Contents and Introduction....

"Secret Shopper Service"

Table of Contents.................

1.    Introduction

2.    Inheritances and Lotteries

3.    Home and Vacation Rentals

4.    Wire Service Secret Shopper

5.    "The Nigerian Letter"

6.    Plucking at Your Heartstrings (Fake Charities and Pet Adoptions)

7.    IRS is Going to Arrest You 

8.    Your Grandson is in Jail in a Foreign Nation

9.  Catfishing

10.      Additional Internet Resources to Help You Keep Your Wealth!

**editorial notation....the improper spelling, context, syntax, etc. included in emails, transcribed conversations, letters and such are from those documents. That is often a good indicator of fraud. A real attorney would be professional in his presentation of documents!

Introduction

Whatever interaction you do on the Internet these days, you stand an excellent chance that you will be scammed! Wanting to sell your car? Needing to rent a home, buy a TV, find a girlfriend (or boyfriend)? Just looking to chat on Facebook? Over the years I have personally received attempts to steal my money in many of these channels!

When I listed my car for sale on a popular and trusted website, I received a full price offer from a person asking me to ship the car from Utah to North Carolina (an additional $3,000).  The hook was that I needed to pay for the shipping and be "immediately reimbursed" though a "PayPal" account. Not gonna happen here!

Looking for a job online, I received an offer for a position which in real life would pay less than $15.00 per hour...they were offering $29.00 per hour for a "work-at-home" customer service associate. (There are positions such as this which are genuine.) They demanded, during a pre-hire interview (conducted on Google Hangouts), full banking information, along with Social Security details, driver license information, etc. The nice lady invited me to visit "their" website. (Yes...the actual company's valid web address!) The company appeared very legitimate. They are an actual international "after-market" manufacturer of custom auto parts. So, I contacted their HR team at the corporate office and was advised that no such people existed in their organization, nor was there such a position. They were able to immediately post a warning on their corporate website from the details which I provided.

My son spotted a great deal on a home rental in an area in which he desired to live. In researching the listing, it became clear that the "would-be-landlord" was trying to rent a home that was not his, and was occupied!

I just returned from a doctor visit today. I was telling the young Medical Assistant about this project, and she shared yet another horror story! Her mother was trying to purchase a Yorkshire Terrier online. She paid for the dog and learned that the dog needed to have its shots before shipping. She paid for that. Then she learned the cost of airfare to ship her doggy to her, and paid for it as well! Then, $4,000 later, she learned the sad reality that this was all a scam!

Whatever you are engaged it, question every aspect....don't accuse, just question and verify. The honest folks won't take offense, promptly verifying appropriate details! A former U.S. president once said, "Trust, but verify!" That works here, as well as in international political affairs!                                                                                                                

What's in it for me?

My first go-around in college was Law Enforcement. I worked for a few years as a patrolman before figuring our that my personal interests lay elsewhere. So, I suppose there is still some of that training and suspicion still with me 40 years later! Over the course of my adult life, I have observed numerous scams, even been taken in by a few. I've also worked (unknowingly) for a couple!
Fraudsters come in all shapes and sizes. I do not desire to discourage a positive world-view of the goodness to be found in mankind. Just exercise reason and logic! DUE DILIGENCE is a term you will see repeated often herein. Too often, we allow affiliation in civic groups, hobby clubs, church, and other associations to cloud that due diligence!  If an otherwise cloudy opportunity is made acceptable only by virtue of your common membership in the Lions Club, or your bowling league... watch out! 

If it seems too good to be true...........

Have you ever tried to sell a car online, or engaged in online dating, looked for a job online, etc.? If so, then you'll recognize some of these scenarios!

Following is a compilation various experiences of attempts to separate me (or personal friends) from our hard earned wealth. I certainly did not have to dig deep to find them! Everywhere I went...doctor's office, bus, church, social media friends...they each had stories to add! Many of these examples are from my own collection! I would imagine that you've seen a few of these, as well!

Scams to discuss........

·        Romance

·        Catfishing

·        Home rental scam

·        Change in government - "The Nigerian Letter"

·        Medical emergency - Plucking your heartstrings

·        Lottery or other unanticipated gift or prize

·        (https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/unexpected-winnings/unexpected-prize-lottery-scams)

·        Money Wire secret shopper (http://www.snopes.com/fraud/employment/shopper.asp)

.....and the list goes on and on, changing every day!

............a point of basic logic...."if it seems too good to be true....."

Victims of these various methods of fraud allow themselves to come into that title for a few basic human traits....Greed  and Loneliness being chief among them!

I have taken a break from other writing opportunities to focus on this issue, as it is so extreme today. The contents of this blog are entries in a book I am writing. They will be shared in segments. If you desire to share additional stories (and the are innumerable) simply email me the details at skyline.assets@gmail.com and let me know if you prefer credit or anonymity!