In recognition of Cyber Security Awareness Month, NCSA has posted a number of useful online resources that cover what all consumers can do, including helpful tips like:

• Use a suite of automatically updating security tools that includes anti-spyware, firewall and anti-virus software.
• Be sure your operating system and Web browser are set to automatically update.
• Update all other software as updates become available.
• Use long, complex passwords for both your computer and your network router that include numbers, symbols and letters, and change them periodically.
• Maintain vigilance online and be skeptical about giving up personal information.
• Turn off your computer when you are not using it.
• Remember your mobile device may also be connected to the Internet, so employ the same online safety behaviors when “surfing” on a mobile device.
• Be on the lookout for signs of an infected computer including slower processing times, unwanted pop-up ads and unknowingly sending spam out to your contacts.
• Talk to your kids about good online safety and security habits, including protecting their personal information and their reputation.
• Know what Web sites your children are visiting online, and check their social network activity regularly. Request your children either “friend” you or provide you with a password to their account.
• Regularly back up your data either online or to an external media source (and store in a secure location).

For a full list of tips, visit the NCSA site and check out their tip sheets.

SiteJabber has endorsed Cyber Security Awareness Month, so if you run a business or organization we would encourage you also to make an endorsement. But no matter who you are, there are lots of ways to get involved.

Todos hemos visto los anuncios: promesas de un mejor trabajo o carrera al obtener ese título Bachelor o Licenciatura que nunca se completó, o la Maestría que debería tener para mantener su competitividad en el mercado global. La verdad es que este tipo de fraude de títulos “demasiado bueno para ser verdad”, con 130 años de construcción, no podría llegar con un costo mayor. Y, a pesar de la presentación por el Congreso de la Ley de Protección de Integridad de Diplomas y Acreditación  (Diploma and Accreditation Integrity Protection Act) en enero de 2010, universidades conocidas como “diploma o título mills” – instituciones no acreditadas que ofrecen una variedad  de títulos por una cuota que va desde moderada a alta y una inversión mínima de tiempo/estudio – continúan  inundando revistas, anuncios en televisión  local y vallas publicitarias. Ahora, mientras algunos estados, como Oregón, Dakota del Norte y Wyoming, expulsan a estos  defraudadores fuera de sus territorios, la situación se ha convertido en pandemia mientras los diplomas mills extienden más y más sus “servicios” en América Latina, Asia y Europa.

Primero aclaremos las cosas – ¿por qué es importante si un título proviene de una institución acreditada o no? Los diplomas mills no solamente engañan a los estudiantes excluyéndolos de una experiencia de mayor nivel educativo ofrecida en universidades acreditadas, pero en realidad, en lugar de permitirles tener muchas más oportunidades, dejan a los estudiantes sin una oportunidad de recibir un mejor título en una universidad acreditada, transfiriendo créditos u obteniendo un trabajo competitivo. Los aproximadamente 200,000 graduados anuales con un título mills saben muy poco de eso, luego de las inversiones financieras de arriba de $80,000, sus títulos son falsos y tienen poco o ningún peso en el mundo real. El costo, a largo plazo, es entonces más de lo que habían esperado.

El Departamento de Educación de E.E.U.U. ( U.S. Department of Education (USDE)), advierte a los estudiantes específicamente del diploma mills, anunciando en su sitio web en negrita, “Diplomas mills son universidades que están más interesadas en tomar su dinero que en proporcionarle una educación de calidad. Usted, como consumidor, necesita saber cómo protegerse.”

Mientras que el gobierno trabaja en acabar estos malos negocios,  los consumidores necesitan también ser informados y alertados a las banderas rojas. Aquí está la manera de saber si sus dólares invertidos en educación  superior están siendo bien gastados:

Verifique la acreditación de la universidad

Las universidades legítimas, en la mayoría de los casos, son acreditadas por el Consejo de Acreditación para la Educación Superior  (Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)) y/o por USDE. En algunos casos, las universidades también pueden ser aprobadas por agencias, acreditadoras o aprobadas por el estado, y reconocidas por el Secretario de Educación. Si la universidad cita varias agencias acreditadoras, las probabilidades son que la universidad esté tratando de  impresionarlo y engañarlo con acrónimos estrafalarios, aún si ellos están respaldados por sitios web mal diseñados. En muchos casos, las universidades sin acreditación aún desarrollan sus propias agencias de acreditación, o alianzas inapropiadas, para evitar la necesidad de adquirir aprobación oficial de una agencia legítima. Para estar seguro, verifique el sitio web actualizado de USDE sobre instituciones y programas postsecundarios acreditados. USDE también mantiene una lista de agencia acreditadoras reconocidas nacionalmente.

