rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

I've had 3 emails from "Norton" with this exact same message. Obviously, I just deleted them. Another clue to the fact that this is a scam which was not mentioned is the (supposed) charge of $450 for a 3 year subscription. $150 per year for Norton??? I've also had emails of the same type from other "companies", and from "PayPal" and others - again, deleted. Scams abound!!! Some are quite creative - others are idiotic.

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

keywest305 Loc: Baltimore Md.

I have this same email sent to me. Glad I read this. This world is getting scary

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

Many thanks, Loren. The scamming nowadays is huge.

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

I am so glad my thread reached out to you. Well done! And be very careful and much more suspicious! Please!

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

This story shows how easy it can be to get drawn into a scam.
However careful reading of the original massage should have thrown up warnings. There are so many errors that should have sounded alarms.
Of late I have rejected several genuine messages until I’ve had the time and opportunity to check authenticity. No one so far has been offended or expressed concern about me doing this.

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

You are so right. Somehow I was in a strange mental place and I wish I could get back to last Friday week because I so wish I could fully understand this.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I know it takes a lot of courage to share a story where you were a victim of a scam. Thanks.

Dannj

If anyone is tempted to respond to these e-mails I suggest you at least ignore the phone numbers provided and go directly to the company website for a customer service number.

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

That’s kind of to say that. But to be honest I don’t feel courageous about this. My mission above all is the need to share my story so others are made aware. And my major learning point is how big and how common is the vile business of scamming; this was totally unexpected.

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

As a minimum! But checking the email address should come before that.

Red6

The safest thing to do in these situations is simply not to open the email. I receive on a daily basis, emails telling me that the items I ordered are being shipped, my subscription to something has been renewed etc, etc. 99.9% of these are scams and nothing bad will happen if you just delete them. Older working people often have the fear that there's a bill out there that has not been paid and they are afraid of getting a bad credit report. So they aggressively try to send someone money for something they cannot even recognize. If it is a true debt, you will be reminded of it several times before any reports are made.

I follow several simple rules in preventing scams. There are many more but this will take care of most of them.

1. Examine the sender's email address, if you do not recognize it then DO NOT OPEN and DELETE immediately. Most of these scammer's email addresses will not have the company name in the email address OR it will be combined with other names. Most will not have the .com, .org, etc but will be gmail, Hotmail, or other generic URL. Many of these scammers "broadcast" their emails to everyone on a purchased email list not knowing whether some or valid or not. If you open or reply to these it verifies your email as valid and active and worthy of more attention. Also, if it is an unknown email address, it could be a carrier of a virus or some other bad computer/software infection.

2. If you do get involved with something that does not feel right and you take it to the bank - TRUST THE BANK if they tell you it is suspicious. They see these things every day and develop a feel for them. I received a cashier's check for something I sold on craigslist. I took it to the bank to deposit and the bank rep immediately recognized the cashier's check as a fake. She even called the bank the check was supposed to be drawn on and they checked the records and told her that it was counterfeit. You trust your bankers, credit union, etc with your money every day so trust them when they tell you something does not seem right.

3. Scammers know that many older people do NOT like to use credit cards. So a lot of their dealings involve checks, bank transfers, and other forms of older less secure payment methods that older citizens are comfortable with. I NEVER, NEVER send money for something I purchase or order online unless it is through a credit card. In fact, I rarely buy ANYTHING anymore that does not go on the credit card. They are safer, quicker, and easier. If somehow you do get something on your bill that you did not authorize, the credit card company will investigate and go after the person or company that charged you. This is one more safety step that protects the consumer. This does not always apply to debit cards. Debit cards are issued by individual banks or credit unions and some have policies in the fine print that they do NOT have the same policies as the big credit card companies and may not forgive or relieve the user for bad charges made to their debit card.

4. Just do not believe anyone or any company that says they sent you a huge refund or overpayment or some amount of money by mistake. That rarely happens. It is even rarer if they also tell you to return the money to some foreign address, email, or wire transfer. When in doubt, wait for a week or so before you do ANYTHING. If they sent you the check, transfer etc, wait to see if it clears or is valid. We are conditioned by TV and movies that we need to act immediately in situations such as this. This is rarely the case. Take time to see what happens. During this cooling-off period check them out, research the internet to see if others have experienced this scam. It is almost a sure thing that if you are being scammed, others have been also and it has been reported somewhere with law enforcement agencies or on websites on the internet. Check them out before acting. Or better yet, do nothing for a while and most likely they will just go away. Much like the telephone scammers, they make their money on volume, calling as many as possible in the least amount of time. Scammers will not waste time working on you for days, they have thousands of other emails, accounts to call. Remember, they are after the fastest, easiest targets - the low-hanging fruit.

If it is a true mistake or debt you owe then most likely you will receive some official correspondence in regards to the debt. A good example is the IRS and Social Security phone scams in the past couple of years. You get a call from the IRS or Social Security informing you that you may have committed fraud and law enforcement is on their way to arrest you. But if you arrange repayment with their representative, an arrest can be avoided. The IRS and Social Security NEVER take action without first sending several official US Postal letters to you.
If you are still inclined to send money to someone in a foreign country then discuss it with your bank and listen.

Hope this helps.

nicelifter Loc: erie,pa

dont think your own family wont steal from you ..my girlfriends son changed the checks his grandmother gave him from 500.00 to 1500.00 and she lost over 8 grand in the end and the kid is still walking around free .the police didnt arrest him and its been almost a yr now

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

Oh what a fabulous list this is. In fact I am going to copy your contribution and republish it on my blog and I am sure you have no objection to that.

Thank you!

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

Ouch!

odujim Loc: New Jersey