Terry Ambrose

Writing is like a good barbecue sauce, if it ain't bold, it ain't worth doing.

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Beware the temptation to skip the Covid-19 vaccine line

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Image for skip the covid-19 vaccine line courtesy of https://mynews4.com/news/local/prominence-health-plan-warns-nevadans-of-vaccine-scammers
Image courtesy of https://mynews4.com/news/local/prominence-health-plan-warns-nevadans-of-vaccine-scammers

There are only two ways to get a Covid-19 vaccine—wait your turn or skip the Covid-19 vaccine line. As if coronavirus wasn’t enough, scammers are taking advantage of the public’s vaccine anxiety. Here’s what you need to know to avoid becoming the victim of a scam that could cost you.

The legit route – wait your turn

It’s pretty simple, right? For many, this is the best route to follow. Age, profession, and even geography can impact how long someone has to wait for a vaccine. I consider myself lucky to have gotten my first dose on January 30th. But, what about those who aren’t in my age group? Or who don’t have the right kind of job? Or who simply live in the ‘wrong’ place?

Vaccine hunting – the semi-legit route to skip the Covid-19 vaccine line

If you’re not eligible to receive a vaccine right away, there’s a new phenomenon called vaccine hunting. Vaccine hunting came about because some vaccine doses were spoiling and ending up in the trash. With their desire to see no dose go to waste, enterprising vaccine hunters started calling pharmacies to see if they might have extra doses on any given day. The process is very time consuming. Beware, it might even be necessary to stake out a pharmacy early to grab a place in line. Some vaccine hunters are so committed to this approach that they’ve created Facebook groups to help others. Not everyone agrees that vaccine hunting is ethical, but it’s certainly legal and it does make sure otherwise lost doses don’t go to waste.

The money route – not always legit or safe

Where there’s money, there are scams. The Ohio Better Business Bureau reported that they’re getting reports of people receiving phone calls telling them they’re eligible to receive a vaccine. The catch? You have to pay money or give up your health insurance information to get the shot.

In Nevada, a health plan is warning its customers if they get a call that sounds too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. The stories are the same across the country as these Covid-19 scams proliferate.

Three tips to avoid a Covid-19 scam

1) Hang up on robocalls. Scammers are calling to pitch everything from fake coronavirus treatments, to work at home schemes to get your money, and personal information
2) Ignore offers for vaccinations and home test kits. Right now, scammers are selling products to treat or prevent the coronavirus with no evidence that they work
3) Fact check information. Scammers, and sometimes well meaning people, share information that hasn’t been verified. Before you pass information on, check trusted sources like federal, state, and local government websites

https://mynews4.com/news/local/prominence-health-plan-warns-nevadans-of-vaccine-scammers

Did you like this scam tip? If so, check out last month’s scam tip, Three coronavirus scams and how to avoid them.

Three coronavirus scams and how to beat them

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2020 was a crappy year for many people, but it’s turned into a great time to be a scammer. Why? All in all, there’s a tsunami of COVID-19 cases. There’s hope on the horizon in the form of vaccines. And many people are running scared. Indeed, it’s an excellent time to run any one of these three coronavirus scams, and that means you and I need to be extra vigilant.

Three coronavirus scams

Vaccine priority

The contact may come by phone, email, or text, but the story is the same—COVID-19 vaccines are available early. And you may be selected to qualify for priority treatment. Pretty awesome, right? Just pay a small fee or provide your Medicare number, and you’ll get priority treatment.

Contact tracing

A contact tracer calls to ask questions about your exposure to COVID-19. This is an especially difficult issue because legitimate contact tracers deserve every bit of cooperation they can get. But, if the caller asks for your Medicare number or financial information, you’ll know that call’s a fake. In another twist, a scam caller might ask if you’re interested in paying to set up a COVID-19 test.

Testing availability

Not everyone has equal access to COVID-19 testing. For some, that access may be limited by geography, availability, or personal income. This sketchy availability makes some people a prime target for a scam offering fast and easy testing. Again, this scam is straightforward. All you do is pay a small fee or provide your Medicare number. Either way, the person contacting you is offering an expedited COVID-19 test.

What these scams have in common

  • All three of the scams are designed to either get your money or, if you’re on Medicare, your Medicare ID.
  • All three can be an entree to Medicare fraud, which is a huge business. In 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated there were $29 billion in ‘improper payments.’
  • These scams can start with an email, a text message, or a phone call. Some scammers have even started going door-to-door and soliciting in person.

Three tips to avoid three scams

  • Never give out your personal information, including your Medicare ID if you have one, to an unknown party.
  • You already know not to click on a link or respond to a message, right? Even if it’s an offer for an early vaccine, expedited testing, or to schedule an appointment for these services.
  • Social media sites are great places for cute kitty videos, but they’re terrible for finding a service provider. If you need information about contact tracing, coronavirus testing, or vaccines, visit the CDC website.