Haga la búsqueda correcta

Algunas de estas falsas universidades hacen un buen trabajo al cubrir sus rastros. Eso significa, que han producido tanto contenido web que una búsqueda del nombre de la universidad  le daría poco con que trabajar. Agregue sin embargo, la palabra “estafa”, “fraude”, “denuncia” y se encuentra usted descubriendo otro lado de las cosas totalmente diferente.

Recientemente un representante de la infame Universidad de Preston, que inició en Paquistán y ahora se ha posicionado en 31ubicaciones alrededor del mundo, incluyendo Dubai, Wyoming, y L.A., contactó a Isabel Serna* en Centro América. Intrigada por la llamada telefónica, la señorita Serna decidió reunirse con el representante y luego hacer una búsqueda en línea de Preston. En las primeras 3 páginas, la búsqueda de Google mostró casi nada, más que una página de bajo perfil en Wikipedia que discutía la naturaleza de Preston y su título mills. Las personas rara vez van más allá de las primeras páginas en la búsqueda de Google, y si la señorita Serna no hubiera agregado la palabra “estafa” a “Universidad de Preston”, no hubiera encontrado la única anotación en un sitio Blogspot dedicado completamente a la fraudulenta estafa de la Universidad de Preston. Una bandera roja puede ser suficiente para que una persona haga más investigaciones.

Tenga cuidado del extraño abordaje tipo ventas

Las universidades acreditadas no se re presentan a sí mismas como un vendedor de automóviles usados. Normalmente no hacen  referencia a “descuentos”, “referencias” y “gangas”. Si un representante de una universidad está tratando de convencerlo de asistir a dicha universidad  porque es una ganga, comparada con otros programas de Maestría, entonces debería percibir algo sospechoso. También, si  no están dispuestos a enviar información por correo electrónico o declaran que “es política de la compañía discutir los asuntos en persona”, entonces, lo más seguro es que preferirían que sus  probables mentiras no queden impresas, para que posteriormente no sean utilizadas como un caso en su contra.

En la reunión de la señorita Serna con el representante de Preston, le informaron que la educación en Preston le ahorraría por lo menos $4000 (una considerable cantidad en estándares Latinoamericanos). También, ella recibiría un descuento del 15% al escribir una carta de referencia positiva de la universidad y un descuento adicional si podía dar 15 referencias para que la universidad  contactara. Al final de la reunión, se le informó a la señorita Serna que era el momento de dar sus referencias. Al responder que necesitaba tiempo para pensarlo, la respuesta del representante fue, “¿Qué es lo que debe pensar?”

Si suena demasiado bueno para ser verdad, probablemente es demasiado bueno para ser verdad

Si una universidad trata de atraerlo con obtener su título en la mitad del tiempo que le tomaría en otras instituciones,  y asistir a clases solamente una vez a la semana, entonces, es probable que sea un título mills. Aunque pueda parecer agradable invertir tan poco tiempo al recibir esa tan esperada Maestría, al final, solamente se está perjudicando. Los empresarios inteligentes pueden detectar impostores, y universidades de buena fe tienen a las universidades de títulos mills en sus listas negras. Sus oportunidades de progreso en el mundo académico y en la fuerza laboral serán frustrados al tomar esté atajo aparentemente inofensivo.

Pregunte también sobre los profesores y las universidades de títulos mills rápidamente le ofrecerán credenciales de sus maestros. Cuando la señorita Serna le pidió al representante de la Universidad de Preston los títulos de los maestros del programa de Maestría que le interesaba, el representante declare que todos sus profesores tenían 2 Maestrías y estaban en proceso de recibir sus Doctorados. Luego de investigar más, la señorita Serna probablemente hubiera descubierto que los títulos obtenidos por estos supuestos académicos también fueron otorgados por la Universidad de Preston, un método utilizado por los títulos mills para hacer felices a los graduandos mientras se llenan sus propios bolsillos.

Ponga atención a las palabras entrecortadas… o las posibles mentiras directas

Los títulos mills tienen mucho cuidado con sus palabras, por así decirlo. Al preguntarles si los títulos que otorgan serán válidos para ser aceptados en otras universidades, un asesor podría responder que sí,  que usted podría utilizar el título para aplicar a otras universidades, lo que es diferente a decir que otras universidades aceptarían el título.

