “Mom and Dad” because they want to tell them the bad news themselves, the caller then convinces the resident to send the money by money order to an address they provide, police stated. In the incident in July and again in September, the senior citizens wired money to an address in Canada. This phone scam is also being seen in other parts of the country, the release states.

VRI RED ALERT - Beware of California Wildfire Charity Scams, FTC Warns
The Federal Trade Commission warns consumers to use caution when donating to charities that claim to help victims of the devastating California wildfires. While many legitimate groups help victims, scam artists may take advantage of the disaster by creating bogus fundraising operations.The FTC’s Charity Checklist consumer alert offers tips to ensure that donation dollars benefit the people and organizations consumers want to help. The alert, available at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt114.shtm, advises consumers to be wary of appeals that tug at the heart strings, but are short on details about how disaster victims will benefit.

VRI RED ALERT - Facebook scam tricks woman
Beware scammers posing as friends. A Missouri woman was tricked into wiring about $4,000 to someone in England after receiving faked messages from a friend on Facebook asking for help. The Associated Press reports that Jayne Scherrman of Cape Girardeau wired about $4,000 to someone in England in response to faked messages supposedly from a friend on Facebook. Police think someone took over the Facebook account of another Cape Girardeau County resident, Grace Parry, changed the password so she couldn't get to her account, and send messages saying she and her husband were stranded in London and needed money. Scherrman, a dentist, said Parry and her minister husband went on mission trips, so she didn't think it unusual that they would be in England, or might need money till they could get home. Parry, who hadn't traveled to England in years, eventually tried to access her account to warn other friends but couldn't, the AP reported. She asked Facebook to suspend her account, and her husband posted warnings about the scam, including one Scherrman received after she'd sent the money. The police said people should remember to change their passwords often for Facebook and other online services, and to be careful about posting personal information.

VRI RED ALERT - Steven Breitling/ICS Financial Firm
Used phony loan offers to bilk consumers out of $75 each. Consumers received a direct mailing from ICS Financial “guaranteeing” them a loan of between $2,000 and $5,000. Those who responded were contacted by telemarketers, who told them that to get their loan they first had to pay a $75 consulting fee and sign a contract. Consumers who paid the fee never received any loans, and many never heard from the company again, according to the complaint.

VRI RED ALERT - Direct Connection Consulting, Inc., et al.
Allegedly billed consumers for products they never agreed to buy after bombarding them with a confusing sales pitch over the phone. The defendants contacted consumers with promises of free gift cards, gas cards, or free resort vacations. The telemarketers often read their pitch so fast that consumers didn’t understand or realize they were agreeing to pay for products or services. Consumers who understood the pitch were told that they would not be billed, since they did not provide their billing information. However, although consumers did not know it, the telemarketers already had their billing information and charged their credit cards or debited their bank accounts, without providing the “free” goods or the services they promised.

VRI RED ALERT - Montreal-based Med Provisions
Operated a bogus online pharmacy that sold sham “membership packages” to elderly consumers for $389. The defendants claimed their online pharmacy could save customers 30 percent to 50 percent on prescription drug costs, and offered a 30-day money-back “guarantee.” But according to the FTC, consumers who ordered the package got either nothing, or a prescription drug card that turned out to be worthless. Consumers did not get refunds.

VRI RED ALERT - City West Advantage, Inc. d/b/a Unified Services
Allegedly deceived consumers into disclosing their bank account information, and then charged them about $149 without their permission. The defendants called consumers and told them they had won a $1,000 shopping spree or other “free gift,” and that the bank account information they provided would be used to charge them $1.95 for shipping and handling. Consumers who hesitated were called back repeatedly and harassed by telemarketers, even after consumers asked them to stop calling. Consumers who provided their financial information were charged approximately $149 without their consent.

VRI RED ALERT - Did you get your stimulus money yet?
A type of email scam making the rounds this season tells taxpayers that they are entitled to a “stimulus payment” from the government. These emails “inform” recipients that their fiscal activity for the last year has been reviewed, and they are “eligible for a stimulus payment.” The email urges the recipient to fill out and return an attached form, which then asks for sensitive financial information. Obviously it’s all a scheme to steal information.

VRI RED ALERT - Who wouldn't jump at a little extra mone from the IRS?
One current phishing tax scam features emails with the subject line “Who wouldn’t jump at a little extra money from the Internal Revenue Service?” The body of this email includes a realistic looking but fake IRS logo and falsely tells recipients that they are entitled to a refund. The phishing site to which recipients are directed, requests social security numbers, as well as bank information, both of which can lead to identity theft and financial fraud. Similar scams are being spread offering property tax relief.

VRI RED ALERT - Don't click on the link in that email!
Be skeptical of any non-Certified email that asks for sensitive financial information or asks you to click on a link,” said Peter Horan, chief executive officer of Goodmail Systems. “These emails could either be taking you to a site that is trying to steal your information or will download spyware onto your computer that will surreptitiously transmit personal information to criminals.”

VRI RED ALERT - The Same Scammers That Target Individuals Target Small Businesses. Here's how.
Almost everyone has heard horror stories about individuals who have been taken in by mass marketing fraud schemes—from phony sweepstakes to lottery scams. But here’s something you may not know: the very same fraudsters who target individual consumers also target businesses. Illicit mass marketers know that the keepers of corporate funds may be just as susceptible to fake ploys as anyone else. And while business-oriented fraud usually results in losses of a few hundreds dollars the first time a company is hit, employees may continue to fall victim to these scams if the company has insufficient internal controls. Such scams include…
 Masquerading as your usual office supplies provider, a fraudulent mass marketer contacts your employees, offering products at reduced or current prices in anticipation of impending rate increases. After paying the invoice, your company never receives the supplies it purchased.
 Your organization is asked to buy ad space in a business directory. The directory never sees the light of day, or only scammed companies like yours receive a copy.
 Criminals send invoices for unordered or undelivered products showing higher-than-agreed-upon prices, trying to exploit poor communication channels that may exist in your company and hoping that phony invoices will be paid without a second look.
 Your business receives an information packet offering to create and host your website. The packet includes a card that must be returned in order to “opt out” of the service, but the card is simply ignored or thrown out. Your company is then billed for web services it never ordered.
 In a variation of the advance-fee scheme that often targets individual consumers, perpetrators—usually targeting small businesses—offer low interest loans in exchange for an advance fee. You pay the fee, but your business never receives the loan.
While the FBI and other law enforcement agencies vigorously investigate frauds of all kinds, there are steps your businesses can take to protect themselves. For example:  Educate yourself and your employees—especially frontline and accounts payable and receivable personnel—about common fraud schemes;
 Always ask for offers in writing, and require a written contract or purchase order for ANY transaction;
 Carefully review all invoices and compare them to expense records to make sure they are legitimate (and keep all records!);
 Use a credit card for purchasing supplies and services (if the vendor fails to deliver, you can dispute the charges);
 Don’t give out full names of employees, as fraudsters can obtain an employee’s name and then later claim this individual authorized the purchase of a product or service; and
 Be wary of accepting checks, because in some cases perpetrators have conducted a series of smaller, legitimate transactions to enhance their credibility and then used a counterfeit check to pay for a large order.
If you suspect you’ve been scammed, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel, a database accessed by law enforcement agencies around the country. You can also contact your local FBI office.

VRI RED ALERT - Businesses advertise as buyers. They take over a home's title but not the mortgage, and some can leave distressed owners in foreclosure.
Bob has a $200,000 home and a $180,000 loan outstanding. He pays $1,300 monthly on his mortgage. Bob loses his job and begins to fall behind on his mortgage payments. He decides he needs to leave. A company offers to buy the house in exchange for catching up on Bob's payments and paying him $2,000. The company does not assume legal responsibility for the mortgage. The company brings in a renter who puts down a $4,000 deposit and pays $1,500 per month. The company uses $1,300 of that money to pay the mortgage. The company now has $4,000 in cash and $200 a month from the rent. The renter misses a payment and is evicted. If the company cannot find another renter, the company stops paying the mortgage and the home falls into foreclosure. Since Bob is still named on the mortgage, the foreclosure is on his credit. The company walks away with a cash profit.
What to avoid
1. A transaction that requires you to transfer title.
2. Unclear or confusing contracts. Contact an attorney before making any deal involving your house.
3. A confidentially clause, which requires you not to talk about the terms of the deal

VRI RED ALERT - ''Friendly fraud'' finds consumers ripping off businesses
Some unsavory consumers have come up with a new way to rip off businesses who sell their wares by phone, internet or mail order. Here's how it works: A consumer will order an item, receive it through the mail and then dispute the charge with their credit card company. They'll say they never received the merchandise, or it was misrepresented, or whatever other lie they can devise. The monetary toll of friendly fraud can be staggering. One photo equipment supplier averages $130,000/week in fraud orders. About a third of those are of the friendly fraud nature. The rest are people using phony credit cards to make off with expensive equipment.

VRI RED ALERT - UK investment tricksters fleece small firms
Cash-strapped small businesses are falling victim to an aggressive new breed of fraudster fleecing them for 'finders' fees' for investments that never materialise. The Serious Fraud Office has sounded the alarm after a number of cases emerged in which swindlers took fees of £20,000. This is a variation on the advance-fee fraud of the early Nineties in which access was falsely promised to wealthy investors from the booming 'tiger' economies of the Far East. Deeply alarmed by the development, the SFO is appealing for information through Financial Mail because of its wide readership among small and medium-sized enterprises. With the credit crunch putting the screws on conventional sources of finance, smaller firms are increasingly open to unconventional approaches. According to information picked up by the SFO intelligence unit, firms are risk told the fraudsters can obtain investment but will need to conduct 'due diligence' before taking the case for funds to financial institutions.

VRI RED ALERT - You're my friend....honest.
>Scammers will establish connections with intended victims online and spend time developing a "relationship." They gain victims' trust, often by sending alleged photographs of themselves. Eventually, the scammer will spin a "tale of woe and desperation" and ask for financial help in a scheme to cover travel to meet the victim or for an investment.

VRI RED ALERT - Mystery shopper job scams
A person applies for job online – apparently with a mystery shopper service – and is presented with a check that is explained as being her salary and expense account. She is then asked to deposit the check into her personal account, using some of the money to buy a small item at a retail store to evaluate the store's customer service. In turn, scammers will instruct the victim to wire a large portion of the money back to them under the guise of evaluating the wire service agency's customer-care abilities. Ultimately, the original check will be found to be fraudulent and the victim held liable for the funds.

VRI RED ALERT - When people post items for sale, scammers will offer to buy the goods, sending a check or money order for much higher than the price to cover shipping and other hassles.
Then scammers will ask that the additional funds be wire transferred or sent back by money order. Victims deposit the scammer's check or money order and wire the excess funds. Later, they are told the scammer's original check or money order was fraudulent or stolen.

VRI RED ALERT - ONLINE AUCTION FRAUD - Don't Let it Happen to You
One in four complaints in 2008 to the Internet Crime Complaint Center involved online auction fraud. Computers, sports memorabilia, rare coins, designer fashions, and even cars. There are a variety of auction frauds, but here are some of the more common ones to watch out for:
 Overpayment fraud targets the seller. A seller advertises a high-value item—like a car or a computer—on the Internet. A scammer contacts the seller to purchase the item, then sends the seller a counterfeit check or money order for an amount greater than the price of the item. The purchaser asks the seller to deposit the payment, deduct the actual sale price, and then return the difference to the purchaser.
 Wire transfer schemes start with fraudulent and misleading ads for the sale of high-value items being posted on well-known online auction sites. When buyers take the bait, they are directed to wire money to the crooks using a money transfer company. Once the money changes hands, the buyer never hears from them again.
 Second-chance schemes involve scammers who offer losing bidders of legitimate auctions the opportunity to buy the item(s) they wanted at reduced prices. They usually require that victims send payment through money transfer companies, but then don’t follow through on delivery.

VRI RED ALERT - SPEAR PHISHERS - Angling to Steal Your Financial Info
Instead of casting out thousands of e-mails randomly hoping a few victims will bite, spear phishers target select groups of people with something in common—they work at the same company, bank at the same financial institution, attend the same college, order merchandise from the same website, etc. The e-mails are ostensibly sent from organizations or individuals the potential victims would normally get e-mails from, making them even more deceptive. How spear phishing works. First, criminals need some inside information on their targets to convince them the e-mails are legitimate. They often obtain it by hacking into an organization’s computer network (which is what happened in the above case) or sometimes by combing through other websites, blogs, and social networking sites. Then, they send e-mails that look like the real thing to targeted victims, offering all sorts of urgent and legitimate-sounding explanations as to why they need your personal data. Finally, the victims are asked to click on a link inside the e-mail that takes them to a phony but realistic-looking website, where they are asked to provide passwords, account numbers, user IDs, access codes, PINs, etc.Once criminals have your personal data, they can access your bank account, use your credit cards, and create a whole new identity using your information.

VRI RED ALERT - ID theft telephone scam targets insurance agents
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is advising insurance agents throughout the state to be wary of telephone imposters posing as insurance department regulators in order to obtain confidential personal information. Commissioner Praeger says, "These scammers have then threatened cancellation or suspension of the agents' licenses for filing improper paperwork. They want the agents to give them Social Security, credit card and telephone numbers, as well as birth dates, to ‘rectify' the situation." Insurance departments in Oklahoma, Idaho, Nevada and California have reported such scam attempts.

VRI RED ALERT - Deceptive letter from the ‘’National Debt Relief Program’’
Consumer credit counselors are trying to warn metro residents about a debt letter arriving in the mail. The letter says it's from the National Debt Relief Program. Some say it looks like it's from the government, but it's really from a company trying to make money off people in debt. But the letter is not from the government, in the fine print at the bottom, the letter reads the message is from "GHS Solutions," a debt settlement company. The company has 44 complaints filed against it with the Better Business Bureau.

VRI RED ALERT - Jamaican Lottery
If you received an email or letter saying you have won the ''Jamaican Lottery''...You didn't. There is no such lottery

VRI RED ALERT - Do NOT respond to any email with 'dear' or 'dearest' in the salutation.
Really. These are ALL Nigerian scam emails

VRI RED ALERT - Warning on U.K. lottery scam using ‘Canary Wharf’ address
Trading standards officials in East London are issuing public warnings tonight about bogus callers asking unsuspecting target victims for their bank details. The scammers are using various lottery names such as ‘Euromillions’ to contact people to tell them they have won money. They ask for bank account details, giving the name of “UK Bond Security” claiming to have its offices in Canary Wharf—but in reality most likely abroad. “These scams only work because people respond to them,” says a Tower Hamlets trading standards warning. “If you haven’t entered a lottery, you can’t have won something from it. All they are after are your bank details for identify fraud purposes.” The authority is advising anyone receiving these calls never to send cash to a stranger using a money transfer service, and beware of deals or opportunities that seem too good to be true.

VRI RED ALERT - Churches at Risk in Bogus Opportunity Scam
Con artists are hawking what they claim is a golden opportunity for churches: Free equipment or services. Often targeting African American churches, these scammers may profess a shared faith, culture, or concern for the community to gain the trust of the church staff. In a common scheme, scammers may offer computer equipment to the staff of a church, claiming the cost will be covered by a “sponsor,” who later turns out to be phony. In the meantime, the staff simply has to sign an agreement to lease the equipment, make a regular payment, and deposit checks from the “sponsor” to cover the checks written by the church. While this is going on, the scammers can gain access to the church’s bank accounts and withdraw funds.

