Okay people it’s the holidays again, and this is the time where the scammers are really getting busy trying to get into your pocket.
There are plenty of scams to be aware of and it’s not just around the holidays either. The scams could come from word of mouth to the internet. If something is too good to be true, then it probably is. Everywhere you turn, you’ll find someone showing you how to make money on the internet when in reality, the people who are telling you about a product are the ones who are making the money.
Nothing in this world is free.
So, if they come at you with “It’s simple rules, easy to follow, make $2,000 in 30 minutes” there is a catch and it’s usually “pay this amount to cover. . .”. Now WHO do you know has made money from the internet in 30 days? Let alone 30 minutes? Why is it that we can’t get in touch with these people who has made this kind of money. Granted there are “real” internet opportunities out there but, you’ll be broke trying to find the right one that fits you.
I can’t tell you how many emails I have received about making money online only to find by the end of the video, these people are asking for money themselves.
When you are trying to make money yourself, even $7.00 is a lot to ask for.
If one somebody ask for $7.00 for their product and 1000 people sent in for this product, that’s $7,000 in ONE day! Do you know what I could do with THAT kind of money?
Let us talk about a different type of scam.
You know the type of scam that comes in an email from a person you don’t even know? Some of us are curious. . .we will open and read it. If it concerns you doing a job, and it doesn’t come from one of the well-known job sites, it’s a scam. If the person doesn’t have your name and it just states “dear friend”, it’s a scam. Some scammers will do their best to get to know you before dropping what may seem like a sob story on you just to get into your bank account.
Uh~huh. . . I did a job that I thought was a legitimate job of writing/editing. I was thinking “oh good, I get to show my skills AND get paid.” The first thing I did was ask where he received my email? This is what you do. You ask questions. He seemed to give me a reasonable answer and so, I checked into what he told me. It seemed to pan out to be real.
But, then he told me something that blew me away.
“I am going to send you more that what is owed. Take out what’s due and send it to this person.” RED FLAG. Now, I know for a fact that this is what people call money laundering. For those of you who do not know, money laundering is the process of concealing sources of money. Money evidently gained through crime is “dirty” money, and money that has been “laundered” to appear as if it came from a legitimate source is “clean” money (described by Wikipedia). It could be a money laundering scam if they ask you for personal information, they rush you to deposit the funds to your bank account, if it comes from a third party, and/or the address is different from who you are speaking with about the funds.
When it happens, contact the bank where it came from and speak with the senior banker if possible. It’s likely that the check, money order or cashier’s check is fraudulent.
Stacey Barlow is a contributing blogger for JenningsWire, a blogging community created by Annie Jennings.
JenningsWire.com is an online feature magazine created by National Publicist, Annie Jennings, of the PR Firm specializing in providing publicity services and book promotion to authors, speakers and experts. Annie’s firm offers the famous pay for placement publicity program as well the powerful radio talk show campaign that comes up a guarantee of performance, bookings on big radio talk shows in major cities as well as unlimited media training.