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Terry Ambrose

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Popular scams a hot topic at Kiwanis meeting

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QRCodeI just got back from my visit with the Kiwanis Club of Grantville in La Mesa. It was a great meeting and the presentation went very well, with lots of questions and participation. A couple of the things that seemed to surprise the members most were the triangulation scam and the QR code scam. Here’s a synopsis of each and how you can avoid them.

The triangulation scam was in the FBI’s 2012 Top Ten and has been very popular for years. The scam has three victims and takes a little while to unfold, but it has the most severe consequences for Victim #3.

    • Victim number 1’s credit card number is stolen.
    • Victim number 2 is the retailer who sells to scammer (who uses Victim #1’s credit card)
    • Victim number 3 participates in and wins the bidding in an online auction. Victim #3 pays the scammer for the item.
    • The scammer orders the item and has it shipped directly to Victim #3, so as far as Victim #2 is concerned, #3 is the purchaser.
    • Victim #1 discovers the fraudulent charges on his credit card and initiates a chargeback.
    • Victim #2 discovers they’ve been scammed and calls the police. They provide the contact info for Victim #3.
    • Victim #3 gets a visit from the police, has to return the merchandise, and may be investigated for fraud.

The QR code scam involves the placement of fake QR codes (which can contain almost any information, including contact info, text, and website url’s). These codes are being used more and more for legitimate purposes, but are gaining popularity with scammers. The image in this post shows a QR code that goes to my home page. That code could just as easily take someone to a website that downloads malware or is a fake site for a product.

You can learn more about QR codes and how they can be used in my June newsletter, The Snitch (click here). And the easiest way to see whether a code might be a fake or not? Run your finger over it. If it’s pasted on with a label, don’t trust it. Thanks again to the Kiwanis Club of Grantville for having me as a speaker, I had a great time!

By the way, June edition of The Snitch also includes a great Summer Minestrone soup recipe, so why not check it out?

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About Terry

I started out as a skip tracer. Just in case you don’t know, that’s the guy who finds the people who don’t want to be found. It was the little things—getting paid to lie—that made skip tracing the fun part of the job.

Those years of chasing deadbeats taught me many valuable life lessons, such as liars come from all walks of life, and always keep your car in the garage.

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