VRI RED ALERT - FDA campaign against swine flu scams making a dent
Concerned over the surge of phony swine flu treatments hawked on the Internet, the Food and Drug Administration has ordered dozens of Web site operators to stop making fraudulent claims, leading to a drop in the number of scams. In the six weeks since FDA's In the six weeks since FDA's campaign began, nearly three-quarters have pulled down sites or removed illegal claims, and the number of new sites selling fake swine flu treatments and protective devices has plummeted, FDA officials told The Associated Press. The agency was to release an update on its progress late Monday. "At the beginning, we were seeing as many as 10 new Web sites a day" selling fraudulent products, said Alyson Saben, deputy director of FDA's office of enforcement. "Over the last two weeks or so, we're seeing about two new Web sites a week." The FDA had issued 53 warning letters covering more than 100 products as of Monday morning, she said, with 70 percent heeding the warning. Operators either took down the Web site or removed illegal claims their drug, supplement or device could diagnose, prevent, treat or cure swine flu.

VRI RED ALERT - DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CENTER, Omar Bin Suleiman - Move over, Nigerian scam. Legitimate firm coopted by scammers
Investment advisers are among the targets of a continuing “advance fee” scam that involves bogus promises of work from the Dubai International Finance Center in exchange for a fee. is undoubtedly the latest iteration of the Nigerian scam,” a brokerage executive wrote in an e-mail. The executive, who asked not to be identified, forwarded the scam note. The Nigerian scam has been one of the most pervasive Internet hoaxes using e-mail to target victims. Simply put, it is a confidence trick in which the victim is persuaded to pay, in advance, sums of money in the hope of getting a much larger return. In the Dubai scam, the e-mail is supposedly sent by Omar Bin Sulaiman, governor of the Dubai International Finance Center in the United Arab Emirates. The letter says that he “wishes to invite you to participate as a broker/agent to DIFC individualized equity investment portfolio management program.” The DIFC is swimming in profit and “wishes to reinvest this fund by putting it into the management of private businessmen and corporations with good business ideas,” according to the letter. Several websites are warning advisers about the scam. According to golden-age-investment.com's description of the fraud, Mr. Sulaiman, who is a real person, “will get in touch with you, communicate with you by phone on a daily basis for weeks — offering to invest in your business.” The website goes on to say: “There is a condition — the (fake) investment can only happen if you are incorporated in the UAE — which will, of course (ahem!), require payment. They will use the name and website of a genuine business broker to handle the incorporation — but the employee you deal with will be fake, and the bank account will be theirs — and not the bank account of the company you think you are dealing with.”

VRI RED ALERT - Teach Your Dad About ‘Phishing’ this Father’s Day
The Federal Trade Commission’s Father’s Day e-card is the perfect gift for the man who already has enough ties. But even more important, it can save your dad a whole lot of headaches. Available from the FTC in English and Spanish at http://www.ftc.gov/dad and http://www.ftc.gov/padre, the cards offer dads advice on keeping their personal information secure. To see the You Tube video version of this card, go to http://www.youtube.com/ftcvideos. Help your dad figure out how to spot fraud on the Internet. When Internet scam artists go “phishing,” they send spam e-mails or pop-up messages asking for personal information, Social Security numbers, and/or passwords. To gain the trust of those they wish to con, these hustlers often pose as representatives of a bank or credit union, an e-commerce site, or a government agency. Send your dad this card, and keep him from getting hooked by Internet con artists.

VRI RED ALERT - Australian police investigate new phone banking scam
Police are investigating a new type of scam that operates a fake bank call center using an Australian phone number. The call centre has automated computer voices to dupe callers into providing their credit card numbers. It is linked to a large email scam, or phishing, campaign that imitates official messages from the Commonwealth Bank. "This is the first time the AFP has seen the use of fraudulent call centres with Australian phone numbers in phishing scams," an AFP spokesperson said. The phone number, which appears to be based in NSW, has been sent via email, SMS, or voicemail, the Commonwealth Bank said.

VRI RED ALERT - WWW.ELITERESURRECTED.COM. Brazilians drawn in by ‘CASH GIFTING’ pyramid scheme from jailed scammer
Some Brazilian pastors are growing concerned about what they say is an online pyramid scheme that has drawn in large numbers of Brazilian immigrants in MetroWest and Greater Boston. Billed as a "cash gifting program" in which participants make gifts to each other in a "continuous circle," Elite Activity Resurrected, as the program is called, has spread like a virus in the Brazilian community, said Pastor Josimar Salum of Worcester. Participants are invited to join the program and make a "gift" of $100, which will be the only "gift to come out of your pocket," says the Web site (www.eliteresurrected.org). Participants have to invite two people, and each of those two have to invite two others. The more people a person invites, the faster he or she can move through the cycles. The site says that if someone gives $100, he or she may receive $800, $2,000, $4,000, $8,000, $16,000, $32,000 and $48,000 again and again. An e-mail message sent to contact@eliteresurrected.org, was not answered. The site doesn't include a phone number but it mentions an address in Salt Lake City, Utah. It also lists Elite's founder as Harvey J. Dockstader Jr., who said his site was inspired by God and the teachings of the Bible. Dockstader, 42, is serving a two-year sentence in a Houston prison for running a pyramid promotional scheme through his site Elite Resurrected.

VRI RED ALERT - Warnings on Acai Berry Online Offers Amplify
The ads are everywhere now: acai for weight loss, acai for sexual dysfunction, acai for cancer, acai with a free trial that can cost hundreds of dollars and leave you on hold for hours trying to stop more charges. The growing problem of questionable acai sales on the Internet has reached proportions never before seen by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, according to David Schardt, senior nutritionist for the center. Today, the attorney general of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest will issue a warning about credit card schemes peddling supplements made from the acai berry. "Once we started looking at it we saw it was so widespread, so rampant, that we felt that we had to do something," said Schardt. Aside from the questionable "free trial offers" targeted by the Better Business Bureau earlier this year, Schardt said he has doubts about even some of the benign nutritional claims for acai.

VRI RED ALERT - GLOBAL COMPLIANCE - The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance wants to remove the mystery from an ongoing ‘MYSTERY SHOOPER’ scam that’s affecting Nebraskans.
The NDBF issued a warning of a scam targeting consumers who want to become mystery shoppers. They said a company calling itself Global Compliance, Inc., which lists its addresses as 8555 Eagle Point Blvd, Lake Elmo, MN and 1391 Windmill Lane, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, offers consumers an opportunity to participate in a paid customer research program known as “mystery shopping” or “secret shopping.” The Department has verified that the company does not have offices at the addresses listed. In a recent case, the company sent a consumer a counterfeit cashier’s check in the amount of $2,930 to assist with the training. The consumer was instructed to deposit the check at her bank, use the proceeds to purchase goods at retailers and restaurants, and evaluate the quality of service she received. The consumer was also instructed to send $2,450 of the proceeds to a representative of Global Compliance via MoneyGram.

VRI RED ALERT - Oh great. Another word we have to watch out for...'Phexting' (phishing plus texting) text messaging scam
Criminal hackers have access to technology that generates cell phone numbers and access to mass text messaging services. They send texts that install keyloggers or direct you to websites that steal your data.

VRI RED ALERT - Is that friendly fireman calling you really an ID thief?
Scammers call your home posing as local fire dept collecting your personal information for their records in case their is an emergency. They then use the informaiton to drain your accounts or create credit cards in your name.

VRI RED ALERT - And speaking of stimulus checks, I can hardly believe this one.
Reports of tax preparers who tell their clients they have to pay back their 2008 stimulus checks, then pocketing their client's money

VRI RED ALERT - Has someone claimed they can help YOU get economic stimulus money? They can’t.
The FTC will hold a press conference to unveil bogus Web sites and other scams claiming they can help individual consumers qualify for a share of stimulus package money. Many sites use photos of President Obama and Vice President Biden to give the appearance of authenticity. Sites also use logos from ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, USNews and other major media outlets to make them appear legitimate.

VRI RED ALERT - NEED A JOB? Watch out for that counterfeit check.
Gilbert Cyr received a letter last month offering him a job paying as much as $750 a week and a check for $3,540 to be cashed so that he could start his training, which included sending a payment of $2,985 by wire transfer. Cyr knew the offer was too good to be true and reported the letter to both police and the local branch of Wachovia Bank, since it was a voided Wachovia certified check. While he would not be conned, local and state police say many other people are falling victim to new types of letter scams. These advanced-fee scams are now becoming more popular through direct mail. They offer promises of jobs or prizes in return for a one-time fee or investment through wire transfer or by providing a bank account number. The number of people falling victim to these kinds of scams staggering. Last week, Detective Eisner was about to close one case when he said he turned to his desk and found two more similar, but different letters in case files he was asked to investigate.

VRI RED ALERT - ''Shopper Needed'' Check Fraud Scam
Scammers continue to exploit job seekers, but the "Shopper Needed" scam isn't just enlisting innocent folks into illegal money laundering activities. The scam is also exploiting the good name of JM Ridgway, a legitimate professional shopper service. Bear that in mind when reading the copy below - though the scammers use the name Ridgway, it is not affiliated in any way with the real JM Ridgway company. The shopper-needed scam sends the 'new hire' a check for a few hundred dollars, instructing them to cash the check and take their portion, then forward on the remaining funds to the "employer". Of course, the check is bogus, it will bounce eventually, and you - the victim - will be liable for the funds you spent from the check, plus the amount you forwarded on, plus any service fees or fines that result. And never assume that because a bank releases funds after 5 days, that the check has actually cleared. That grace period has no bearing on whether the check is good.

VRI RED ALERT - The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) yesterday issued a fraud alert against an "investment scheme" that uses a false DFSA letter to try and raise funds.
The scheme consists of a communication to individuals stating that they have won several hundred thousand US dollars in the "Middle East-Asia Promotion" sponsored by the "Emirates Foundation", the regulator of the Dubai International Financial Centre said. In order to claim the prize, individuals are advised, by a false DFSA letter, to transfer a sum of money to the regulator for "registration of funds meant for international remittance before such funds could be approved for release". A person purporting to be the Head of Operations, International Swift Remittance/Transfer Department, of a UAE bank, provides the individual instructions on how to make the transfer.

VRI RED ALERT - POLICE SEE MORE LETTER SCAMS
Det. Martin Eisner, a fraud specialist, can't seem to catch a break these days. As he finished off one case involving wire transfer fraud last week, two more cases were handed over to him. It's hard to say what the cause is, whether it's the struggling economy or something else, but Eisner said fraud cases are up and more people are falling victim to letter scams than in recent years. Worse yet, he said there are no target groups but the victims are random people of different races, genders and backgrounds. "There are many versions of these, but they all operate in a similar manner," he said. "A letter is sent with a fake check or asking for a small investment in exchange for a large return."

VRI RED ALERT - Securities and Exchange Commission warns of impostors - Investors tricked into giving private information
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said con artists are impersonating its employees and pressing brokerages and money managers to turn over records in "emergency" inspections. In other instances, investors have been tricked into giving impersonators private information, access to brokerage accounts or money, the SEC said in a statement today. The regulator has been alerting investors of fraudsters posing as SEC staff since at least 2007, according to notices posted on its Web site. Investors should be "especially wary" of impersonators during "these turbulent times," Kristin Kaepplein, director of the SEC office of investor education, said in a statement. "If contacted by someone claiming to represent the Securities and Exchange Commission and vouching for investments, it's a scam. The SEC never endorses or participates in investment offers," she said. Companies and investors can verify whether someone works for the SEC by calling the agency's directory at 202-551- 6000. Callers should ask to speak with the SEC official who contacted them. Investors also can report suspicious calls from people claiming to be from the SEC by phoning 800-732-0330 or sending an e-mail to help@ sec.gov.

VRI RED ALERT - WOMEN EMPOWERING WOMEN - The Fort St. John RCMP confirms the pyramid scheme operating in the city is illegal.
Rumours have been circulating that this scam has been endorsed by the RCMP. Constable Jackelynn Passarell says it doesn't matter what the group is named, it is a scam and it is not endorsed by the RCMP. A group called 'Women Empowering Women' is attempting to recruit more women into the scam. Participants are asked to pay up to five thousand dollars to join the group. The group promises participants 'gifts' or more money. The participants are encouraged to recruit their friends and family, and are told members will receive $40,000 when they reach the top of the pyramid. The group claims to have started in response to bad economic times. Constable Passarell says anyone who participates in the group is committing a crime. However, Passarell says if you joined the group not knowing it was illegal, it is an entire different situation. If you have any information contact the Fort St. John RCMP at 250-787-8140.

VRI RED ALERT - I'm a hitman that's been hired to kill you. Pay me money and I won't. This has been around too, but is making a comeback.
"Hit-man" e-mail scam. The e-mail claims the sender has been hired to harm the recipient or kidnap a family member unless a ransom is paid. Recipients of this threat are instructed to respond within 48 hours, and a money wire transfer location would be provided. The recipient's name or other personal information is usually included in this email to make it seem like the sender actually knows the person and their location.

VRI RED ALERT - Scam phone call alleging your credit card has been accessed by a third party. This scam has been around in email form, but this is the first phone call application we have seen
Recently, the Prince William County Police Department has received many reports of a phone scam that is currently circulating the area. In this scam, a voicemail or text message is left on a victim's cell phone indicating that their VISA or other credit card has been accessed by a third party. The message then directs the victim to type in their credit card number so the incident can be investigated. Believing that the message has been left by their credit card company, the victim follows the instructions, and unwittingly gives their credit card number to the con artist. The police department offers the following safety tips to avoid scams and frauds:
> Never send or give a caller your credit card number, bank account, Social Security number or any other personal information, over the telephone or e-mail, unless you are the one who made the initial contact.
> If you suspect fraud, call your credit card company or bank to verify whether your account has been compromised.
> Be aware of "sound-alike" charities, and ask for written information. Some con artists will use a name that is similar to a legitimate charity.
> Don't pay for any prize or send money to improve your chances of winning. It's illegal for companies to ask you to pay to enter a contest.
> Don't allow any caller to intimidate you or bully you into buying something "right now." If the caller says, "You have to make up your mind right now," or "We must have your money today," it's probably a scam.
> Don't wire money or send money by an overnight delivery service unless you initiated the transaction.
> Be alert to unsolicited e-mails or click on any embedded links, as they may contain viruses that will infect your computer.

VRI RED ALERT - IRS warns of stimulus scams
Congress hasn't settled on a stimulus package yet, but scammers are preying on people's hopes for one that would put money in their bank accounts. E-mails and phone calls purporting to be from the Internal Revenue Service promise to get people a stimulus payment. Click a link. Fill out a form. Give personal information. A check will be yours. Not true, warn IRS officials who said there are scammers in more than 70 countries trying to steal people's identity. The IRS would never contact a person by e-mail, said Dan Boone. The IRS doesn't even have taxpayers' e-mail addresses, Boone said. The e-mail may read something like this: "After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a stimulus payment. To submit your stimulus payment form, please download the attached document ... you'll be receiving a check." How to avoid being scammed
--Don't click on any links or open any attachments.
--Don't reply.
--Don't give out any personal information.
--Call the IRS or local police.
--Do business with people you know and trust.
--Forward e-mail scams to IRS at phishing@irs.gov

VRI RED ALERT - CASH GIFTING ‘CIRCLES’, ‘CLUBS’, ‘GROUP’ - Warning the public to be cautious about cash-gifting schemes
Cash-gifting “circles,” “clubs ” or “groups” bait people to pay out funds in hopes of receiving a higher return as a result of recruiting others. “They’ve had some meetings in our county,” Sheriff Jack Welsh said, adding detectives are following up, and the person who is facilitating meetings is going to be contacted. He explained the group may pay a couple people to bait them. “In reality, most of the people won’t get money back,” Welsh said. It’s “definitely fraud,” he said about the cash-gifting schemes.“It is a pyramid scheme,” he said. “It’s bad news. It’s illegal.” Like pyramid schemes, cash-gifting schemes are based on the number of people recruited, according to an October 2008 consumer alert from the Attorney General’s Office. The schemes are presented in different ways, including schemes targeting NASCAR fans or “socially conscious women.” Gifting “circles,” “clubs” or “groups” encourage participants to pay an entry fee that can range from $500 to more than $5,000, which guarantees the participants a place on a chart of members, the consumer alert said. Participants will move on the chart every time they recruit more people. When a participant moves far enough on the chart, they are “guaranteed” a large payout. “The problem is $5,000 is just transferring hands,” Frendewey said. “The only person who makes money on this is the person at the top.” Scam artists are smart because they know people trust their neighbors, he said. They are “using people’s friendships.”

