Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in our nation today. Besides dumpster diving, mail theft and lost/stolen wallets, criminals are stealing information by overhearing conversations made on cell phones, from faxes and emails, by hacking into computers, from telephone and email scams, and even from careless online shopping and banking. In fact, more than 20% of all cases involve telecommunications and the Internet. (FTC) It is of prime importance to understand how thieves steal your information via the telephone and computer systems. Compare this to a defensive driving course if you will. It is not enough to know how to use a phone or the Internet. One must know how to use this technology safely, including increased awareness of situations that lead to identity theft or the use of the technology will create more problems than it solves. Scam artists are good at putting together legitimate-sounding scripts, websites and emails.
Please mark our Scam Page as a favorite and check it regularly. This page is updated about every 6 weeks, more frequently if a major scam alert needs publicizing.
Included in this section are: (click to section)
CURRENT KNOWN SCAMS - By categories
Revised 1/05/05 Most scams, by phone or email, ask you to provide either credit card account information or your Social Security number. The Identity Theft Resource Center recommends that you NEVER give out this information unless you initiate the call and you know that you are speaking to a true company representative. The list of scams below represent only a few of the scams currently being circulated and are ones that we heard about from law enforcement or another official resource.
If you think you have received a SCAM, please forward the ENTIRE email to ITRC at: itrc@idtheftcenter.org and we will forward it to the FBI for you and let you know if it is a confirmed scam.
To verify a suspected scam, the Identity Theft Resource Center recommends the following steps:
- Contact the company involved directly, using a customer service number you find in the phone book or that you have used in the past. THINK FIRST- ACT SECOND. The action to take is to verify a contact by the company before responding to the email. Do not even send a "do not contact me again."
- Contact the FBI at www.ifccfbi.gov or your local State Attorney General‘s office
- Contact the Federal Trade Commission at 877-FTC HELP or send it via email to: spam@uce.gov
- See end of this page for list of other sites that report scams.
- Remember, URLs that begin "http" are not secure. Only those that begin "https" are secure sites to send sensitive information.
- Avoid scams that appear to use telephone numbers in the U.S but are expensive out-of-country numbers. If you‘re not sure where a telephone number is located, use this free Area Code Decoder: http://decoder.americom.com/cgi-bin/decoder.cgi
GENERIC SCAMS: Do not respond to any of these scams, not even to remove your name from the list
Revised 8/31/04
- Special VISA/Mastercard Scam Alert- Confirmed:Should you get a phone call from a VISA or Mastercard 揺mployee?trying to confirm unusual spending activity AND that person asks for code on the back of your credit card--- DO NOT give that number out. They will sound very professional but may not be from that company. They may even tell you how the scam works- for instance telling you that charges are always under $500. Then they will ask you for the code on the back of your credit card. DO NOT give that number to the caller. They often say that the charge is for an Anti-Marketing Device. Contact VISA or Mastercard Fraud numbers on your credit card to confirm that they made that call and deal with the situation that way.
Contact VISA or Mastercard Fraud numbers on your credit card to confirm that they made that call and deal with the situation that way.
- Account verification or "phisher" scams: For several years, individuals have purchased domain names that are similar to those of legitimate companies. It may be in a form such as: abccompany-accounts.net. The real company is abccompany but it does not have a "-accounts" in its domain. These con artists then send out millions of emails asking consumers to verify account information and even SSN. Prior to agreeing to do this, check with the company directly and see if the email originally was sent from them. In almost all cases, you will be told that it is a scam. The latest: verification scams are: E-Bay, Best Buys, Discover Card, e-gold.com, ebay-verification.net and change-ebay.com. Almost all Internet server names have been used for this scam as well. Companies that have been known to be victims of this scam include: AOL, MSN, Earthlink,PayPay, Discover Card, Bank of America, Providian and perhaps Wells Fargo.
