A New #Scam Is Targeting People Who Have Already Been Scammed
I came across a new scam that is pretty crafty. I say that because it targets people who have already been scammed. Now, how did I come across this scam? I noted this banner ad while browsing the Internet:
If you click the banner, you go to this website:
So this website claims to get your money back if you’ve been scammed. And to make themselves look legitimate, they have these logos on their website:
I am certain that if you reach out to these companies, they will say that they don’t work with this company. But there’s more:
This is how this company claims to get money back from scammers. To be frank, if it were as easy as is stated above, people would not lose money from scammers. Thus I call BS on this.
I want you to focus on the quality of the English in the screenshot above. It’s bad. That’s the hallmark of scammers who are based overseas and not native English speakers. So that alone should be a red flag. That’s on top of the fact that the figures quoted in terms of money recovered are bogus. Because if they were true, everyone from government to police would be singing their praises.
Finally, this customer testimonial and the others on this website are likely fake. But it’s meant to make you think that this is a legitimate service. Which to be clear, it isn’t.
Other notes:
None of the bottom links on this website work. That’s a red flag.
The company claims to be at 4223 MacLaren Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. But that address doesn’t exist in Ottawa. But it does exist in Oshawa Ontario as highlighted by the picture below. That’s another red flag.
But here’s why a threat actor has set up this website. People who have been scammed often look for ways to get their money back somehow no matter how unlikely it will be that the victim would be able to get their money back. Thus if they trip over a website like this, they are likely to fall for this scam out of desperation. In effect, these scammers are re-victimizing people who have already been scammed. And it is a good strategy if you’re a scammer as anecdotal evidence suggests that if someone has falling for a scam before, they are likely to fall for another scam in the future.
I’ve turned this info over to the scam baiter community so that they can have some fun with the person or people behind this. And I’ve reported the ad to Google. Because it’s bad enough that we have people who have been victimized by scams. But to re-victimize them is not acceptable. Thus it is entirely possible that the site might be down by the time you read this as once scam baiters get involved, the scammers fold up shop pretty quickly. Though I will note that early feedback from scam baiters indicate that once you type in your phone number, someone will call you back from either a German number or a United Kingdom number. This is inconsistent with the claims that this company is located in Canada and highlights the fact that this is a scam.
Finally, I want to illustrate what you should do if you get scammed. You need to report it to your local police who can then give you additional directions. Beyond that, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has a website for scam reporting, while the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center is the place to go if you’re in Canada. Other counties have similar organizations for reporting scams. But these clowns who claim to be able to get your money back aren’t someone you should deal with. And the expectation of getting your money back should be zero. That’s harsh to say. But it’s the truth.
This entry was posted on November 4, 2023 at 8:23 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Scam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
A New #Scam Is Targeting People Who Have Already Been Scammed
I came across a new scam that is pretty crafty. I say that because it targets people who have already been scammed. Now, how did I come across this scam? I noted this banner ad while browsing the Internet:
If you click the banner, you go to this website:
So this website claims to get your money back if you’ve been scammed. And to make themselves look legitimate, they have these logos on their website:
I am certain that if you reach out to these companies, they will say that they don’t work with this company. But there’s more:
This is how this company claims to get money back from scammers. To be frank, if it were as easy as is stated above, people would not lose money from scammers. Thus I call BS on this.
I want you to focus on the quality of the English in the screenshot above. It’s bad. That’s the hallmark of scammers who are based overseas and not native English speakers. So that alone should be a red flag. That’s on top of the fact that the figures quoted in terms of money recovered are bogus. Because if they were true, everyone from government to police would be singing their praises.
Finally, this customer testimonial and the others on this website are likely fake. But it’s meant to make you think that this is a legitimate service. Which to be clear, it isn’t.
Other notes:
But here’s why a threat actor has set up this website. People who have been scammed often look for ways to get their money back somehow no matter how unlikely it will be that the victim would be able to get their money back. Thus if they trip over a website like this, they are likely to fall for this scam out of desperation. In effect, these scammers are re-victimizing people who have already been scammed. And it is a good strategy if you’re a scammer as anecdotal evidence suggests that if someone has falling for a scam before, they are likely to fall for another scam in the future.
I’ve turned this info over to the scam baiter community so that they can have some fun with the person or people behind this. And I’ve reported the ad to Google. Because it’s bad enough that we have people who have been victimized by scams. But to re-victimize them is not acceptable. Thus it is entirely possible that the site might be down by the time you read this as once scam baiters get involved, the scammers fold up shop pretty quickly. Though I will note that early feedback from scam baiters indicate that once you type in your phone number, someone will call you back from either a German number or a United Kingdom number. This is inconsistent with the claims that this company is located in Canada and highlights the fact that this is a scam.
Finally, I want to illustrate what you should do if you get scammed. You need to report it to your local police who can then give you additional directions. Beyond that, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has a website for scam reporting, while the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center is the place to go if you’re in Canada. Other counties have similar organizations for reporting scams. But these clowns who claim to be able to get your money back aren’t someone you should deal with. And the expectation of getting your money back should be zero. That’s harsh to say. But it’s the truth.
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This entry was posted on November 4, 2023 at 8:23 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Scam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.