VRI RED ALERT - FBI warns of ‘money mule’ job scams - Prevalence of fake job ads is up 345 percent in last three years
The job looks pretty good at first blush: "Become our partner and earn $2,000 or more!" All you have to do is send a résumé with some personal information to a company in Russia. They, in turn, ask you to set up a checking account that soon starts filling with cash. You take the money to Western Union and wire it to your new employer, keeping 5 percent and 10 percent for yourself. Easy money, right? Except that it's illegal money laundering, called "money muleing" by the security industry. The incoming checks are fakes, or else the cash is stolen from hacked online bank accounts. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned Wednesday that its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has been receiving "numerous complaints" from people who have become unwitting victims to these work-from-home scams. In other, similar scams, victims may be asked to reship products that have been purchased with stolen credit cards, or to act as "mystery shoppers," cashing bogus checks and wiring the funds offshore. Once they've handed over their information to scammers, however, the mules often become victims of identity theft themselves, authorities warn.

VRI RED ALERT - Women’s gifting circles – an old scam on the rise again
There is a surge in social gatherings that promise a huge payout. There's a popular scam going on behind closed doors. They're disguised as social gatherings called "gifting circles" - a way to make some fast money among friends. Attorney General's office: "They're just another form of a pyramid scam. At the end of the day, only one person makes off and it's the guy, who the scam artist, the guy or woman who puts it together, and everybody else who gets involved in it ends up losing money, and being left on the hook." Here's how it works: you're invited to a party where you're asked to give a certain amount of money - in some cases, up to $1,000. The party's host promises a big return. All you have to do is convince some friends to bring their money to the next party. "But like every pyramid scam, eventually, there's too many members, and the weight of the operation falls in on itself." In the end, it's the top two or three people who authorities say take off with thousands of dollars in cash, leaving dozens of hopeful party goers empty handed. And by the way, all of this is against the law.

VRI RED ALERT - The Better Business Bureau is warning consumers to be wary of online ads relying on celebrity endorsements to sell acai-berry related weight loss products.
The BBB has received thousands of complaints from consumers nationwide who thought they were signing up for a free-trial offer of acai berry weight loss products that were supposedly endorsed by Oprah, Rachel Ray and other celebrities; in the end, the free trial cost them, month after month. The acai berry has been featured on national TV shows and praised by doctors and celebrities for its high level of antioxidants. Marketing claims about the acai include that it fights cancer and aging and promotes dietary health and weight loss – and these claims are working, with sales of acai products approaching $15 million last year, up from $500,000 per year in previous years. Producers of acai berry supplements, juices and tea have been very successful peddling their goods in ads on the Internet and on social networking Web sites such as Facebook. In November alone, more than 1.5 million people searched for the term on Google. Online ads and Web sites often include a photo of a celebrity — such as Oprah — and claim that she endorses the acai as a weight loss miracle. Two of the companies the BBB has received thousands of complaint on are FX SUPPLEMENTS and CENTRAL COAST NEUTRACEUTICALS.

VRI RED ALERT - If you get a email pop up asking you to upgrade your adobe…don’t!
Well, that didn't take long. Barack Obama barely had the chance to scuff his presidential dancing shoes when e-mail scams started piling up in computer in-boxes. How it works: According to the urban myth Web site http://www.snopes.com , e-mail titled ''Obama Acceptance Speech'' and ''Amazing Speech by Obama'' are among the lures being used to dupe unsuspecting people. The e-mail offers an image of Obama (tellingly, it appears to be a stock photo) and a video, purportedly of the inaugural speech. Click on that, Snopes says, and you will be asked to upgrade your Adobe Flash player. But actually, you will be downloading a malicious program designed to steal your passwords. Snopes.com says scam e-mails have followed the new president since he won the election in November. These apparently were first sent after Obama's victory speech in Chicago. What to do: Obama called for public discipline in his speech. You can exercise personal discipline by ignoring e-mail offers to download videos, particularly when they come from strangers. If you want to see the speech, go to a reputable news site -- mcall.com or chicagotribune.com, for instance -- to view the video. Be a wary consumer of any e-mail offers that come over the transom.

VRI RED ALERT - Your bank fails (or maybe it's not even your bank) but it's in the news. You are emailed or sent a letter by what appears to be the same bank that claims they are holding funds on account for you, but the money can only be released by the payment of a ‘release of funds fee’.
DO NOT PAY THIS FEE. This is a rather heartless ‘advance fee’ scam. The perpetrators have been known to go as far as to create a clone website of the failed institution to confirm the false fee payment. However, the address used on the website where you are supposed to mail your money to will not be the real address of the institution.

VRI RED ALERT - A new definition of ‘going postal’. Moral, don’t pay an ‘FBI agent’ to recover your money
> FIRST SCAM: A UK postal worker started sending cash to the fraudsters in 2007 after he was contacted by a woman claiming she needed funds to help her sick mother. The trusting postie agreed and started sending money from an inheritance he had received when an elderly relative passed away. He even stumped up the cash for a funeral when the woman said her mother had died. He finally smelt a rat after the woman failed to reply to any of his emails.
> SECOND SCAM: He was then contacted by another 'victim' who told him the woman he had been in contact with was actually a Nigerian gang. That email was quickly followed by one from men claiming to be the FBI who said they were investigating the fraud. The men told Mr Symington they would take on his case if he sent money to fund their trip to Nigeria, including any costs they incurred during the trip. Mr Symington agreed and, after taking out loans to raise the funds, he eventually sent money to three separate ’FBI’ agents. This went on until December last year when Mr Symington realized he had been scammed again. In total he forked out just over £130,000.
> RESULT: Now to rub salt into his wounds, police say he won’t be able to recover the money he sent because the Nigerian police are not willing to cooperate.

VRI RED ALERT - This isn’t strictly a warning because no one knows what the hell to do about it, except change your credit and bank account numbers once a year.
Cyber crooks have become so organized and businesslike that they use online forums to advertise illegal wares, buy and sell computer viruses, and traffic in stolen identities—all for huge profits. Besides fueling an underground criminal economy, the Internet is increasingly being exploited by terrorists and spies, the FBI’s top cyber experts said at a recent international conference on cyber security. For about $30M, one of our undercover agents explained, cyber crooks anywhere in the world can buy a blank credit card, complete with the holographic security markings used by legitimate credit card companies. They can buy equipment to encode someone’s stolen identity information onto the card. And they can buy software to verify that the unsuspecting victim’s credit is good, so that anyone using the phony card will not raise suspicions at the checkout counter.

VRI RED ALERT - WOMEN’S GIFTING CIRCLES – Officials say they're illegal
A local prosecutor says a women's gifting-circle scam is sweeping Mid-Michigan. It invites women to give $5,000 cash, with the potential of gaining $40,000. Those in the circle say it is perfectly legal based on the current “gifting laws,” however local law enforcement explains that it is a pyramid scam and a seven year felony! It sounds like a great idea - women getting together to help each other out. Prosecutor Konschuh explains the group is highly persuasive. No men are allowed, and those women invited are encouraged to join the exclusive circle. Konschuh compares it to a harmless Tupperware party. "Everyone's been invited to a Tupperware party or some other type of party, there's some peer pressure there to buy, so you end up spending 20 or 30 bucks on crap you don't want and that's what they're preying on.” But this party is not $20 or $30; it is $5,000 in cash. From the group’s own literature, it says, "To enter, you give your ($5,000) gift to the woman who is in the Receiver position in your circle... Your journey continues through your support of your circle and your willingness to invite others whom you care about into your new community." The women involved say the money goes to helping other women. According to a woman from the circle, a recent gift helped a struggling woman pay for new brakes and tires on her car. Those involved say they don’t recruit, but that they simply invite. They say they don’t ask for a fee; they ask for a gift and expect nothing in return for this simple gift. This is the reason why they say it is perfectly legal. Prosecutor Konschuh says just because they say it’s legal, does not make it legal. "Whether they sign something that says ‘I don't expect anything in return’, the piece of paper means nothing. They fully expect to get $40,000; that's why they're doing it. That's why that law does apply; it's a simple pyramid scheme no matter how it's painted.” The group says the circular structure makes it legal. It says each person gives and each person benefits. However, law enforcement says the fact is someone is making money while others are out. Michigan State Attorney General Mike Cox is investigating several gifting circles. He says, in a consumer alert, "No matter how these schemes are presented, the bottom line is the same for all -- cash gifting schemes are illegal in Michigan."

VRI RED ALERT - Another scam email this time purportedly from the Democratic party using Howard Dean’s name
From: "user5"
To: undisclosed-recipients
Dear Compatriot,
This email is to show our appreciation to you, for your support in the success of our President-Elect (Sen. Barack Obama). The DEMOCRATIC PARTY of the United States has declared a public donation of Two Million dollars ($2,000,000) to the underprivileged.The donated sum should be dispatched to twenty recipients *ONLY*. This message is sent by a computer program, programed to be sent only to twenty email addresses.If you receive this email, then you are a beneficiary of $100,000 (One Hundred Thousand dollars) all Twenty beneficiaries MUST receive a $100,000 each.The "CHANGE WE NEED" program is not just asking you to believe our ability to bring about a real change in America, but asking you to believe in yours.We say congratulations to you.To receive your quick cash of $100,000 kindly contact the below email address.vote-obama2@live.com You are required to forward this email message to the email address above. Ensure to forward this message with the very email you received it.Once again, we say thank you for your support. God bless you & God bless America. Signed,
Democratic National Committee Chairman,
Howard Dean

VRI RED ALERT - $100 mllion ''Obama-Prize''. It' hard to imagine who'd fall for this one...but here it is anyway.
BREAKING NEWS ---> http://www.ObamaPrize.com/
YES HE DID!
AND NOW IT IS YOUR TURN TO WIN $100 MILLION
CLICK NOW AT http://www.ObamaPrize.com/

VRI RED ALERT - HALLMARK E-Card Fraud Alert...from HallMark
A fraudulent e-mail flooding the Internet claims to have a link to an E-Card from a family member, friend or neighbor and uses major greeting card company names such as Hallmark. Clicking on the link downloads a virus onto your computer that compromises personal data.
What you can do:
Report suspicious e-mail to your e-mail service provider so they can take action.
File a complaint at http://www.ic3.gov/.
Forward the suspicious e-mails to abuse@hallmark.com. (Due to the large amount of e-mail we receive at that address we will not be able to reply to your e-mail, but we will investigate.)
Then you should delete the e-mail.
If you are unsure if you've received a legitimate Hallmark E-Card, don't click on a link in the e-mail. Instead use our E-Card pickup.
If you do click on the link in the bogus e-mail, you will launch a variant of the Zapchast Trojan virus. Zapchast installs an Internet Relay (IRC) chat client and causes the infected computer to connect to an IRC channel. Attackers then use that connection to remotely command your machine.
What one looks like...
Hello!
You have recieved a Hallmark E-Card from your friend.
To see it, check the attachment.
There's something special about that E-Card feeling. We invite you to make a friend's day and send one. ,br>Hope to see you soon,
Your friends at Hallmark
Your privacy is our priority. Click the "Privacy and Security" link at the bottom of this E-mail to view our policy.

VRI RED ALERT - End of the year reminder on how to stay out of trouble caused by unsolicited emails and checks
> DO NOT click on any links sent to you by parties you do not know, for any reason whatsoever. This could lead to 'malware' of various kinds being down loaded onto your computer.
> DO NOT respond to anyone that wants to give you money for any reason, even if the email purports to be from an official agency, like the FBI, Federal Reserve Bank, any other bank, etc., etc. especially is the organization is, or has anything to do with, Africa. These are upfront fee phishing scams, where they will eventually ask YOU for money first.
> DO NOT cash an unsolicited check you get in the mail for any reason whatsoever. The tip off for fraud is when they ask you to sent back some 'change' from the check. The check you received is counterfeit, and you will be out what you sent them, and still owe the bank the amount of the counterfeit check.
> DO NOT respond to a notification that you have 'won a lottery' even if it is from a known name like the Pubisher's Clearing House, and especially from overseas. Foreign lotteries are illegal in the U.S. and NO lottery asks for an upfront fee or taxes for collecting your winnings.
> DO NOT click on a link from a bank, even YOUR bank, saying there is a problem with your account This is a phishing scam where they will use the personal info you give them for ID theft. If you get nervous call you bank about the so-called problem.
> The FBI concurs "What to do: Says the FBI: Don't respond to unsolicited e-mail. Don't click on links in unsolicited e-mail. Don't open attachments sent from unknown sources. Don't fill out forms in e-mail asking for personal information. Check e-mail addresses before clicking. Log onto companies' official Web sites, rather than linking to them. Contact businesses independently to verify if an e-mail is genuine."

VRI RED ALERT - Nigerian con artists luring victims with puppies
Con artists are using adorable puppies and newspapers across the country to lure in their victims in a new twist on an old scam. A 7News viewer spotted an ad in the Lawton Constitution advertising two yorkies were up for adoption - free to a good home. However, when our viewer contacted the email address listed in the ad, he discovered the dogs weren't in Oklahoma, Texas, or even the United States - they were in Nigeria. A red flag went up for yorkie owner Mike Weddington. Many of us have received the emails from the so-called wealthy foreigners in Nigeria who want to give folks their money. While this con job still wants to empty your wallet, it also tugs at the heart strings - especially around the holidays. The author of the email said that he and his wife were on a Christian mission trip in Africa, and needed to find the dogs a good home. Then came another email with shipping information. The supposed dog owner asks victims to pay half of the $850 shipping costs, and even sent a shipping label.

VRI RED ALERT - Nigerian scam email offering to pay you for being scammed by Nigerian emails. Ho. Ho. Merry Christmas
SIR/MADAM,
This is to bring to your notice that we are delegated from the UNITED NATIONS in Central Bank to pay 50 victims of scam $500,000 USD (five Hundred Thousand Dollars) each.. You are listed and approved for this payment as one of the scammed victims to be paid this amount, get back to this office as soon as possible for the immediate payments of your $500,000 USD compensations funds.
My dear friend I will like you to contact the finance house for the collection of this international certificated bank draft. The name and contact address of The Person with your Cheque is Mr. Wesley Greenfield is as follows.
Send a copy of your response to official email:
SECURITY & FINACIAL CONTACT AGENT: Mr. Wesley Greenfield
EMAIL: ggeorgeellisssrrrr@googlemail.com
CELL PHONE: +234-801-334-8760
You are adviced to send your communication particulars, full names, telephone/fax numbers,mailing address,age and occupation to enable us have your cheque sent to your designated address.
Yours Faithfully,
Mrs.Sarah Thomas
Secretary United Nations
West Africa

VRI RED ALERT - Cash Gifting Club Warnings
This is the time of year when it's supposed to be better to give than to receive. But a lot of people who are giving the "gift" of cash with the hopes of getting even more money in return, may be on the receiving end of a scam. Cash gifting clubs are turning up all over the internet. There are even cash gifting clubs warning you about other gifting clubs. The Attorney General's office and the Better Business Bureau both warn consumers, these are clubs you do not want to join. The BBB's Angie Barnett says these clubs are nothing more than a ponzi or pyramid scheme. You're asked to make a cash "gift" in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. You're asked to send the money through an independent carrier like UPS or FedEx, never through the US Postal Service. You don't have to report the gift to the IRS because it's not more than ten thousand dollars. Some of the clubs appeal to people's religious beliefs. Others simply make the promise to get rich quick. Whatever the sales pitch, Barnett says there's never a happy ending.

VRI RED ALERT - Online Survey Scam warning from the FBI
Another scam, the FBI said, comes through an online survey. Upon completing the survey, users are thanked for participating and asked for personal account information so they can be paid for answering. That of course, compromises the account and leaves you open to ID theft.