Y una cosa más – de acuerdo con la USDE, los títulos mills muchas veces usan nombres que suenan parecidos a universidades acreditadas. La última sorpresa desagradable para la señorita Serna llegó cuando, luego de días de hostigamiento del representante de la Universidad de Preston, finalmente decidió hacerle saber al representante que había leído críticas desfavorables en línea de esa universidad. Luego de ponerse nervioso por un segundo, el representante explicó que eso podría haberse debido al hecho de que la Universidad de Preston tiene un nombre diferente en los Estados Unidos – que allí, Preston se llama Universidad de Princeton.

Tran Nguyen Templeton es la asesora de programa de Colegio Monarch Guatemala, un colegio terapéutico para  niños con discapacidades neurológicas. Tran tiene una Maestría de la Universidad de Posgrados de Harvard (Harvard Graduate School of Education).

Gabriela Ixcoy tiene un título en Bioquímica  de la Universidad de John Brown, un certificado en Interpretación Profesional del Instituto Guatemalteco Americano IGA y estudia Traducción Jurada.

Brick in a Box

(source)

In April of 2009, Best Buy employees were either being ironic or pulling off a cheap scam when they sold a man named Ryan a large brick in place of the Apple MacBook Pro he paid for. Gizmodo reports that the $2,100 laptop was paid for at a Best Buy in Texas, however when Ryan got the box home and eagerly ripped it open, he found nothing more than a crumbly old red brick carefully wrapped in the packaging where the MacBook should have been.

When Ryan went back to Best Buy to exchange the item for a real computer, Best Buy would not refund his money nor give him another machine. Rather, they claimed that since the box was factory sealed, it must have been a screw-up from Apple and that they cannot be held responsible for the odd mistake. One has to wonder how Best Buy could determine the original condition of the box after Ryan had opened it up, but he nevertheless contacted his credit card company for a chargeback after being turned away from the store.

The Vanishing Netbook

(source)

Hoping to capitalize on the big discounts offered on Cyber Monday, a man named Valente reports that he was given a run around by Best Buy that caused him to decide never to shop there again. The Consumerist reports that in December of 2009, Valente purchased a netbook from Best Buy on Cyber Monday and scheduled an in store pick up so he could be sure to have it in time for Christmas. The nearest store that carried the machine was a two hour drive away, but not to be deterred, Valente made the drive to pick up his computer.

Just to be sure, he phoned the store ahead of time and confirmed that his computer was there and ready for him to pick up. However once he got there, a Best Buy representative told him that they were all sold out, and that furthermore he had not actually purchased the item despite having his credit card charged. After speaking to the manager and confirming that he had purchased the machine, he was solemnly told that they were all sold out everywhere in California, and Valente had to make the drive home empty handed.

Drowned iPods

(source)

Earlier this month, a Consumerist reader wrote the website to tell the tale of his three defective Apple iPods, and the faulty handling that was determined to the be cause of the destruction. The man reports purchasing an iPod, and it broke. Apple replaced it with another that broke, and a third that soon went defective. Suspicious of how this “bad luck” could happen three times in a row, the reader eventually turned to the staff at Best Buy who he paid time and time again to install his “Invisible Shield” screen protector.

As it turned out, the negligent staff was soaking his iPods in the solution that comes with the Invisible Shield, causing liquid damage to the device. A call to Apple’s support line confirmed that this was most likely what was going on, and the man decided to complain to Best Buy and try to get his money back for the expensive screen protectors their staff wasted. The Best Buy staff told him that they would make note of it, and offered him a $20.00 gift card for his troubles. “When I mentioned that 20 bucks wouldn’t even cover the price of a single one of those covers,” he recalls, “they bumped it to 25, which I accepted as being better than nothing.”

Rocks in a Box

(source)

Due to a lack of scrutiny on behalf of the Walmart customer service team, a Nintendo DS box full of rocks and newspaper was returned to a Florida store and put back on the floor for sale without a second thought. CrunchGear reports that a mother then purchased the DS as a birthday present for her son, only to rip it open and find rocks inside (imagine explaining that to a young boy who just unwrapped a video game system).

Much like Best Buy and the brick, Walmart told the the woman to take it up with Nintendo. Nintendo in turn told her to take it up with Walmart. After a long tango with both companies, Walmart eventually admitted fault and granted her a full refund plus a $20.00 gift card for the inconvenience.

Broken PS3 and Swapped Serials

(source)

In April of 2008, a Consumerist reader wrote in to tell of a strange story of a broken PS3 and a swapped serial number that made it impossible to return the machine. The reader’s sister bought a used PS3 from Target as a birthday present for her husband, however when they tried to set up the machine, it wouldn’t read games or Blu-Ray disks.

