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kalikshama -> RE: Money Scammers (5/15/2012 6:42:53 AM)
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http://www.collarme.com/personals/scammers.htm
Online Safety
A note about picture privacy
It is important to be aware that when you send private and potentially compromising pictures to others online, you're effectively giving up control of those pictures. Therefore, we advise all users to carefully consider their privacy needs relating to their job, family, religious institution, etc. before sending out private pictures, especially to persons of recent acquaintance.
Common Scams
Please: DO NOT report scammers to our support staff!
Reporting scammers to our support staff clogs up our support system, wastes our limited resources, and does absolutely nothing to help stop the scammers. Instead of contacting support, we have a reporting system that allows you to report any message, profile, or journal entry with a few button clicks. Using the reporting system is the only helpful way to report scammers to us.
Scammers want your money and will make up ANY story to get it. Below are some of the most common scams you will encounter online:
Scam #1 - Help! My plane crashed in Ghana and I need money to get home!
This is a perennial favorite among the scammers and the most common scam we see. The scammer pretends to be a fashion model traveling abroad on a photo shoot. Misfortune of misfortunes, her plane has crashed in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, or some other country and she needs you to send her money to get home. In reality, the scammer lives in the country where he or she is trying to get you to send the money and has no intention of ever meeting with you.
Scam #2 - Offers to send you money
This, the second most common scam we see, has numerous variations. However, all of them revolve around the basic premise that the scammer sends you a Cashier's Check for a very large amount of money and then you send back a check for smaller amount. These scams are designed to appeal to your desire to get "something for nothing" and may involve a mining operation, a foreign bank, a long lost relative, or a host of other variations. The catch, of course, is that the check sent by the scammer (and drawn on a foreign bank) is worthless. You may be surprised to learn that this scam, officially known as the Spanish Prisoner Con, has been in use (in one form or another) since the 1920s.
Scam #3 - I need money for travel expenses (airfare, gasoline, etc.)
If you plan on meeting a user who'll be traveling to you from a distant location, think long and hard before sending them money for their travel expenses. Unlike some other scams, these scammers may be completely honest about their gender and appearance, show themselves to you on webcam, and talk to you for weeks. Neverthless, once your money is sent, they'll disappear, never to be seen again.
If you wish to reimburse visitors for travel expenses, the safest approach is to do so upon their arrival. Be particularly wary of anyone who asks you to send them money via Western Union, Cashier's Check, or MoneyGram. Remember, the moment you send money to a stranger may also be the last moment that you see or hear from the stranger or your money again.
Scam #4 - You receive a text msg or other request to call an unfamiliar number
This is a relatively new scam and here is how it works. The scammer, once they have your phone number, will send you a text message asking you to call a specific number. Once you call, you will be charged a fee on your cell phone account. Alternatively, you may be charged a fee for sending them a text message or for calling their foreign telephone number. The moral here is to be cautious in calling unfamiliar phone numbers you receive in a text message or otherwise, especially if they are located in another country.
Scam #5 - Duping you into purchasing paid services
These scammers will feign an interest in you and then send you a link to website or a phone number (not necessarily a 900 number) where you will be required to pay a subscription fee to see the scammer's profile, see them "on cam", or speak to them on the phone. Of couse, these scammers work for the companies in question and are collecting a profit for every 'sucker' they can get to sign-up for their paid services.
Scam #6 - Offers to help you find a job
In this scam, the scammer will offer to help you find a job, often a very desirable job in exchange for a "handling fee".
Scam #7 - Misleading on-site messages
In this scam, the scammer will send you an on-site messages announcing an "Official" Collarme contest, verification program, etc. They'll use official sounding language and sometimes even create logos to convince you that you're reading an announcement from the site. Their goal of course is to fool you into sending them money by any means possible. To avoid being taken in by these scams, just examine the sender's name in the message list. If it's not colored gold it's not from the site and no scammer can spoof that.
Scam #8 - "Over-the-Top" profiles and stories
Another scammer favorite is to post a picture of a woman who looks like a fashion model with a profile that describes how she wants a lifetime of no-limits slavery, etc. These scammers will often describe their current situation in equally bizarre, over-the-top terms. Remember to always use common sense when evaluating profiles. If a profile seems "over-the-top", it probably is.
Scam #9 - Requests for "tribute"
This scam is typically perpetrated by persons (male or female) claiming to be dominant women. Commonly, the scammer will claim that they are inundated with messages and that you need to send them a "tribute" (money) to prove your sincerity before they will speak with you further. Typically, but not always, they will request that you send the money via an Amazon Gift Certificate. Not uncommonly, once the money is received, the scammer will stop responding to messages or delete their account. So, before sending anyone 'tribute', remember that your only reward may be a lower bank balance.
Quick Tips to avoid being scammed:
1) Mention of any of the following is a dead give-away that you're dealing with a scammer: Cashier's Check, Western Union, MoneyGram, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cote De'Ivory, or Cameroon.
2) One thing you may notice about scammers is that they often have a very poor understanding of the language and geography of the country they are claiming to be from. For example, you may see a user claiming to be from the United States who has a very unusual way of phrasing their sentences and/or lists themselves as living in locations that don't make sense.
3) Don't give out your personal information such as your instant messenger ID, email address, or phone number to users you just met online. Scammers will often try to take your conversation with them off the site quickly, often including their email address in the first message they send to you. The safest approach is to keep your conversations with unfamiliar users within the messaging system until you know them better.
4) Don't call unfamilar numbers you receive in text messages on your cell phone.
5) Our very best advice: Don't send money to strangers!
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