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According to the US Federal Trade Commission,
American consumers lose more than $40 billion
a year to telemarketing fraud. Despite repeated
warnings, consumers continue to fall for pitches
to promote fraudulent sweepstakes and vacation
packages. Some of the latest telemarketing pitches
include offers for credit card loss protection
plans, international lotteries and advance fee
loans.
Credit
Card Loss Protection
If you receive a phone
call from someone who claims that you need a
credit card loss protection plan, do not buy
the pitch unless you check out the company.
Telephone scam artists
are lying to get consumers to buy worthless
credit card loss protection and insurance programs.
Some scam artists tell consumers that according
to a new law, people are now liable for all
unauthorised charges on their account. This
is not true. If you did not make the authorised
charge, do not pay it. Follow your credit card
issuer's procedures for disputing charges you
have not authorised.
Do not give out your personal
information -- including your credit card or
bank account numbers -- over the phone or online,
unless you know the business is reputable.
A different kind of "loan
shark" is preying on unwary consumers by
taking their money for the promise of a loan,
credit card or other extension of credit.
Advertisements and promotions
for advance fee loans "guarantee"
or suggest that there is a high likelihood of
success that the loan will be granted, regardless
of credit history. But to take advantage of
the offer, you have to pay a fee first. The
catch is, you pay a fee, and the scam artist
takes off with your money and the loan never
materialises.
Keep in mind that legitimate
guaranteed offers of credit do not require payments
up front in order to make a loan application.
It is illegal for companies doing business by
phone to promise you a loan and ask you to pay
for it before they deliver.
International
Lottery Scams
If you receive a call
stating you have won thousands of pounds in
a lottery, hang on to your wallet. It is a fraud.
Even so, scam operators, often based in Canada
or the Netherlands, are using the telephone
and direct mail to entice consumers to buy chances
in high-stake foreign lotteries, from as far
away as Australia and the Americas. In addition,
lottery hustlers use victims' bank account numbers
to make unauthorised withdrawals or their credit
card numbers to run up additional charges.
Responding to just one
foreign lottery ticket can open up the doors
to many more bogus offers for lottery or investment
"opportunities." Ignore all mail and
phone solicitations for foreign lottery promotions.
If you receive what looks to be lottery material
from a foreign country, turn it over to your
local postmaster.
Office
of Fair Trading (OFT) warns consumers about
'Canadian lottery' scam.
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