IRS Lists it’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ Tax Scams

Posted on 3 Jun/2011 by mxw

Hiding income in offshore accounts, identity theft, return preparer fraud, and filing false or misleading tax forms top the annual list of “dirty dozen” tax scams in 2011, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.

“The Dirty Dozen represents the worst of the worst tax scams,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “Don’t fall prey to these tax scams. They may look tempting, but these fraudulent deals end up hurting people who participate in them.”

The IRS works with the Justice Department to pursue and shut down perpetrators of these and other illegal scams. Promoters frequently end up facing heavy fines and imprisonment. Meanwhile, taxpayers who wittingly or unwittingly get involved with these schemes must repay all taxes due plus interest and penalties.

Following is the Dirty Dozen for 2011:

Hiding Income Offshore

The IRS aggressively pursues taxpayers involved in abusive offshore transactions as well as the promoters, professionals and others who facilitate or enable these schemes. Taxpayers have tried to avoid or evade U.S. income tax by hiding income in offshore banks, brokerage accounts or through the use of nominee entities. Taxpayers also evade taxes by using offshore debit cards, credit cards, wire transfers, foreign trusts, employee-leasing schemes, private annuities or insurance plans. Continue reading →

Posted in Identity Theft, Job Scams, Scam Reports, Tax Scams | Leave a comment

Spoof websites bilk Caledonia man out of $30K

Posted on 25 May/2011 by mxw

A man in Caledonia, Wisconsin thought he was buying a car from a reputable website (autotrader.com) and paying for it using a reputable financial site (amazonpayments.com). Turned out that both sites were so-called ‘spoof sites’ – Identical copies of valid website, used to capture personal information such as credit card numbers/passwords or, as in this case, to make it appear that a bona-fide tramsaction was taking place.2009 Porsche Cayman

The Porche Cayman he paid $30,000 for did not show up and by the time he realised, the cash had flown to Romania.

The lesson?

Never trust a link supplied to you from email or a website, especially if it is a financial transaction. Always go independantly to websites using your own bookmarks or typing the url in. it’s insanely easy to show the ‘correct’ link but to go to a different one when it is clicked. Financial Sites Always use ‘https’ instead of ‘httpd’. No Exceptions. Look at your online bank url when you are logged in some time.

Check the address bar of your browser. It’s trying to keep you safe.

Read More at the Caledonia Patch website (it’s the real one, trust me!)

Posted in Anti-Scam Protection, banking, Classiified Ads, Email Scams, money laundering, Scam Reports, spoof websites, Websites | 3 Comments

WORK FROM HOME!!! (yep, it’s yet another scam)

Posted on 9 May/2011 by mxw

Anyone online or offline has seen the ads by now -

Money Motivated Pros | Team Leaders Needed | Looking for Recruiters | Professionals Needed | Remote Agents Needed | Top Guns Only | Business Development | Marketing Reps | Senior Account Executives |
Promotional Managers | Looking for Talent | Junior Account Executive | Marketing and Sales | We Need Strong Phone Associates – Incoming Calls | Seasoned Reps /Team Leaders | Looking for Experienced Team Builders | Inbound Phone Associates |Sales Openers and Closers Needed Now – All Inbound | Confident Strong Reps for Easy Phone Work | Inbound Sales/Marketing Representatives | Phone Based Sales | Team Leaders Needed – All Calls Incoming

Whether it’s spam, popups, ads on your favorite website, flyers stuffed in your letterbox or even personal solicitation – it’s everywhere and there is a very good reason.

I’m talking about the ‘Free Cash Machine’ or ‘Daily Income Career Network’  (aka hundreds of other names which change daily).

It’s an operation which while technically isn’t a scam, it sails as close to the ‘S’ word as possible and uses every unethical and questionably moral trick in the very same book that scammers use.

How it works
Daily Income Network Video – How it all works (according to them)

This is a very sophisticated operation that strings together every tried and trusted technique (Ponzi, MLM, Affiliate Marketing, Spam, Deceptive Advertizing) into one large funnel, with your money at one end and their bank account at the other.

