Protecting Yourself From Mortgage Fraud In The Age of Foreclosures
December 13, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Scam Alert
I read a post on Consumerist about a scam going on where a con artist will come to your door or call you and dupe you into signing a document that effectively signs over the deed to them for no payment. They target those going into foreclosure, and they try to lure you in by telling you their help resolve your debt problems. Freddie Mac produced this video below:
On-Campus Credit Card Booths Might Be A Scam
September 20, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Scam Alert
I would suggest staying away from these credit card booths no matter what, because it’s just another form of predatory lending. Blueprint talks about how these credit card booths might be stealing your identity while stealing your financial virginity. It’s sad that we have to be so paranoid about our identity these days, but that is the world we live in. We need to make sure that we don’t just flaunt our personal information to anyone.
Besides, is a free t-shirt or a free pizza worth having 29% credit card debt with no job? Just stay away from them altogether, and you won’t have any problems.
Protect Yourself From Identity Theft – Use Your Debit Card
August 28, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Budgeting, Credit and Debt, Scam Alert
You’re in line to pay for some gas at the local gas station, and the cashier asks you, “Will this be debit or credit”. You’re saying to yourself, “I’m paying with a Visa debit card, does it really matter?”. The answer is YES. It does really matter what you choose when they ask you for debit or credit. There are two reasons why you need to make sure to choose debit if you are using your debit card to pay for a purchase.
The 11 Principles Series: Avoid Scams and Financial Predators
July 12, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Scam Alert
The old saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true” can help you save a great deal of money in your lifetime. At some point in your life, you will probably be a victim of a scam whether it’s on a small or large scale. The reality is that there are people out there that don’t care what it takes to steal money, so they try to do it in creative ways other than robbing a bank. Unfortunately, the elderly and the those in financial distress are targeted the most when it comes to money scams. It is always in a time of financial hardship that we tend to be more susceptible to a scam, because we are more willing to let go of our common sense and go for something that does not feel right. You could dedicate an entire book about all of the scams to watch out for, but I will touch on a few that I have been in contact with lately, and I will also touch on identity theft and how you can protect yourself from it.
SCAM ALERT: Last Minute Taxpayers, Beware of Phony IRS E-filing Websites
April 16, 2007 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Scam Alert
Good Morning America reported this morning that there is a new scam where scammers send emails with links to phony IRS websites.
The scammer gets you to click on the phony website, file your taxes electronically, and then at the point of you submitting your file, the scammer comes in and changes your bank account information with their bank account information. Apparently, this is a really easy thing to do, because the IRS requires so little identity verification to file your taxes. It figures that the federal government would screw up on something that could be EASILY preventable.