VRI RED ALERT - E-Greeting and E-Postcard scam warning from the FBI
The scam: Many computer users may find that their mailbox outside their house is less full and their e-mail in-box is filling up as the holiday season progresses. But where some people see Season's Greetings, the FBI sees the potential for theft. How it works: According to a recent news release, the FBI says scammers will be using e-cards containing malicious software and set up spoof Web sites that appear legitimate to pry personal information from you. In the greeting card or e-postcard scam, you may be told you have a card awaiting you from an unnamed ''friend'' or ''family member.'' Generally, you will be directed to click a link to open the card, which instead will unleash a malicious computer attack designed to get your passwords and account numbers.

VRI RED ALERT - Beware of RUMBLE, the newest fraud and money laundering scam
Most frauds in general exploit human greed. Recruitment of Unwitting Money Launderers by Bogus Letters of Employment (RUMBLE) is a recently christened but hardly new fraud and money laundering scam. Almost everyone using email these days has at one point been a target of this con. The “RUMBLE” scam exploits the genuine need to find employment. Here is how a typical scheme works.
> You receive an unsolicited email with an offer of part-time employment. This is done by professional email spammers who can send out thousands of emails to unsuspecting targets.
> Most are normally blocked by spam filters but a substantial number land their targets and a few take the hook. Normally, the company is located in foreign country to ensure that the targeted victims will not try to establish a physical address and the nature of the job is such that the company would not find a justifiable need to recruit and retain permanent staff in the region as the job requires a maximum of 4 –five hours weekly.
> The exact nature of the job offer will vary in nature or industry but the bottom line is that the “employment” will require the person to be a local contact person receiving and remitting payments for specific functions and in the process deducting their “salary” or “commission” for the job done.
> Normally, the “employee” will receive money through their personal accounts and remit a certain percentage, say 10 per cent, to a third party through a different money remitter like Western Union, MoneyGram, Hawala or other forms or informal remittance systems. This is done to obscure the paper trail in case an investigation is launched into the scam.
> The company purports to be recruiting CS Managers (Contingency Support Managers) to be representatives for their clients in transport trouble. That means that the company sends alternative transport means to the client in trouble and send the vehicle for repair to their factory.
> Using a simple Google search, you will find a similar company called Amerifreight with a website with a domain name www.amerifreight.net and realise that it is meant to create credibility through familiarity.
> These fraudsters are audacious enough to associate themselves with internationally recognised and reputable organisations. On reading details of the company and their operations, the alleged business would not be convincing to anyone in the freight industry. Your main job description is to receive funds from the “Head Manager” and send it to the nearest Repair Manager where the transport has broken.
> For this effort, you are paid an agreed commission to be deducted from the money sent to you. If the company sends $10,000, you are simply to deduct 10 per cent or $1,000 withdraw $9,000 which you will remit as per given instructions in an email. Effortless! You would say.
> They will ask for your personal details including bank account number where they should remit the money but this can be also used for the twin objective of defrauding your account through forgery of negotiable instruments like cheques.
> There is no legitimate reason a company would retain an independent person to transfer money in this manner unless they want to defraud or launder proceeds of a phishing syndicate (a credit card fraud method) or proceeds from other illegitimate business like human and drug trafficking.
> To avoid being a victim, as a rule, search ownership of websites on www.allwhois.com – legitimate businesses will definitely have verifiable owner details. Second, do not take up unsolicited e-mail job offers with no plausible commercial purpose as they are suspicious and almost obviously criminal.

VRI RED ALERT - FTC has a message for vishing victims
The e-mail looks important: "National 1st Credit Union temporarily suspended your account. Reason: Billing failure." Further down, it tells you to call this number to reactivate: 201-621-5813. The e-mail is a scam, sent by criminals who are trying to trick you into divulging sensitive information such as your bank account number and password. But in this case, victims have caught a break. Instead of reaching scammers, people who dial this number get a message from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. "The telephone number you have just called has been disconnected because it may have been involved in a scam," the message says. "That message was a trick. It's called phishing. Because scammers go fishing for information about you or your financial account." The FTC has been trying to educate U.S. consumers about phishing for several years now, but about six months ago it decided to make this message available to companies that take down so-called vishing scams. Similar to phishing, vishing scammers send out phony e-mail messages, trying to trick victims into giving up sensitive information. Instead of directing victims to fake Web sites, however, vishers send their victims to a fake automated response system, run on a low-cost VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) system. Vishing makes up less than 1 percent of the fraudulent e-mail tracked by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, but because some people are more likely to trust a telephone number than a Web site, it can be effective.

VRI RED ALERT - WalMart Survey Email Scam. DO NOT click on the provided link
"Taking into account that the holidays are approaching Wal-Mart has decided to give them a cash bonus to all persons who are shopping at Wal-mart. All you have to do is to follow 2 simple steps. Please click HERE and complete the form to receive the $150 reward. Thank you".

VRI RED ALERT - Ripoff Artists Target Grandparents
Complaints are on the rise about a scam that preys on a grandparent’s love, according to the Federal Trade Commission. A scammer calls posing as a grandchild in distress, and tries to put the squeeze on the grandparent to wire money for repairing a car, paying a fine, or getting out of trouble in a foreign country. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, has some advice to avoid being taken in by a supposed “family” member or a fake emergency: Check out the facts before you send money to anyone, anywhere – especially when wire transfers are involved. To learn more, see the consumer alert “A Scam Based on Relative-ity: Would-be Grandchildren Bilking Honest Grandparents” at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt111.shtm.

VRI RED ALERT - Kansas Woman Loses $170,000 To counterfeit check Internet Scam
An Internet scam has cost a 65-year-old Salina woman $170,000, an amount that police say may be the largest reported to be lost locally to scammers. Police said Monday that an individual the woman met on the Internet in September sent her what appeared to be a U.S. treasury check for $456,000. She was asked to deposit the check in her bank and wire a portion of the money back to her new friend. Deputy Police Chief Carson Mansfield said that she deposited the check at Bank of America in Salina on Oct. 4 and before it cleared, withdrew $170,000 to wire to England. About a month later, the $456,000 check came back as counterfeit. Mansfield said the woman did not have the funds to cover the loss. Said Mansfield: "Never wire money to anybody unless you know exactly what's going on. Once it's gone, it's gone."

VRI RED ALERT - As we have noted in the Lottery scam forum on this website…1) foreign lotteries are illegal in the U.S. and 2) no legitimate lottery asks for upfront money for any reason, and 3) Counterfeit checks in connection with lotteries have reached epidemic proportions. Case in point…
A township resident lost $2,875 in an international mail fraud scheme, police said. Local police and U.S. Postal Inspectors are investigating the incident. A $4,875 check and a letter were mailed to the resident. The letter promised a $125,000 prize, but said the recipient needed to send a $2,875 money order to cover taxes on that prize, police said. So the victim deposited the check, then mailed off the money order, said Lt. William Monroe. Several days later, the $4,875 check bounced, he said. Police said this is the second time this year that a Neptune resident reported losing money in this type of mail fraud scheme. Monroe said police want to warn residents that there is no legitimate reason for a contest promoter, business or organization to send them a check, ask that it be cashed and then wired back to them. Police warn that residents should be especially wary of promotional campaigns or contests they never entered. They also suggest the public visit the website www.FakeChecks.org to learn more about check scams. Investigators suspect more area residents have fallen prey to this scam but are embarrassed or reluctant to report the crime. Police said the scams should be reported to local police and to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

VRI RED ALERT - Tay Zonday. Cash gifting the Chocolate Rain Guy way - by Karin Malchow, Scam Examiner
Cash gifting is a pyramid scheme falsely claiming legality. Practitioners cite irrelevant IRS rules allowing $12,000 to be distributed annually reducing a $2+ million taxable estate. (The tax allowance lets people give others, usually their kids, money, but not so much that they avoid the regularly debated "death tax" at the last minute.) If you had a $2 million estate, you probably wouldn't be sending random people money hoping more random people will send money to you. This scam is widely promoted on submitted YouTube videos. The site's popularity allows a free platform, feeding the pyramid scheme requirement of exponentially increasing recruits to get a payoff, which only the very top of the pyramid receives at the others' expense. Tay Zonday, a YouTube celebrity, gives an amusing take on the cash gifting scheme. Or is his fifteen minutes already over?

VRI RED ALERT - The FBI is investigating several companies that allegedly bilked Native Hawaiian homeowners out of more than $300,000 by offering bogus foreclosure rescue bonds.
The homeowners were charged between $2,500 and $10,000 to attend seminars or counseling sessions on avoiding foreclosure. They were told they would receive bonds worth $1 million that could be used to pay off the outstanding balance of the mortgage. Officials said the bonds were bogus and no mortgages were paid off. "These scams have cost homeowners and lending institutions hundreds of thousands of dollars and have led to foreclosure proceedings affecting many families in Hawaii," said FBI Special Agent Brandon Simpson. He said the FBI has confirmed several dozen victims and more may come forward. He said some of them may be able to avoid foreclosure but didn't give specifics. Several of the companies pushing the bogus bonds claimed to be affiliated with Native Hawaiian sovereignty movements. As part of the scheme, "mortgage counselors" told their clients to ignore letters from banks that threaten foreclosure because they were monitoring the situation and would respond on their behalf. No arrests have been made, but the FBI said the culprits could face mail and wire fraud charges. One local lending institution has been forced to foreclose on five loans after mortgage holders stopped sending payments. The FBI has contacted the mortgage divisions of local banks about the scheme.

VRI RED ALERT - WORLD VENTURES Pyramid scheme targets Butte residents
A fraudulent pyramid scheme is targeting Butte and the surrounding area, according to the Montana Securities Department. The scheme is called World Ventures and state officials say it appears to be a violation of state law. Under the scheme, investors are asked to put their own money in to get started with $400 asked for up front. To get that money back, investors are required to recruit new participants into the program. Once a participant brings enough new recruits, they climb up the pyramid to a point where they begin sharing in the pool of money. Pyramid schemes are illegal. If you or someone you know has been approached to get involved in World Ventures you are asked to contact the Montana Securities Division at 1-800-332-6148.

VRI RED ALERT - Original Issue Discounts (OID) Scam - Form 1099-OID Fraud
The IRS cautions taxpayers to avoid getting caught up in a new tax fraud disguised as a debt payment option for credit cards or mortgage debt. The fraud is also marketed as a way to reduce taxes or pay outstanding tax liabilities. It involves the filing of Form 1099-OID, Original Issue Discount, and/or bogus financial instruments such as bonded promissory notes or sight drafts. This fraud has evolved from an earlier frivolous argument that a “strawman” bank account has been created at the Treasury Department for each U.S. citizen, and that individuals could use such “strawman” accounts to pay debts and claim withholding credits. The IRS addresses the “strawman” argument in Revenue Ruling 2005–21 and Revenue Ruling 2004-31, and discredits the use of this position for income tax purposes. Moreover, the courts that have reviewed the “strawman” argument and other similar arguments have found them frivolous.

VRI RED ALERT - FTC won't call to tell you you've won a lottery or sweepstakes
The scam: It was bound to come to this. The Federal Trade Commission, one of the nation's leading scam-fighting agencies, has become a target. According to consumeraffairs.com, the agency is being used to con consumers into another version of the Nigerian 419 scam.
How it works: The newest con involves a call from someone who claims to work for the Federal Trade Commission, the Web site reports. It says the caller claims that the consumer has won a lottery or sweepstakes. To receive the prize, all the consumer has to do is pay the taxes and insurance, consumeraffairs.com says. The caller asks you to wire money or send a check for an amount between $1,000 and $10,000.
What to do: Don't fall for this never-ending rip-off. The FTC is not sponsoring lotteries or sweepstakes. However, you should report this attempt at thievery to the FTC. You can forward spam, including phishing messages, to the FTC at spam@uce.gov. These messages will be stored in a database law enforcement agencies use in their investigations, it says.

VRI RED ALERT - Financial Crisis Creates Email Scams Microsoft Warns
Internet fraudsters will try to exploit the global financial crisis by sending fraudulent emails purporting to offer cash-strapped consumers new mortgages, loans or money from failed banks, a Microsoft executive said on Wednesday. Fraudsters may send spam emails to consumers that ask them to pay a fee related to the collapse of a bank or financial institution, he added. "They will allege it is associated with the refinancing -- so because of this bailout you'll get a much better deal on your mortgage and all you have to do is pay this fee." Online criminals have long used promises of easy money to try to defraud unsuspecting victims. Common scams include requests to help move money out of a developing country. People are offered a cut of the fortune if they first pay a release fee. Or they are told they have won a lottery in a foreign country and will receive a huge jackpot once they pay an administration fee.

VRI RED ALERT - Phony ‘Publishers Clearing House’ Lottery
The fake lottery scam that has bilked residents of the Hudson Valley and elsewhere out of thousands of dollars, has now been expanded to capitalize on the name and reputation of Publishers Clearing House. Typically a person receives a letter telling him or her that they have won a multi-million dollar lottery, but first they must cash an enclosed check and send a money-gram for that amount back to the company. Once an unsuspecting person deposits the check, buys a money-gram and mails it back, they learn the check was a fake and they are out that amount. The company is usually in Canada or Jamaica. The con artists have now extended their scam to purport that they are from Publishers Clearing House. One Lake Carmel women received what Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith said was an “authentic looking letter” and a fraudulent check for $5,340. According to Debra Wright of Publishers Clearing House, the documents and checks appeared so real that even bank teller may be fooled. But, she said Publishers Clearing House never requires payment to claim a prize.

VRI RED ALERT - Exploiting the FTC Name, Scammers Promise Phony Sweepstakes Prize. Real sweepstakes don’t require you to send money to claim a prize
In their latest effort to defraud the public, con artists claiming to work for the Federal Trade Commission are calling consumers and claiming that they have won a lottery or sweepstakes. As the nation’s consumer protection agency, the FTC never collects money directly from consumers. But the public may be fooled, because by using Internet technology, con artists can make it appear that they are calling from Washington, DC, where the FTC is headquartered. The FTC’s name may even be displayed on consumers’ caller ID machines. All the public has to do, according to the con artists’ pitch, is pay the taxes and insurance on their “winnings.” The caller asks that consumers wire money or send a check for an amount between $1,000 and $10,000. In reality, there is no prize, and the scammers disappear with the consumers’ money.

VRI RED ALERT - Crooks using financial crisis for email scams
Cyber-crooks are using the financial crisis as a new twist for getting people to hand over their bank details and clean out their accounts, according to Dublin electronic security firm, ESET. The US Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning that phishers are sending emails that look like they're coming from respected financial institution that recently acquired a Bank or other financial institution. Their intent is to collect or capture personal information, such as credit card numbers, bank account information, passwords, or other sensitive information, ESET warned. Their messages ask to "update," "validate," or "confirm" account information. Users may receive messages like: "We recently acquired the mortgage on your home and are in the process of validating account information. Please click here to update and verify your information." Don't click on links in the message - even if it appears to be from your bank. Don't cut and paste a link from the message into your Web browser, either. Phishers can make links look like they go one place, but actually redirect you to another," it warned.

VRI RED ALERT - Scam involving fake loan offer targets individuals, businesses
State officials are warning consumers and business owners about a scam that lures prospective borrowers into applying for a loan and submitting a processing fee, only to never hear from the lending company. Two fake lenders are involved: Oregon Bankers Lending Network and Corporate Bankers of America. They apparently send e-mails or make phone calls to residents and businesses. The companies offer a variety of types of loans, then require a processing or set-up fee. Once the fee is sent, the customer never hears again from the company. "Given the current economic downturn, it is more important than ever to ask questions of and check out the credentials of anyone offering loans," said David Tatman, administrator of Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.

