Scams are everywhere, and they’ll probably increase with the employment rates. Yesterday I got a phone scam telling me I had to do something about the factory warranty on my car. I don’t remember exactly what they wanted me to do because I was very skeptical and didn’t give the automated system my full attention. A few months ago I got a new car, so the scam might have been relevant (depending on what they wanted). Anyways, I have some advice for avoiding scams.

First of all, be skeptical of anything that contacts you and asks for your information. Remember that some place, like your bank or college, already has all your information, so there’s no reason that they’d need to contact you over the phone or email to collect it. If you think a message might be real, contact that business first. Use contact information from something you acquired yourself, like a business card or bank statement. DO NOT USE THE WEBSITE, EMAIL ADDRESS, OR PHONE NUMBER LISTED IN THE SUSPECTED SCAM. Another thing that tipped me off was the fact that this phone call didn’t mention what company it was with. It just said I had to renew my warranty, or something along those lines, and offered to connect me to an operator. In case you’re curious, this scam called me from the following number: (605)462-6063.

Unfortunately, scammers are resourceful. As technology advances, so do scams. We’ve all seen, or at least heard about email scams, but now we also have Facebook scams. Read Dylan’s post and the article he links to for more information at http://theemailwars.com/2008/11/13/sweet-you-found-facebook/. Remember what I said about being skeptical? Well, I think this article speaks for itself. Personally, I think this sounds like the most obvious scam ever, but I guess some people must believe it. I love the last line in the article stating that your friends are unlikely to get stranded penniless in West Africa. Posted by: Jeff Kempf at 11:42 AM  |  Permalink