- Sign-in Rosters: There are some companies and governmental agencies (colleges, EDD, state-sponsored programs) that ask you to put your name and SSN on a sign-in roster. Please be aware that identity thieves may sign up toward the end of a page (purposely) so that they can copy and collect personal identifying information. If you encounter a sign-in roster like this, the best way to handle the situation is to write the following instead of your SSN - "will provide in person." You might also question a company/school representative about this practice and see if you can get it discontinued. It is dangerous and should be stopped. Some state laws will be addressing this in the next year or so. If this is a classroom situation and you do not need the credits, you may choose to leave the space for SSN either blank or filled in with 000-00-0000. Please do not make up a number. It might belong to another innocent person and hurt his or her credit.
- Help move money from my country," aka Nigerian 419 Scam- Everyone has received an email from a representative of a foreign government asking you to help move money from one account to another. This scan still nets $100 million annually so people are falling for it. Nigerian Money Offers now account for about 12 percent of the scam offers people have said they‘ve received, according to a recent National Consumers League poll. However complaints about these offers increased 900 percent from 2000 to 2001. The lastest versions of this scam include a dying woman, a soldier and emails other than from Nigeria.
- Canadian/Netherlands Lottery- "You Have Won"- Unless you entered a lottery or bought a ticket to win a prize, these are scams. They originate from the Netherlands and other foreign countries. This scam can cost you more than $20,000. Many include: From: "Promotions Manager" : CONGRATULATIONS! WERKEN BIJ DE LOTTO, 41132, NL-1007 DB AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS. NEW- Via US Mail there is a new scam about a "Spanish Lottery." Do not respond, turn it over to your local postal inspector.
- "Free Credit Report" Emails- Almost all of the "free credit report" emails you receive are scams. Either the person is trying to find out your social security number or will be billing you for a service later on. Do your homework and check out the company via the Better Business Bureau, US Attorney and Federal Trade Commission. You don‘t know who is sending these emails. One offer has even been tracked to a porn web server in Los Angeles.
- "You have won a free gift" -You may receive either a phone call or email about a free gift or prize. You just need to send your credit card info to take care of shipping and handling. DON‘T. Free means free, there should be no charge. Also, you must consider if this is a group sending out a cheap gift in exchange for finding a "live" phone number or email address. Responding may result in hundreds of spans or telemarketing calls.
- Email chain letters/pyramid schemes- There are many of these. One says that Bill Gates is testing a new email-tracking program and wants your help. If you forward the email to your friends, Microsoft will pay you $__ for each person that receives it. Others say that you will get a gift or money from each person who comes after you. Another tells you: Follow the simple instructions below and your financial dreams will come true. Order all 5 reports shown on the list below. For each report, send $5 CASH,T This one even says that the FTC says this is legal. These are pyramid scams. They are for the most part illegal and are just variations on the old postal chain letters. Do not respond or forward these emails. As ScamBusters said, "Remember, any email that asks you to forward it to your friends is a scam. We literally know of no exceptions."
- "Find out everything on anyone" - This email is trying to solicit $__ in order to buy a CD or program that you can use to find out personal information on another person. These are always public records and may be someone who just wants your credit account number to use themselves.
- Questionnaires: This is the time of year when you may get an email holiday card from an "old friend." It may come from a chat room friend. These include questions that help the person sending it find out your birthdate, passwords (favorite things) and even blatantly may ask for your SSN. Do not answer these, even with false information. You only let the other party know that they have reached a "live" person and you may eventually give away information you don‘t realize can hurt you. These people are slick and can easily convince you to divulge information you don‘t intent do. That is why they are called con artists.
- Do not place your Social Security number or date of birth on resumes that you send out for jobs. We have heard about several instances where a person placed a "help wanted ad" either on the Internet or in a newspaper and collected SSNs that way.
