Home of Mysteries with Character
National Collector’s Mint. The company name sounds very official, almost as though the company were somehow related to the US Mint. As it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth. The Federal Trade Commission just settled with National Collector’s Mint to avoid a lawsuit based on it’s practices in selling none other than […]
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Social media has become a normal part of our everyday lives. But, it’s also an opportunity for scammers to do their worst. There are different ways in which your personal information could be compromised, however these options rely on luring your to a fraudulent website. One possible way for scammers to bring you to their […]
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I recently ran a story in my Crime & Courts column on Examiner.com, Pharmaceutical firm caught in kickback scheme, that talked about Victory Pharma Inc. and it’s payments to doctors that ensured the prescription of their medications. While this practice is illegal, companies still attempt to engage in this practice of offering inducements to doctors. […]
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Earlier this week, I spoke to the Kiwanis Club of Lake San Marcos about how to stay safe from scams and cons. In that talk, we went over some of the different types of scams and, at one point, I talked briefly about what’s now called the Nigerian 419 scam (the name is derived from […]
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I just fell for this one because I saw a name I recognized as well as the formatting was nearly perfect. I didn’t notice that the message came into the wrong email address, but today there’s an email scam that supposedly is coming from LinkedIn to tell you about messages in your inbox. If you […]
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On Nov. 15, an email scam resurfaced that was first reported earlier this year. The email was supposedly from ADP, a business-to-business solution provider and references “ADP Funding Notification – Debit Draft.” The version of the email received on Nov. 15 reads: “Your Transaction Report(s) have been uploaded to the web site.” It then lists […]
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On October 23, the FBI issued an alert about a dating extortion scam via the Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3). According to the alert, the scam “baits individuals into intimate online conversations” and extorts money through blackmail. Online dating scams are certainly nothing new, however the October 23rd FBI alert indicates that there has been […]
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I wrote this article for my Crime and Courts column on Examiner.com earlier today. Included here is an image of the email received. In one sense, this is a testament to the interconnectedness of the Internet. There are three different countries involved in this scam, but the bottom line is that it’s still just plain […]
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This story ran in my Crime and Courts column on Examiner.com on October 13. The reality is that even apps in Google Play store have included a virus. US News & World Reportincluded a story on this months ago. On October 12, the FBI issued an alert through the Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3) to […]
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Today is release day for the Apple iPhone 5. Millions of people are waiting for their shipping notifications from UPS that will announce the shipment of their new phone. However, it’s also a day when those same people may be vulnerable to a new email scam. Unlike the Nigerian 419 scam, which works “offline,” this […]
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Big Island waterfall north of Hilo Unfortunately, I don’t remember which waterfall this is. We found on our drive up the coast of the Big Island. There was so much to see on this relaxing, peaceful side of the island.
