When the Federal Trade Commission calls a special press conference, you know something’s up.  You may have seen one of the hundreds of ads with President Obama’s image and often a shot of a stimulus check.  They offer a way to get some of the billions the government is handing out.  Well the FTC has had enough and is holding a press conference to show what they call “Economic Stimulus Scams.” So what’s all the fuss about?

You may have seen some of the seemingly hundreds of ads with an image of President Obama and sometimes an image of a government check.   Sometimes they’re text ads, like the one I captured an image of below:

I was curious so I looked up the page it led to.   This one went to  Jessica’s Money Blog, under the URL www.officialstimuluspayments.com  I noticed most of the ads disapeared after the FTC announcement, but I guess that site lives dangerously.  Here’s a shot of “Jessica’s” page:

Like many of the blog-style promotional pages, it contains a (quite likely fictional) story of an everyday person who had great success with a free trial offer.  This one has two: a government grant offer and a “Google” money making system.

Here’s the page you see for the Google Money System.  I shrunk it to let you see what’s on the screen first.  I guess you make the money using Google, but the fine print bottom of the page indicates that Google doesn’t endorse the system, and none of the logos you see, such as CNBC, AOL, USA Today, ABC, CNN, or Yahoo! endorse it either.  I’m not even sure why they are on the page, other than to try to associate the offer with big names.

I was told it was only $1.95 for shipping to get in on this big money maker that Jessica used to get rich.  So why not check it out?  I entered some info and was taken to a second page to get my credit card info.

You don’t see the disclaimer until the second page, and here’s about how big it is:

Compared to the size of a full page, that’s kind of small.  If you don’t read that fine print you’re going ot be out $47 bucks in 7 das and every month after that.  How small is the “fine print?”  Here’s a shot of the whole page, just so you can decide for yourself.

The next offer gets at what the FTC was pointing out, the use of Obama with an offer.  Here’s the page:

You may note it uses the image of President Obama and the network logos, just like the FTC warned about.  It also lures you into a rebill arrangement just like the Google Money offer on the other page.  Only this time it’s a $100 hit and then a $49.95 monthly charge.  The fine print this time was at the bottom of the second page.

Is this a “scam?”  I’m not exactly sure how to define that, but it seems kind of slimy to me.  You may not there are TONS of offers like this out there, such as the many diet offers (such as acai berry or diet teas) that offer a free trial and often a $70 to $90 rebill every month.

The bottom line?

1. Always read the fine print.
2. There is not easy money.
3. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

The good news is there are ways to take advantage of the stimulus package, but be sure to check with someone qualified to learn how the stimulus can help you.

Got a story about one of these rebill/stimulus sites?  Share it in the comments below…

Just how safe is your identity?  Identity theft is all over the news, but I wanted to learn a little more about how prevalent this crime actually was, so I did a little research and came up with some stats to make it seem a little more real, and it wasn’t exactly encouraging.

Prevalence of Identity Theft: By The Numbers

• The average amount obtained during a theft was $1,882: That’s quite a bit. The good news is that banks will usually cover the charges if identity theft happens.  The bad news is you’re in for a bit of a shock once you find out it’s going on.
• Victims had to pay about $371 out-of-pocket expenses: There still are expenses, such as payment of fraudulent debt, wages lost, legal fees and other costs.
• 1 in 10 had to spend at least 55 hours resolving the problems caused by identity theft:  Many didn’t have that bad of a problem, but those who got hit hard took a long time to set things right.  1 in 20 had to spend 130 hours or more!
• The total obtained by thieves was $15.6 billion: That’s getting close to government bailout size money.  To put it in perspective, that’s almost six times what Forbes magazine says Donald “You’re Fired” Trump is worth.
• 8.3 million people in the US were ID theft victims: That’s as if the entire populations of Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia had their identities stolen in a single year.

I got these stats from the Federal Trade Commission’s 2006 summary. That’s a little dated, but based on current news reports and how easily your identity is stolen, I only assume that identity theft is more prevalent.  Not to mention all the ways identity thieves conspire to sell your stolen data these days.

Fortunately, there are things you can do, such as check your credit reports yearly at www.annualcreditreport.com or by signing up with a credit monitoring service, such as one of Equifax’s credit monitoring products (that’s what I use) or one of the many others out there.  I want to be able to catch things before they get out of hand.

What’s your experience with identity theft?  Got any statistics?  Let me know in the comments below…

Think you can spot a scam?  Think again.  After all, Bernard Madoff bilked some pretty smart people out of some serious cash with his 50 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.  Everyday people end up falling for it as one guy did for the classic Nigerian email scam.  Even Oprah’s had the wool pulled over her eyes.  So how can a one tell what’s legit?