- Job advertisement scams: Recently there have been scams involving Internet Job Websites (for instance Monster.com) and Newspaper Want Ads. Under no circumstances should an applicant provide a SSN to a "HR person" found through a newspaper ad or an Internet ad prior to an actual interview or prior to authenticating both the company and the person asking for the information. If you have any doubts, contact the company directly using a phone number found on the company Website or telephone book. Remember, anyone can set up a Website. You may choose to check the company out with the Better Business Bureau for that area as well as the state attorney general to make sure that they are a legitimate company. Typical tip-offs: Email addresses that do not include a company name in the domain section, mailing addresses or fax addresses in cities that differ from corporate headquarters.
- In-Store security scams: Two have been brought to our attention. Individuals identifying themselves as in-store security may request a customer‘s help in catching a bad employee. They ask for personal information or ask you to pre-fill out a credit application and then give it to the employee. The second form involves a scamster who is watching a customer fill out a form or pay for a bill with a credit card. Just prior to the employee calling it in for approval, they call that clerk and ask the information stating that the card/application is from a thief. Make sure that any store employee who approaches you has proper identification and that if a call interrupts an employee during a transaction, that you check it out with store security.
- Telephone scams: We anticipate that consumers will get calls from "charities" asking for donations. Do not provide credit card information over the telephone. Secondly, we also anticipate scamsters will take advantage of the new "do not call" lists being compiled by state governments. No one from the state will be calling consumers asking if they want to be included on the "do not call list" nor will these lists require a consumer to provide a SSN via telephone.
SPECIFIC WARNINGS: Revised 5-05
- Western Union Scam- confirmed by Wells Fargo (and easily recognized because they ask for your SSN)
DEPOSIT YOUR CREDIT CARD BALANCE WITH 20% DISCOUNT By East Payment Team
We are glad to inform you, that in May all our clients have an amazing chance to use our new service. Why amazing? Because we are going to give you an amazing discount. Now you can easy deposit your credit card by Western Union transaction if you have indebtedness on credit. And we‘ll add to your transaction 20% of its face value. Transaction amount must be not more then credit indebtedness.
Example: Simply e-mail us your information - your credit card number, ssn number and how much you want to deposit. Receive our acknowledgement and instruction. Just relax. Receive our 100% transaction on your credit card. Pay for this transaction only 80% of its value by Western Union system.
For example, if you pay us 8000$ (80%) - we‘ll put on your credit card balance 10000 (100%). But we pay you first and in the next day of our transaction you pay us. The minimal sum of our payment: 2000$. It is a special offer, which works only in April - May (for our first clients). Hurry and receive the amazing discount.
Send your confirmation letter with your full name, credit card number and ssn number and any questions to: (email addresss)
- SCAMS AND TSUNAMI VICTIM AID: Business Wire, Jan. 7, 2005
Consumers Urged to Make Donations Directly to Official Web Sites Rather Than Respond to Unsolicited Requests- MasterCard International and leading digital fraud detection company NameProtect, Inc. are volunteering their services to help federal law enforcement agencies to stop scam artists from stealing donations to tsunami relief efforts.
Recently, many law enforcement agencies and consumer advocacy organizations issued warnings that con artists were using "phishing" attacks to prey upon the outpouring of generosity for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. In these attacks, fraudulent e-mails disguised as e-mails from seemingly legitimate tsunami relief agencies are sent to unsuspecting consumers, attempting to trick them into going to a fraudulent Web site designed to steal credit card and other personal information.
For details go to:
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050107005368&newsLang=en - Groups Warn Of Tsunami Scams- TechWeb News
January 07, 2005 (2:18 PM EST)
http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/57300466 The millions of dollars donated by individuals to relief efforts in Southeast Asia have brought criminals and scammers out of the woodwork, a slew of government agencies and private anti-fraud groups warned this week.
"Within hours of the earthquake and tsunami, scams began appearing online and offline," said Jim Lanford, the co-editor of ScamBusters.org in an online alert. "We‘re not surprised by these scams," he said. "The same thing happened right after 9/11, and after every major natural disaster since then."
