Last week we discussed how thieves are very inventive during the Christmas Holiday Season. Here are some more scams going around as of December 2013.
REMEMBER WHAT YOUR PARENTS TAUGHT YOU: If it SOUNDS too good to be true it is a SCAM.
For instance:
You did not win the lottery in Spain, The Netherlands, Canada or anywhere else. You didn’t buy a ticket did you?
A poor widow or bank manager does not need your help to move money from a dead person’s account to another place.
The IRS is not electronically auditing you.
The Jury Clerk never calls for your Social Security number.
Bank and Credit Card companies do not email you to verify your information.
Scam artists use the information obtained above to steal your identity.
Examples of Current SCAMS:
1. CREDIT CARDS: Always write on the back of your credit card “ASK FOR ID”. Always make copies of the front and back of all credit cards so you will have that information if they are lost or stolen.
2. LUGGAGE: Remove old airline tags from your bags and never list your home address on your luggage. That info makes it too easy for someone to know you are not home and burglarize your home.
3. Senior Emergency Care: There is a new telemarketing scam from businesses calling themselves “Senior Safety Alert, Senior Emergency Care of Senior Safe Alert. They are allegedly selling a personal emergency alarm system. They offer you the alarm at a LOW rate only to get your credit info and steal your ID.
4. Gift Cards for Survey: You get a call promising you a gift card to a well know restaurant chain and use their logo……if you take a short survey. They ask for personal info and you then start getting telemarketing calls now that they have your email, phone and home address.
5. Italian Fashion Man (aka Leather Jacket Scam): Someone with an Italian accent pulls up and claims to be here for a fashion show and he has some high end designer clothes that he can’t really take back to Italy because the custom taxes would be high. He sells them for whatever you have but he bought them in China for $30 each. This just took place in Palm Desert in November 2013.
6. Facebook Grant Scam: You get a Facebook message allegedly from your sister. She says Hey bro, make time today to apply for this, It’s not advertised publicly. I got the info from someone at work so I am sure you will get the grant. It’s what you need, and you can only get it today. I am in meetings for the next few hours, so my phone is off. I will call you as soon as I am done. She gives you a link which seems to be a Government webpage. They are giving a $12,000 grant to hard working individuals who either own a small business or are thinking of opening one. The grant is available only today, so you really have to get the ball rolling ASAP. After you are assured you completed everything properly they ask for a $199 application processing fee.
7. ID THEFT: If you think you are the victim of an ID Theft then cancel your credit cards ASAP, place a fraud alert on them and call the police to make a report.
REPORT POTENTIAL ID THEFT to:
Equifax 1-800-525-6285; Fraud Alert 888-766-0008; Experian (formerly TRW) 1-888-397-3742; Trans Union 1-800-680-7289 for Fraud alert; Social Security Administration (fraud line) 1-800-269-0271
And Remember: DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE IN THE CV THIS MONTH, CALL A TAXI…. IT IS A LOT CHEAPER THAN HIRING ME!
Dale Gribow has been “Rated” TOP LAWYER by Palm Springs Life Magazine from 2011-2014 and has a Superb Avvo Peer Reviewed Legal Rating. Dale Gribow has been Man of the Year 7 times including the City of Palm Desert and the City of Hope and Dale Gribow Day has been declared 4 times. He is the only attorney appointed in December 2013 to the Coachella Valley Association of Government’s Public Safety Ad Hoc Blue Ribbon Committee. This group consists of the police chiefs from every city and the mayor of each city as well as the Sheriff of Riverside County and the head of the CHP and Border Patrol.
If you have any questions regarding this column or ideas for future columns please contact Dale Gribow Attorney at Law at his NEW number 760 837 7500 and or his new email: dale@dalegribowlaw.com
