Fraud Tip of the Day - May 8

Telemarketing Scam Tips

• "You've been specially selected to hear this offer." Sure you have but only because you were the next number in the phone book.
  
  
• "You'll get a wonderful free bonus if you buy our product." If you have to pay anything the bonus isn't free.
  
  
• "You've won one of five valuable prizes." I'm guessing you've won the least valuable of these prizes which you will be asked to pay for anyway.
  
  
• "You've won big money in a foreign lottery." Did you enter one of these lotteries? Even if you did, how would they be able to track you down?
  
  
• "You must send money right away." Time is on your side. The faster they need the money, the more likely it is you are dealing with a fraudster.
  
  
• "This investment is low risk and provides a higher return than you can get anywhere else." This is a classic. High returns are always associated with high risk. If it's that great of an investment you'd already have heard about it.
  
  
• "You have to make up your mind right away." They don't want you to think about it because you might realize you're on the phone with a criminal.
  
  
• "You don't need to check our company with anyone" - including your family, lawyer, accountant, local Better Business Bureau, or consumer protection agency. Who knows what you might find. I'm guessing either nothing, indictments or warnings.
  
  
• "We'll just put the shipping and handling charges on your credit card." This question may be asked so that they can ship your free item to you. Those shipping and handling charges could be huge. So much for a free gift.
  
  
• "You don't need any written information about our company or references." Why not? Are they too cheap or is it because none exist. Either one of these answers is bad.