Scams & Cons

It takes a special type of human being to perpetrate COVID-19 scams. And, believe me, I’m not using the word ‘special’ in a positive sense. Scammers are, once again, taking advantage of a basic human emotion—fear. 

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is part of the coronavirus family of viruses. The name is an abbreviation for “coronavirus disease 2019.” For more facts about the disease, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

In a recent FBI Public Service Announcement, the FBI stated that COVID-19 scams fall into three categories: fake CDC emails, phishing emails, and counterfeit treatments or equipment. Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

Fake CDC emails

Scammers know that people are hungry for accurate information about the current coronavirus (COVID-19). There are actually a number of coronaviruses, of which COVID-19 is the latest. But, what people want to know is, how do I avoid getting sick? For the latest accurate information, check the CDC web page at CDC.gov.

This category includes emails that offer free or paid help, but link to sites where fraudsters can download malware onto your computer. One example is  the offer to download an app that tracks COVID-19 cases worldwide. The longer the virus is around, the more outlandish I expect these claims to become. For instance, how about an app that uses your smartphone’s camera to scan for COVID-19? If marketed properly, I could see huge potential for scammers to sell this completely bogus product.

Phishing emails

True, economic stimulus checks have been approved, but the information about how to get those checks is probably unclear to many people. For the facts, visit IRS.gov. Scammers know people are confused and are sending emails offering to help you “file for” or “track” your stimulus check. Contrary to what the scammers would have you believe, the government is not sending unsolicited emails for this purpose. If you get this type of email, it’s a scam.

And then there are the related scams—charitable contributions, airline carrier refund checks, fake cures and vaccines, or fake testing. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is a brand new playground for fraudsters.

Counterfeit treatments or equipment

There are already people out there offering fake testing. Don’t be fooled into thinking there’s a magic cure or a way to test for COVID-19 that you can get from some clown who sends you an unsolicited email. As the FBI pointed out in their PSA, “Be alert to counterfeit products such as sanitizing products and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including N95 respirator masks, goggles, full face shields, protective gowns, and gloves.”

Be smart, not gullible. Three tips to avoid COVID-19 scams

Tip 1: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 

Just think about this one simple rule the next time you receive an email or a call from someone making claims about their product or service. 

Tip 2: Think before you click. 

Scammers want you to feel, not think. So, before you click a link or answer a caller’s questions, fall back to Tip #1.

Tip 3: Clam up.

Never give out your personal information unless you’ve initiated contact with a known, reputable source. This applies whether you’re dealing with email, a website, or a phone caller.

Have you heard of check washing scams? These scams are one of the dangers of using checks instead of a credit card. This true story was sent to me by one of my readers. It begins when she mailed a check for twelve dollars to a charity in November. That one kind act set her up for a series of hits that just haven’t stopped.

The annual contribution

Like many people, Pat (not her real name) loves those calendars many charities send out. She mailed her annual contribution in November. The check was not cashed, and she didn’t receive the calendar. Assuming the check had been lost in the mail, she sent a second check. The good news is the calendar soon arrived. The bad news came months later.

Check washing scams can clean you out instantly

In late February, Pat wrote to me and said, “Last week my first $12 check was apparently ‘washed.’ They withdrew $6,950.50 from my bank account. It took me 5 hours to go from police, to bank, to notary, back to bank, back to police with 3 trips in between to go home and check on mom.”

Pat, who is the caretaker for her 89-year-old mother, can’t stay away from home for more than a couple of hours. She finds the entire process very frustrating. She said, “The police aren’t doing anything. The bank has 10 business days for their fraud dept to get back to me. The bank said even if I had put a stop on the check it would have been cashed anyway.”

Down the rabbit hole

You might think that’s the end of the story, but it’s only the beginning. Pat woke up one night wondering if the check washers might have tried to get credit in her name. As she discovered, having some credit is sometimes better than having none.

“I don’t have any credit cards,” Pat said. “I tried online and couldn’t freeze my credit. I must have made a dozen calls, and no one would help me. Then I remembered AAA has free credit monitoring. I went in there. It was a 45 minute wait, but when I started crying, they took me right away. We found since I don’t have ANY credit, that’s why I couldn’t freeze it on line. The man told me how to go to each of the 3 credit company websites and contact them direct.”

