Dear Readers: Lots of you have been asking The Fixer about weird phone calls or texts claiming you've won a prize or offering help getting a job, mortgage modification or some other deal.
Some of these calls are coming from area codes like 202 in Washington, D.C. which makes them seem legitimate. But thanks to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology, that caller could be anywhere from a café in Nigeria to an apartment in Romania.
That's just one of the obstacles the good guys have in fighting the bad guys, we learned at a national conference on scams this week in Chicago. The conference, sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, attracted agents from the FBI, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other agencies as well as people from the retail and financial sectors — all trying to stop scams that steal millions over the phone, online and through the mail.
Readers who've fallen for one of these cons, whether it's a counterfeit check scam or a fake foreign lottery, often ask why the authorities can't catch the people who are doing it.
Sometimes they do, but it's hard. These are highly organized rings of scammers that can set up in a residence or hotel overseas, use prepaid cell phones or VoIP technology to hit up their victims, and dispatch "runners" to quickly pick up money at wire transfer outlets (often mom-and-pop convenience stores). By the time the victim realizes it was a scam, the money is gone and the operation has packed up and moved on.
The officials we heard from at the conference encouraged readers who encounter a scam to report it to FTC.gov, IC3.gov and stopfraud.gov, as they do analyze e-mail addresses and phone numbers to look for patterns.
Meanwhile, prevention may be easier than a cure. Scammers often target older victims, so look for these warning signs in elderly parents, relatives and neighbors:
† Are they receiving piles of junk mail from sweepstakes, charities, psychics, investment companies and work-at-home schemes?
† Do they not recognize spam e-mails for what they are?
† Are they secretive about calls from their "phone friends"?
† Have they marked dates on their calendar for when they expect to receive funds?
† Are they having trouble paying their bills and buying food?
Remember, many older people are unlikely to admit they've been scammed because they don't want to look foolish. Others have been threatened with harm by their scammers. One FBI agent at the conference said she's worked with victims who've lost $300,000 or more.
Watch what you fill out
One of the scams the feds did successfully bust, with the help of Israeli authorities, was a ring that used boiler rooms in Tel Aviv and Eilat, Israel to conduct a long-running lottery prize scam. They'd call elderly Americans and try to convince them to wire money to cover supposed taxes and fees on their winnings.
Seized in the raid were tens of thousands of little slips of paper that people had filled out in hopes of winning a sweepstakes.
The victims had provided their own names, addresses and phone numbers to those who would scam them.
Mom will appreciate this
If you're planning to send flowers to your mom this Mother's Day, the local Better Business Bureau reminds you to do your homework.
The BBB has gotten 533 complaints about floral orders in the past 12 months, up from 321 in the 12 months before that. Among consumers' disappointments: that the arrangement was smaller than expected, the wrong color, had the wrong type of flowers or wasn't delivered properly.
Before you plunk down your money, do this:
† Check out the floral company at BBB.org and other online complaint sites.
† Allow enough time for shipping and make sure the shipping date is guaranteed.
† Read the fine print for whatever guarantee the company offers.
† Make sure the florist has a way to reach you if the delivery instructions need to be confirmed or if the delivery driver needs additional directions.
Fact Box: THE FIXER HAS SAVED YOU$1,132,265
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