VRI RED ALERT - Consumers Warned to Avoid Fake E-mails Tied to Bank Mergers
Online scammers are taking advantage of tough economic times. While e-mails phishing for sensitive data are nothing new, scammers are taking advantage of upheavals in the financial marketplace to confuse consumers into parting with valuable personal information. The Federal Trade Commission urges caution regarding e-mails that look as if they come from a financial institution that recently acquired a consumer’s bank, savings and loan, or mortgage. In fact, these messages may be from “phishers” looking to use personal information – account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers – to run up bills or commit other crimes in a consumer’s name. Consumers are warned not to take the bait.

VRI RED ALERT - REPEAT WARNING: How the Canadian Lottery / counterfeit check scam works
The victim received a check for $4,900 and a letter with a return address in Canada telling him that he was a $250,000 winner in a “Compensation Draw” organized for customers of Sears, Home Depot, Walmart, Safeway and other stores, - The letter instructed him to call a “claims agent” who told him to deposit the money into his account, but that the Canadian taxes had to be paid right away. He was told to obtain a Moneygram for $3,980 and mail it to Canada. He followed instructions only to learn days later the $4,900 check was fake. The victim is out the $3,800, PLUS the $4,900 he owes the bank for the bad check, for a total of $8,700. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!!! Receiving checks, being notified of winnings or being asked for personal information should be treated as possible fraud.

VRI RED ALERT - NIGERIAN SCAM WARNING – Kidnapping victims who fall for the scam emails
Nine people were arrested in the last week in connection with a new version of the Nigerian 419 email scam. The nine were arrested after two separate incidents in which two businesspeople - one from Japan and one from Sweden - were taken to a house after their arrival in the country, then held captive for ransom. In a new variation the bait was the same as the original 419 scams but that the process of extracting money had changed. Bulk emails would be sent out to individuals and companies offering a very attractive investment opportunity, or the same would be advertised on a website. The criminal syndicates realized that their targets had become wise to the requirement of a large upfront payment to help transfer of a "secret" fund. They had also stopped using hotels to conclude the ruse. Now, after grooming their targets they arranged to pick them up at airports and kidnapped them for ransom. He added that the scam has developed many offshoots - a current one involved duping people to invest in the scrap metal market. Trading in this market was competitive. Not many details about it were public and easily verifiable, making it difficult for an investor to make sure he was not being tricked. The two people arrested and implicated in the kidnap of the Swede late Tuesday/early Wednesday last week would return to court on October 8, after an initial appearance in the Kempton Park magistrate's court last Friday.

VRI RED ALERT - The fake FBI Nigerian scam email is still around. Here is the latest version falsely using the name of the head of the FBI...
Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division.
Federal Bureau Of Investigation.
J. Edgar. Hoover Building Washington D.C
Attn: Beneficiary,
This is to Officially inform you that it has come to our notice and we have thoroughly completed an Investigated with the help of our Intelligence Monitoring Network System that you are having an illegal transaction with Impostors claiming to be Prof. Charles C.Soludo of the Central Bank Of Nigeria, Mr. Paul Smith, Mr Frank Nweke, none officials of Oceanic Bank, none officials of Zenith Bank . During our Investigation, it came to our notice that the reason why you have not received your payment is because you have not fulfilled your Financial Obligation given to you in respect of your Contract/Inheritance Payment.
So therefore, we have contacted the Federal Ministry Of Finance on your behalf and they have brought a solution to your problem by coordinating your payment in the total amount of US$1,000,000.00 which will be deposited into an ATM CARD which you will use to withdraw funds anywhere of the world. You now have the lawful right to claim your funds which have been deposited into the ATM CARD.
Since the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been involved in this transaction, you are now to be rest assured that this transaction is legitimate and completely risk-free as it is our duty to Protect and Serve citizens of the United States Of America. All you have to do is immediately contact the ATM CARD CENTER via E-mail for instructions on how to procure your Approval Slip which contains details on how to receive and activate your ATM CARD forimmediate use to withdraw funds being paid to you. We have confirmed that the amount required to procure the Approval Slip will cost you a total of US$300 which will be paid directly to the ATM CARD CENTER agent via Western Union Money Transfer / MoneyGram Money Transfer. Below, you shall find contact details of the Agent whom will process your transaction:
CONTACT INFORMATION
NAME: MR MARK JAMES
EMAIL: info.wuagentt2@gmail.com
Immediately contact MR MARK JAMES of the ATM Card Centre with the following information:
Full
Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Direct Phone Number:
Current Occupation:
Once you have sent the required information to MR MARK JAMES he will contact you with instructions on how to make the payment of US$300 for the Approval Slip after which he will proceed towards delivery of the ATM CARD without any further delay. You have hereby been authorized/guaranteed by the Federal Bureau Of Investigation to commence towards completing this transaction, as there shall be NO delay once payment for the Approval Slip has been made to the authorized agent.
Once you have completed payment of US$300 to the agent in charge of this transaction, immediately contact me back so as to ensure your ATM CARD gets to you rapidly.
FBI Director
Robert Mueller.
Note: Do disregard any email you get from any impostor or office claiming to be in possession of your ATM CARD, you are advised only to be in contact with MR MARK JAMES of the ATM CARD CENTER who is the rightful person you are suppose to deal with in regards your ATM CARD PAYMENT and forward any email you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon and commence investigation.

VRI RED ALERT - As noted previously the pace of ''Nigerian Scam'' emails has picked up. Here is one we received from an ''FBI agent''
Attention: Beneficiary ,
I want to inform regarding your Payment. I saw your name in the Federal Bureau Investigation Central Computer among the list of unpaid beneficiaries, contractors, Lottery Winners,inheritance Next of Kin, that was originated from Africa ,Europe and Asia and United States of America ,among the list of individuals and companies your unpaid fund has been located. Your name appeared among the beneficiaries who will receive a part-payment of S$5,700,000.00 through ATM CARD payment method and the approval will be upon your response.
I wish to inform you this, because there is a lot of junks mail flying over the internet and some people are using advantage to collect account information from people on internet for fraudulent purpose, that is why your payment will come through our payment ATM CARD system.
Mr. Smith Cowel-FBI Agent
West Africa Nigeria Office

VRI RED ALERT - LOTTERY COUNTERFEIT CHECK WARNING. North American Sweepstakes Lottery, Fifth Third Bank of Waukegan ILL.
Salina police are warning area residents of a mail scam in which a letter purporting to be a notification of lottery winnings comes with a bogus check that is supposed to cover taxes on the winnings. Salina Deputy Police Chief Carson Mansfield said an area resident recently took to police a check for $4,875. With the check was a letter from Midway Securities and Trust in Toronto, Canada, saying the amount of the check had been deducted from lottery winnings. The letter purported to be final notification that the recipient had won $125,000 in the De-Lotto North American Sweepstakes Lottery held July 17. The check was written on the Fifth Third Bank of Waukegan, Ill. The letter instructed the recipient to call before cashing or depositing the check. The letter said the winner should wire $2,875 or send a moneygram for that amount directly to the tax agent, and should call for instructions as to how to do that. Mansfield said if a person were to deposit the check and purchase a money order, he or she likely would find that the money order would clear and the check would not, so he or she would lose $2,875.

VRI RED ALERT - After a period of relative quiet Nigerian 419 scam emails seem to be making a comback.
In the last month at VRI we have received some 130 Nigerian scam emails. They are coming in so fast we haven't had time to reprint them online in the Nigerian Scam forum. A reminder, if a total stranger emails you and wants to give you money, the odds are it is a Nigerian scam email. What they want desperately to do, is contact you and talk you into giving them money so they will give you a LOT of money. They won't and you will lose what you give them.

VRI RED ALERT - BBB warns about 'Loan Club' scheme WWW/WORLDWIDELOANCLUB.COM
The Better Business Bureau has learned that church congregations in other parts of the country are considering participation in an online loan club titled www.worldwideloanclub.com. The BBB is warning that the owner of the Web site and company cannot be identified at this time. The website URL does provide an address in Belize City, Belize just south of Mexico. It is anonymously registered through an organization in Tokyo and is hosted on an internet server in Panama. The BBB has researched the information on the Web site and considers the offer to be a complicated mixture of the different aspects of Ponzi, Pyramid and Multi-level Marketing schemes. The primary concerns that potential participants should consider is that the offer originates from outside the continental United States, the principals can not be identified at this time, and giving credit or debt numbers to someone they do not know on the Internet is a grave mistake. The information cited on this Web site states:

VRI RED ALERT - Bahrain. Phony development projects, including an ‘’Education City’’
International scams duping duped investors in the US, South Africa and Australia with phony development projects. Australian farmers allegedly defrauded out of BD610,800 in a dodgy business by four Bahrainis could be pushed into poverty unless the case is resolved soon, it has been claimed. All the farmers involved borrowed money from a bank to be part of the deal and claimed they could now be entitled to compensation totaling eight million Australian dollars (BD2.8m). The men were approached through a mutual friend in Australia to loan funds to a woman to help her company launch an "education city" in Bahrain. Their money was to be held in bond so if anything went wrong it could be liquidated and the farmers would receive their cash back. That includes interest generated on the loans they took out, in addition to compensation for losing their farms as a result of the investment. The alleged victims say they entered into a bond agreement in March 2005 and were supposed to get their investment back within three months, plus a sizeable bonus payment. But they say they are still trying to recover their money more than three years later.

VRI RED ALERT - South Africa. There are currently more than 30 suspected PYRAMID SCHEMES under investigation in Joburg
Pyramid schemes or investment scams have been around "forever", but were declared illegal in 1999 under the Harmful Business Practices Act. But still con artists continue to set up elaborate schemes in which they promise investors huge returns on their money - "something like 30 percent a month". The scheme works on the basis of attracting increasing numbers of investors. Those who get in from the outset receive their payouts and serve as advertisements for how well the scheme works, attracting more investors. Eventually the scheme is unable to continue and collapses, resulting in hundreds or sometimes thousands of investors losing their money. "The thing is, the guys running these scams are generally white-collar criminals. They are intelligent, charming, flamboyant and extremely convincing. They are appealing and flaunt a lavish lifestyle, and their stories are as varied as the businesses themselves. They do flashy presentations of lucrative ideas, promising how people can make a lot of money in a very short time. So the first investors sign up and get their money, and the thing catches on like wildfire and spreads like crazy, until the scheme collapses or is bust by the police."

VRI RED ALERT - Hit Man E-Mail Scam Still Around
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its partner, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), continue to receive thousands of reports concerning the hit man e-mail scheme. The e-mail content has evolved since late 2006; however, the messages remain similar in nature, claiming the sender has been hired to kill the recipient. A new version instructed the recipient to contact a telephone number contained in the e-mail and the other claimed the recipient or a “loved one” was going to be kidnapped unless a ransom was paid. Recipients of the kidnapping threat were told to respond via e-mail within 48 hours. The sender was to provide the location of the wire transfer five minutes before the deadline and was threatened with bodily harm if the ransom was not received within 30 minutes of the time frame given. The recipients’ personally identifiable information (PII) was included in the e-mail to promote the appearance that the sender actually knew the recipient and their location. In some instances, the use of names, titles, addresses, and telephone numbers of government officials and business executives, and/or the victims’ PII are used in an attempt to make the fraud appear more authentic. Unfortunately, these hit man e-mail scams are still circulating and evolving throughout the Internet. Don’t get ‘knocked off’ by these cyber criminals who are trying everything they can to access your money and personal information. Instead, protect yourself by reporting any messages you get to the FBI through the IC3 at www.IC3.gov,” said Special Agent Richard Kolko, Chief, National Press Office, Washington, D.C.

VRI RED ALERT - Counterfeit check scams target lawyers
Atlanta lawyer Gregory Bartko sometimes handles international legal transactions involving Asian clients, and work is often conducted by e-mail because of the time difference, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. So Bartko wasn’t alarmed when he received an e-mail from a Taiwan company asking him to help collect a debt in the U.S. The debtor company sent Atlanta Lawyer Gregory Bartko a cashier’s check for nearly $200,000 as partial payment, and Bartko deposited it in his trust account before wiring the money to a South Korean bank, the story says. The check, it turns out, was counterfeit. Bartko wired the money three days after the check was deposited. Wachovia Bank told him that was enough time for the check to clear. But now Wachovia has sued Bartko for the money, claiming it extended Bartko provisional credit when it wired the money to South Korea. Bartko says the counterfeit check was apparently misplaced by another bank and it did notify Wachovia the check was counterfeit within the required three-day deadline. The scammer who contacted Bartko identified itself as Tah Tong Textile Co., a real company that trades on the Taiwanese stock exchange. Now Bartko thinks there is no connection between the company and the person who contacted him. Bartko says a member of the bank’s loss management team told him it is investigating a similar matter involving another Atlanta-area lawyer. Officials at Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco and City National Bank in Los Angeles say they know of at least six lawyers who have responded to the same e-mail scam, the California Bar Journal reports. Ted Kitada, senior counsel for Wells Fargo & Co., told the bar journal that the scammers change the nine-digit numbers at the bottom of the check so that it is wired to a different bank than the one named. That causes a delay in processing. Since lawyers are good clients, banks often make funds available even if a check has not cleared.

VRI RED ALERT - F & F EQUITY DRAW, FANNIE MAE, FREDDY MAC. New home lottery scam
Scammers are sending letters nationwide announcing a lottery that gives people who lost a home an apparent chance to buy another. The letter claims the F & F Equity Draw has $50 million to give away and that the recipients have won $5 million. When recipients contact the phony Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, they are told to wire $850 to a Las Vegas location. The BBB warned that consumers who fall for this scam will lose the money they send in and will receive nothing in return. If you receive a letter in the mail declaring you are a winner in this setup, call the BBB at 888-5353. If you get the notice by e-mail, report it to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov. FEDEX email scam
If you receive an email purportedly from Fedex, saying they cannot deliver a package you sent because the address is wrong, or Fedex cannot deliver a package to you because the address is wrong, DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT to the email. It is a 'bot net' virus download.

VRI RED ALERT - Senior citizens are being cautioned to be on alert for an elaborate mail scam
When Leslie Adler's neighbor brought her an odd letter, their first tip-off that something was amiss was that the hand-written sticky note inside referred to the neighbor as Judith, although almost everyone calls her Judy. The letters Adler and her neighbor received were in stamped, typewritten envelopes. Inside was an article that appeared to have been torn from a financial newspaper with a hand-written sticky note on it. Adler's sticky note read: "Leslie, thought you'd be interested. – J” The article, entitled "Investors Frustrated and Disgusted with 3 percent CDs" dramatically and emotionally describes a financially insecure widow who doesn't know what to do and feels that her husband would be ashamed of her. Adler was especially concerned by the intricacy of the scam, which makes it look legitimate and like it has come from a friend. The article recommends calling a toll-free number for a free brochure on a better option. Adler alerted Fort Collins police and asked the department to call the number. The officer told her he was asked for a great deal of personal information, including who his financial adviser was and how much money he had available.

VRI RED ALERT - WOMEN GIFTING WOMEN, Pyramid schemes are victimizing far too many people, say RCMP.
Up to 525 people were involved in the largest scheme uncovered so far, called Women Gifting Women, and Mounties are trying to put a stop to it. “People in these times, everybody could use a financial lift and if it sounds legal they're really going to go forward with it,” said Const. James Moore of K Division's Commercial Crimes Section. Mounties managed to uncover the Women Gifting Women scheme and have since unravelled threads into several other similar schemes operating in the Edmonton area. Unlike traditional pyramid schemes where one person is at the top and people at lower levels are required to give them money, the schemes currently operating are more “horizontal,” said Moore. The schemes work in clusters and tell victims they will get a gift, except that the donor expects to get more money in return than what was offered. They also often tell people that police, lawyers or even the Canada Revenue Agency say that the scheme is legal, which is not the case. Too many people fall for it and end up losing out, said Moore. “These are sophisticated, modern women who watch the news and are in the know and know about pyramid schemes, but this is being sold as a gifting club.”

VRI RED ALERT - www.beijing-tickets2008.com, wwwbeijingticketing.com - Ticket scam hits Olympics
Olympic officials call on courts to stop websites that are suspected of stealing money, credit card information and passport numbers from people seeking tickets to the Beijing Games. For additional details see the POTPOURRI OF FRAUD forum.

