CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -
The Better
Business Bureau serving the Southern Piedmont of N.C. and S.C. has released a
list of the top 10 scams of 2012 and the worst scam of the year.
Most of these scams
originated online, often from foreign countries. Scammers used the anonymity
provided by the Internet to victimize millions of people, efficiently and
effectively.
"Online, a scammer
can pose as your neighbor, or someone from your bank, the IRS, the FBI, or even
the BBB," said BBB President Tom Bartholomy. "When the person who contacts
you pretends to be someone you think you know, you let your guard down and miss
red flags that spell scam."
The BBB's top 10
scams of 2012 include:
1. Fake
checks/wire transfer scams – The most successful scams in history use fake
checks. The BBB received calls every day last year from people who got fake
checks for a variety of reasons – for work at home jobs, to pay taxes on
‘winnings', or to pay ‘collateral' to get a loan. Regardless of the scam, the
fake check always came with the same instructions: deposit the check and wire
the money to someone in a foreign country. Within a few days, the check was
returned as counterfeit and the money sent via wire transfer was gone.
"When you get a
check that looks real, you need to proceed with caution," said Bartholomy.
"Call the BBB or go to your bank to have the check evaluated, but do not
deposit the check and wire money or you will be liable for it."
2. Identity theft
– Identity theft occurred at home and online, but the fastest growing method
was by ‘friendly fraud' where a person's credit cards or social security number
were used by a friend, roommate or family member, without their permission.
3. Phishing scams
– Phishing scams disguised as emails from a variety of ‘authorities' such
as banks, the IRS or the BBB, tricked millions of people and businesses into
clicking on links and downloading attachments that infected their computers
with viruses to steal their personal information.
4. Home
improvement fraud/storm chasers – Homeowners throughout the northeastern
United States were victimized by unscrupulous contractors after super storm
Sandy, including ‘storm chasers', who took deposits for home repair or home
improvement jobs, but never returned to do the work.
5. Online
shopping scams – Last year was a record year for online sales, and online sales
scams. Shoppers were scammed by counterfeit merchandise, unfilled orders,
misleading shipping and handling fees, unauthorized credit card charges,
unsecure payment processing, fake shipping emails and more.
6. Social media
scams – With more than one billion users, Facebook was the largest social
media community for scammers to target victims last year. Fake friends,
clickjacking, cyber stalking, and viruses linked to clicking on ‘LIKE' buttons,
were just a few of the scams that lurked online.
7. Fake
lotteries, sweepstakes and prizes - ‘Winners' were required to provide
money, a credit card or social security number to claim their ‘prize' which led
to unauthorized charges or identity theft.
8. Employment/job
scams – Work-at-home job scams snared many job hunters because they
promised full-time pay for part-time hours, with little or no experience needed
for jobs that involved fraudulent activities like money laundering and shipping
stolen goods.
9. Credit repair
scams – Credit repair scams promised to fix bad credit for a price and
required upfront payment, in violation of state debt adjusting laws.
10. Advance fee
loan scams - Online ‘lenders' promised loans, but then required an advance
fee as ‘insurance' or ‘collateral' via wire transfer. After the money was
wired, the consumer was told they didn't qualify for the loan and they had no
way to get their money back.
Worst scam of the
year:
The BBB's worst scam of 2012 involved an individual who set up a fake
charitable fund in the name of a child who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary
School to trick donors into giving money. "Although the number of people
affected by this scam was limited," said Bartholomy, "it demonstrated how
callous scammers are that they would defraud a devastated family, community and
nation."
For more information
about how to avoid becoming the victim of a scam, please visit www.bbb.org.
Copyright 2013 WBTV. All rights reserved.