Upon bringing it back to the store with the original receipt, the customer service representative informed her that the device could not be exchanged because the serial number on the machine did not match the one on the box. Someone had apparently swapped a working PS3 for a broken one and returned it to the store, which then sold it to the reader. The manager of the Target refused to process the return, but the reader was not to be denied. She spoke to a manager at another Target location who was able to check the records for the device and determine that her return was legitimate. After a 45 minute drive to the other store, their money was eventually refunded.

Harddrive Swapped For Bathroom Tiles

(source)

Best Buy has a peculiar history for swapping out electronics for construction items – first a brick for a laptop, now bathroom tiles for a harddrive. The Consumerist tells the tells the tale of Sam, a man who ordered a 1 TB harddrive from Best Buy’s website and got a box of flooring material in its place. Sam purchased the drive for an in-store pick up, brought the drive home and opened the box to find that he had been taken for a bait and switch. Sam quickly jumped in his car and drove back to the store to inform them of the mix-up.

He reports that at first, the staff was very willing to help him and quickly exchanged his tiles for the harddrive he paid for. This congeniality didn’t last however. As Sam opened his new box at the counter to inspect its contents, a manager stormed up and ripped it away from him, telling him to “go take it up with the  manufacturer.” Even though he had already completed the exchange and purchased the new drive, the manager said he was “shit out of luck,” and Sam went home without his drive.

Empty Laptop Boxes

(source)

Finally we have a tale of a rip-off from Walmart that turned into one of the biggest crime “fail” moments in retail history. TechDirt reports that in 2008, two men purchased a laptop from Walmart and brought it home to find that they were sold an empty box. Outraged over the apparent fraud, they went back to the store to complain and set things straight.

When they told their story to the manager, he thought the two were trying to scam the store (i.e., - taking the laptop out and returning an empty box for a refund). The store manager proceeded to call the police, but when they showed up the shoppers fled the store. As it turns out, they were sold an empty box from Walmart, but they bought the laptop with stolen credit cards. The two were soon arrested for fraud. Let this serve as a lesson to criminals everywhere – if you’re scamming people, don’t complain about getting ripped off!

Let’s get things straight first – why does it matter if a degree is from an accredited institution or not? Not only do diploma mills cheat students out of the higher educational experience offered at accredited schools, but instead of allowing for more opportunities, they actually leave students with no chance of receiving a higher degree at an accredited school, transferring credits or obtaining a competitive job. Little do the estimated yearly 200,000 degree-bearing graduates of degree mills know that, after the financial investments of upwards of $80,000, their degrees are bogus and have little to no weight in the real world. The cost, in the long run, then is more than they bargained for.

The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) warns students specifically of diploma mills, posting on their website in bold, “Diploma mills are schools that are more interested in taking your money than providing you with a quality education. You need to know how to protect yourself as a consumer.”

While the government is working to crack down on these bad businesses, consumers need to be informed and alert to the red flags as well. Here’s how to know if your higher educational dollars are being well spent:

Check the school’s accreditation

Legitimate schools, in most cases, are accredited by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and/or by the USDE. In some cases, schools can also be approved by agencies, accrediting or state approved, and recognized by the Secretary of Education. If a school cites several accrediting agencies, chances are that school is trying to impress and mislead you with fancy acronyms, even if they are supported by poorly designed websites. In many cases, non-accredited schools even develop their own accreditation agencies, or inappropriate alliances, to bypass the need to acquire official approval from a legal agency. To be very sure, check the USDE’s updated website of accredited postsecondary institutions and programs. USDE also maintains a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies.

Do the right search

Some of these phony universities do a good job of covering up their tracks. That is, they’ve produced so much web content that a search of the school’s name will give you little with which to work. Add the word “scam”, “fraud”, “complaint”, however, and you find yourself discovering a whole other side of things.

Recently a representative from the infamous Preston University, which started in Pakistan and now has positioned itself in 31 locations around the world, including Dubai, Wyoming, and L.A., contacted Isabel Serna* in Central America. Intrigued by the phonecall, Ms. Serna decided to meet with the representative and then to do a search of Preston online. For the first 3 pages, the Google search showed next to nothing, other than a low-profile Wikipedia page that discusses the degree mill nature of Preston. People rarely go beyond the first few pages of a Google search, and had Ms. Serna not added the word “scam” to “Preston University”, she would not have come across the one-entry Blogspot devoted entirely to Preston University’s fraud scheme. One red flag can be enough to get a person to investigate further.

