International and local scams alert

There are scams all over the world. scams have no restrictions. So you need to be very careful and cautious with whom you deal with, especially those from the African region, as the tax and banking laws in African regions are very rigid.

We all find the offer of making quick and easy money very tempting, but they are not very reliable and you often become the victim of a common crime.

Both local and international scams are promoted in many difference ways, it could be an email, a job opportunity, work permits, work from home opportunities and lottery winnings. Anyone from a work from home mum, grandmother, retired person or a teenager can become prey to a scam. One doesn't often know they are in a scam, until it's too late.

LOCAL SCAMS

ATM scam

There are several scam artists who prey on ATM users quite regularly. These scam artists hang around the ATM or sit around in the car and observe you falling into their trap, which they setup before anyone uses the ATM. How do these scams operate? The scammers insert a black film in the slot where the ATM card is inserted and a camera just above it to trace your PIN number. When the distressed customer walks out to talk to the bank manager to report the card being swallowed up by the ATM machine, the scam artist has already recorded the PIN using the camera and pull the black film to pull out the ATM card. The scammer then takes the camera and ATM card/s to his or her car or uses it at another ATM to withdraw money from the account.

Charity scams

Organizations and people pose as charities and collect money and other items which are then re-sold for profits. Beware that what you give as charity is being used to make profits and run a businesses.

Bank account scams

There are several types of these scams but make sure that you don't fall for any of them. You may get a call saying that they are calling from the bank and that something is wrong with your account and needs your verification. They ask your personal details to verify the account. There are also scams where bogus websites are created in the name of some popular Banks and very confidential account information is being used to withdraw money.

Astrology scams and fortune teller

Sums of money is requested to predict your future and good fortune through reading tarot cards.

Identity scams

A person's personal information is stolen and used to access bank accounts, obtain discounts and special offer and access restricted areas and files. These scams exist in a work place as well.

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INTERNATIONAL SCAMS

Scam artists are from other countries use pre paid calling cards, mobile phone connections and email addresses to trick people. They usually call people from various parts of the world using a calling card or a mobile phone to inform a person that they are the lucky winner in a draw of some sort and that they need to send money via western union or any other mode of payment as insurance to cover their cash prize. Others use mobile phones to operate their international scam network and establish bogus company names, so when you call them back the recorded message is like when you would call any big company.

There are various types of international scams:

• Scams that offer huge returns on your investments. There is no such bank or private lender that can offer huge returns on your investment. Places and people who offer high interest rates can be easily identified as scams.
• The Nigerian scam is the most popular International scam, where scammers use the government as a scape-goat to appropriate money from people in other countries. The worst part of this scam is that you cannot report this scam since you are an accomplice to the crime as well.
• Work from home scams - many of us will not know that sending money to register for a work from home position is a scam until we have actually made the payment. Subscriptions and registrations are paid for and the next thing you do is wait for your assignment to arrive but it never does or in some instances your work they say is not up to the mark.
• Credit-card wipe out scams - A few of us are gullible and would do anything to make our huge credit card expenditure disappear. There are many who fall for scams that offer credit card rebates and wipe outs. There is really no such thing as a credit card wipe out, you simply have to pay for what you purchase.
• Foreign lottery scams - Even though we have never registered or taken part in any foreign lottery, we always get many emails saying that we are a lucky winner, foreign lotteries are illegal and therefore since you are not a citizen of that country you are on no way eligible to win. The best thing you can do is to hit the delete button on such emails. 

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Never take anything for granted, especially if you feel that you have just been sent a email or was given a telephone call about an offer that is too good to be true.

Tips to avoid the cash-for-gold rip-off

If you want to avoid being ripped off by cash-for-gold websites, do your homework first. Get a rough idea of how much your jewellery is worth before sending it off.

1. Weigh your gold

Weigh your pieces on an accurate set of scales so you know how heavy each piece is in grams.

2. Check the carat

Find out the gold content. Carats are the measure of purity. Pure gold is 24 carat (ct.) This can also be expressed as a percentage: for example, 9 ct. gold is 9/24 = 37.5% pure, so a 10g piece of 9ct gold jewellery will contain 3.75g of pure gold.

If you don't know the purity it might be worth taking your it to your local jeweller for advice.

3. Check the price of gold

Scan the financial pages of a daily newspaper or a financial website such as the London Bullion Market Association to find out the current spot gold price, which is quoted per troy ounce (one troy ounce = 31.1 grams).

As at 4 March the spot gold price was £895 or £29 per gram. But don't confuse this with the scrap metal value, which is lower. According to Goldprice, which has a useful scrap gold price calculator on its website, the equivalent scrap gold price would be around £21 per gram (18ct.), £11.68 (10ct.).

You probably won't be offered anywhere near this by a buyer, but if the offer is less than 10% of the intrinsic value, look elsewhere.