On Wednesday, for instance, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned consumers about a variety of scams being run off the tsunami relief effort. Complaints to the Internet Crime Complaint Center have ranged from bogus Web sites trolling for donations and tsunami-related spam to for-a-fee offers to locate the missing and sites that play off the disaster but really only are meant to infect PCs with Trojan horses and worms.
Other ploys include e-mails purporting to include photos or video of the disaster and its aftermath; such attachments can, in fact, be worm and/or virus payloads, the FBI warned.
For the rest of the article: http://www.techweb.com /wire/ebiz/57300466
- URGENT- EBAY AND PAYPAL and other ACCT. VERIFICATION/Phisher SCAMS
July 18, 2003
Do not respond to emails from E-Bay or PayPal that ask for credit information, SSN and other personal data. ITRC is aware that many of these are scams and the country is being blanketed with them currently. The email may even threaten that your account or service will be discontinued.
Prior to responding, contact the company directly via phone or email to verify that the email was sent to you. Do not be fooled by logos and even the TRUSTe seal.
You may also get an email stating that a certain amount of money has been credited to your account (currently for "money laundering"). Clearly this is a scam. They will ask you to click yes or no to indicate if you ordered the service. DO NOT RESPOND but rather forward to ITRC so that we can send it to the federal authorities for possible investigation.
- FTC WARNING-DO NOT CALL REGISTRY, confirmed May 9, 2003
Companies and websites have been making deceptive claims that they can register consumers in advance for the FTC‘s do-not-call list. Two are being sued by the FTC at this time. These sites include: Free-Do-Not-Call-List.org and National-Do-Not-Call-List.us. Neither of these are official governmental sites. One of them is even charging a service fee. The FTC‘s registry will be free and will make the actual information on how to sign up available on July 1st. The ITRC site will carry details.
- IRS Scams:
ITRC would again like to warn consumers not to provide information on the telephone or via Internet to people claiming to be from banks or governmental agencies that need information for IRS audits or any other purpose.
- Unauthorized "hospital personnel" asking for info, Dec 2002 (from a victim/consumer)
There are some scam artists posing as hospital employees (and we can assume this goes on in nursing homes) asking patients to either verify information or to help fill in some blanks. They carry clipboards and may even wear hospital or lab coats. Hospital personnel must be on the lookout for these con artists and patients (and family members) must require identification prior to giving out any information. This is especially important to monitor when the patient is drugged or elderly. When in doubt, call the floor nurse prior to divulging information. A scam artist will not stick around.
- Bogus email picks up credit card numbers, Oct 17, 2002. (Reuters)
Yahoo said Thursday that some of its customers had been tricked into giving their credit card numbers to an unaffiliated third party that had posed as Yahoo in a mass e-mail. Yahoo, which has a billing relationship with more than one million customers who pay for such services as expanded e-mail and online matchmaking, sent out its own mass e-mail Thursday morning advising customers not to respond to the bogus request.
- New PayPal Scam, received 10/02 ScamBusters (verified)
If you‘re a PayPal user, you may receive an email titled "URGENT: PayPal System Problems." The email then goes on to say that, because of computer glitches, all users should log in to the PayPal URL given in the email and re-enter their information. But the PayPal login URL given is not the real PayPal web site which is www.paypal.com. It‘s a URL starting with http://www.paypalsys.com -- a bogus site where the scammer steals your PayPal identity, and possibly your money.
