Executive Director's Blog

Red Flag #6: Vague or Confusing Details
A classic tool of con artists is to keep the victim in the dark about the details of the true situation, in order to ensure they never fully understand that they are being scammed until it is too late. Unscrupulous fraudsters will often mumble through the details, dance around the specifics, talk in circles, use confusing jargon or claim they are the expert and can handle things for you.

Protect Yourself
Don’t ever get involved in an opportunity or give your personal information unless you totally understand all the details of the situation and they make rational sense.

Red Flag #7: Promises of a Win, Win Situation (No Fees, No Losses).
Similar to the red flag of guaranteed return and no risk, is the promise of a “win-win” situation in which you will come out on top, with little effort, without having to pay any fees and without losing anything. Prize and survey scams are often based on this premise. You provide the scam artist with information of some sort and in return you will win an amazing prize at no cost to you. In most scenarios your personal and financial information is being stolen.

Protect Yourself
When it sounds too good to be true it usually is. Riches do not come easily. No one trying to make money, legitimately or not, is going to offer you an opportunity in which money or information of some sort does not have to be transferred between parties and in which the person pitching the idea isn’t going to benefit in some way.

Red Flag #2: Limited Opportunity Sales
Scam and frauds often play on our innate sense of greed and vanity. Many frauds are designed to get you to feel like you are getting a great deal or are part of an exclusive “club.” By playing up the “one time only” or “limited time only” opportunity, scammers hope to force you into quickly making a decision to take advantage of the great deal without having time to do your research or think about the legitimacy of the opportunity. This tactic is often part of a high-pressure sales tactic and many telemarketers (both legitimate and illegitimate) and fraudulent investment brokers use this tactic to close the sale as quickly as possible.

Protect Yourself
Don’t let the “limited time” opportunity ever be your reason for spending money. Always take the time to comparison shop and do your research on the opportunity and person pitching it before spending your money.

Red Flag #3: Unsolicited Contact
In most circumstances the con artist will come to you first with the intent of pitching some type of opportunity to you or coaxing you in to divulging personal or financial information. Unsolicited contact may come in the form of a mailed letter, a fax, a phone call or voice message, an email, a link on a website or via an online social networking site.

Protect Yourself
Always be wary of situations in which someone is offering you an opportunity that you did not personally seek out yourself, whether by mail, fax, phone, email, or via online social networking.

Scams and frauds take many forms and shapes, but all fraudulent activities have the same purpose – to take advantage of the victim. While many frauds and scams use creative and innovative strategies and approaches to rip people off, most of them fundamentally use the same tactics.

Defining frauds and scams:

Fraud can essentially be defined as an intentional deception that results in personal gain for one party and personal injury or loss for the other party.

Similarly, a scam is typically defined as a fraudulent business scheme.

In most cases of fraud and scams that are reported to the Better Business Bureau one or many of the following 10 red flags could have been an indicator to the victim that they were about to be ripped off.

10 Common Red Flags to Watch For:

Red Flag #1: High Pressure Sales Tactics

Con artists want to take advantage of you. They are desperate for you to buy into their scheme if they are going to profit from you. Impulse shopping and decision making is a chronic condition in our culture and high-pressure sales tactics often distract people sufficiently to encourage and promote impulsive decision-making. Scammers using such tactics often act aggressively, speak loudly, dominate the conversation, express urgency and refuse to let you disengage—all with the hopes that the longer they can pressure you, the more distracted you will become and the more likely you will make a quick decision to their benefit.

Protect Yourself

The simplest way to protect yourself from scams using high pressure sales tactics is to avoid high pressure sales situations at all costs. Learn to identify when someone is using such tactics and ask them to stop, walk away or hang up the phone. If someone shows up at your door using these tactics, ask them immediately to leave your property and inform them that you will call the police if they do not.

Log in next week for Red Flag #2: Limited Opportunity Sales

The Scam:

Unscrupulous home repair contractors are targeting seniors. Scam artists posing as handymen have been knocking on doors offering to do minor repairs around the house. The work that is being done by these handymen/contractors is being reported as being of a sub-par standard, or of a decent standard, but at an outrageous price.

Scammers often take advantage of elderly or disabled peopleby showing up on their doorstep and “embarrassing” them about the condition of items around their house that need repair (such as the fence, chimney, stairs,patio or yard).

In some instances contractors have even been known to write up a contract, with prices listed at rates far above fair market value. Seniors have agreed to the terms and costs on the contracts and have signed them. The sad part about this scam is that some of the contractors themselves are operating a legitimate business, but are using senior’s lack of knowledge about the true cost of repairs to take advantage of them. Seniors are often embarrassed that they have fallen victim to unscrupulous high-pressure sales tactics, especially when they have signed a contract.