4. Write an inventory

Before sending any jewellery to a cash-for-gold website make sure you write an inventory of the items and take photos of them to record their condition. If you reject the offer but a piece comes back to you damaged you'll have evidence to refute any claim that it arrived in that condition.

5. Check the website's policies

If your item of jewellery contains gemstones, make sure you know what the gold-buying company's policy is first before sending anything off.

Avoid weight loss or diet scams

Whether we need to or not, many people worry about their weight and it's a weak point fraudsters are adept at targeting. The promise of easy weight loss program makes it all too tempting to open their wallets and sign up for pills or schemes that will only make them lose the wrong sort of pounds.

Weight loss or diet scams are not new, they've been around for centuries, from soothsayers through to snake-oil salesmen. The difference now is the internet has made it so much easier for fraudsters to reach potential victims.

The majority of diet scams are conducted online via searches, adverts and spam emails. Spam alone is a massive driver, according to a recent report from drug company Pfizer, advertising black market medicines accounts for nearly 25% of all UK spam emails. But times are changing and rip-offs on social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, are becoming increasingly popular.

The fact that fraudsters often trade in victims' personal or financial details, adding them to so-called suckers' lists - health scams frequently involve the sale of pills that can be dangerous to your health, or be addictive, for the crooks it's big business, earning criminals around £45 billion a year - according to the same report - while the effect on consumers is massively detrimental.

1. Free trials

Other sites offer free diet pill trials but things aren't all they seem. In many diet scams, customers must cancel deliveries within 2 weeks of ordering, regardless of whether they have received their order. If they don't, further packages of the supplements will be posted at a hugely inflated cost. As victims must pass on their card details to cover postage and packaging, they are exposed to further payments, often without realising it.

This was an issue the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) raised with Beyond Nutra Ltd of Kildington, Oxfordshire. The company is behind Beyondraspberryketone.co.uk, a website selling 'wonder' berries that will make you 'lose weight and feel great' on a free 14-day trial. It subsequently charges a huge monthly sum – currently £84.95 plus up to £9.95 in postage and packaging – when the '14-day trial' offer is over.

Last year, the ASA stated: "We considered the prominent claims such as "TELL US WHERE TO SEND YOUR TRIAL!", "ACT NOW AND GET YOUR TRIAL!", "RUSH MY TRIAL" and "Get Your TRIAL Today!" would be understood by consumers to mean that they were signing up only to receive a trial bottle of the product, for which they would not be charged." When we checked Beyondraspberryketone.co.uk, the same marketing statements were still being made, despite the ASA's requirement to remove them.

2. Dangerous medications

Many pharmaceutical or herbal supplements could contain banned, untested or undeclared items, which is an issue that concerns the government's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), many adverts make attractive weight loss claims, the fact is many unlicensed slimming pills simply do not work and can contain dangerous, unknown ingredients.

Looking for ways to con people is a full-time job for fraudsters. They spend hours conjuring up ruses to hoodwink the public by adapting scams to cater for new fads and trends. This makes them hard to spot, but not impossible as many cons are variations on a few main themes.

3. Miracle cures

Fraudsters also claim to be able to cure everything from Aids to arthritis, as well as providing remedies that will guarantee weight loss. But if you have an existing medical condition, such as diabetes or cancer, taking the wrong type of pills could prove disastrous.

The MHRA told us: "It simply is not worth the danger to your health to buy and use these products as you don't know what is in them. Any weight loss results they offer could come with a huge risk."

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of diet scams, so many offer false assurances that they are legitimate. In the case of diet scams, slick websites and fake testimonials from non-existent customers unfortunately often do the trick.

A current example of this type of scam revolves around the sale of acai berry supplements as miracle weight-loss pills. A quick search on Google reveals numerous sites using dodgy testimonials to sell acai berry pills. One we found features a quote, titled 'recommended by doctors' alongside a photo of a man in a white medical coat and stethoscope, but it's a stock photo and not attributed.

There's also a testimonial from 'Jennifer, 31', who states: "I still can't believe how quickly and easily I lost weight… I think it's a miracle!" It must be, as there is no reliable evidence that eating these berries will result in weight loss.

4. Fake endorsements

Celebrity endorsements are lawfully and widely used to promote everything from supermarkets to airlines. The rationale being we tend to trust a familiar face. It's a simple strategy, and one that fraudsters have leapt on.

For example, Slimzene, a trading name of Natural Health Network, used fake endorsements from celebrities including Adele, Victoria Beckham and Lorraine Kelly for its Raspberry Ketone diet. It also included fake quotes and doctored images (showing the celebs apparently before and after the diet).

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Take action if you spot a scam

If you stumble upon what you think is a scam, report it to Action Fraud (0300 123 2040). If you have taken diet pills that could be part of a scam, contact your doctor. Tell your bank as soon as possible if you revealed your bank account or credit card details. You may be able to claim losses back from your credit or debit card provider.