- Order or Gift Confirmation, received 10/02 ITRC
Should you receive an email from a vendor that you have not contacted, do not respond. The company is fishing for live emails and may be trying to gather credit card numbers to use for other purposes. ITRC offers this email which our office received as an example: If you are having dificulty reading this email please visit this address: www.menuts.net/jw1.html Dear Menuts User, Please correct your address on our system today so we can ship your gift the J Win Stereo Cassette Player with Bass Boost! Don‘t miss out. (Click here) now to supply your correct address and claim your gift. Sincerely, Lori Anderson
YourFreePresent.com
- Criminals pose as government employees, press release August 19, 2002 (SACRAMENTO) - Attorney General Bill Lockyer today urged Californians to beware of identity thieves claiming to be employees of the Attorney General‘s Office - or any other governmental agency. "We have recently received a number of disturbing reports from consumers who have been called by con artists who claim to work for the ‘Attorney General‘s Office‘ or the ‘California Department of Justice,‘" Lockyer said. "I urge all Californians to avoid giving out personal financial information to unknown solicitors who want this information so they can use your identity to run up credit cards or other debts in your name." The callers reportedly tell the consumer that he or she has been a victim of ‘identity theft‘ and that, as employees of the Attorney General‘s Office, the callers can help. They then ask the consumer to provide or ‘confirm‘ information such as social security numbers, bank account numbers, or other personal or financial information. Similar scams involving the "Do Not Call" registry and even Internal Revenue Service tax audits also have been reported recently. The Attorney General advised consumers to be vigilant. If consumers have a question about the identity and legitimacy of the person who is requesting sensitive financial information, they should not provide that person with their social security number, credit card number or any other personal financial information. Instead, they should get the caller‘s name, governmental agency and location and then use a web site, phone book or directory assistance to independently contact that agency and confirm that the person works there in an official capacity.
Consumers who think they may have been contacted by someone attempting to perpetrate this kind of scam should report the details of the incident to the local District Attorney‘s Office, the Attorney General‘s Public Inquiry Unit at (800) 952?5225, or the Department of Consumer Affairs at (800) 952?5210. Electronic complaint forms and other information also are available on the Attorney General‘s web page at www.ag.ca.gov/consumers and the Department of Consumer Affair‘s site at www.dca.ca.gov.
- CRA‘s to Give Out Your Information Email: ITRC/FTC report - June 02 For the past year an email has been circulated stating that on July 1, 2002 the major credit reporting agencies (CRA) will be allowed to give out your credit information to anyone who requests it. It also provides a telephone number to "opt-out." The first part of that letter is incorrect. The CRAs are not changing policies and have specific guidelines for information requests. However, the phone number to "opt-out" is correct (888-5OPT OUT or 888-567-8688). This is an automated program that is regulated by the CRAs and the FTC. By "opting-out" you will be removing your name from some of the marketing lists generated for "pre-approved credit card offers." They will request your SS#.
- FTC Warns on Telemarketing Scheme, Washington (AP) - June 02 Identity thieves posing as federal officials working on "do not call‘‘ telemarketing lists are calling consumers in attempts to trick them into volunteering personal information, Federal Trade Commission officials said Tuesday The con artists, who pretend to be with the FTC or some other organization, call saying they want to verify that consumers are on a list of people who don‘t want to receive telemarketing calls, the agency said. The callers ask for information such as Social Security, bank account and credit card numbers....
- "Get Out Of Debt" Emails, received from Mari Frank, privacy expert This email was received from a consumer/attorney who has the computer know-how to check it out. There are many of these emails floating around. This is just one site that has been verified as a fraud. This shows you just how easy it is for crooks to steal your ID. When you click on the "click here" a form comes up for the reader to fill out. Research showed that the form went to China. There is a good chance this information would be used to assume the person‘s ID."
Email Text: (without the fancy graphics)
Subject: Let us eliminate your debt
Get out of debt NOW!