One of the credit companies handled things for Pat over the phone. Another made her fax all the information. The third is requiring her to file her request via postal mail. Pat said, “Just what I want, my social security number and everything else in postal mail. And there’s no way to talk to someone there. They also want a copy of the police report.”

Police not always helpful

For all the effort Pat put in when this debacle started, she didn’t realize she’d need a police report. The officer she spoke with didn’t tell her how to get one and didn’t seem interested in making that process easier.  Pat said, “The officer said there isn’t a police report, but gave me a phone number to call to get one, which makes no sense to me. I’ll be trying to get that today. The officer was totally not helpful at all and didn’t seem to listen or write down anything I said correctly.”

When Pat tried to get a copy of the police report, they told her it was not ready and she needed to call each day. As of last week, Pat was still trying to get her credit frozen at all three companies. After getting different answers from different agents, she escalated her calls to supervisors—and discovered it may not even be possible to freeze her credit accounts since she has nothing to freeze. 

Fortunately, Pat decided to speak to a senior help attorney. The attorney she met with discovered the bank had filled out the wrong paperwork. She spent another four hours at the bank, finally meeting with the manager to correct the situation. After that, she called the bank’s fraud department—six phone calls later, she still doesn’t know if she’ll get her money back.

5 Tips for victims of credit theft

1) Get a police report or report the crime at IdentityTheft.gov immediately after something like this happens. The police won’t want to deal with such a “mundane” issue, but a police report is essential for dealing with everyone from the credit card companies to individual creditors who may come knocking on your door.

2) Get help! You’ll need it to get through all the red tape. Seek the help of an attorney. Be careful, though. You could easily sink under the weight of attorney fees. Do an Internet search for “Legal Aid near me” for starters. 

3) Freeze your credit. Nat’s story shows just how difficult this can be. If you have credit, it should be easy to handle this task online. If you don’t this may not even be possible. 

4) Pat discovered an anti-fraud pen that prevents thieves from washing a check. However, in one of her phone calls with the bank’s fraud department, she was told that the pens are not always effective at preventing check washing scams. My advice would be that if you don’t have a credit card, see if your bank offers an online bill pay service. It should be more secure than writing checks and mailing them.

5) I highly recommend getting a credit card and paying it off every month with an electronic payment made direct from your checking account. You’ll have 60 days to dispute any fraudulent charges on that card, which can be a huge relief if something happens.

In 2019, charity scams are alive and well. Because December is the month when charities receive a large portion of their funding, and when scammers ramp up their efforts to stuff their wallets with your money. Whether your favorite cause is animal welfare or youth development, the thing that binds us all together is we want our dollars to be used properly, not wasted on overhead and exorbitant salaries. With that goal in mind, here are three tools to evaluate charities before you give.

Charity Navigator

My personal favorite is Charity Navigator. I like that they evaluate charities based on two factors: their financial health and their accountability/transparency. Click here to see how Charity Navigator determines their rankings. They also have a listing of top-rated charities in different categories such as animals, arts and culture, the environment, homelessness, and more.

Charity Watch

Another excellent way to evaluate charities is Charity Watch, which bills itself as ” America’s most independent, assertive charity watchdog.” According to Charity Watch, they dive deep into the finances of more than 600 charities to give a thorough determination of where donated dollars go. If you want to see just how dark the underbelly of the charity scam beast is, take a look at their CharityWatch Hall of Shame, which exposes fraud and deceit for charities in the areas of dealing with homeless teens to cancer research. While I was on their site I checked out some of my favorites and found them all to have at least a B+ rating.

Consumer Reports

The 2019 Consumer Reports Best and Worst Charities for your donations list is a good quick reference if you don’t have a specific charity in mind. Their list of best and worst covers a range of interests. One of the tips they emphasize is to watch out for similar sounding names. For instance, the Cancer Research Institute earns high marks on this report, but the Walker Cancer Research Institute is ranked as one of the worst.

Bottom line: sometimes it takes more than one source

So what differentiates these two soundalikes? Charity Watch doesn’t answer that question because it gives the Cancer Research Institute an A, but doesn’t rate the Walker Cancer Research Institute. But Charity Navigator, who also gives their highest ranking to the Cancer Research Institute, susses out the biggest reason. According to their reports, the Cancer Research Institute spends more than 85% of their funding on programs to help cancer research. The Walker Cancer Research Institute spends only 8.5% on programs, but 83% on fundraising. Walker does not appear very transparent in their finances, which is the opposite of the Cancer Research Institute.