Be wary of a strange salesy approach

Reputable universities are not ones for presenting themselves like used car salesmen. They normally don’t refer to “discounts”, “referrals” and “bargains”. If a school representative is trying to convince you to attend their school because it is a bargain, compared to other Masters degree programs, then you should be smelling something fishy there. As well, if they are not willing to give information by email or state that “it is company policy to discuss these matters in person”, then chances are they’d rather not have their likely-to-be-lies in print, lest it be used as a case against them later.

In Ms. Serna’s meeting with the representative from Preston, she was told that the education at Preston would be saving her at least $4000 (a hefty amount by Latin American standards). As well, she would receive a 15% discount for writing a positive letter of reference for the university and an additional discount if she could give 15 references for the school to contact. By the end of the meeting, Ms. Serna was told that it was then the moment to give up her references. When she responded that she needed time to think about it, the representative’s response was, “What is there to think about?”

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true

If a school attempts to entice you by noting that you can earn your degree in half the time it takes to do it elsewhere, and by attending classes only once a week, then it’s likely to be a degree mill. While it may seem nice to invest so little time in receiving that long-awaited Masters degree, you’re only doing yourself a disservice in the end. Smart employers can detect shams, and bona fide universities have degree mill schools on their blacklists. Your chances at advancement in academia and in the workforce will be thwarted by taking this seemingly harmless shortcut.

Ask also about professors, and degree mill schools will be quick to offer up credentials for their teachers. When Ms. Serna asked the Preston University representative for the qualifications of teachers in the Masters program she was interested in, the representative stated that all of their professors had 2 Masters degrees and were in the process of receiving their Ph.D.s. Upon further investigation, Ms. Serna most likely would have discovered that the degrees received by these so-called academics would also have been awarded by Preston University, a method used by degree mills to make their graduates happy while lining their own pockets.

Listen for minced words…or potentially straight up lies

Degree mills are careful with their words, to say the least. When asked whether their degrees awarded would be valid for acceptance into other schools, an advisor might respond that yes, you could use the degree to apply to other schools, which is different from saying that other schools would accept the degree.

And one more thing – according to the USDE, degree mills often use names that sound similar to reputable schools. The final shocker for Ms. Serna came when, after days of harassment from the Preston University representative, she finally decided to let the representative know that she’d read unfavorable reviews online of the school. After flustering for a second, the representative explained that that may have been due to the fact that Preston University has a different name in the United States – that there, Preston is called Princeton University.

Tran Nguyen Templeton is the program advisor of Colegio Monarch Guatemala, a therapeutic school for children with neurological disabilities. Tran holds a Masters Degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Phishing and Account Take-Overs

(source)

For those unaware, phishing is a scam in which a con artist will send a user an email that appears to have come from eBay, but instead tricks the user into giving their username and password. Despite the news and warnings circulated by eBay and fraud combatant blogs, the problem isn’t going away – the con artists are simply getting craftier.

It used to be that obtaining a user’s eBay account was as easy as sending an email from an address that looked like eBay, and telling them their account would be closed unless they replied with their username and password. These days people don’t commonly fall for this, so scammers have started using fake websites that look just like eBay, except they steal account information when a user logs in.

In fact, earlier this year JSOnline reported that some eBay scammers used Craigslist to lure in their victims. Con artists do this by posting something for sale on Craigslist and then telling interested buyers that they would rather sell it on eBay because it is more secure. The user is then sent a link to a fake listing that prompts them to sign into their account and place their bid. Predictably, when the user signs in, the site steals their username and password and the scammer uses the victim’s account to continue the fraud.

Phony Items For Sale

(source)

Ebay users must not only look out for their identity, but also for fake items listed for sale as the real thing. In 2006, the International Data Corporation (IDC) performed an investigation of the prevalence of pirated software for sale on eBay and found that over 50% of Microsoft branded software on eBay was illegitimate. This study illustrates the far-reaching nature of this kind of fraud, and leaves users to wonder what percentage of other highly coveted items are fake.

Not even name brand electronics are safe from counterfeiters. Earlier this month, TechWorld reported that several eBay scammers were creating and selling fake Apple iPads for $80.00 – $100.00. The devices look like a smaller iPad, but run Android software. Such stories can be found in almost every market from fashion to technology. If you find any of the following popular and normally expensive items for sale on eBay at huge discounts, they are most likely counterfeit:

• Electronics.
• Designer clothing.
• Computer software.
• Movies and music.
• Autographs.
• Collectibles
• Antiques.

