4 COMMON FINANCIAL SCAMS TO AVOID
Something’s Phishy
FRAUDULENT RETAILERS On social media websites, you may have noticed suspicious online stores featuring deals that are too good to be true. At checkout, instead of being directed to a trusted third-party payment process, these merchants may ask for wire transfers or gift cards. Some of these online stores might not even provide contact information! FAKE DEBT COLLECTORS Criminals will claim to be government representatives and urge you to settle a debt putting you at risk of being arrested, losing your home, or forfeiting your Social Security benefits. These scammers will ask you to pay the fake balance upfront to avoid any serious repercussions. Remember, government entities do not cold call, so you know to hang up or hit “delete.” WORK-FROM-HOME SCAMS As working from home has recently become the norm for many, this hoax has become even easier for criminals to pull off. Cybercriminals will contact you, stating you can make hundreds of dollars a week doing nothing more than shopping online as a mystery shopper or another enticing task. They will then tell you that to get started, you’ll need to pay upfront for training materials — but once you do, you’ll never hear from them again. As a general rule of thumb, stay clear of any offers that seem too good to be true. Likewise, avoid transactions that don’t use a trusted third-party merchant, and always do your research! If something seems off, trust your instincts! In today’s world, you never know what hoaxes exist!
From dating swindles to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency hoaxes, it’s hard to tell the difference between honest offers and scams. Even worse, scams are becoming more creative every day. Here’s a list of some of the most common financial scams to be aware of. CRYPTOCURRENCY SCAMS Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have taken the world by storm. Because many people don’t understand how cryptocurrency works, it’s easy for cybercriminals to pull a fast one — or attempt to, anyway. To trick unsuspecting victims, scammers set up fake websites that mimic legitimate cryptocurrency platforms. These sites then either urge you to make investments or they will steal your information outright.
THE POWER OF THE UPSIDE!
The mindset of most Americans is that of being a buyer. We love to buy stuff. It really doesn’t matter what it is. We just like to buy stuff. If you are like me, you are guilty of this concept, too. I know I am a great buyer but a terrible seller. Unfortunately, we continue to buy more stuff as long as we have room for our stuff, which is one of the reasons ministorage buildings were invented so we can have more room for our stuff. This concept is most prevalent where I live in Florida. People are always moving to Florida from up north and think they need to bring a lot of their stuff with them, but when they get to Florida, they realize they don’t have enough room for everything, so they end up renting a ministorage space, which we call the Black Hole (as in outer space) where things go in but never come back out. Research has been done on the reason why Americans love to buy stuff, and it appears to date back to when we were children. When we were children growing up and in our formative years, it was our parents’ job to train us in learning good habits and how to behave and get along with people. How they did this most of the time was to reward us with an allowance or give us money to BUY candy or things. Subliminally, we ended up correlating that happy feeling we got with buying things or
stuff and carried this practice with us as we grew older. Saving money was not considered a fun thing, but buying stuff was fun.
How does the idea of being an avid buyer play into the power of upside? There comes a point where one has plenty of stuff and they ask themselves, “Why am I thinking about buying this item or
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