With a down economy, it looks like there are scams everywhere out there get-rich-quick schemes, “419″ scams and magic diet pillsRather than trying to name off each of them by name, I’ll try to point out what they have in common, so we can all steer clear.

You Don’t Have to Work

Both diet and get-rich-quick schemes often offer you a solution that doesn’t require you to work.  Just take a pill to lose those pounds, or make thousands a month online in your spare time.  We’d all love that, but it just doesn’t work that way.

You Can ONLY Get it From One Source

Often a “guru” will set themselves or their program up as the only source of what they are offering.  You will be considered a fool if you go somewhere else.  If that’s the case, it’s time to play the fool and head out.

It Offers Results Far Greater Than Anything Else

Ponzi schemes, frauds, and miracle cures all promise to outperform anything else on this earth, often by an astounding amount.  If the results are out of this world, so is this offer.  Keep your feet on the ground.

It’s got Bulk Postage

Like a friend of mine once said, “If the prize letter came with bulk postage, you didn’t win the sweepstakes.”  The same goes for virtually everything in your spam email, such as that Nigerian prince who just wants to have you help him move 20 million into your bank account.

It Doesn’t Make Sense

Is the offer, scheme or method consistent with what you already know?  Can someone besides the person offering it back them up?  Sometimes our common sense is the best method.  People who offer the outrageous will go to great lengths to draw on our impulses and emotions in an attempt to overcome our good sense.

After all the term “con” is just short for “confidence,” which is what a scammer hopes to get from you — for just long enough to get your money.

Got a scam story or way to spot a scam you want to share?  Share it in the comments below…

You’ve got a property to rent.  Maybe you’re a little desperate to get the place rented — you own two houses and need to rent one out, are trying to relocate, or keep your investment property out of foreclosure.  These days, all those situations are common.  That’s where the scammers step in.

Here’s how the scam works:

• A renter contacts a landlord via email.  That’s to be expected if you’ve listed your property online, but here’s where things change
  • Usually they don’t give a phone number.  That’s because they might not even be in the US.
  • They contact you from outside of the country.
  • There’s often a long sob story about their situation, to garner your sympathy and set you up for the unusual payment method.
  • They often have broken English, because they’re often outside your country.
• The overpay.  Here’s the kicker.  They offer to overpay you with a cashier’s check, or money order.  If you could just be so kind as to wire them the difference, they will be able to rent from you.  What a deal!
  • You cash the check or money order, and send them the difference.
  • They get the difference as a wire transfer, because the money is guaranteed.
  • You find out the check was bad later, the bank holds you responsible and you need to cover the whole cost.  You’re out the fee, lost time dealing with a false renter, possibly even turning good tenants away.

That’s how it works, and it’s more common than you might think.  So how can you avoid it?

• Deal with people locally.  People you can meet.
• Verify checks and money orders.  Wait until they clear.
• Never accept any check for over the amount.
• Wires.  Here’s how Craig’s List puts it: “NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service – anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer.”

How do I know this?  I used to work as the webmaster for a small rental site, so I’ve gotten an education on these things.

Looking to be the tenant instead of the landord?  See The Scam that hits renters.

Have you been hit by this or something like it?  Let me know in the comments below.

Suppose you’re a someone who’s looking to rent, and you’ve just found an ideal place online — cheap rent for a big place in a great location.  The only hitch is that the owner is out of state or out of the country so you can’t meet. You’ll also need to wire some money for an application fee or portion of the security deposit to them before you rent.  Still sound like a good deal?  Think again.

This is the essence of a common online rental scam that preys on the renters, rather than the landlords. I first encountered this when working as the webmaster for a small rental site.  A property in Miami was listed for just $300 a month for a 3 bedroom.  I got suspicious and contacted the listing party, posing as a renter.  Sure enough, I was greeted with an email explaining how the landlord was out of town and very busy.  If I could just send $200 for an application fee (by Western Union) and half the security deposit, he could get me the place.

Here’s a summary of the warning signs:

• The rent is well below market.
• The place is just ideal.
• The landlord is out of the country.
• You can’t meet the landlord in person, often you can only reach them by email.
• You have to wire the security deposit or application fee to be considered.

Like the saying says, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.  Oh, and one more thing, just because it’s a real address that you can drive by and see doesn’t mean the person you’ve contacted is the owner.  Take this example where a rent scammer copied a real listing to Craig’s List and posed as the landlord.

Like many online transactions, the two basic rules that stand out are this: work with people you can meet in person and consider nearly anything that invovles a wire transfer a scam.  Good luck and good renting!

Looking to be the landord instead of the tenant?   You aren’t safe, either.  Check out the scam that hits landlords.

Got a rent scam story?  Share it in the comments below…