Tuesday, December 30, 2014

I am always looking to protect homeowners whether they are shopping, traveling, or just hanging out around the house. So we wanted to relate some sage advice on the year's top five consumer scams straight from the Office of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson.

Advance Fee Fraud occurs when an unscrupulous actor convinces a consumer to send payment or an “advance fee” in exchange for a line of credit. Once the perpetrator receives the fee, however, the credit is not extended, and oftentimes the perpetrator may ask for additional money for “fees” or “processing” charges.

Another form of Advance Fee Fraud is known as the Fake Check Scam where the perpetrator may pretend to be interested in buying an item over the Internet or renting an apartment. Rather than paying the exact amount, however, the “buyer” will send a cashier’s check for an amount in excess of the agreed upon value, asking the seller to wire the difference to the “buyer’s” agent (oftentimes located in another state or country). Once the seller send the extra money, they learn that the check or money order is fraudulent.

Foreign Advance Fee Fraud is a variation of the Advance Fee Fraud where the target receives a letter, email, or fax from someone claiming to represent a foreign government entity, attorney, or relative of a foreign dignitary requesting “help” transferring millions of dollars into the United States, in exchange for paying the recipient a commission. The perpetrator convinces the target to disclose private bank account information to “deposit” the funds, but instead drains the account. In the latest twist of this scam, the fraudster poses as an American soldier trying to wire money out of Iraq.

Phishing typically begins with a call, letter, email, or fax purporting to come from the victim’s financial institution or another company the consumer does business with requesting they disclose or “verify” private financial information by contacting a “secure” telephone line or Internet site.The consumer is then redirected and asked to disclose information for “security” or other reasons. In some cases online, the scam operator may download spyware with the ability to find the private information of the victim.

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