VRI RED ALERT - Advance fee loan scams target small businesses as well as individuals
The number of fraudulent loan scams targeting small-business owners has increased as more people seek alternative financing sources. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the national Better Business Bureau recently issued warnings about advance-fee loan scams. Business owners have received unsolicited emails and phone calls from people promising to help secure financing in exchange for an up-front fee, said Jim Hegarty, president of the regional Better Business Bureau in Omaha. If the victim bites, the scam artist may return many times to request additional fees, saying the first application was denied and more money is needed to approach another institution, Hegarty said. The cycle usually continues until the business owner realizes what is happening, Hegarty said. Some small-business owners have sought financing outside traditional banks and lending institutions because it's more difficult to get conventional loans, according to a BBB press release. Fewer small businesses are meeting the criteria to get commercial loans, but it's not because banks are changing their lending standards, said Mike Jacobson, chairman-elect of the Nebraska Bankers Association. Current economic factors have negatively affected the creditworthiness of small businesses, which makes it more difficult for them to get a loan, Jacobson said.

VRI RED ALERT - REPEAT WARNING. Do NOT respond to an email saying your account is frozen at your bank, and you have to ‘click here’ to clear up the problem.
Some customers of an Enid bank were the victims of a scam in which they were sent a text message on their cell phone telling them their account had been frozen. Enid Police say the victims report getting messages that read "Your Central National Bank of Enid account has been blocked for security reason." The message said to call 866-281-9288. Captain Dean Grassino says the scam is an effort to get sensitive financial information from individuals like account information or personal identification numbers The scheme is called "smishing" and is similar to e-mail scams called phishing.

VRI RED ALERT - The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) today alerted the public of certain e-mails involving investment scams claiming to represent leading decision makers in the business and financial community
They invite individuals to participate as brokers or agents in equity investment portfolio management programmes. The invitations may suggest that certain leading organizations are privately looking for fiduciary agents and management experts who are willing to act as investment portfolio holders and administrators. The fraudulent schemes claim to offer financial rewards to those who participate. Such e-mails are linked to organized fraud and DIFC strongly advises anyone not to respond to the invitations. In a statement, DIFC urged companies and individuals to be wary of any communication that uses the identity of leading organizations or its officials without authorization to obtain confidential information or to induce financial transactions and investments.

VRI RED ALERT - FTC Cautions Consumers About Voter Registration Scams Used for ID Theft
Have you received an unsolicited e-mail or phone call from someone who claims to represent your local election board or civic group and asks for your Social Security or credit card number to confirm your eligibility or registration to vote? According to the Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, scammers may send messages asking for your Social Security number or financial information supposedly to register you to vote – or to confirm your registration – when they really want to commit identity theft. As a rule, federal officials say, organizations conducting legitimate voter registration drives either contact you in person or give you a voter registration form that you fill out yourself. They will never ask you to provide your financial information.

VRI RED ALERT - PURSE PARTIES - If you receive an invitation to a purse party, you might want to think twice about accepting. You might be funding organized crime.
They're popular, but some are illegal, federal agents said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are cracking down on the distribution and sale of counterfeit handbags, which are knock-offs designed to look like expensive bags. ICE investigator William Wallrapp said counterfeit purses are big business, and they may be funding even bigger criminal activity. Most of the purses look like handbags that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The fakes, replicas of Coach, Prada, Chanel and others cost a fraction of the price of the real bags. ICE recently arrested two women in Scottsbluff, Neb., on suspicion of selling the counterfeit goods. Kelli Larson and Jodene Burkhart were forced to forfeit more than 900 purses, wallets and sunglasses. An indictment said that the women made more than $200,000 selling the knockoffs and now face a $2 million fine and several years in prison. Wallrapp said that people who buy and sell the knockoffs don't fully understand the business behind them. He said many times organized crime rings from across the globe make the fakes. "The majority of these items are manufactured overseas, and they're imported or smuggled into the U.S.," he said. The money generated by selling shoes, sunglasses and purses often funds more serious criminal activity, the agent said. "People involved in the narcotics trade or weapons trade or money laundering are in those trades to make money. They get involved in counterfeiting for the same reason," Wallrapp said.

VRI RED ALERT - LOTTERY SCAMS – Okay let’s try this again. You cannot win a lottery you didn’t enter. International lotteries are illegal in the U.S. If you receive a winning lottery check it is probably counterfeit. And watch out for unsolicited job offers too.
At Legacy Banks' main office on North Street yesterday, a customer came in with great news: She'd won the lottery. She presented the $4,500 check to a bank representative, who took a look and made an intercept of the suspicious document. The check was a scam, and had she cashed it as instructed in the letter that accompanied it, she would have lost thousands of dollars from her own account when the check bounced, said Lynne Carlotto, Legacy's security officer. It's a common occurrence in banks here and nationwide: Third-party check scams involving something perhaps too good to be true. The customer won the lottery, got a great "work at home" job, sold a boat, got a return on their investment. They cash the checks against their personal account, send part of the cash to the check-maker, the check bounces and their bank account is cleaned out. A customer of Berkshire Bank is out $12,000: She agreed to cash checks supplied to her by an "employer" who had hired her via the Internet. The checks bounced, and it was the customer, not the elusive "employer," who was on the hook for the excess funds, bank officials said. Not only were her bank accounts wiped out by the transactions, but she will be repaying the bank for the next three years, $300 per month. "And she was a customer in good standing," said Sally Angers, security officer for Berkshire Bank whose work is

VRI RED ALERT - TICK WARNING!
I hate it when people forward bogus warnings, and I have even done it myself a couple times unintentionally...but this one is real, and it's important. So please send this warning to everyone on your e-mail list. If someone comes to your front door, saying they are checking for ticks due to the warm weather, and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!! THIS IS A SCAM!! They only want to see you naked.
...I wish I'd gotten this yesterday...I feel so stupid...

VRI RED ALERT - Beware of MoneyGram scams
Oklahoma and more than 40 other states have teamed with MoneyGram Payment Systems to protect consumers who wire money responding to frauds and scams, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said. MoneyGram offers money transfer services by wire at more than 25,000 locations in the United States and more than 100,000 locations around the world.Scam artists often use wire transfers as a means of receiving money from their victims. “Many scams have a wire-transfer component because it’s fast, simple and agents are easy to find,” Edmondson said. “We see countless frauds, especially lottery scams, that require the ‘winner’ to pay a tax on the jackpot before receiving their winnings. Wire transfers are often suggested as an easy way to pay the bogus tax.” As part of the agreement, MoneyGram will place prominent fraud warnings on their forms, enhance its anti-fraud training programs for company agents and provide special training to agents with elevated fraud levels at their locations. The company will suspend or terminate agent locations that are involved in fraud or that do not take reasonable steps to reduce fraud. MoneyGram will also spend $1.1 million on a national consumer education program to be overseen by the AARP Foundation. The agreement with Minneapolis-based MoneyGram includes 44 states and the District of Columbia.

VRI RED ALERT - Fake K.C. Ward Financial website used to defraud investors
Francine A. Giani, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Commerce and Louis Ward, CEO of K.C. Ward Financial, issued an alert today to warn consumers of website fraud that may be used to target victims. According to K.C.Ward Financial, a licensed FINRA Broker Dealer, an international fraudster stole their company name to create a fake website: www.kcwfinancial.com which used their real mailing address. K.C. Ward Financial has notified federal and state regulators along with law enforcement agencies to warn investors of this scam before any fraud takes place. “Beware! Foreign scam artists are trolling the web, looking for reputable U.S. investment companies to hijack,” said Francine A. Giani, “Consumers should contact the company in question at their physical address to make sure you have the real deal.”

VRI RED ALERT - Hackers stealing PIN numbers from 7-11 stores
Police are warning people that hackers have been able to access ATM personal identification numbers without having to get anywhere near a cash machine. For more than a year, thieves have been using computers to break into secure networks at 7-11 convenience stores across the country, obtain PINs and have drained customer accounts. Total losses have exceeded $2 million, the FBI said. Court documents said the hackers targeted third-party companies that handle ATM cards, Cardtronics and Fiserv. The work of these companies are usually not the bank’s responsibility. Three men have been arrested and now face fraud and conspiracy charges, but prosecutors still aren’t sure how many customers may have become victims.

VRI RED ALERT - E-mails purportedly from the IRS are fraudulent
The IRS has been battling a look-alike Web site scam. An official-looking e-mail, claiming to be from the IRS, directs people to a fake IRS Web site. The site asks people for credit card and other account information under the guise that they're registering to have their economic stimulus checks deposited directly into their accounts. "They're not interested in putting money into your account," IRS spokesman David Stell said. "They're interested in taking money out of your account." The IRS will never ask for personal information, such as account access numbers or credit-card verification numbers, he said. "Nor do we notify people of refunds, rebates, stimulus payments or any other federal payments by e-mail or telephone," Stell said.

VRI RED ALERT - E-mails purportedly from a DHS contractor are fraudulent.
Bogus Web sites designed to trick people into providing account information have become an epidemic, a fraud expert warned Monday. Both the Internal Revenue Service and a contractor for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services recently have been targeted by scammers using look-alike Web sites to gain the trust of unsuspecting Oklahomans. Sarah Graham of Tulsa said scammers accessed her child-support funds after she received an e-mail Friday that seemed legitimate. The e-mail claimed to be from EPPICard, a program administered by a DHS contractor that processes child support and state benefits electronically, much like a debit card system. "I really did not think it was a scam because of it being through DHS and child support," she said. "It completely blew me away." The e-mail claimed that there had been a security problem with her account. A link took her to the EPPICard Web site, which asked for her account information to verify her identity. "It looked so real," Graham said. She didn't realize that the e-mail and Web site were both scams until two days later, when her child-support account showed insufficient funds. Someone had taken $142 from the account. DHS spokesman Dustin Pyeatt said 19 Oklahomans have been scammed. However, he added, the scam's reach is nationwide, with more than 100 people being scammed in Georgia. Cardholders will be re- imbursed by Affiliated Computer Services, the company that administers the program for the agency, Pyeatt said. He added that DHS will never ask clients for their account information.

VRI RED ALERT - Watch out for fake ‘Money Gram and Wal-Mart’ money orders in your mailbox
There's is a warning out right now, to watch out for a fake money order scam that could make it's way to your mailbox. A package with three money orders, each worth more than 6-hundred dollars, arrived at a woman's home. It turns out, the checks are worthless. The Money-Grams had Wal-Mart logos on top and the woman's name was already written on the top line. A call to Money-Gram revealed it wasn't good fortune, it was a scam. If you receive one of the fake checks, you're asked to call police, the state attorney general, or the better business bureau.

VRI RED ALERT - FTC Warns Against Sweepstakes Scammers Posing as Government Officials
Putting a new twist on an old scam, con artists are posing as government officials when they tell consumers they have won a sweepstakes prize. Crooks also take advantage of Internet technology, which can make it appear that they are calling from Washington, DC, or the consumer’s hometown while they tell consumers they represent the Federal Trade Commission or some other government agency.

VRI RED ALERT - Pennsylvania warns against ‘’summer scams’’
PSC Chairman Bob Lam cautions investors to screen themselves from
> hot energy-related tips,
> speculative real estate promotions,
> unsolicited invitations from new online "friends,"
> complex, opaque investment products that fail to offer clear disclosures of their risks and costs.
"Criminals watch and read the news and tend to follow the headlines in an effort to lend their schemes a cloak of legitimacy.

VRI RED ALERT - Card Mills Pyramid Schemes - "Make lots of money selling travel!"..."Travel like a travel agent!"
The distinction between a card mill and a legitimate outside travel sales operation is sometimes difficult to see. Card mills, unlike travel agencies, cross the line into scams. Neither the organizations nor the reps actually expect to sell any appreciable amount of travel. Instead, travelers pay the fees and join solely to get one of those outside agent ID cards, which they supposedly can use to obtain free "fam trip" travel packages and huge "travel agent" discounts on air travel, hotel accommodations, cruises and other services for their personal trips.
How do you spot a card mill? Typically, card mills act in two ways that legitimate agencies do not:
-- They promise you can travel like a travel agent in their promotions.
-- They use multilevel marketing, which means they ask reps not just to sell travel but also to sell others on becoming reps.
Or, in plain terms, they're pyramid schemes. The more notorious card mills make virtually all their profits through selling memberships rather than travel.
These days, card mills may downplay the travel-benefit side of the appeal, largely because the industry has caught on to the scam and doesn't blindly honor those phony travel agent IDs. Paying a card mill anywhere from $500 to $5,000 plus monthly charges in the hope of finding fantastic travel discounts is simply wasting your money.

VRI RED ALERT - FTC Warns Consumers About Potential Charity Scams
The Federal Trade Commission is urging consumers to be cautious of potential charity scams in connection with the recent floods and tornadoes that have caused damage in the Midwest. Scam artists may take advantage of this situation by creating bogus fund-raising operations. The FTC has issued a Consumer Alert, the “FTC Charity Checklist,” which lists precautions consumers should take when donating to charities. The alert, available at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt114.shtm, advises consumers to be wary of appeals that tug at your heart strings, especially pleas involving current events. If you are asked to contribute to a charity, the FTC recommends that you:
Ask for the name of the charity if the telemarketer does not provide it promptly;
Ask what percentage of your donation will support the cause described in the solicitation;
Call the charity to find out if it's aware of the solicitation and has authorized the use of its name;
Do not provide any credit card or bank information until you have reviewed all information from the charity and made the decision to donate;
Ask for a receipt showing the amount of the contribution and stating that it is tax deductible; and
Avoid cash gifts. For security and tax record purposes, it's best to pay by check – made payable to the beneficiary, not the solicitor.

VRI RED ALERT - An official Oklahoma warning about a ‘’phishing’’ scam. At VRI we get a dozen emails a weeks telling us our accounts at financial institutions across the U.S. have been ''compromised'' and ''click on this link to reactive your account''. We just delete them.
A scam that may have targeted thousands of northeast Oklahoma residents has made its way into Cherokee County involving Tulsa Teachers Credit Union accounts. An e-mail tells people their TTCU account information may have been compromised. It asks potential victims to call a phone number or click on an Internet link and enter personal account information. The Tahlequah man receiving the e-mail was instructed to click an Internet link to reactivate his account. Authorities said following the instructions would compromise account security and allow those running the scam to have access to their funds. The bogus messages have also been sent to cell phones in the form of text messages.

VRI RED ALERT - Fight Terrorism and ''get a big reward if you donate $12,500'' scam emails
"Put up $12,500 to secure the capture of a Middle East billionaire with ties to terrorists and collect more than $100,000." The scammer told seniors of an opportunity involving the capture of a man linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network. The man claimed that the investments would entitle the seniors to vast sums of reward money once the man was captured. An elderly couple sent over $137,500 to the man after he told them that he was involved in a variety of businesses. He would send letters and make phone calls to senior citizens informing them of investment opportunities in buying weapons for the rebels in Sudan or capturing terrorists in the Middle East. A note would then be sent to the senior citizens thanking them for the money and encouraging more contributions. The money ended up in his bank account.

VRI RED ALERT - Another scam targeting seniors is the fake police officer asking victims to withdraw larges sums of money to ''look for counterfeit bills''.
A victim called the police to report that her purse was stolen while playing bingo. A short time later a man claiming to be a police officer called her saying he found her purse but needed her help with another investigation. He told her to go to the bank and withdraw several thousand dollars to check for counterfeit money. The man, who was not in uniform, picked her up and took off with the money. Later, the victim grew suspicious and called police. A captain in the police force said, "officers would never ask someone to withdraw money for an investigation."

VRI RED ALERT - Some senior citizens have received a call telling them that there had been several changes in Medicare that may impact coverage.
For $400.00 and a checking account number this caller would be able to assist with understanding the changes to each person's coverage. The information is then used for identity theft. No Medicare representative, volunteers, or advisor ask for checking account information or money for any notification or Medicare changes. If you are contacted about changes to your coverage, call the Medicare Medicaid Assistant Program. Call 1-800-852-7795 for more information.

