"The Dirty Dozen list of junk e-mail is a
tip-off to a rip-off," said Jodie
Bernstein, Director of the Federal Trade
Commissions’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
"Spam is a problem for practically
everyone with a computer," Bernstein
said. "It’s annoying, it slows down the
e-mail system and a lot of it is
fraudulent," she said. "We have an
e-mail box where consumers can send unwanted,
unsolicited e- mail. We’re receiving more
than 1,000 complaints a day."
Bernstein said the 12 most common types of
spam scams include:
- Business Opportunity Scams --
Most of these scams promise a lot of
income for a small investment of time and
money. Some are actually old fashioned
pyramid schemes camouflaged to look like
something else. "Consumers should be
careful of money-making schemes that sound
too good to be true," said Bernstein.
"They usually are."
- Making Money By Sending Bulk
E-Mailings -- These schemes claim that
you can make money sending your own
solicitations via bulk e-mail. They offer
to sell you lists of e-mail addresses or
software to allow you to make the
mailings. What they don’t mention is
that the lists are of poor quality;
sending bulk e-mail violates the terms of
service of most Internet service
providers; virtually no legitimate
businesses engage in bulk e-mailings; and
several states have laws regulating the
sending of bulk e-mail.
- Chain Letters -- These electronic
versions of the old fashioned chain
letters usually arrive with claims like,
"You are about to make $50,000 in
less than 90 days!" "But you
don’t," said Bernstein, "and
these electronic chain letters are every
bit as illegal as the old fashioned paper
versions."
- Work-At-Home Schemes -- E-mail
messages offer the chance to earn money in
the comfort of your own home. Two popular
versions pitch envelope stuffing and craft
assembly. But nobody will really pay you
for stuffing envelopes and craft assembly
promoters usually refuse to buy the crafts
claiming the work does not meet their
"quality standards."
- Health And Diet Scams -- These
offer "scientific
breakthroughs," "miraculous
cures," "exclusive
products," "secret
formulas," and "ancient
ingredients." Some come with
testimonials from "cured"
consumers or endorsements from
"famous medical experts" no
one’s ever heard of. "These bogus
cure-alls are just electronic snake
oil," said Bernstein.
- Easy Money -- Offers such as
"Learn how to make $4,000 in one
day," or "Make unlimited profits
exchanging money on world currency
markets," appeal to the desire to
"Get-Rich-Quick." "If
making money was that easy, we’d all be
millionaires," Bernstein said.
- Get Something Free -- The lure of
valuable, free items -- like computers or
long- distance phone cards -- gets
consumers to pay membership fees to sign
up with these scams. After they pay the
fee, consumers learn that they don’t
qualify for the "free" gift
until they recruit other
"members." "These scams are
just low down, high tech pyramid
schemes," Bernstein said.
- Investment Opportunities -- These
scams may tout outrageously high rates of
return with no risk. Glib, resourceful
promoters suggest they have high-level
financial connections; that they’re
privy to inside information; or that they
guarantee the investment. To close the
deal, they may serve up phony statistics,
misrepresent the significance of a current
event or stress the unique quality of
their offering. But they are not unique.
They’re just like the other scams.
- Cable Descrambler Kits -- For a
small initial investment you can buy a
cable descrambler kit so you can receive
cable without paying the subscription
fees. "There are two small problems
with these schemes," Bernstein said.
"The kits usually don’t work and
stealing cable service is illegal."
- Guaranteed Loans or Credit, On Easy
Terms -- Some offer home-equity loans,
even if you don’t have any equity in
your home. Others offer guaranteed,
unsecured credit cards, regardless of your
credit history. The "loans" turn
out to be lists of lending institutions
and the credit cards never arrive.
- Credit Repair Scams -- These
scams target consumers with poor credit
records. For an up-front fee, they offer
to clear up a bad credit record -- for a
fee -- or give you a completely clean
credit slate by showing you how to get an
Employer Identification Number. "No
one can erase a bad credit record if
it’s accurate and using an Employer
Identification Number to set up a new
credit identity is against the law,"
Bernstein said.
- Vacation Prize Promotions -- Like
their snail mail counterparts, these
e-mail "Prize Promotions" tell
consumers they’ve been selected to
receive a "luxury" vacation at a
bargain-basement price. But the
accommodations aren’t deluxe and
upgrades are expensive.
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