Ebay users are encouraged to remember the old saying “if its too good to be true, it probably is.” No sane person would take a loss worth hundreds of dollars to get you a new Chanel bag for $50.00.

Triangulation Fraud

(source)

Triangulation fraud is a popular and uncommonly aggressive type of eBay fraud. Worse yet – it’s incredibly difficult to detect until it strikes. The way this scam works is that the criminal will list a moderately expensive item for sale on eBay, but one that is also available from other online retail sources. When a buyer wins the auction, the scammer will purchase the item from an online retailer with a stolen credit card and pass along the buyer’s shipping information.

Only once the credit card is reported to be stolen will the retailer investigate the charge, and when they look into it they will have a record containing the eBay buyer’s information – taking the scammer clean out of the picture. EHow cautions buyers to check all receipts and shipping documents that come with purchases to look for strange credit card numbers or information from people they have never heard of. If you catch the fraud before the credit card gets reported, you might have an easier time dealing with the authorities when they question you.

“Second Chance” Fraud

(source)

Ebay buyers who lose an auction sometimes receive “second chance” notifications in which the seller offers them another opportunity to buy the item they were bidding on. Scammers manipulate this system to steal novice users’ credit card information by setting up an auction and letting buyers bid all they want on the item. When the auction ends, the seller sends out very official looking, eBay branded emails to the second and third highest bidders telling them that the seller has offered them a second chance to buy the item for their highest bid.

When the victim clicks on the “buy” link, they are taken to a page that looks like an eBay auction in every way – except it isn’t. Instead, the page was designed by the scammer and is programmed to steal the buyers credit card information the moment they type it in.

SafeFromScams reports that this problem is more widespread than most users realize. “It’s become a pervasive Ebay scam,” they proclaim. “In 2004 a Welsh teenager was convicted of conning more than 100 people out of £45,000 with such a scam, and he’s just the tip of the iceberg. According to computer security experts, hundreds of thousands of such e-mails are sent every month.”

Shield Scams

(source)

Shield scams are a type of eBay trickery that targets the seller of items, rather than the buyer as with most scams. The scam is set to target people selling expensive items who haven’t put a reserve on their listing. Typically the scammer will register two accounts, and use competing bids to ensure that they get the item for an incredibly low price.

If an item of interest costs $1,000.00, for example, and the seller forgot to set a reserve on the listing, the scammer would use one account to bid very low – say $40.00. He would then use his second account to make an astronomical bid that no other legitimate user would dare challenge – say $3,000. This discourages anyone else from bidding, until only a few seconds of the auction remains. The scammer then retracts his high bid, leaving his low one as the sole winner of the auction.

(click image to enlarge)

Check Wholesale Prices Of The Item

(source)

One of the quickest ways to spot a shady online huckster is to make a realistic assessment of the “rock-bottom deal” you think you’ve found. There’s a lot to be said for bargain hunting, but you should always be cautious when a website is the only one of its kind to have the item listed for 90% off. Generally speaking, there is a wholesale cost of the item on top of which retailers (both online and off) add their own profit margin. Therefore, the absolute lowest you should ever see an expensive, big-ticket item is at its wholesale cost.

No retailer wants to take a huge loss on costly electronics or designer fashion. The lesson to be learned – If Versace sunglasses cost $500.00 from the Versace warehouse, and $600.00 everywhere else, stay far away from the small website claiming to have authentic pairs for $45.00.

Check Online Customer Reviews

(source)

When in doubt, check for testimonials. No – we don’t mean the testimonials that appear on the retailer’s website, as these can easily be forged by the website owner. Instead, go onto Google and search for the name of the retailer you are hesitant to buy from. If they have a history of ripping people off, you can bet there are some angry enough to rant about them online. Read through forums or blogs that contain mention of the retailer and see if the customers have either good or awful things to say about their experience.

Additionally, you can check out the reviews on SiteJabber, to see what other customers are saying about any particular online business. If the site you are scrutinizing is a scammy company, there is a good chance someone has already reported them on SiteJabber.

Unless You Subscribed To It, Ignore It

(source)

Some legitimate online retailers let shoppers choose to receive offers from them in the future – a safe and useful practice when you find a store that sells stuff you really like. However all too often we receive emails from retailers we’ve never heard of telling us of the amazing deals they offer on their site. Sometimes these could be referrals from a retailer you do subscribe to, but other times they come from fly-by night scammer looking to make a quick buck from some unsolicited email.

