Identity Theft and Credit Card Theft

Hey everyone, just wanted to make a quick post. With the holiday seasons here, so is identity theft. When you're out there last minute Christmas shopping be careful of how you expose your credit cards!

With technology these days it's really easy for someone to get your CC info. One of the easiest ways I've seen is simply by taking a photo of it with a camera phone. When you take out your credit card to make a purchase, the thief quickly takes a snap shot of your number. Then the internet is their playground

So have a safe and happy holiday season and don't be a victim to identity theft and credit card theft.

Online Scam Videos Added

Hey everyone just writing to let you know I added a youtube feed to my nav bar on the right. It has a bunch of videos from Chris Malta about ebiz scams and other online scams and how to avoid them. Check them out leave some comments and pass them on.

Tis the Season to Pay it Forward, fa la la la la la la la la

As much as I love telling you guys about different scams out there, I find myself having a passion for helping people. I've always wanted to make a difference, but didn't know where to start.

I used to tell myself, "if I only won the lottery, or had my own business making a bunch of money, I could help so many people." Then I'd sit there and do nothing. So now it's time for a change!

You don't need a bunch of money to make a difference. I've really had a passion for helping the homeless families and individuals in my local area. I've decided to use social media and marketing to benefit others and not just myself.

My bright idea is to start a sleeping bag/coat/sweater/blanket etc drive. I've already posted a bulletin on my myspace account and twitter, and now on my blog.

The idea here is if anyone is interested in donating they can send me an email message at wintercoatdrive@yahoo.com

There I will contact you with details on where to send donations. Also I will send you more details as to where I will be taking your donations too. I still have some logistics to figure out, but I wanted to start creating a buzz.

Thanks to everyone for visiting my blog and reading this post, I know it's a little different, but hey different is good.

Lead Generator Scams

I was sitting here looking at my blog and realized.........How boring! Sure there's a lot of good info on here, and hopefully you've learned something, but not too entertaining.

If you're new to this blog....sorry bout that.

So below is a new video that my good friend Chris Malta did that talks about Lead Generator Scams. This is how these scams work. They get you to buy a $50 product that makes huge claims about the kind of money you'll make. Then after they've gotten your email, phone number, and other personal info, the "fun" begins. All this info is a "lead", hence the "lead generator scams" title.

So enjoy and if you like what you see Chris has a whole series of other videos about various other scams. Just head over to Chris' Scambuster Page or click the link below the video.

See more Free Videos at ChrisMalta.com!

Update to Nigerian Scams

So I was watching Oprah today. Don't laugh lol. She was doing an episode on nigerian scams, so I thought I'd update you guys on something interesting I learned.

A new form of these nigerian email scams go like this. They email you with an official looking logo saying they are from the nigerian chamber of commerce type of thing. They say in this email, that they are sorry you've been a victim of these 419 nigerian scams and we'd like to pay you back for the trouble it's caused you.

Sounds pretty good right? Wrong? They then say if you send us $4,000 for processing, they will in turn send you $1,000,000.

Pretty crazy huh?

Lottery VS. You

So this entry is a little different than what I'm usually talking about, but interesting nonetheless. I was thinking recently about how much money people spend on the lottery, hoping and wishing to hit "the big one".

I work with people who buy powerball tickets every time there is a drawing. Usually they buy at least 5 $1 tickets. Now the Powerball has 3 drawings a week. So if you add it up $15 a week times 52 weeks, you get $780.

Can you imagine putting that money into starting your own business? Instead of hoping to hit it big, you are actually working towards a real opportunity to make real money. I started my own online store 8 months ago for less than $500, but that doesn't include future marketing costs. I think realistically you could start up for under $1000. That's just going without buying your lottery tickets for a year. Not a bad trade off if you ask me.

So next time your in the grocery store or gas station, and you look over at the powerball machine, stop for a second or two and make a choice that might just change your life.

It's You VS. The Lottery, Which One Will You Choose?

Product Scams On Craigslist

So like a lot of you, I frequent Craigslist. I've actually purchased 3 things off of there, and have found most of the people on there to be pretty honest with what they sell. What I want to talk about are craiglist scams.

Last year right after Christmas, I decided I wanted to buy a new t.v. Either an lcd or plasma. So I decided to check out craigslist and see what people were selling. There were some really good deals, and some "too good to be true" deals. Which obviously tempted me greatly lol.

So I found a person claiming to have a 42" brand new plasma t.v. for like 2-300 bucks. Now if you know t.v's at all then you know that is nearly impossible to find unless it's broken or something like that.

So I inquired anyway. I got an email the next day saying if I was interested they would immediately send it out via ups or fedex, something like that. So I said ok. I figured what can it hurt.

So they emailed me a couple days later with a pdf file image showing the "shipping label" which looked to be authentic. Now when I went to track the shipment, of course it never showed up. So I called fed ex and they told me that they had a record of the label being printed, but it hadn't been shipped yet.

That right there told me....SCAM

Anyway I didn't lose any money thankfully, and a few months later finally got my t.v. with a lot of overtime work and it was brand new. It makes you appreciate it more when you really have to work for it.

So there you go friends, just another thing to watch out for. Don't be fooled by these shipping labels that people print to make you think they've ship your product.

And on another note, when dealing with craigslist, always meet in person and pay cash and see the actual product.

Until next time.