VRI RED ALERT - Identity thieves steal dead spouses' identities and then open charge cards or even buy cars leaving the deceased's survivors with the bills.
To prevent this from happening, you can call the credit-reporting agencies and put on a credit freeze. It isn't free unless the survivor is a victim of ID theft, so it may cost about $115 to do the freeze for all three credit-reporting agencies.

VRI RED ALERT - DO NOT CALL REGISTRY night call leads to ID theft
People call at night telling seniors they have to sign up for the Federal Trade Commission's "do not call list," or to continue dealing with annoying telemarketing calls. No one from the FTC is going to call to register you for the "do not call" list. To register on the "do not all list," call 1-888-382-1222.

VRI RED ALERT - If you paid your home off long ago, you may become a victim of a scam targeting seniors
The latest scam is stealing seniors' identities and using the stolen identities to take out home-equity loans on their property or to sell the home outright. Crooks look for homes that haven't had any financial activity in a while. Seniors can check with the county assessor's office to make sure their home is OK. Never answer home info on the phone, unless you are making the call.

VRI RED ALERT - We don't really need to tell you that the email that starts as below and is ''signed'' by Robert Mueller of the FBI isn't really from the FBI...do we?
"How are you and your entire family, We The Federal bureau of investigation (FBI) Washington,D.C in conjunction with someother relevant Investigations Agencies here in the United states of America have recently been informed through our Global intelligence monitoring network that you presently havea transaction going on with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as regard to your over-due contract payment which was fully endorsed in your favor accordingly.For security reasons it is against our protocol of operation to release our security numbers to clients, we the F.B.I have purposely created."

VRI RED ALERT - POWERBALL LOTTERY SCAM
The Oklahoma Lottery encourages Oklahomans to be aware of a potential scam seeking to trick citizens into believing they've won a Powerball prize. Recently, a number of individuals have contacted lottery headquarters after being sent a mailing that includes a counterfeit check. Citizens are asked to send in a personal check for an insurance processing fee in order to be able to cash the counterfeit check. The information in the mailings is not associated with the Oklahoma Lottery. "The Oklahoma Lottery does not require any type of payment in order to claim a prize," said Jim Scroggins, executive director of the Oklahoma Lottery.

VRI RED ALERT - Canada: Pyramid scheme posing as a ‘women’s gifting club’
Stony Plain/Spruce Grove RCMP are warning residents about a new investment scheme posing as a women's gifting club. “They are putting it into a context just for targeting one group,” Const. Barb Roy said, “making it sound like it's just a group of friends and they are together to make sure everybody makes a little cash.” However, they warn that the proposition is a crime, no matter how it's presented. According to the RCMP website, “a pyramid scheme is illegal when a person participating in the scheme becomes entitled to receive more money than they invested in the scheme by reason of recruiting others.” According to investigators residents are being offered a chance to earn $40,000 if they invest $5,000. In return they are given a gift or a gift certificate. Those involved are also being instructed on how to avoid detection by not withdrawing their investment in one lump sum as well as ways to avoid paying tax on any income they receive.

VRI RED ALERT - If you get a subpoena by email from the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California…ignore it.
A bright yellow public notice on the home page of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California's Web site is trying to clear up a little problem. An e-mail scam targeted at executives and other high-profile individuals involved a fake subpoena from what appeared to be the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California. (The court does not e-mail subpoenas.) Each message included the executive's name, company and phone number, and commanded recipients to testify before a grand jury. By clicking on an accompanying link - supposedly a copy of the subpoena to view and print - recipients got hit with a virus that shut down their computers only to record their keystrokes when turned back on. The e-mail attack is the latest "phishing" scheme, an attempt to fraudulently obtain sensitive information from a recipient's computer by masquerading as a trusted source. This particular e- mail, called a "whaling" attempt because it targeted big fish in the electronic sea, contained a court case number, federal code, the court's name and address, a court room number, issuing officers' names and a replica of the court seal. Others who receive the e-mail, from subpoena@uscourts.com, are advised to delete it without opening it. The FBI has directed recipients to file complaints at the Internet Crime Complaint Center www.ic3.gov.

VRI RED ALERT - The Better Business Bureau of Central & Eastern Kentucky is warning the public not to fall for advance fee loan scams that have hit the area recently.
"Calls to the BBB about this type of loan have picked up a lot lately," said Heather Clary, Director of Communications for the BBB of Central & Eastern Kentucky. "They are seeing ads for companies in classified ads and on the Internet. We know of at least two victims who fell for this scam in the past week and sent money via Western Union or Money Gram as instructed by the companies promising loans. The victims never received the loans, and have lost their up-front money. These victims will likely never get their money back," said Clary. "With money being tight for so many people these days, we fear it will be more tempting for folks to fall for one of these offers that seem to guarantee a loan, especially if the person has bad credit."

VRI RED ALERT - If you get an email to ‘register’ for your tax rebate DO NO ANSWER IT!!!
The Seniors Against Investment Fraud through the RSVP volunteer program is warning seniors and others to be aware of fraudulent email and activity aimed at stimulus payments. Victims have received emails with the IRS logo encouraging them to fill out a form with personal information in order to receive their rebate. The letter even went so far as to warn them of the penalties involved with providing fraudulent information. AARP is providing the following cautions and warnings regarding the Economic Stimulus Rebate: The IRS or representative will never call, email or stop by your home asking for your social security number or bank account information so that you may receive the rebate.

Here is exactly what one of these scam emails looks like. We received it this morning.

Over 130 million Americans will receive refunds as part of President Bush program to jumpstart the economy.

Our records indicate that you are qualified to receive the 2008 Economic Stimulus Refund.

The fastest and easiest way to receive your refund is by direct deposit to your checking/savings account.

Please click on the link and fill out the form and submit before May 11th, 2008 to ensure that your refund will be processed as soon as possible.

Submitting your form on May 11th, 2008 or later means that your refund will be delayed due to the volume of requests we anticipate for the Economic Stimulus Refund.

To access Economic Stimulus Refund, please click here.

Note: If you received this message in you spam/bulk folder, that is because of the restrictions implemented by your Internet Service Provider. We are sorry for that inconvenience.

VRI RED ALERT - Mystery Shopper Scam + Counterfeit Check Scam = Scam
Florida Channel 9 News. A new scheme is taking advantage of Central Floridians who want to earn a few extra dollars as mystery shoppers. A woman said she got a letter instructing her to deposit $5,000 into a bank account and then shop and rate stores. She was supposed to keep some money for herself and also make two wire transfers. Luckily for her, her bank found out the check was bogus before her account was drained. Channel 9 contacted the bank listed on the fake check and they said they had been bombarded with calls from across the country.

VRI RED ALERT - REMINDER: If you get an email from the IRS saying you are due a refund...dump that email. It is a scam, and it looks exactly like this...
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
United States Department of the Treasury
Dear Taxpayer,
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $184.80.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access the form for your tax refund, use the following personalized link:
http://0x7C.0x3.0x3A.0x85/www.irs.gov/taxrefund.php
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service Document Reference: (0x7C.0x3.0x3A.0x85).

VRI RED ALERT - We Caught You Naked! Spam scam gets personal
Cyber criminals have used every trick in the book to sucker computer users into clicking links that will infect their machines. A new outbreak has raised alarms - because some people think they've been caught on video naked. The spam emails use a personalised subject line that reads 'We caught you naked, (name here)! Check the video'. Researches claim Srizbi is the world's largest botnet (which hijacks computers to send out spam) comprising 315,000 bots and responsible for an estimated 60 billion spam messages per day.

VRI RED ALERT - DO NOT use the same password for all your accounts and webpages
Using the same password for multiple Web pages is the Internet-era equivalent of having the same key for your home, car and bank safe-deposit box. Even though a universal password is like gold for cyber crooks because they can use it to steal all of a person's sensitive data at once, nearly half the Internet users queried in a new survey said they use just one password for all their online accounts. At the same time, 88 percent of the 800 people interviewed in the U.S. and the U.K. for the survey by the Accenture consultancy, which is to be released Thursday, said personal irresponsibility is the key cause of identity theft and fraud. Researchers say the findings suggest that many users underestimate the growing threat from organized cyber criminals who can reap big profits from selling stolen identities...ummm, about $46 BILLION dollars lost to ID theft last year.

VRI RED ALERT - If you are an executive and get an email naming you, your company and phone number alleging you have to appear in court…Do NOT go to the provided link to view the subpoena, and do NOT download an add on that allows you the ‘view the subpoena’. This is an ID theft scam that downloads a program into your computer to steal your username and password for your bank and other accounts
The ID theft targeted 20,000 executives, half of whom were execs at major financial institutions, received an email purporting to be a subpoena ordering the recipient to appear in court for legal violations against their company. Each recipient was named in the email with the name and phone number of their company. Recipients who clicked the link were brought to a Web page that claimed they needed to install a Web browser add-on in order to view the subpoena. Those who agreed were shown an Adobe PDF document that referenced a lawsuit filed in a California district court. The "add-on" in question was a component designed to steal usernames and passwords when the victim subsequently visited an online bank site or other page that requires those credentials (the malicious add-on only installed for users visiting the site with Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser).

VRI RED ALERT - Fraudsters are calling customers claiming to be from the fraud department of their credit card company.
A caller names an unusual big-ticket item and asks if the customer has recently purchased it. When the customer says no, the caller says the company involved has been cropping up in a lot of suspicious transactions. The caller provides a reference number for the customer's file and give the customer a 1-800 number to call. He or she also asks the customer to confirm that they still have the card by providing the three-digit security code marked on the back. Fraud investigators say no legitimate credit card company will ask you for that code.

VRI RED ALERT - Disappearing ink on checks? You’ve got to be kidding. Didn’t they used to advertise that stuff in comic books?
Tulsa police are warning of a scam involving disappearing ink to write checks. Police say a bread store has been a victim of the scam in which the customer writes a check but the ink disappears a few hours later and the store is left with a blank check. Police say one clue that a check is written using disappearing ink is that the ink as a red or pink tint.

VRI RED ALERT - An email overpayment ‘counterfeit check’ scam is now targeting farmers
Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain says the scam appears aimed at hay producers and involves fraudulent cashier's checks or money orders. He says the buyer sends the money, usually for more than the asking price of the hay, the farmer deposits the check and sends the additional funds back to the buyer but later finds out the check wasn't good. Strain says other states' agriculture agencies have received reports from farmers that the scammers are using Market Bulletin ads and classified ad publications to contact the sellers. They most often correspond with the farmers by e-mail and usually refuse phone calls. These overpayment counterfeit check scams have shown up on things as diverse of selling a bicycle on e-bay to bogus lottery checks.

VRI RED ALERT - Variety of scams targeting seniors on the increase…including but not limited to...
Free Lunch Seminars: Especially those involving promises of high interest rates and annuity investments. Many promoted annuities have high penalties for early withdrawal of funds and also pay large bonuses in the first year only.
Phone Number Changes: Overseas con artists have isolated older victims by switching their phone numbers to unlisted numbers. The scammer will make sure that they are the only one that knows the new number. The purpose is to isolate the person from family members, friends and others using various psychological strategies. They may warn victims to keep information about transactions a secret and to prevent others from meddling in their personal and financial affairs.
Identify Theft by Phone: Scammers use automated phone calls (robo calls) to promise credit cards with lower interest rates and other benefits. In the process, they are stealing identities and getting access to existing credit card numbers and bank accounts. The pre-recorded telemarketing calls will usually announce that they are calling the person about “account services”, “customer services,” “card services” or similar types of activities.
Advance Loan Fee Emails: Email contacts that falsely claim to be sent by federally-insured financial institutions advertising such services as low-interest mortgage refinancing, debt consolidation and elimination, small business loans, and special loan programs for veterans and minorities. They make false promises for guaranteed loans in return for fees paid upfront by the loan applicant. Some scam artists may even design websites and online loan applications that look legitimate, sometimes using stolen logos from well-known companies.

VRI RED ALERT - Con artists are now combining ID theft with mortgage fraud to steal your home
Here’s how it generally works:
… The con artists start by picking out a house to steal—say, YOURS.
… Next, they assume your identity—getting a hold of your name and personal information (easy enough to do off the Internet) and using that to create fake IDs, social security cards, etc.
… Then, they go to an office supply store and purchase forms that transfer property.
… After forging your signature and using the fake IDs, they file these deeds with the proper authorities, and lo and behold, your house is now THEIRS even though you may be paying the mortgage.
It doesn't matter if the house is a vacation home, a rental, or your primary residence, you remain in ignorance of all this until the new 'buyer' shows up at your door.

VRI RED ALERT - ELECTRICITY PYRAMID SCAM
As the price of energy soars, scam artists are hard at work with an electricity scheme that's being reported across the country. Investigators say the purported scam is not to defraud consumers. Rather, they say, the pyramid scheme appeals to gullible people who are looking for a way to earn extra money as distributors, by selling electricity door-to-door. Salespeople at the top recruit people and these people, often called distributors, recruit more people. They, in return, get a cut of the entrance fee of each new recruit and each new person that signs up down the line. The pyramid is aimed to allow the person at the top to make all the money. The BBB says "electric" pyramid schemes are rigged to rake in the fees that each so-called "distributor" must pay. In that case, it's illegal. A pyramid scheme never works because you eventually run out of people to charge fees.

VRI RED ALERT - NEW CHAIN LETTER SCAM - it brags of being proven true by "highly respected" television shows like Oprah and ABC's 20/20. The ABC News program refutes that claim on its Web site
The letter instructs you to mail $1.00 to each of the six people in the letter, move the names up one slot and add your own name and address. You're told how to purchase a mailing list of hundreds more names so you can make copies and mail them to these people. Ultimately, you supposedly will spend a litte over $200 to rake-in hundreds of thousands of dollars. Don't Fall For It. To further convince you that it's legitimate, the letter states "this is not a pyramid scheme." Don't Fall For It. Despite the letter's promise that it's legal, it's not. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service clearly states that chain letters are illegal if they request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants.

VRI RED ALERT - Pennsylvania Attorney General Warns Of Mystery Shopper Scam
If you've ever wanted to be a secret shopper, or if you need a part-time job paying an extra $500 or more a week, this is not your chance. Unfortunately, authorities said hundreds of people have fallen victim to a scam in which they think they're signing up to be "mystery shoppers" -- regular folks who are paid to evaluate retailers. Some have lost thousands of dollars after cashing counterfeit checks and wiring money back to scammers, usually in Canada or another foreign country. The Pennsylvania attorney general's office said it began receiving complaints late last year about such schemes, and the pace of the complaints has picked up since. It issued a warning to consumers last month to be wary of the offers. The letters or advertisements look official, containing telephone contact numbers and more. The names of the fake companies vary -- scam letters have borne "Express Shoppers" and "Mystery Shopper" company logos -- and may even mirror the name of a real company. Victims who received checks were told to cash them and then wire money as part of a training mission to evaluate a Western Union or check-cashing outlet at a Wal-Mart. But the checks have bounced, leaving the victims on the hook for the amount of the cashed checks.

VRI RED ALERT - FBI Warns About New Nigerian Scam Using Its Letterhead
The FBI is warning Internet surfers to be on the lookout for slick-looking emails sent by scammers using the FBI's own logo and the Dallas bureau's address. The letter asks the victim to help transfer ten million dollars, and for bank account records to help "transfer" the funds. The letter then asks the victim to help make sure the funds are not coming from terrorists and is signed by "Robert E. Casey Junior," listed as "Special Agent In Charge." But the FBI says the letters are fake and simply a newer version of the so-called "Nigerian scam," which asks people to send bank information to scammers who then take money from victim's accounts. The government agency also says stopping the scammers is tough to do.