Did you like this scam tip? Why not check out last month’s tip, 5 tips to avoid a package delivery scam?

5 tips to avoid a package delivery scam

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scam tip avoid package deliver scams

Shopping online has become the way to go during the 2020 holiday season for most of us. For instance, we get packages delivered by mail, UPS, FedEx, and Amazon delivery. We’ve also heard how the delivery services are all pushed to their limits. With that in mind, I wanted to provide this post with 5 tips to avoid a package delivery scam.

Package delivery scams begin with an email or text

An email or text arrives in your inbox. Your first question may be, how do I know if the message is legitimate? Here are a few clues. First, watch for messages that have been personalized with your first name. Second, be on the lookout for messages that include one of these options. Third, you’re most vulnerable (and should be extra cautious) when you’re expecting a package from a particular shipper and the message says it’s from that same shipper.

  • An unexpected message with a link to check the delivery status of a package. (With UPS and FedEx you can request to receive status updates, so those wouldn’t apply.)
  • A warning that the package can’t be delivered until you update your delivery preferences or your personal information.
  • The package was ‘lost’ and recently ‘found.’ You can claim the package by clicking the included link.

Tips to avoid package delivery scams

Thanks to the explosion of online retail sales, package delivery scams have become much easier to implement. Personally, I know I’m more susceptible to this type of message when there’s a package on the way. One of the first times I saw this scam in action was when I actually was expecting a package and the message arrived a couple of days before my scheduled delivery. With that in mind, here are the first four tips to avoid a package delivery scam:

  • Don’t click that link! You know this, right? (As I mentioned above, this doesn’t apply if you’ve requested status updates from your shipper.)
  • Delete the message to avoid clicking the link by accident
  • If you know how, block the sender.
  • Spam text messages can be reported by forwarding the message to SPAM (7726) and then reporting it to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.

Tip #5: What to do if you click the link by accident

Depending upon the spammer’s intention, one of two things might happen. First, it’s possible they might download malware to your computer. To avoid this, keep your antivirus and malware software up-to-date.

The link may point to a fake website where you’ll be asked for personal information, logins, or banking information. Providing any of that information will take you down a rabbit hole and into a realm where you definitely don’t want to be, so close the website, delete the message, and be glad you didn’t go further.

Click here to check out more of my scam tips.

The Vast Platinum Shopping Credit Card — scam or a good deal?

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Vast Platinum Shopping Credit Card

Last week I received an email credit card offer for the Vast Platinum Shopping Credit Card. Not having seen a credit card offer in the mail in a long time, I was curious. With a little checking, it became obvious very quickly that the email was a scam using what is, at best, a dubious, but legitimate, credit card.

The email offer

Dealing with spam (not the canned kind, but the email) can be almost a daily routine. How many times has some wannabe scammer sent out an email without spellchecking their work? Good grief, guys. Listen up, you need to pay more attention to details.

The email I received was from “Subject line.” Really? The actual subject line read, “1000 USD: You are Invited to Apply.” How nice. I was invited. It almost sounds like it would be a privilege to have the card—but then, that’s assuming I’d even want a card with such terrible terms.

The Vast Platinum Shopping Credit Card

The real Vast Platinum Shopping Credit Card isn’t much better than the email solicitation I received. To begin, this card is a store credit card, which means it’s for exclusive use at an online store. Unique Card Services offers this card and it comes with some very questionable terms.

The card comes with an application fee of $29.95 and a monthly fee of $19.95. That’s going to set you back almost $270 your first year. On their website, Unique Card Services has a large box that says there’s no monthly fee on the card, yet in the fine print it discloses that there actually is a monthly fee.

The company puts a positive marketing spin on the card terms—save big bucks shopping online, we never turn down an application, blah, blah. The flip side is the company is gouging unsuspecting people who need access to credit with exorbitant monthly fees and dubious claims. While not an out-and-out scam, this one runs as close to the line as it gets without crossing over. Save your money and find a better deal.

Did you like this scam tip? Take a look at last month’s, 6 tips for dealing with Amazon brushing scams.

6 tips for dealing with Amazon brushing scams

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Amazon brushing scams can bring free stuff you don't really want

A package from Amazon arrived about two weeks ago. My wife hadn’t ordered it. Nor had she paid for it. After a great deal of trouble, we finally found out how to get past the Amazon robots and get to a real person. We suspected this to be one of the Amazon brushing scams, and yet, when we finally reached a real person at Amazon to report it things did not go well.

What are Amazon brushing scams?

This is one of those scams that makes no sense to me. From what I can tell, it’s intent is to boost the positive reviews for a product on Amazon. As an author who’s always looking for reviews on his books, I get that. But what doesn’t make sense is that someone opens an account in your name, places an order, ships the package to your address, all so they can write up a fake review.

The ‘upside’ of a brushing scam

You get free stuff. In a way, it’s like hitting the lottery. Unfortunately, none of the stuff we’ve received so far was anything we wanted. The bigger problem is, I subscribe to the old adage that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Yup. There’s gotta be a catch.

