Computer fraud index
Expect computer fraud to increase. Below is a list of frauds I’ve come across lately. Click on a term to learn more.
- Six Figure Mentors
- Credit card fraud
- Domain Service Notice
- Free Wifi Fraud
- Hotel guests & credit card numbers
- Identity theft paraphernalia
- MacKeeper clean your Mac
- Just pay for shipping
Credit card fraud starts with a lie
Someone contacted me saying they were promoting a new brain supplement called Neuro Elite. I was told that I could have it for free if I would pay for the shipping. It never occurred to me that this might be credit card fraud.
I foolishly agreed and gave them my credit card number. Later I checked my credit card statement and saw the shipping charge for $2.99. It was from a company called Cphelth.com.
The charges increase
A week after that charge was posted there was another charge from Cphelth.com for $89.73.
I phoned the credit card company to complain. They explained that, after getting the product, I had two weeks to cancel. Otherwise I would be charged for the first bottle and be placed on monthly auto-ship.
The lady at the credit card company said that she had been scammed like this 3 years previously.
Read the fine print
I phoned Chelth.com. I was told that the terms & conditions explain that I had two weeks to get out of this contract. Who reads the fine print?
I went to the Chelth.com website. The ONLY thing on their website was the little box you see reproduced here. Notice at the bottom how people can cancel their auto-ships for the various scam products this company represents.
Stop the scammers
I recently spoke to someone else was similarly scammed with a different product. She clicked on a Facebook ad saying that all she had to do was pay for shipping. The weight-loss product never did arrive. But, she was charged a huge amount a few weeks after the shipping charge.
Stop a scammer today. Pass this information on.
Domain service notice
Can you figure out what is fraudulent about the message below from a junk email?
As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification for your business Domain name search engine registration. This letter is to inform you that it’s time to send in your registration.
Failure to complete your Domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.
They are just trying to scare you into buying a service you do not need. Ignore them.
MacKeeper Mac scan
You notice a small window in the upper right of your Mac screen that reads “system scan recommended”. It is accompanied by a little robot-looking icon.
The advice page I found said You must have MacKeeper installed. Get rid of it. If this is a browser pop-up, then it’s a phishing scam and should be ignored.
For the average person MacKeeper is very difficult to remove from a computer. I went to the MacWorld website and read an article entitled How to uninstall MacKeeper from your Mac.
It showed me how to install a legitimate free program called Malwarebytes. It would help me purge MacKeeper from my Mac. I did so and then emptied my trash to make sure it was completely gone.
Expiration notice
I received a fraudulent expiration notice from this email address: newsletters@takecheapgeo.de. I knew it was a scam when I saw they wanted me to renew my domain name for $86/year. The real price is closer to $10/year.
The subject of the email was: freewebdesign.club Final Notice. Then, within the email near the top in red, it said, “expiration notice”.
They had a fake unsubscribe notice at the bottom. It did not work.
To prevent these frauds, always get your domain names from only one or two different domain sellers.
Related Pages
Hotel guests and credit card numbers
The Independent website says Facebook user Jack Sng shared in his Facebook about how scammers are targeting hotel guests and warns them to be extremely careful. Calling it “one of the smartest scams I have heard about,” he went on to describe how the scam works. Read more.
Identity theft paraphernalia
The DJPowerMixTape website says: The three were taken into custody on Wednesday, July 13, and charged following investigations several follow-up operations which resulted in the seizure of electronic devices suspected to be card readers, card writers, skimmers and other paraphernalia used in identity theft. Read more.
Credit card fraud on the rise
The Medicine Hat News says Glock recalls instances where a customer would enter a $75 tip by mistake and ask for cash back, claiming they only meant to enter $7.50, with drivers later learning the card being used was fraudulent. Read more.
Website on how to commit credit card fraud
The Art of Charm website has a telephone conversation with an ex-con. He learned all about how to commit credit card fraud from a website.
The Art of Charm takes a rare glimpse inside the business and mind of a professional credit card fraudster and social engineer.
- Learn about the internet criminal underworld.
- Meet one of the former top dogs from the site, and
- Hear how he started his credit card fraud business.
- Learn how he went to jail and why.
- Learn how he made thousands from fraud and how easy it was.
- Learn about reprograming credit cards
- Learn how social engineering is crucial to the scam’s success.
- Find out how he took his credit card factory mobile
- Learn how he got caught and became an informant for the FBI
Free wifi problem
To learn more about the hazards of using free wifi, watch the YouTube video below.
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