Unfortunately 1 in every 4 of us may be targeted by scammers at some point in our lives. Scam artists do not care what age or gender they prey on, nor do they care how much money they steal from you. Remember to the scammer the richer the spoils the more the reward.
To the normal person the spoils of some scams may not even be considered substantial amounts of money. For example I was on the train and a lady came up to me and stated that she needed a pound to get home. I, thinking someone was in need and having a generous nature, gave up the pound she asked for. The following day I was sitting on the same train and the same lady walked up to me and asked me for a pound again. To my surprise the lady didn’t even remember me. I realise it was only for a pound but it was the fact that the lady had lied to me to get that pound. I had worked hard for that money and I could have given it to thousands of more deserving people than a scammer on the train.
I was horrified to have witnessed the outcome of a scam perpetrated on a little old lady a couple of weeks ago. The little old lady was a family friend who was distraught as she had just been scammed out of £120. I enquired as to how this scam had been perpetrated and was told the story.
A couple of days beforehand a friend of this old lady had told her about this nice man that she (the friend) knew. This man ‘apparently’ bought and sold electrical goods and had a television and a laptop for sale. The little lady, thinking that she could buy these items for her grandchildren willingly handed over her money and expected to receive her items. The man in question arranged to deliver the goods to a friend of the little old lady. So far so good but is it all sounding a little too good to be true? Well it certainly was because instead of bringing this little old lady into the 21st century her goods were nowhere to be seen.
The man, now to be referred to as the scammer, had delivered the boxes to the friend’s house and had made his excuses and left before the items could be removed from the boxes and checked. The friend thinking nothing of it left the boxes untouched and waited for the little old lady to come around and check her goods herself. When the little old lady arrived and opened the boxes to her surprise they were filled with cardboard and broken VHS players.
Remember handing over money before you know what you are buying is never a good idea especially if it’s not from a reputable retailer. If you are buying something that is not from a registered company always remember to inspect the goods first. You have a right to see the goods and insure they are in full working order. A genuine sales person wouldn’t mind but those who have something to hide will.
A month ago I received a call from a lady who told me I was the lucky winner of holiday in Portugal for four. Apparently I had filled out a questionnaire and was entered into a prize draw. Well that kind of sounds like me as I try and enter every competition under the sun in the hope that I might one day win. So of course I was delighted and was told to call a 0800 number to claim my prize so I thought to myself what could possibly go wrong with this number. As soon as I told work colleagues about my luck they told me that it was a scam and that I shouldn’t get too overly excited until i confirmed that it was real.
I decided to do a little research on this company and on the telephone number that they gave me and found out that there were entire forums dedicated to exposing these scammers for what they were. The company asked people to attend a timeshare sales event and you only received your ‘free’ holiday once you had actually purchased a timeshare (if you don’t know what a timeshare is and the perils and pitfalls please research it online NOW so you don’t fall into that trap).
Always remember if something sounds too good to be true it normally is. If you are thinking about spending your money on something that may be a scam then tell as many people about it as soon as possible. The more people who know about it the more advice you may receive. If it does turn out to be a scam, at least you would have prevented any other people that you know from falling from the same scam.
Ebay has also been a breeding ground for scam artists If you are thinking of using their services always use Paypal to make your payments as your money will be protected. Never send money directly to a seller’s bank account because you will never get it back. If your thinking of selling items on Ebay and prefer for the buyer to pick the goods up personally then never allow the buyer to purchase the good via paypal as they could claim the money back and say that you never sent the goods.
I hope these tips have been useful in avoiding a scam and made you just a little wiser... |