How to protect yourself:

It may be unfair, but it is not illegal for a contractor to charge any price they wish for work to be completed.

Comparison shop. Do your research before hiring anyone to do work for you. It's best to get a number of estimates in order to determine the range that a project will cost.

Ignore pressure tactics. Don’t fall victim to door-to-door contractors offering to do work. And don’t fall victim to embarrassment if someone does show up pointing out a project that needs doing.

Check them out. Not all handymen or contractors are scam artists. But you need to do your homework before hiring anyone to do work around your house. Check the contractor out with the BBB to see if we have any information on file about them.

Ask for references. Get the contractor to give you at least 3 references of past clients. Contact the references to see if they were satisfied with their experience with the contractor and if they have any suggestions or tips that might make your project run more smoothly. 

Report it. If you feel you have been a victim of this type of scam or any other please contact your BBB to report the matter and file a complaint. This will help us to keep track of the reputable and unscrupulous people.

For more information and live weekly updates on frauds affecting Vancouver Island visit the News Centre at vi.bbb.org; fraudcast.ca; twitter.com/VIBBB; facebook.com; linkedin.com. 

The Scam:

It is a reality that many businesses are facing tough economic times and as a result some business are going out of business and/or filing for bankruptcy. We’ve been receiving an influx of calls again recently from consumers who are concerned about companies that appear to have gone out of business and they:

a) have not delivered merchandise that has already been ordered and paid for;

b) have been given a product to repair or consign and have not returned it; and/or

c) can no longer honour a warranty from a recently purchased product.

 The reality is that in all of these situations there really is very little customers can do to protect themselves.

How to protect yourself:

Know the company. First and foremost you really need to know and trust the people and companies with whom you are doing business. Businesses with long track records and good reputations in the community often tend to have the business strategies required to weather tough economic storms.

Consider credit. If you made a payment by credit card and a product has not been delivered you may have some recourse through your credit card company.

Check their status. If a business went bankrupt they may file for bankruptcy. You can contact the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy to check the bankruptcy status of an individual or business. If the company went bankrupt you may be able to file a claim with the trustee responsible for the account.

Review the warranty. In some cases depending on the retail outlet and what the product was, the manufacturers warranty may apply. Vice versa, if the manufacturer goes out of business the retailer may honor the warranty. Many extended warranties and service plans may be administered by 3rd parties and may not be affected by whether or not the retailer or manufacturer are in business.

For more information and live weekly updates on frauds affecting Vancouver Island visit the News Centre at vi.bbb.org; fraudcast.ca; twitter.com/VIBBB; facebook.com; linkedin.com 

The Scam

Every summer we tend to hear of similar stories of people looking for inexpensive family vacations that have found themselves victims of fraud. This year a number of families have reported purchasing online tickets to theme and adventure parks for a discounted rate. When they arrive at the theme or adventure park they find out that the tickets they have purchased are not valid. Not only is the family generally embarrassed, but in many cases their family vacation has been ruined.

What typically has happened is that the tickets were originally purchased with a stolen credit card. The fraudster then sells the tickets at a “discounted” rate to the victims, soon after purchasing them with the stolen credit card. Within a day or so from the initial sale the theme/adventure park realizes that the tickets were purchased with a stolen credit card. The tickets are then flagged as being invalid or stolen.

How to protect yourself:

Know the source. Only purchase tickets from reputable or legitimate ticket vendors. Check with BBB to find out which ticket vendors have the best reputation and which do not. 

Be cautious. Use extreme caution when buying tickets from anywhere other than the direct sales point (i.e. the theme park itself), especially if the tickets are being flaunted as being sold at a discount or reduced rate.

Do your research. If you wish to purchase reduced rate tickets from an independent third party, ask the person selling the tickets to provide you with the ticket numbers before you purchase them. Contact the theme/adventure park and ask them if they can run the ticket numbers through their system to confirm their validity before you purchase them. Ask them for tips on how to identify whether or not the tickets you wish to purchase are legitimate (i.e are their identifying marks, can tickets be transferred to other people etc). Be careful though as it is still a possibility that the tickets are faked or that by the time you use them they will be tagged invalid.

For more information and live weekly updates on frauds affecting Vancouver Island visit the News Centre at vi.bbb.org; fraudcast.ca; twitter.com/VIBBB; facebook.com; linkedin.com

The Scam

BBB recently received notification about a case of Identity Theft in which a scam artist used a stolen library card to steal $600 worth of books from the library under a child's identity.