These people use programs (or even manual labor) to prowl across the Internet and harvest massive lists of email addresses from anywhere they might exist. Your Facebook profile, forums you may have written on, your blog – if your email is out there, it isn’t hard for dedicated sellers to find it. A safe rule of thumb is: if you didn’t ask for it, just ignore it. If you are still captivated by the contents of the message and have special reason to believe it might be from a legitimate source, run the accompanying website through the other checks in this article to see how it fares.

Improper Use of Grammar and Spelling

(source)

This tell is one you need to use some judgement on, after all even the Sears catalogue contains an occasional typo. However, frequent spelling mistakes and consistently poor use of grammar are signs that whoever wrote the content is probably from outside of the country, or took very little time proof reading what was written. In either case, very few (if any) reliable, legitimate online enterprises would allow flagrant disregard for the English language on their home page. If you encounter this, run.

Check Out the WHOIS Profile

(source)

This is an old-school tell, yet few people think to check it out before trusting a new online retailer. A WHOIS profile is a public record of information that anyone who buys a website address must fill out. Many people with nothing to hide fill them out with truthful information. However a surefire tell of a shady website is a corresponding WHOIS profile that contains clearly fake information (such a listing 555-5555 as a phone number, or Fred Flinstone as the Web Administrator).

Alternatively, some website owners choose to hide their WHOIS information using a privacy guard, such as PrivacyPost. There are a number of totally clean businesses who use PrivacyPost for reasons other than scamming people, however it should serve as a warning sign when you cannot even contact the people you are about to send money to.

In order to look up a WHOIS profile, simply visit Whois.com and key in the web address.

Avoid Payment By Western Union or MoneyGram

(source)

You should never purchase items online that require you to pay with instant wire transfers like Western Union or MoneyGram. Credit card payments and PayPal transfers are all easily trackable, and thus avoided by scammers – not so with Western Union. As privacy advocacy blog “ThatsNonsense.com” explains, “These money wiring services don’t require your bank details like Paypal or escrow services do, and can’t be traced to a verified receivers address like when accepting credit or debit payments. Additionally, you can pick up your money from anywhere in the world that has the respective store, making it a scammers paradise.”

Ask yourself why a company in 2010 cannot find a way to accept a credit card. This tell is one that should be heeded under almost all circumstances unless you have indisputable reason to believe you are safe.

Check Privacy Seals and Certifications

(source)

Privacy seals usually appear at the bottom of a page, or during the onset of the checkout process, and provide reassurance that the company you are dealing with does not resell your credit card information or attempt to rip you off.

Common privacy certifications come from Verisign, TRUSTe, and the Better Business Bureau. These seals can be a positive signal about the quality of an online business, but be aware that some scammers can just rip the privacy seal graphic and paste it on their site without actually being certified, but you can check for this by clicking the seal. Certified websites will show an exclusive certificate provided by the company.

(click image to enlarge)

Free Furniture

(source)

In March of 2008, Fox News reported on a Craigslist hoax that cost one man almost everything he owned. In Jacksonville, Oregon, scammers posted prank ads on the website claiming that the person who lived at Robert Salisbury’s residence had to leave town suddenly, and that everything in his house was free for the taking. The problem is that Salisbury had no idea of any such ad and was not certainly not planning on moving anywhere. On his drive home he spotted a truck passing him loaded down with stuff from his house and garage.

Surprised, Salisbury pulled them over to discover just what was going on. “I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back,” Salisbury said. “They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did.” As he arrived home, Salisbury was greeted by 30 people ransacking his home, barn and garage, taking everything and anything they wanted. Eventually the police arrived on scene to break up the party, but by then too many people had already made their getaway.

Cheap Rental Homes

(source)

Washington newspaper TheOlympian recently reported on a serious real estate scam going around Craigslist that could cost unsuspecting shoppers thousands of dollars. Creative scammers, usually located overseas in remote areas that U.S. law cannot affect, find ads elsewhere on the Internet for properties for sale by real estate agencies. They then copy the pictures, address and description of the property and list it on Craigslist for well below market value.

You might think you are getting an amazing deal from a desperate seller, but instead you’re only being ripped off. Buyers who fall for the hoax send the purchase price (or at least a deposit) to the seller’s bank account and then desperately wait for contracts or deeds that will never come. The seller promptly disappears with the money and moves right along to the next deal.

“Sometimes they’re just asking for an application fee, but then they get 50 applicants and they’ve got their money,” the article reports. “Others ask for a full deposit fee to hold the rental.”

