Archive for 'Scams' Category
Is Your 401(k) Insured Against Electronic Theft?
5 January 2007There’s a pretty frightening article over at MSNBC on people who have had their retirement accounts hacked into and their savings stolen. While bank accounts used to be the main targets, criminals have figured out that the automated fraud detection bar is a lot more lenient for brokerage accounts, which will allow them to transfer […]
Can Your Boss Steal Your Identity?
10 December 2006This sounds almost too weird to be true, but it’s actually happened a number of times. Mainly it’s a problem of smaller businesses with no controls on what management does with your personal information. But employers have pretty much every piece of information on you that there is. And that makes it extremely easy for […]
Don’t Cash Those “Free” Checks You Get In The Mail…
5 October 2006This is a new scam that basically targets people who are frugal-minded. You may have seen it from time to time in your junk mail - you get a free check for a small amount, say $10. You can go ahead and deposit it - you’re signed up for a service, and you’ll be billed […]
Get A Free Annual Credit Report For Your Kids to Stop Identity Theft
5 October 2006Here’s a very helpful tip from CNN that I would have never thought of: when you get your free annual credit report, you should be getting one for your kids, too - even if they’re six year olds. The reason? Because more and more identity theft cases are happening with people who are under 18 […]
Mouseprint - Reading the Fine Print on Deals That Are Too Good to be True
26 September 2006Via The Red Tape Chronicles, I found a great blog called Mouseprint that you might want to take a look at. It’s a consumer advocacy blog that goes through random special offers and reads the fine print for you, showing when they turn out not to be such a great deal. For example, it points […]
HYIP and Autosurfing - Modern Ponzi Investment Schemes
2 September 2006Many people who are just getting into investing for retirement will do generic searches on the Internet trying to find information on investing, educational sites, or different business opportunities. While there’s a lot of good stuff out there, there’s also a lot of people interested only in taking money from you. And they aren’t just […]
Annuity Exchange / Swaps - A Sales Scam
30 August 2006There’s a great article over at CNN from Money Magazine for anyone thinking of buying an annuity. I’ve recommended buying annuities in some cases in the past, especially annuities designed to guarantee income past the age of 85. But the term “annuity” is associated with a lot of borderline fraud, because it is also used […]
The Advance Fee Loan Scam
24 August 2006Looks like it’s not just Nigerian scammers targeting gullible U.S. consumers anymore. Some Canadian ones have gotten into the act, as reported by Creditbloggers here. It’s a new scam called the Advance Fee Loan Scam. The FTC has a warning page up here that you can take a look at, but the basics are that […]
Credit Repair Scam Warning Signs
11 August 2006Continuing on the theme of how to avoid being scammed by a credit repair agency, you should look for several warning signs that indicate it might be a flight-by-night business:
1) Never pay up front. It is actually illegal for a credit repair organization to receive money from you prior to the services being rendered. The Credit […]
Can I delete bad credit items from my credit history?
10 August 2006If they are accurate, no. This is a common claim to watch out for if you’re looking for a credit repair agency. Many will tell you that they have a special computer program that can delete bad information from your credit file. Others claim that you’ll be able to dispute even items that are correct […]