|
The current meltdown in "cryptocurrency" (more aptly named griftocurrency) demonstrates that ordinary consumers have no business messing with it.
Here's a great website that keeps track of the KNOWN loot scammed from people via griftocurrency plays https://web3isgoinggreat.com/
0 Comments
New Analysis Finds Consumers Reported Losing More than Anyone who has EVER thought of "investing" in cryptocurrency or "non-fungible tokens" (NFTs) should watch this priceless expose. A clever Twitter user named Pat Dennis posted this perfect gem recently: Pat Dennis @patdennis In all seriousness, I see a LOT of signs of bubbles and scams in the cryptocurrency space.
If anyone consulted me, I would advise clients to put no money into cryptocurrency except for money they would happily take to Vegas or Seven Feathers Casino and be absolutely OK with losing. As far as I can tell, sellers are the only ones for whom cryptocurrency is an investment -- for buyers, it's just Beanie Babies for nerds. You might buy low and sell high -- or you might be the one stuck with a roomful of worthlessness. So, here it is, 2022, and the old favorite scams come back like dandelions. This one targets small and medium-sized businesses where either the owner is doing everything themselves and is too busy to read the mail really closely or where someone else opens the mail and sends the invoices to the owner for payment, but doesn't realize that this one is a scam. I've posted about this scam in 2012 and 2019. Remember: It ONLY COSTS $100 to renew your corporate registration ($50 for nonprofits). You DO NOT NEED to pay these criminals $185 to do for you what you can do for $100 in five minutes flat at the Secretary of State Corporations Division Website. You will get a REAL LETTER IN THE MAIL from the Oregon Secretary of State when it's time to renew your corporate registration. Then it will tell you how to go online and renew your registration here: https://secure.sos.state.or.us/cbrbr/renewal.action#stay So don't make it easy or profitable for scammers! Recycle that trash they mailed you, or --- better yet -- use it to train your people in how to recognize scams so that your business stays away from them entirely. IF YOU GOT A NOTICE LIKE THE ONE SHOWN BELOW, IT IS A SCAM TRYING TO RIP YOU OFF! A very convincing fraudulent email - you must learn how to check actual sender email addresses3/28/2022 The scammers are getting better and better all the time. You MUST learn how to use your mouse to hover over email addresses so that the ACTUAL sender email displays, because it is very easy for scammers to fake the email address that appears in the header on your email application. Note how well done this scam email is -- it looks pretty convincing and, to a busy person, the tempting idea of an email about disaster relief money might be just the push they need to click the link -- which leads to disaster, because this is from a scammer operating out of Germany, it is NOT from the US Small Business Administration. Sad but true, we must learn to be appropriately suspicious of every unexpected email, ESPECIALLY any that seem to be offering something for nothing. The top photo is what the email looks like when you glance at it in your inbox. The bottom photo is what you see if you hover your mouse over the (faked) sender email address - hovering the mouse over the email causes the ACTUAL sender email to show up, which is when you see that it's NOT from the Small Biz Administration but rather from someone in Germany (.de is the country domain for Germany). If you could only learn one anti-scam habit, learning to find the actual email sender is maybe the one to know.     Good review of some of the most common (most effective) scams that target elders. Always remember these safety rules:
1) Never give any personal/private information to someone who called YOU out of the blue. 2) Never buy anything from someone who found you and pitched you on it. 3) You can just hang up! It's not rude to hang up on scammers. Here are the six common scams in the article -- which is a short good read (just click on the picture). 1) Sweepstakes/lottery ("You have won! You just need to give us your banking info . . . ") 2) "Tech Support" ("We have detected a virus on your system, you need to give us access to your system so we can remove it . . . " 3) "Grandchild in Need" (Grandma, I've been arrested, send money . . . !") 4) Romance ("Send money and I'll visit you . . . ") 5) Social Security ("Give us your bank info . . . .") 6) Natural Disasters/Contractors ("We'll take care of everything, just give us your credit card number and we'll get started. ") The US Chamber of Commerce and other corporate power groups are terrified of the 7th Amendment to the Bill of Rights (right to jury trial) and the "FAIR" act, which would prevent them from forcing consumer and employee disputes into the lawless land of private arbitration controlled by and very favorable to, you guessed it, those same corporate power groups.
The American Prospect has a great story about an effort by these folks to disguise a corporate lobbyist-written editorial as an one written by a real consumer -- and an offer to pay a consumer attorney a $2,000 bribe if he would help find a consumer to put his name on the already-written editorial. https://prospect.org/power/corporate-lobbyists-seek-grassroots-support-forced-arbitration/ Based on the number of people who call me seeking help with timeshares they are unhappy with, I can safely say that, other than herpes, timeshares are just about the worst possible thing you can acquire on a vacation. Maybe the only thing worse than getting involved in a timeshare in the first place is then getting ripped off again while trying to get out of one. The "timeshare exit" field is full of pirate scammers who are only too happy to have another shot at separating you from even more of your money and preying on your desperation to unload what has turned out to be a horrible idea. The FTC has some good guidance you should check out (click the link or download the document below the graphic) if you are even thinking of getting within 100 miles of a timeshare sales pitch, or if you have already been snared and are thinking of trying to unload your timeshare.  |
AuthorJohn Gear Law Office - Categories
All
Archives
June 2022
|
|
LAWYERLY FINE PRINT:John Gear Law Office LLC and Salem Consumer Law. John Gear Law Office is in Suite 208B of the Security Building in downtown Salem at 161 High St. SE, across from the Elsinore Theater, a half-block south of Marion County Courthouse, just south of State Street. There is abundant, free 3-hour on-street parking throughout downtown Salem, and three multi-story parking ramps that offer free customer parking in downtown Salem too.
Our attorneys are only licensed to practice law in Oregon. This site may be considered advertising under Oregon State Bar rules. There is no legal advice on this site so you should not interpret anything you read here as intended for your particular situation. Besides, we are not representing you and we are not your attorneys unless you have hired us by entering into a representation agreement with me. While we do want you to consider us when you seek an attorney, you should not hire any attorney based on brochures, websites, advertising, or other promotional materials. All original content on this site is Copyright John Gear, 2010-2022. |
RSS Feed