Is there a downside?

According to the Better Business Bureau brushing scams are designed to help businesses sell more products. Since most online purchases are driven by reviews, there’s a certain logic to that. There is, however, another possibility. If your name and address is being used to create a fake Amazon account, that means someone has your name and mailing address. And therein lies the big potential downside.

In addition to their use as a way to boost online sales, brushing scams create the potential for exposure to identity theft. It sounds very ‘conspiracy theory-ish’, but a name and address are the starting place for all credit accounts. So while the average brushing scam is nothing more than an online reseller trying to boost their ratings on Amazon to sell more product, there’s the potential for it to lead to something much worse, which means they are not something that can be ignored.

5 Tips for dealing with Amazon brushing scams

Tip #1: Don’t take this lightly. Assume the worst and expect that someone is out to commit identity theft. Therefore, immediately check your account at Amazon and make sure your account has not been compromised. If it has, change your password immediately and update all of your account information.

Tip #2: Check with your credit card company to make sure there are no fraudulent charges on your card.

Tip #3: Check your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the only service where you get three annual credit reports for free. Other services will claim they’re doing that, but they’ll charge for the service.

Tip #4: Take photos of the shipping label and/or the packing slip for each package that you receive. The tracking numbers from these labels will be needed later.

Tip #5: Call Amazon and tell them what’s going on. They’ll need their tracking numbers from the shipping label or the packing slip. Tell them you want them to close the fake account that’s being used to send you packages. They will probably give you the runaround, but then you can go to Tip #6.

Tip #6: Report the issue to the Better Business Bureau It turns out that was the only way we got Amazon to take this seriously. Based on the emails we received from their representative, they must have a dedicated team to work on Better Business Bureau complaints. They did eventually close the bogus account, but it took far more work on our part than it should have.

Like this scam tip? Check out last month’s tip, Social media shopping scams warning signs and tips.

Social media shopping scams warning signs and tips

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social media shopping scams

 If you like shopping the sales you see on social media, think twice the next time you spot a great deal. On August 3, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported a rise in social media shopping scams. Read on to see how scammers are using social media for shopping scams.

Cookies, ads, and social media shopping scams

Let’s begin with cookies—and I’m not referring to chocolate chip or anything yummy like that. Google says, “A cookie is a small piece of text sent to your browser by a website you visit. It helps the website to remember information about your visit, like your preferred language and other settings.” So cookies are a major convenience tool for users, right? Well, yes, but that convenience comes at a very high cost. Google uses cookies from your computer for many good things. But besides all that good stuff, cookies are used to sell advertising. They’re also used to provide ‘relevant’ search results. (Seriously? Don’t even get me started on that subject!)

Recently, I was looking for a new flash attachment for my camera. Immediately after doing a little research on Amazon, I started seeing ads on Facebook for camera lighting options. An ad for an excellent product showed up in my timeline. Ever the skeptic, I found the company independently, checked their product ratings on their website and confirmed there were equally glowing reviews on Amazon. That got me more ads. In this case, the original ad was legitimate. The problem is, plenty of people are falling prey to ads that take them to fake websites.

A steal is not always a deal

According to the FBI, an increasing number of victims have not received items they purchased. They purchased these items from websites offering low prices on gym equipment, small appliances, tools and furniture. And let’s not forget face masks. No matter how much you love your social media, using it for shopping is very risky. (It’s the same for news, but that’s a different subject). A social media ad is very similar to an email solicitation—it could be legitimate, or it might be someone out to take your money and give you a shoddy product in return.

Warning signs

Beware the low price: Always suspect low prices from unknown retailers. The FBI reports that victims who ordered face masks received paper masks shipped from China, not the quality product that they ordered. Some victims of social media shopping scams were even told they needed to return the cheap masks to China to get a refund.

Always pay with a credit card: If a seller wants payment using an online money transfer service, don’t fall for it. You have zero protection with a money transfer.

Websites not using .com: Always look closely at the website address. If the domain isn’t a .com, you might be dealing with a scammer. I often use a whois lookup to see who owns a domain name. This is a free tool that can provide you with valuable information—and will also disclose those who are hiding their actual identity.

Free email address instead of company address: Anyone, repeat, anyone, can get a free email address. If you receive an email from an address that doesn’t use the business’s domain name, this could be a scammer.

If you’ve been scammed

Tip #1 Dispute the charges with your credit card company. (You used a credit card, right?) If you didn’t, contact your financial institution and ask for help.

Tip #2 File a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov.

Tip #3 Check your credit report. Once you’ve been the victim of fraudulent activity, expect it to continue. Scammers are not known for their compassion and, depending on how much information you gave them, you may have opened the door to losing more than the $10.95 you spent on those fifty-cent face masks.

If you like this scam tip, check out last month’s tip, Scam tip: free face masks—not really