Most Popular Fraud Schemes

&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">The following are some of the most common scams that the FBI investigates and tips to help prevent you from being victimized&period; Visit our <a class&equals;"internal-link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;about-us&sol;investigate&sol;white&lowbar;collar">White-Collar Crime<&sol;a> and <a class&equals;"internal-link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;about-us&sol;investigate&sol;cyber">Cyber<&sol;a> webpages for more fraud schemes&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">To report cases of fraud&comma; use our <a class&equals;"external-link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;tips&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;">online tips form<&sol;a> or contact your <a class&equals;"internal-link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;contact-us&sol;field">nearest FBI office<&sol;a> or <a class&equals;"internal-link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;contact-us&sol;legat">overseas office<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"wp-block-heading"><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx"><strong>Telemarketing Fraud<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>When you send money to people you do not know personally or give personal or financial information to unknown callers&comma; you increase your chances of becoming a victim of telemarketing fraud&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Here are some warning signs of telemarketing fraud—what a caller may tell you&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<ul class&equals;"wp-block-list">&NewLine;<li>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You must act &OpenCurlyQuote;now’ or the offer won’t be good&period;”<&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You’ve won a &OpenCurlyQuote;free’ gift&comma; vacation&comma; or prize&period;” But you have to pay for &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;postage and handling” or other charges&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You must send money&comma; give a credit card or bank account number&comma; or have a check picked up by courier&period;” You may hear this before you have had a chance to consider the offer carefully&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You don’t need to check out the company with anyone&period;” The callers say you do not need to speak to anyone including your family&comma; lawyer&comma; accountant&comma; local Better Business Bureau&comma; or consumer protection agency&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You don’t need any written information about their company or their references&period;”<&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You can’t afford to miss this &OpenCurlyQuote;high-profit&comma; no-risk’ offer&period;”<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>If you hear these or similar &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;lines” from a telephone salesperson&comma; just say &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;no thank you” and hang up the telephone&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><strong>Tips for Avoiding Telemarketing Fraud&colon;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>It’s very difficult to get your money back if you’ve been cheated over the telephone&period; Before you buy anything by telephone&comma; remember&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<ul class&equals;"wp-block-list">&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Don’t buy from an unfamiliar company&period; Legitimate businesses understand that you want more information about their company and are happy to comply&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Always ask for and wait until you receive written material about any offer or charity&period; If you get brochures about costly investments&comma; ask someone whose <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"492" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;amp&sol;">financial<&sol;a> advice you trust to review them&period; But&comma; unfortunately&comma; beware—not everything written down is true&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Always check out unfamiliar companies with your local consumer protection agency&comma; Better Business Bureau&comma; state attorney general&comma; the National Fraud Information Center&comma; or other watchdog groups&period; Unfortunately&comma; not all bad businesses can be identified through these organizations&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Obtain a salesperson’s name&comma; business identity&comma; telephone number&comma; street address&comma; mailing address&comma; and business license number before you transact business&period; Some con artists give out false names&comma; telephone numbers&comma; addresses&comma; and business license numbers&period; Verify the accuracy of these items&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Before you give money to a charity or make an investment&comma; find out what percentage of the money is paid in commissions and what percentage actually goes to the charity or investment&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Before you send money&comma; ask yourself a simple question&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;What guarantee do I really have that this solicitor will use my money in the manner we agreed upon&quest;”<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Don’t pay in advance for services&period; Pay services only after they are delivered&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Be wary of companies that want to send a messenger to your home to pick up money&comma; claiming it is part of their service to you&period; In reality&comma; they are taking your money without leaving any trace of who they are or where they can be reached&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Always take your time making a decision&period; Legitimate companies won’t pressure you to make a snap decision&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Don’t pay for a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;free prize&period;” If a caller tells you the payment is for taxes&comma; he or she is violating federal law&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Before you receive your next sales pitch&comma; decide what your limits are—the kinds of financial information you will and won’t give out on the telephone&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Be sure to talk over big investments offered by telephone salespeople with a trusted friend&comma; family member&comma; or financial advisor&period; It’s never rude to wait and think about an offer&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Never respond to an offer you don’t understand thoroughly&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Never send money or give out personal information such as credit card numbers and expiration dates&comma; bank account numbers&comma; dates of birth&comma; or social security numbers to unfamiliar companies or unknown persons&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">Be aware that your personal information is often brokered to telemarketers through third parties&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">If you have been victimized once&comma; be wary of persons who call offering to help you recover your losses for a fee paid in advance&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<li><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx">If you have information about a fraud&comma; report it to state&comma; local&comma; or federal law enforcement agencies&period;<&sol;span><&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"blackgraphtx"><strong>For More information&colon; <&sol;strong><br>&&num;8211&semi; <a class&equals;"internal-link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;scams-safety&sol;fraud&sol;seniors&sol;seniors&num;atf">Telemarketing Fraud Targeting Seniors<&sol;a><&sol;span><br><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<div class&equals;"pagination clear clearfix"> <span class&equals;"post-page-numbers current" aria-current&equals;"page"><span class&equals;"pagelink">1<&sol;span><&sol;span> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;2&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">2<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;3&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">3<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;4&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">4<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;5&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">5<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;6&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">6<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;7&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">7<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;8&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">8<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;9&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">9<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;10&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">10<&sol;span><&sol;a> <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;most-popular-fraud-schemes&sol;amp&sol;11&sol;amp&sol;" class&equals;"post-page-numbers"><span class&equals;"pagelink">11<&sol;span><&sol;a><&sol;div>

“419” FraudAdvance FeeFraudFraud SchemesHealth Care FraudIdentity TheftTelemarketing Fraud