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Watch the Griftocurrency Plunder Tally Climb

6/14/2022

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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/

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Another warning on Griftocurrency (aka "cryptocurrency")

6/3/2022

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New Analysis Finds Consumers Reported Losing More than
$1 Billion in Cryptocurrency to Scams since 2021

Most of the Losses Consumers Reported were to Bogus Cryptocurrency Investment Scams

Consumers reported losing over $1 billion to fraud involving cryptocurrencies from January 2021 through March 2022, according to a new analysis from the Federal Trade Commission. Fraud reports suggest cryptocurrency is quickly becoming the payment of choice for many scammers, with about one out of every four dollars reported lost to fraud paid in cryptocurrency.

The FTC’s latest Consumer Protection Data Spotlight finds that most of the cryptocurrency losses consumers reported involved bogus cryptocurrency investment opportunities, which totaled $575 million in reported losses since January 2021. These scams often falsely promise potential investors that they can earn huge returns by investing in their cryptocurrency schemes, but people report losing all the money they “invest.”
After cryptocurrency investment schemes, the next largest losses reported by consumers were on:
  • Romance Scams: These often involve a love interest who tries to entice someone into investing in what turns out to be a cryptocurrency scam.
  • Business and Government Impersonation Scams: Reports show these scammers often target consumers by claiming their money is at risk because of fraud or a government investigation and the only way to protect their cash is by converting it to cryptocurrency.
Reports suggest that cryptocurrency-related scams often begin on social media. Nearly half of consumers who reported a cryptocurrency related scam since 2021 said it started with an ad, post or message on a social media platform.
People ages 20 to 49 were more than three times as likely as older age groups to have reported losing money to a cryptocurrency scam. Older age groups, however, reported losing more money when they did report a cryptocurrency-related scam.

Some of the red flags consumers should watch out for include:
  • * anyone who claims they can guarantee profits or big returns by investing in cryptocurrency;
  • * people who require you to buy or pay in cryptocurrency;
  • * and a love interest who wants to show you how to invest in cryptocurrency or to send them cryptocurrency.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

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One Great Way to Fight Student Debt - You Can Get a Graduate Level Education on How Online Crypto/NFT Scams Work for Free via YouTube

5/17/2022

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Anyone who has EVER thought of "investing" in cryptocurrency or "non-fungible tokens" (NFTs) should watch this priceless expose.

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Don't Paint Cryptocurrency with Such a Broad Brush!

4/26/2022

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A clever Twitter user named Pat Dennis posted this perfect gem recently:
Pat Dennis @patdennis

Sick of people calling everything in crypto a Ponzi scheme. Some crypto projects are pump and dump schemes, while others are pyramid schemes. Others are just standard-issue fraud. Others are just middlemen skimming off the top. Stop glossing over the diversity in the industry.
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. 
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Annual Business Registration Renewal Scam Returns

4/14/2022

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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!
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A very convincing fraudulent email - you must learn how to check actual sender email addresses

3/28/2022

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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.
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A reminder as the holidays approach -- beware of lonely heart scams!

11/26/2021

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Good review: Six Common Scams That Target Elders

8/12/2021

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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. ")


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Corporate Pro-Forced-Arbitration Lobbyist Tries Selling Chicken S--t as Chicken Salad

8/10/2021

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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/
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Timeshares are the worst -- except for timeshare resale scams, that is ...

6/17/2021

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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.

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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.

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