Cell Phone Trickery

(source)

Earlier this year, a new scam began cropping up on Craigslist, this time attacking sellers. Popular shopping blog TheConsumerist reports that sellers of various items may be contacted by a seemingly interested buyer who claims they’re too busy to talk at the moment, but nonetheless want to buy what you’re selling. Instead of just asking for your phone number, they claim to use some kind of web service that stores information and request that you to visit their site and enter your phone number. This is so that they can call you later, or so they say.

Of course, for the gullible few who visit the strange URL and enter in their phone number, a buyer’s phone call is the last thing they receive. Instead, the website beings charging the cell phone owner a phantom fee of $9.95/month, with no apparent way to contact the offending business. For an example of the sort of email you should be on the lookout for, check out this one copied straight from Craigslist on TheConsumerist.

Used Cars For Less

(source)

While Craigslist can certainly be a prime place to find used cars for sale, buyers must be careful of the occasional vehicle fraud that could rob them of hundreds – if not thousands – of dollars. Skilled con artists list vehicles for sale for jaw dropping discounts to lure unsuspecting buyers who may think they’re getting the deal of a lifetime. It may not always be the same car, but the price will always be far, far less than market value.

Idaho news website IdahoStatesman reports on a specific incidence of this scam wherein a woman listed a three year old SUV for less than $3,000. Right away some red flags should be going up in most shoppers heads, but in order to investigate the scammer’s sales funnel, the paper replied to the ad with a few questions regarding the vehicle and why it is listed for so little money. The con artist’s reply, which can be read here, attempts to justify the low price with an emotional divorce story and then asks for payment through their own secure channel.

IdahoStatesman reminds us that no one, grieving a divorce or not, would ever take such a massive loss on a car. Anyone unfortunate enough to fall for it will part with their $3,000 and never hear from the seller again.

Give-Aways From the Troops

(source)

The Illinois National Guard has recently released a statement alerting Craigslist shoppers to be the lookout for the latest wave of scams, this time involving the troops. The hoax advertisements claim that soldiers are trying to get rid of big items before they are deployed overseas. Cars, televisions, computers, and more have been advertised in this fashion for unbelievably low prices, leaving many of us to wonder why soliders would want to come home from duty without any of these items.

Nevertheless, the uniqueness of the story has at least a tinge of believability to it, luring some right into the con artist’s trap. In the end its another “take the money and run” tale in which you pay the supposed soldier for his great collection of stuff, only to wind up out of money and unable to contact the seller ever again.

The giveaway for this scam is that all of the sellers claim to be soldiers from a specific Illinois National Guard unit. MyStateLine.com reports that the National Guard and the FBI are currently trying to track down the scammers and bring them to justice.

Phishing For eBay

(source)

In March of this year, JSOnline reported on a widespread Craigslist scam that cost many people their eBay login and possibly all of the money in their PayPal or online bank accounts. Scammers start by listing fake products for sale on Craigslist, and when an interested buyer bites, the seller tells them they’d rather make the transaction on eBay. The scammer then sends the buyer a fake eBay website that steals the login information the user types in.

The scam artist uses this login information to list more fraudulent products for sale from the victims account. By spreading their scam out across so many innocent people’s accounts, it becomes nearly impossible to locate the actual con man. JSOnline comments that “Many customers use the same password for their eBay and PayPal – and even online banking accounts – leaving consumers even more vulnerable to theft… This is so multifaceted, this isn’t just one scam, this is 15 scams.”

Student Roommates

(source)

Among the many diverse and sometimes strange advertisements posted on Craigslist, college roommate requests might seem to be relatively tame. Unfortunately for some California students, a scam broke out over the website at the beginning of this year involving international students looking for roommates here in the states. California newspaper The California Aggie broke the news of the con, cautioning all students in the area to be wary of requests from international housemates.

Tuong Ha, a UCD student of psychology and neurobiology was one who fell victim to the scam and told the Aggie all about his experience. After posting an ad looking for a roommate on Craigslist, he was contacted by a girl calling herself Sammie and claiming tp be a Malaysian transfer student looking to live in his area. He reports that Sammie sent him a check for $3,500, which was much more than he asked for a security deposit.

Tuong deposited the check into his bank account, and only a couple of days later, Sammie contacted him again requesting that he send her $2,720 back for a plane ticket to the states. He sent her the money and never heard from her again. Several days later his bank contacted him to inform him that the check had bounced, and he had lost the $2,720.