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Terry Ambrose

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Scams & Cons

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Social Security benefits and the scams they spawn

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Controversy creates opportunity, pure and simple. And in some circles, Social Security benefits have become quite the controversial subject. This makes Social Security, or at least the subject of what to do with it, a great starting point for a scam. In this case, the scam targets those who don’t want to see the program […]

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Would you fall for a hit-and-run theft?

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Would you fall victim to this type of hit-and-run theft? It’s busy in the grocery store and you’re picking up a few vegetables. The customer standing next to you makes a comment. You answer. The next thing you know, the stranger—and your wallet—are gone and your credit card balance is growing like crazy. The hit-and-run […]

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Zika email scam — health scare makes the rounds

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During the Olympics, the Zika virus came into its own. Kerri Walsh Jennings was only one of the US Olympians who wanted to be protected. In her case, Brazilian volleyball fans jeered her and April Ross with chants of, “Zika, Zika,” during their match against China. Other Olympians either stayed away from the games, left […]

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Ten tips to avoid scams from the FTC

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Here are ten tips to avoid scams from the Federal Trade Commission. The list is available in a trifold PDF. If you have a group or class that could use this type of educational piece, it can be ordered in quantity at no charge from here or you can view the PDF here. Ten tips […]

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Bank Robbers app from the FBI helps track criminals

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Do you remember back to the days of the first iPhones? Apple had a commercial touting all of the apps available on the App Store. The commercial featured a catch marketing tagline, “There’s an app for that.” Guess what? The FBI can now say the same thing about catching bank robbers. They’ve just released a […]

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Smarter in 14 days — the old scam remains strong

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Who doesn’t want to be smarter in 14 days? If there was a pill that would do the job, would you take it? My email box is bulging with promotions for drugs like Geniux, Neurocell, Adderin, and Synage. According to the emails, these miracle cures are capable of rapidly improving cognition. Let’s be clear: the premise […]

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IRS phone call scam uses old tricks – new techniques

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If you thought the days of worrying about income tax were behind you, think again. On August 2, the IRS announced there has been an increase in telephone calls in which the caller claims to be an IRS agent.  The callers have also begun using robo-dialers to increase the number of people they reach in this IRS phone call […]

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Hurricane relief scams — the season begins

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It’s August, which means the East Coast is gearing up for hurricane season. Sadly, with those tropical storms come the hurricane relief scams. The problem has grown to where disaster fraud is now a recurrent billion dollar social problem. That’s a lot of fraud. Greed, ambition, and, yes, even qualifications, determine which hurricane relief scams […]

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Energy bill email scam has entertainment value

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The email scam I’m covering today led off with a killer summary. “Your energy bill might be cancelled in July.” The line caught my eye right away. It was obvious. This energy bill email scam was going to be something special…at least from the standpoint of entertainment value. The energy bill email scam The email […]

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The rise of ransomware — a scary direction

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If you’re a cybercrook, the “next big thing” is the rise of ransomware. Ransomware is a type of malware that locks computer files and deletes them if a ransom is not paid. Typically, the criminal will require payment in bitcoins, which is an untraceable digital currency. For you and me, the rise of ransomware is scary. The […]

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