Their advertising is very keen to make out that it costs you nothing (to get started). This alone helps them get past one hurdle, the on-line job websites will not accept any vacancy that carried an up-front fee. So that means that CareerBuilder, Craigslist, Your-Local-Classifieds and more will be full of the same ad in a different cloak.

Scam Job Listing on CareerBuilder

Part 1 – Trainee
After looking through their training materials, it first appears that the ‘job’ is signing up for trial periods with web-based companies (such as Free Credit Reports, ID Protection, Satellite Dishes etc.). After doing this, the job is to get as many other people to do the same thing. This generates affiliate income which is where all the $20 bills start appearing. Spam more of the people you know into signing up for dodgy services and the more money you make. Continue reading →

Posted in Classiified Ads, Craigslist, Email Scams, Job Scams, Online Advertising, Ponzi Schemes, Websites | 39 Comments

Online Trading – A Warning!

Posted on 7 Apr/2011 by mxw

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Online Trading, a guide by US-CERT


Online trading can be an easy, cost-effective way to manage investments. However, online investors are often targets of scams, so take precautions to ensure that you do not become a victim.

What is online trading?

Online trading allows you to conduct investment transactions over the internet. The accessibility of the internet makes it possible for you to research and invest in opportunities from any location at any time. It also reduces the amount of resources (time, effort, and money) you have to devote to managing these accounts and transactions.

What are the risks?

Recognizing the importance of safeguarding your money, legitimate brokerages take steps to ensure that their transactions are secure. However, online brokerages and the investors who use them are appealing targets for attackers. The amount of financial information in a brokerage’s database makes it valuable; this information can be traded or sold for personal
profit. Also, because money is regularly transferred through these accounts, malicious activity may not be noticed immediately. To gain access to these databases, attackers may use Trojan horses or other types of malicious code.

Attackers may also attempt to collect financial information by targeting the current or potential investors directly. These attempts may take the form of social engineering or phishing attacks (see Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information). With methods that include setting up fraudulent investment opportunities or redirecting users to malicious sites that appear to be legitimate, attackers try to convince you to provide them with financial information that they can then use or sell. If you have been victimized, both your money and your identity may be at risk.

How can you protect yourself?

  • Research your investment opportunities – Take advantage of resources such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database and your state’s securities commission (found through the North American Securities Continue reading →
Posted in Anti-Scam Protection, banking, Email Scams, money laundering, Ponzi Schemes, Scam Reports, Stocks & Shares | Leave a comment

TweekServ is a Scam Job (transaction Processing)

Posted on 6 Apr/2011 by mxw

TweekServ is a Scam – TweekServ is a Scam | TweekServ is a Scam – TweekServ is a Scam | TweekServ is a Scam – TweekServ is a Scam

It’s just the usual ‘transaction processing’ scam – you get counterfeit checks, they get your hard-earned cash. DO NOT GET INVOLVED.

Hello,

Thank you for your reply and interest in a part-time position with TweekServ Inc.
In the future please e-mail me at job@tweek-servinc.com

The main strategic aim of our company is to provide quick, easy, efficient and secure ways for businesses to outsource services locally, nationally and globally, to maximize their competitive advantage and cost effectiveness.
The goal of our company is to ensure both, the most reliable security level and simplicity of use and availability.
We are happy to offer you the Payment Processing Agent position. 

Here are the job Requirements:
- 18 years of age or older;
- internet access to promptly reply to emails;
- availability by phone (1-2 hours a day);
- a bank account to process payments 

We welcome competent and reliable approach to work, responsibility and initiative in search of the most efficient ways of job implementation.
Each Payment Processing Agent is provided with employment benefits after successful completion of probationary period (30 days). 

