How to report a Scammer

How Do I Report a Scammer?

By Jen Davis

Some scams trick victims into taking counterfeit money.

Scammers operate by pretending to be something they are not, such as a legitimate business or an attorney, for personal financial gain. There are thousands of active scams in the United States, but other scams span across the globe. Scam offers come though the mail, by email, on both cell phone and land lines. In order to stop scammers from taking advantage of innocent victims, it is important to report scams and perpetrators to the proper authorities.

The Largest Crocodile captured in the Philippines, It weighs one ton and suspects for killing at least one fisherman, the crocodile was captured by at least 100 men.

3 Mistakes Women Make When Men Cheat

By Maria Hina

Mistake #1 -- The Investigation

When women suspect their man is cheating, the first mistake they make is launching a fact finding mission. Spying, calling around, interrigating their partners, women invest their energy in a senseless hunt to prove what is already obvious:the relationship is seriously broken.

You don't need proof that your man is cheating to know that something isn't working between the two of you. Whether he's actually cheating or you're just seriously paranoid, evidence isn't required to know something has to change. Driving yourself mad trying to

INTERNET FRAUD (SCAM)

PART 3

Pharming

Main article: Pharming

Pharming occurs when a hacker redirects website traffic from a legitimate website to the hacker's fraudulent website by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Domain Name System (DNS). By corrupting a computer's knowledge of how a site's domain name maps to its IP address, the attacker causes the victim's computer to communicate with the wrong server—a technique known as domain hijacking.

By constructing a fake web site that looks like a legitimate site that might ask for the user's personal information, such as a copy of a bank's website, the fraudster can "phish", or steal by means of false pretenses, a victim's passwords, PIN or bank account number. The combination of domain hijacking with a phishing website constitutes farming.

Although many such sites use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to identify themselves cryptographically and prevent such fraud, SSL offers no protection if users ignore their web browsers' warnings about invalid SSL server

INTERNET FRAUD (SCAM)

PART 2

Online auction and retail schemes

In an online auction scheme, a fraudster starts an auction on a site such as eBay or TradeMe with very low prices and no reserve price, especially for typically high priced items like watches, computers, or high value collectibles. The fraudster accepts payment from the auction winner, but either never delivers the promised goods, or delivers an item that is less valuable than the one offered—for example, a counterfeit, refurbished, or used item.

Online retail schemes involve complete online stores that appear to be legitimate. As with the auction scheme, when a victim places an order through such a site, their funds are taken but no goods are sent, or inferior goods are sent.

In some cases, the stores or auctioneers were once legitimate, but eventually stopped shipping goods after accepting customer payments.

Sometimes fraudsters will use phishing techniques to hijack a legitimate member accounts on an online auction site—typically an account with a strongly positive online reputation—and use it to set up a phony online store. In this case, the fraudster collects the money, while ruining the reputation of the conned eBay member. When victims complain that they have not received their goods, the legitimate account holder receives the blame.

A more subtle variation of online auction fraud occurs when a seller ships an item to an incorrect address that is within the buyer's ZIP code using the United States Postal Service's Delivery Confirmation service. This service does not require the recipient to sign for the package, but offers confirmation that the Postal Service delivered the package within the specified ZIP code. The item shipped is usually an empty envelope with no return address and no recipient name, just a street address different from that of the victim. The delivery of the envelope with the Delivery Confirmation barcode attached suffices for the Postal Service to record the delivery as confirmed. The fraudster can then claim the package has been delivered, and offer the Delivery Confirmation receipt as proof to support the claim.

PayPal Fraud

In a collection in person PayPal scheme, the scammer targets eBay auctions that allow the purchaser to personally collect the item from the seller, rather than having the item shipped, and where the seller accepts PayPal as a means of payment.

The fraudster uses a fake address with a post office box when making their bids, as PayPal will allow such an unconfirmed address. Such transactions are not covered by PayPal's seller protection policy. The fraudster buys the item, pays for it via PayPal, and then collects the item from the victim. The fraudster then challenges the sale, claiming a refund from PayPal and stating that they did not receive the item. PayPal's policy is that it will reverse a purchase transaction unless the seller can provide a shipment tracking number as proof of delivery; PayPal will not accept video evidence, a signed document, or any form of proof other than a tracking number as valid proof of delivery. 

This form of fraud can be avoided by only accepting cash from buyers who wish to collect goods in person.

Call tag scam

In a call tag scam, criminals use stolen credit card information to purchase goods online for shipment to the legitimate cardholder. When the item is shipped, the criminal receives tracking information via email. They then call the cardholder and falsely identify themselves as the merchant that shipped the goods, saying that the product was mistakenly shipped and asking permission to pick it up when it is delivered. The criminal then arranges the pickup, using a "call tag" with a different shipping company. The victim usually doesn't notice that a second shipping company is picking up the product, and the shipping company has no knowledge it is participating in a fraud scheme.

