By David Peel
In the 1980s there was a scam that involved applying for credit cards under proper names with different addresses. The way they pulled it off was to go out at night and put up fake mailboxes.
Thieves once stole an expensive grill from a man. He was surprised to find the grill the very next day with a note saying, they felt terrible about having stolen his grill and please enjoy these tickets to a football game on Saturday on them. Surprised and no doubt with his faith renewed in human nature, he and his family attended the football game. They returned that evening to find their entire house emptied out.
Ads on lists such as Craigslist will advertise that businesses will pay you to advertise on your vehicle. They forward you real looking checks from a company that you deposit and part of the plan is that you take some of that let’s say $1500 and send $400 of it back to them for a fee and use the rest of it to clean your car and so forth. It’s only after your check for $400 actually clears that you realize the $1500 check is a forgery. By now, everyone has heard about the Nigerian prince scam. This has been around for decades. What you may not know about this well-known scam is that the misspellings and improper terms used in the solicitation are there on purpose. You see, the scam has multiple steps and takes time for the scammers to completely empty your account.
hey only want to invest that kind of time if they have a true sucker falling for it. If they write it officially, it becomes too convincing and they have spent too much time with people who eventually get cold feet and back out. So, they have to pre-qualify the person on the other end of the scam by making it so obvious that it’s a scam that the person will overlook it and then go the full distance. And of course, that full distance involves them saying that you’re going to get all this money when they get out of the country but you just have to send money back for taxes and all that other stuff.
So how do you help those that you care about avoid scams? There are three principles that will make you almost scam proof. Number one is there is no free lunch. There is nothing that is going to happen that is going to put money in your pocket for free without strings attached. It doesn’t happen.
Secondly, never rush when it comes to money. Haste makes waste. Move slowly, cautiously, and with a lot of counsel. That means that if someone wants you to keep something secret, it’s off the table. If it’s an offer that’s only good for right now and you must make a decision in two hours then the answer should be “no.” I don’t care how good a deal it is. Number three don’t be greedy. It is far better to want what you have than to have what you want. Contentment is something that makes it very difficult to scam you. If you already have what you need and what you want then you are less likely to fall for some “pie in the sky” story. Greed also blinds you to the suffering of others.
So, basically, if you expect nothing for free, do not make hasty secretive decisions, and are not acting in a greedy way, no one is going to easily pull one over on you.
Peel seeks justice for those injured in tractor trailer and car accidents, medical malpractice, and disability. He often addresses churches, clubs and groups without charge. Peel may be reached through PeelLawFirm.com wherein other articles may be accessed.