The employment benefits include:
- Stock options;
- 401k;
- Flex-Time;
- Health & Dental;
- Professional development programs

You will find detailed description of the job following the link:
http://www.tweek-servinc.com/vacancies/payment

We strongly recommend to read our FAQ:
http://www.tweek-servinc.com/vacancies/payment/faq

Some important facts:
1. You don't need to invest your own money to get started;
2. This is not a sales position. While employed with us, you are guaranteed a Base Salary as well as commission per task processed;
3. Each remittance will be accompanied by an invoice ensuring legality of transaction. 

If you are interested in the offered vacancy or have any questions please contact us at job@tweek-servinc.com
We appreciate your time and sincerely hope to see you in TweekServ Inc team!

Best Regards,

Steven Brown
TweekServ Inc
job@tweek-servinc.com
Phone: 1-347-860-9971
Fax: 1-585-410-6049

*Please note that some e-mails may enter your SPAM folder and may delay our process of communication. Please add our e-mail address to your filter/safe list to ensure that you receive our e-mails without any delay. If for some reason you do not hear from us within 24 hours with further information, please give us a call at 1-347-860-9971 and we will provide you with the necessary information.

Here’s some lies they use to get you interested…. (from their website at http://www.tweek-servinc.com/vacancies/payment/faq#fq_1) Continue reading →

Posted in banking, Email Scams, money laundering, Scam Reports, spoof websites | 3 Comments

… and now the FTC weighs in.

Posted on 10 Mar/2011 by mxw

After the IC3 list released earlier, the FTC publishes it’s own list of ’Consumer Complaints’ for 2010

The Federal Trade Commission today released the list of top consumer complaints received by the agency in 2010. And for the 11th year in a row, identity theft was number one. Of 1,339,265 complaints received in 2010, 250,854 (19%)  were related to identity theft.  Debt collection complaints were in second place, with 144,159 complaints.

For the first time, “imposter scams” – where imposters posed as friends, family, respected companies or government agencies to get consumers to send them money – made the top 10. The FTC also has issued a new consumer alert, “Spotting an Imposter”, to help consumers avoid imposter scams.

The top consumer complaints were:

Rank Category Number of Complaints Percentage
1 Identity Theft 250,854 19%
2 Debt Collection 144,159 11%
3 Internet Services 65,565 5%
4 Prizes, Sweepstakes and Lotteries 64,085 5%
5 Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales 60,205 4%
6 Imposter Scams 60,158 4%
7 Internet Auctions 56,107 4%
8 Foreign Money/Counterfeit Check Scams 43,866 3%
9 Telephone and Mobile Services 37,388 3%
10 Credit Cards 33,258 2%

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them.

Posted in Advance Fee Fraud, Anti-Scam Protection, Identity Theft, Scam Reports | 1 Comment

IC3 Reports 25,000 Scam Complaints per Month in 2010

Posted on 25 Feb/2011 by mxw

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received its two-millionth complaint in 2010 - IC3 receives and processes 25,000 complaints per month and 2010 was it’s second highest year (slightly down from 2009) for scam reports. The Annual IC3 Report for 2010 has just been released and makes fascinating reading.

The most common victim complaints in 2010 were non-delivery of payment/merchandise, scams impersonating the FBI  and identity theft.

Continue reading →

Posted in Email Scams | 2 Comments

Debunking Some Common Online Security Myths

Posted on 17 Feb/2011 by mxw

The US-CERT Logo

There are some common myths that may influence your online security practices. Knowing the truth will allow you to make better decisions about how to protect yourself.

How are these myths established?
There is no one cause for these myths. They may have been formed because of a lack of information, an assumption, knowledge of a specific case that was then generalized, or some other source. As with any myth, they are passed from one individual to another, usually because they seem legitimate enough to be true.

Why is it important to know the truth?
While believing these myths may not present a direct threat, they may cause you to be more lax about your security habits. If you are not diligent about protecting yourself, you may be more likely to become a victim of an attack.

What are some common myths, and what is the truth behind them?

Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Scam Protection, Trojans, Viruses, Worms | 1 Comment