How did it happen? A pre-teen had his backpack stolen off the bus with his wallet and library card inside. The child's parents reported his debit card stolen to the bank, but they did not think about the library card. A few weeks later the parents were contacted by the library for $600 in library fees for books that had been taken out and not returned. The thief had used the library card to steal the books, and because the parents failed to report the card stolen they were liable for the $600 library fine.

You need to be aware that you can be held responsible and financially accountable for items rented/borrowed/and not returned if a card with your name on it is used (this could be library cards, video rental cards, gym passes, etc.).

How to protect yourself:

Don't carry too many cards. Try not to carry cards like library and video rental cards with you at all times. If you do, store then in a secure place and keep track of them at all times.

Keep track. Make a list of all the plastic cards that are in your wallet and include contact information for the companies that they belong to, in case your wallet is lost or stolen.

Report the theft. If your wallet is stolen with a library or video rental card in it, be sure to contact the issuing organization or business immediately to inform them and get a new card re-issued. 

For more information and live weekly updates on frauds affecting Vancouver Island visit the News Centre at vi.bbb.org; fraudcast.ca; twitter.com/VIBBB; facebook.com; linkedin.com

The Scam

Threatening spam email is being distributed to people on Vancouver Island. The Oak Bay Police Department actually received a copy of the threatening email and the Saanich Police Department on Southern Vancouver Island is reporting this scam on their website as the "Idris Hassan" scam.

In the email scam people receive a threatening letter from a person who claims to be an assassin from Iraq. In the email Idris Hassan is introduced as an assassin that has been hired to kill you. He is willing to forego your assassination if you can come up with the equivalent funds to what he has already been offered. For $25,000 your life will be spared.  Victims of the email are given 5 days to respond to the threatening email.

How to protect yourself:

Be informed. This email scam is essentially just a new twist on the Nigerian Letter scam. Con artists are trying to scare you into sending them money.

Call the police. While email is threatening in nature the police are not aware of any actual threat. If you receive such a threatening email and are concerned you should contact your local police department to report the matter.

Delete it. Never respond to unsolicited email and don't forward copies of unsolicited emails onto to friends or family.

Improve security. Look into beefing you your email security settings. Many Internet and email providers have systems in place to reduce or eliminate email spam from being received at your account.

Report it. Be sure to report any email scams such as this to PhoneBusters (http://www.phonebusters.com/) and to your internet/email providers.

For more information and live weekly updates on frauds affecting Vancouver Island visit the News Centre at vi.bbb.org; fraudcast.ca; twitter.com/VIBBB; facebook.com; linkedin.com

The Scam

The BBB was recently contacted when a local resident reported a $9 charge on her credit card for a service she didn't recognize. After doing some research she discovered that she had been charged $9 each month for the past 3 years, for a membership in a buyer's club to which she did not recollect ever agreeing to participate in.

In this particular buyers club the monthly membership fee covered discounts to restaurants, stores, attractions and movie theatres. At no time in the past did the victim remember signing up for the buyers club. She had never in her memory taken advantage of a discount as a member of the buyers club and she had received no information about the discount opportunities over the past 3 years.

Based on reports from other victims, it appears people are unsuspectingly signing up for long-term membership in a buyers club when they take advantage of a discount or cash a coupon- typically as they make a purchase online. Victims seem to have automatically accepted the "terms and conditions" of a discount opportunity without really understanding what they've agreed to.

How to Protect Yourself

Review Your Statements: The best protection against scams like this one is to review your credit card and bank statements carefully each month. If you see a charge for something you don't recognize or that is unfamiliar, contact your credit card provider, get the contact information for the company that gave you the charge and contact them immediately to discuss your cancellations options.

Read the Fine Print: Carefully, carefully read the fine print when using any online programs or services (especially if they include discounts or coupons). Never just accept the terms of agreement without reading them carefully.

Use Caution: Sometimes by entering a draw you are also agreeing to sign up for a membership of some sort that may be of no value to you. Carefully read the fine print, and take care in how much personal and banking information you give out when entering a draw.

Do Your Research: If you do choose to sign up for a buyer's club, make sure you do some research to make sure the discounts being offered are actually ones you would use. Also do a quick calculation to make sure the monthly fee or membership fee doesn't end up costing you more than you could ever get in actual discounts.

For more information and live weekly updates on frauds affecting Vancouver Island visit the News Centre at vi.bbb.org; fraudcast.ca; twitter.com/VIBBB; facebook.com; linkedin.com.

Rosalind Scott, Executive Director of BBB Vancouver Island, now maintains a blog on the BBB-VI site. Check back often for updates. The blog can be accessed directly via vi.bbb.org/blog