(Click here)
Are you in debt? Cut your payments in half and fix your credit at the same time with our FREE debt relief service. It costs you nothing. Just click on the link and fill out this short form and end your problems today! We can solve your problems NOW! Simply click on this link and let us stop creditors from harassing you: (click here) If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please send an email to: (address)
- Social Security Services Scam, received from CA Dept. of Consumer Affairs 6/24/02
This is an old scam that has been updated using a website. It used to only go on through the postal mails. In this scam, they are requesting money for Social Security Administration services that are free. It gives you an impression that it is the official governmental website for the Social Security Administration. It charges a $12.00 fee for the form which the Social Security Administration provides for free. The charge is via a credit card, and so security issues are a concern. AVOID THIS SITE or similar websites: http://www.socialsecurityonline.us/index.html
- Retail Store Scam, issued by Seattle Times, 3/7/02 In this scam, a thief wanders the aisles of a retail store looking for a customer about to make a purchase. Using a cell phone, he/she calls the cashier, claims to be store security and asks for additional information on the customer. The warning: Should a cashier be interrupted by a telephone call during a transaction and then ask you for information or begin to read any information from a credit card or driver‘s license over the phone to that third party, immediately ask for the card back and request to see store security. Furthermore, stores should be training personnel not to give information to another person by phone or unless they provide a badge/ID card showing they are store security.
- VISA USA Fraud, issued by FTC 3/02
VISA USA Fraud Control has learned of a scam designed to obtain cardholders personal data and account information. VISA reports this activity in Canada, but suspects it may spread to the United States. Anyone with a VISA credit card may receive the following letter: "Dear (.....) We regret to inform you that your credit card is cancelled until further notice and this in accordance with Article 205 of Chapter 210 of the international fraud department. We suspect that your card has been involved in criminal activity. In the next two days one of our investigators will contact you on the phone and proceed to verify your customer information. The violation of this law is a serious criminal act and could bring you before the courts. Your bank will not be able to assist you until our investigation is over. We are advising you that our offices are open 24 hrs a day.
VISA advises they have not issued this letter, and anyone receiving such correspondence should treat it as a scam/fraud. Please report any such contact to Visa at www.VisaFraud.com or to the financial institution which issued you the card. (Information forwarded to Department of Banking and Finance by the Tallahassee Police Department.)
- IRS Audit, issued 2/02
Some taxpayers have received e-mail from a non-IRS source indicating that the taxpayer is under audit and needs to complete a questionnaire within 48 hours to avoid the assessment of penalties and interest. The e-mail refers to an "e-audit" and references the IRS Form 1040. The taxpayer is asked for social security numbers, bank account numbers and other confidential information. T HE IRS DOES NOT CONDUCT E-AUDITS, NOR DOES IT NOTIFY TAXPAYERS OF A PENDING AUDIT VIA E-MAIL. THIS E-MAIL IS NOT FROM THE IRS.
Should you receive such a request, do not provide the requested information. This may be an identity theft attempt. If you receive an e-mail of this nature, please contact the nearest IRS office.
- e-Bay Scam, reported 1/02
The E-Bay scam techniques is an interesting one. They send you a letter by email that your order has been completed and mailed. If you wish to cancel the order, you need to go to a specific web site and enter the required information. This is how they get your account info and Social Security number. It might look like this: Dear eBay Customer,
Your order has been completed and will be mailed within 24-48 hours. Your credit card has been charged $1460.50 for the following purchase...
( Micron Pentium III Computer )
Plus shipping and handling. If you feel that your credit card has been billed wrongly, please visit our site and fill out all the needed information to cancel the following order. http://ebayservices-cancelorder.cjb.net
Thank you,
eBay Services.
DO NOT use this web site to cancel the order. Contact e-Bay directly by telephone and find out if an order has been placed in your name.
Other Sites That Have Scam Information Include:
(Note: ITRC does not endorse or sell product items and offers these sites as a source of information only) www.crimes-of-persuasion.com - Run by a private attorney. Also a retail site.
http://www.spamlaws.com/state/summary.html - Sponsored by Internet ScamBusters ? The Spam Laws Web site lists spam-related legislation by state and by country. Unless you have a law degree, they recommend the summary of state spam laws.
http://www.snopes2.com - Snopes provides an extensive list of urban legends, categorized by type. Unlike other sites, Snopes indicates whether urban legends are true, false, undetermined, or so generic that they could be true.
http://www.identity-theft-protection.com/articles.html. Sponsored by PromiseMark, a company that sells hacker and identity theft protection programs.