The cardholder may later notice the charge on his statement and protest the charge, generating a chargeback to the unsuspecting merchant.

The Merchant Risk Council reported that the "call tag" scam re-emerged during the 2005 holidays and several large merchants suffered losses.

Business opportunity or "Work-at-Home" schemes 

Main article: Work-at-home scheme 

Con artists often use the Internet to advertise supposed business opportunities that allow individuals to earn thousands of dollars a month in "work-at-home" ventures. These schemes typically require the individuals to pay nominal to substantial sums for the "business plans" or other materials. The fraudsters then fail to deliver the promised materials, provide inadequate information to make a viable business, or provide information readily available for free or a substantially lower cost elsewhere.

In one such scheme, after paying a registration fee the victim will be sent advice on how to place ads, similar to the one that recruited him, in order to recruit others. This is a form of Ponzi scheme.

Another work-at-home scam involves kits for small doodads such as CD cases to be assembled by the victim in their home. The victim pays a fee for the kit, but after assembling and returning the item, the scammer rejects it as substandard, refusing to reimburse the victim for the cost of the kit. Variations on this scam include work on directories, stuffing envelopes, doing medical billing or data entry, or reading books for money.

Work-at-home donation processing

An elaborate variation on this theme lures the victim with an e-mailed job offer from a fake company. The scammer may have constructed an elaborate website for the company, to make the offer appear legitimate. The job offer includes an unrealistically generous salary for part-time, unskilled labor. The main responsibility of this well-paying job is to be a middleman for "donations", supposedly intended for victims of a natural disaster.

The scammer then asks the victim for their bank account numbers, allegedly to deposit donations into the victim's account so that the victim can redistribute them. As part of the "hiring process", the fraudster also asks for the victim's Social Security number and date of birth.

With this information, the criminal monitors the victim's account balances. When a larger-than-normal amount appears in the bank account, such as a paycheck, the scammer drains the account.

Generally, the faked company website will locate the company in a different country from the scammer; this may be noticeable by inspecting the domain registration for the website, which may indicate the scammer's true country of origin. In addition, victims in Western countries are targeted using a Western-sounding pseudonym like "Timothy Scott", while the domain name tgilberthome.org is actually registered to a "Li Xiang".

Money transfer fraud

Money transfer fraud consists of an offer of employment transferring money to a foreign company, supposedly because it costs too much to do it through other methods. The prospective victim receives an email like these six examples:

Dear Sir/Madam, XX is a small scale company in XX. We supply XX to clients in some countries. We have reached big sales volume in Europe as a starter, and now we are trying to penetrate the US/Canada market. Quite soon we will open representative offices or authorized sales centers in the US and therefore we are currently looking for people who will assist us in establishing a new distribution network there.The fact that despite the US market is new for us we already have regular clients also speaks for itself. The international money transfer tax for legal entities (companies) in XX country is 25%, whereas for the individual it is only 7%. There is no sense for us to work this way, while tax for international money transfer made by a private individual is 7%. That's why we need you! We need agents to receive payment for products in money orders, cheque or bank wire transfers) and to resend the money to us via Money Gram or Western Union Money Transfer. This way we will save money because of tax decreasing. JOB DESCRIPTION? 1. Receive payment from Clients 2. Cash Payments at your Bank 3. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on Payment processed. 4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay to any of the offices you will be contacted to send payment to (Payments are to be forwarded either by Money Gram or Western Union Money Transfer). HOW MUCH WILL YOU EARN? 10% from each operation! For instance: If you receive 7000 USD via cheques or money orders on our behalf. You will cash the payment and keep $700 (10% from $7000) for yourself! At the beginning your commission will equal 10%, though later it will increase up to 15%! ADVANTAGES: You do not have to go out as you will work as an independent contractor right from your home office. Your job is absolutely legal. You can earn up to $3000–4000 monthly depending on time you will spend for this job.You do not need any capital to start. You can do the Work easily without leaving or affecting your present Job. The employees who make efforts and work hard have a strong possibility to become managers. Anyway our employee never leaves us. MAIN REQUIREMENTS: 18 years or older legally capable responsible ready to work 2–4 hours per week.with PC knowledge e-mail and internet experience (minimal) And please be informed that Everything is absolutely legal. If you are interested in our offer, please reply to the following email address: XX@X with your; (1)Your full names: (2) Contact address: (3) Tele/cell numbers: (4) Occupation: (5) Age: (6) Sex: Thanks for your anticipated action. And we hope to hear back from you soon.

Dear Sir/Madam,  

I am XX Human Resources Manager of X located in X. We deal in X articles such X worldwide. Our website is X. We are currently in search of a book-keeper/company representative who would