VRI RED ALERT - Bogus bankruptcy foreclosure rescue scam sweeps it’s way across the country
Scammers approach people facing foreclosure and offer to save their property for an upfront or monthly fee. They persuade the homeowner to assign them a legal interest in the property. Then the scammers — often without the homeowner’s knowledge — transfer fractional shares in the property, often 5 percent or less, to third parties. These third parties are usually fictional, investigators say, although in some cases the scam artists have recruited homeless individuals. They then file bankruptcy petitions in the names of these third parties. Sometimes, as in the Kansas cases, it is in courts thousands of miles from where the property is located.The scammers profit off the delays in several ways. Sometimes they reap monthly fees ranging from $250 to $850 or more from homeowners who think — because debt collectors are not calling anymore — that the foreclosure is stopped. Some homeowners may be led to think the fees are paying off their loans. In other cases, the scammers take over the property and rent it for months to unsuspecting tenants, who are evicted after the ruse is discovered. More details in the REAL ESTATE, MORTGAGE AND LOAN forum on this website.

VRI RED ALERT - COMMODITY FUTURE TRADING COMMISSION (CFTC) - Fraudulent check scam advisory
It has been brought to the CFTC's attention that a number of individuals have received possibly fraudulent checks for sums of money ranging from $3,500 - $4,000. These checks have been sent via UPS in an envelope with the CFTC cited in the return address. If you receive a check with the CFTC cited in the return address, immediately contact the CFTC’s toll-free Customer Protection Hotline, at 1-866-366-2382.

VRI RED ALERT - The old chain letter pops up again. And NO, they are not legal no matter what the letter says.
PORTSMOUTH — A Herald reporter recently received a simple white letter mailed from a person whose name the reporter did not recognize. Inside the letter was a claim that the recipient could make $100,000 in just weeks. According to Moldoff and Lauren Noether, senior assistant attorney general, this is the first time that they have heard of this scam, but that it's a new spin on an old idea. This scam is simply a variation of a chain letter pyramid scheme. It tells the recipient to send $1 to six names and addresses listed at the end of the letter. Then the recipient is told to mail the same letter to 20 new addresses with the recipient's name now among the six on the list. Supposedly the recipient will receive $1 from the 20 new people who will then mail the letter to 20 more people and so on. The major problem with soliciting money through the mail is that it's against the law. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, chain letters are illegal if they request money or other items of value and promise substantial return to the participants. Although the letter repeatedly states that "this is not a pyramid scam" and it is not illegal, it certainly fits the criteria. The letter also states that talk show host Oprah Winfrey and ABC's "20/20 "have had shows legitimizing this idea of money making, but reportedly no information was found confirming this to be true. Of the six names with addresses listed, two of them had unlisted phone numbers, two of them did not live at the given address, one of them had a disconnected phone number and one of the names had an answering machine, but did not return a message on Tuesday.

VRI RED ALERT - Warning: Scam artists want to steal your tax rebate
CNN AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) -- On the heels of the government's plan to stimulate the economy by sending out special tax rebates, authorities say crooks are posing as officials from the Internal Revenue Service or Social Security Administration. They are calling people and asking for personal financial information so they can "directly deposit" rebate money. One Texas woman, 69-year-old Edna Lawrence, said she was called at least eight times by a man posing as an IRS agent. She didn't fall for it, and instead notified the state's attorney general about the caller. "Actually, he was kind of pushy. Basically he wasn't going to take 'no,' and I had to hang up on him," she said. One of her daughter's friends, however, who received the same type of phone call, believed the caller and lost more than $200, Lawrence said. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a consumer alert notifying Texans about the new scams. Abbott's office has received more than a dozen complaints from people who have been fraudulently contacted either by phone or e-mail. In one online variation, individuals around the country have received e-mails purportedly from the IRS instructing them to click on a special attached form to provide personal information. But the e-mails are fake.

VRI RED ALERT - A day after President Bush signed legislation rushing tax rebates to millions of Americans, the first related TAX SCAM has been reported from Oklahoma.
Someone posing as a Social Security Administration employee has called Oklahomans asking for checking account numbers to allow the tax rebate checks to be directly deposited into their accounts. However, providing that account number likely will result in an empty account, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said. "The spouse of one of our employees has received repeated calls from someone claiming to be with the SSA's (Social Security Administration's) Tax Refund Department,” Edmondson said. "The caller is asking for checking account information that could be used to steal her money.” Larry Jones, Social Security Administration spokesman in Oklahoma City, said his agency has nothing to do with the mailing of the tax rebates." Consumers be wary. Scam artists apparently created the ploy to take advantage of interest in the tax rebate program, which President Bush signed on Wednesday. The $168 billion economic stimulus package was passed last week by Congress.

VRI RED ALERT - Internet Alert: St. Valentine’s Day E-Card Carries Storm Worm Virus
If you unexpectedly receive a Valentine’s Day e-card, be careful. It may not be from a secret admirer, but instead might contain the Storm Worm virus. With the holiday approaching, be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware). The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to retrieve the electronic greeting card (e-card). Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet-connected device and causes it to become infected and part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet. The Storm Worm virus has capitalized on various holidays in the last year by sending millions of e-mails advertising an e-card link within the text of the spam e-mail. Valentine's Day has been identified as the next target. Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided.

VRI RED ALERT - Love Stinks: Consumers Getting Swindled by Virtual 'Sweethearts'
"The Sweetheart Swindle is often a long, drawn out process in which the con artist nurtures a relationship, and eventually convinces the victim to send money repeatedly over an extended period of time," said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director, National Consumers League. While NCL's Fraud Center has only been tracking this type of scam since July 2007, it gained enough momentum in the second half of the year to move to the top 10 scam list. According to complaints logged at NCL's Fraud Center (www.fraud.org), the average victim lost more than $3,038 last year to Sweetheart Swindles. However, the full extent of the fraud is unknown, given many victims' reluctance to admit to being scammed.

VRI RED ALERT - IRS warns of new rebate scam from economic stimulus Tax Rebate bill
The Internal Revenue Service is urging the public to exercise caution and to not fall prey to a new rebate check scam, IRS spokesman Mark Green said. There already have been reports in Georgia of people receiving phone calls from someone claiming to be from the IRS asking for personal information to direct deposit a tax rebate check into their accounts, Green said. “It has extended down into Florida as well as into Tennessee and Alabama,” Green said. “It is being targeted through e-mails and phone calls stating there is a rebate check that the person is eligible for. It being sold as that the new rebate will be deposited straight into your checking account.” The scammer might try to scare the victim into sharing information and claim the rebate cannot be issued unless personal financial information is given to them, Green said. The IRS does allow taxpayers to use direct deposit but it does not require it, according to an IRS statement.

VRI RED ALERT - CFTC bogus check alert
It has been brought to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) attention that a number of individuals have received possibly fraudulent checks for sums of money ranging from $3,500 - $4,000. These checks have been sent via UPS in an envelope with the CFTC cited in the return address. If you receive a check with the CFTC cited in the return address, immediately contact the CFTC’s toll-free Customer Protection Hotline, at 1-866-366-2382.

VRI RED ALERT - Fake emails saying YOU are under investigation by the Department of Justice, IRS, Social Security, FBI, Better Business Bureau etc. Repeat Warning ‘cause they’re popping up again.
The FBI has recently developed information indicating cyber criminals are attempting to once again send fraudulent e-mails to unsuspecting recipients stating that someone has filed a complaint against them or their company with the Department of Justice or another organization such as the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, or the Better Business Bureau. Information obtained during the FBI investigation has been provided to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS has taken steps to alert their public and private sector partners with the release of a Critical Infrastructure Information Notice (CIIN). The e-mails are intended to appear as legitimate messages from the above departments, and they address the recipients by name, and other personal information may be contained within the e-mail. Consistent with previous efforts, the scam will likely be an effort to secure Personally Identifiable Information. The nature of these types of scams is to create a sense of urgency for the recipient to provide a response through clicking on a hyperlink, opening an attachment, or initiating a telephone call. It is believed this e-mail refers to a complaint that is in the form of an attachment, which actually contains virus software designed to steal passwords from the recipient. The virus is wrapped in a screensaver file wherein most anti-virus programs are unable to detect its malicious intent. Once downloaded, the virus is designed to monitor username and password logins, and record the activity, as well as other password-type information, entered on the compromised machine. If you have received a scam e-mail please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

VRI RED ALERT - For years VRI has received fake emails from the ‘’IRS’’ saying we have a refund due. From $109 to $279. The IRS has reissued it’s own warning on these scam emails and websites
IRS Warns of Scams To Steal Data With Offer of Tax Rebate
Rebate-related scams are adding to the number and sophistication of fraud schemes targeting taxpayers, the IRS said. Many of these scams involve official-looking e-mail messages that try to lure recipients into entering their financial and personal data at fake IRS Web sites, usually by saying the target is eligible for a refund check. In 2005, the tax agency tracked four sites using some version of this ID theft scam, generally known as phishing. Last year, the IRS tracked 900 such sites. This year, based on the number of phishing sites detected in January, the IRS said it could contend with more than 3,700. Phishing also can occur over the phone. In some of the recent cases, consumers received phone calls from someone identifying him or herself as an IRS employee. The caller tells the target that they are eligible for a sizeable rebate for filing taxes early but that the IRS needs bank account information to directly deposit the rebate. If the targeted consumer refuses, they are told they will not be eligible to receive the rebate. Another popular e-mail scam tells the recipient they need to download and use an attached IRS form to properly file their taxes, or that the recipient is the subject of an IRS audit and should view the attached document. The attachments usually contain spyware that can steal passwords and financial data from the victim's computer. The IRS urged consumers to access its Web site through http://www.irs.gov, rather than clicking on a link in an e-mail or opening an attachment. Those who receive a questionable e-mail claiming to come from the IRS may forward it to a mailbox the IRS has established for such e-mails, phishing@irs.gov.

VRI RED ALERT - Beware of true ''money laundering'' scam This has cropped up before, but here it is again.
U.K. Police have warned of an international money scam which cons victims into buying worthless pieces of paper, believing they are smuggled or stolen bank notes dyed black to avoid detection. Victims have lost thousands of pounds through the fraudulent scheme, known as the 'black money scam' or 'wash wash scam'. Officers claim there are many more victims who haven't reported the scam because they are too embarrassed. The scam involves the fraudster telling victims the money has been dyed so it can be smuggled out of Africa through customs. The victim is also told to purchase useless 'cleaning liquid', which will remove the dye so they can use the notes. The money ends up…surprise…not being money, but the victim is scammed out of a great deal of ‘clean’ money buying the cleaning liquid. Pfffftttttt.

VRI RED ALERT - Be wary of 'work at home' offers
A lot of people try to earn some extra money this time of year to pay for Christmas, gas and heating bills. The scam artists take advantage by offering too good to be true work-at-home offers. You know the ones, they promise that you can make tons of money with little time and effort from the comfort of your own home with no experience necessary. If it was that easy, we'd all be doing it. Here are some red flags to watch out for that could tip you off to an offer that really is too good to be true.
> Be wary of any work-at-home offer that requires you to pay money in order to get started. You shouldn't have to pay to get a job.
> Be suspicious if you can't find a phone number or address for the company making the job offer.
> Be skeptical of offers that claim you'll make a lot of money with little effort.
> And be wary of spam e-mail messages that offer you a "job."

VRI RED ALERT - Watch out for strings in ‘free lunch’ seminars
The glaring warning on the radar screen this week is appearing in mailboxes, and may be sitting in your stack of mail. It's an invitation for a 'free' lunch. Watch out: This lunch could become very expensive. Yes, you are invited to attend a financial planning seminar at a hotel, restaurant or senior center, take advantage of a free meal - and most likely be taken advantage of when the "financial expert" finishes the sales pitch. The Better Business Bureau is seeing the ads throughout southern Idaho. The timing is right for taking advantage of people thinking about tax preparation and 2008 financial planning. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, along with state regulators, spent the past year studying these "free lunch" financial seminars. Investigators looked at the 110 securities firms sponsoring the seminars and found 100 percent of the seminars were instead sales presentations. Surprise! According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, while many sales seminars were advertised as "educational," "workshops," and "nothing will be sold," they were intended to result in the attendees' opening new accounts and, ultimately, in the sales of investment products. The investigation also revealed half of the seminars made misleading or exaggerated claims, and more than a third had unsuitable recommendations or fraud. Remember, the SEC determined 100 percent of the seminars were sales pitches. The free lunch will turn out to be a high-pressure sales pitch.

VRI RED ALERT - AARP reports unscrupulous brokers are trying to talk clients into taking out high commission reverse mortgages and buying annuities, or other high commission investments and long term care insurance (for more see the Real Estate and Mortgage Forum on this site)
Taking about a reverse mortgage is essentially borrowing against the equity of your house. The lender of the money is repaid when you sell the house or pass on. Reverse mortgages are fine if you need money for emergencies or long term care, or don’t care about leaving your house to your heirs. Even though you don’t pay for the ‘loan’, a reverse mortgage is breaking a prime investing mandate…never, ever borrow money to invest. Any investment, no matter how thin the odds, can go under, and if it does you will suffer a double whammy. Losing the money which IS the equity in your house.

VRI RED ALERT - Canada warns to beware of telephone securities promoters who’s stocks are claimed to be ‘going public soon’
The Nova Scotia Securities Commission is warning investors to be wary of unsolicited securities promotions, particularly over the telephone, based on claims about a listing, or prospective listing, on a stock exchange. The investor alert cautions against all unsolicited recommendations. The NSSC says that a promoter may claim the investment being offered is listed on one or more stock exchanges, often located in a foreign country. It also warns against promises that securities will soon "go public" and be listed on a stock exchange. “Securities laws do not allow these kinds of claims,” it says. “Regardless of whether the company has applied for a listing, until the security listing is approved, they have no way of knowing the status of their approval and cannot make such a claim.” The commission suggests being wary of investments listed on unfamiliar foreign stock markets.
HINT: In the U.S. a company has to become a reporting company, filing reams of documents for a number of years before an IPO (initial public offering) can happen. These reports can be located at www.sec.gov, the Edgar Files. No filings, no possibility of an IPO ‘soon’.

VRI RED ALERT - IRS REFUND SCAM. We are reissuing this read alert because we have been getting one of these emails a day for the last couple of weeks. This always indicates to us that the ‘push is on’ by someone.
NOTICE FROM IRS
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $93.60. Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.
A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.
To access your tax refund online, please click here
Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

VRI RED ALERT - FEMA warns of fake FEMA scams ripping off Oklahoma storm victims
It's been weeks since the storm hit and people are still living with storm damage. Many of them are waiting for FEMA assistance and that's when scammers come along and try to take their money. During recent disasters, scam artist have pulled the trick saying they're with FEMA, but remember FEMA will never ask you for money. And there are other scams out there as well. People will come along and they'll say, if you give me your credit card number we'll credit you back for that generator that you had to buy or the money you had to spend for expenses. Then what they will do is take your card and rip you off. That’s why it’s up to you to be smart and never pay before the job is done. If the person can't accept that, don’t hire them.

VRI RED ALERT - Oklahoma. Telephone calls threaten loss of medical care if victim doesn’t give up bank account information
Medicaid, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority or SoonerCare will never call participants to ask for bank account numbers or other financial information over the phone. The Health Care Authority has teamed with the Oklahoma Bankers Association to identify the scam and help people avoid becoming targets. The scammers have been known to withdraw varying amounts of funds, from less than $5 to more than $300. The callers tend to speak with a "very brisk, clipped accent," and their return phone number usually begins with 866. They usually hit with a vengeance. It runs a month to six weeks, generally, then they move on to another state. Dodd said it's likely that the scammers have obtained a list of older residents, possibly by buying a mailing list or something similar that people have signed up for. They start calling, knowing that some will have Medicaid accounts and some won't. Charlie Price, a spokesman for Attorney General Drew Edmondson, said his office has not received any complaints about the recent scam, but he reminded Oklahomans never to give out personal information over the phone, including bank account, credit card or Social Security numbers.