Recently in Scamlines Category

Three unusual angles on the world of Nigerian scams emerge in this week's roundup of the latest fraud and hoax news. There's the Nigerian diplomat who wants scam victims arrested alongside the crooks. And then we have news of two cons inside Nigeria itself -- something you rarely hear about.

Our scan of the scam headlines also turns up two cases of well-known names used to con people out of money, a new rash of concert ticket scams and a warning about phony investment deals in the UK.

Plus, just to balance things up a bit, we thought it'd be worthwhile making the point that scammers -- or alleged scammers -- don't always get away with it. We take a quick look at some of the latest arrests and convictions.

Nobody follows the news more closely than scammers. Special events, reports of tragedies and other incidents fire up the criminal mind. It seems that for every news story there's a matching scam -- a plausible opportunity to rip-off the public.

In this week's round-up of the scam headlines, we show how three news items are being exploited to try to con people either out of money or their confidential information.

We also have the lowdown on two bare-faced cons where the criminals just ask victims to leave their money for collection outside their homes. Plus, we've news of a big phishing attack masquerading as a Hotmail security alert and a con-trick that offers you a driver's license that can never be suspended.

Two large-scale global scams have hit the headlines during the past couple of weeks, underlining the scale of card card number theft and Internet fraud.

First, we have the disclosure that tens of millions of debit and credit card numbers have been stolen by an international gang and used to withdraw huge sums of money.

Second, after ripping off victims to the tune of millions of dollars for bogus, non-existent tickets to the Beijing Olympic Games, scammers are still hard at it trying to exploit the global popularity of the event to their advantage.

Scamlines readers won't have fallen for the tickets scam because we warned about it long ago. Now we're updating you with news of their latest, insidious tricks.

Also among this week's round up of the scam headlines, we have reports of tricksters who claim they've found missing persons and the story of a restaurant owner who handed over $4,000 cash to a man in a parking lot and never saw him again.

Spates of utility company scams and investment cons dominate this week's roundup of the scam headlines.

Sometimes the scammers play on victims' fears; other times they target their ignorance. Sometimes they're after money; other times they want personal financial details they can use elsewhere.

We also have a sad story of how a couple, desperate to be Mom and Dad, were tricked into paying for a phantom pregnancy, and the tale of a bogus wastepaper collector whose favorite charity was his back pocket.

A huge new wave of bank-related phishing scams is sweeping through North America and Europe, claiming thousands of victims.

Mostly, the scams are the familiar sort where victims get an email or phone message, with a link to a bogus website where they're asked to provide personal financial details.

What is unusual is the scale of the outbreak, with scores of local communities being targeted, all within the past couple of weeks. It's not known if the individual attacks are connected with each other.

In one case, scammers are trying a new multi-bank approach that experts fear could lead to a massive haul of stolen identities and financial losses of over $1M.

We also have news of two new prizewinner-type cons, a scam to trick people into paying for making benefits claims, and the story of the hoaxer who claimed he was Frank Sinatra's grandson!

Here at Scambusters, we regularly report heartbreaking stories that seem almost unbelievable because of both how easily the victims get fooled and the sheer nerve the scammers display. Sadly, they are true, and these con merchants get away with their tricks, often leaving their victims many thousands of dollars poorer.

We have just such a tale to report in this week's Scamlines news roundup, when a Seattle woman loses a small fortune after falling for a totally implausible story from a woman she meets in a parking lot.

In another twist on the heartbreak theme, a scammer claims to be the devastated father of a US soldier killed in Iraq, offering his son's car for a tiny fraction of its real value.

We also bring you news of a cheeky cell phone thief, a police bust of a store-card scam and a new phishing warning from the IRS.

After highlighting the scale of scamming in Australia - $1B of fraud every year -- in last week's Scamlines, we take a closer look this week at what's happening "down under".

We discover that some of the well-known scams stateside and in Europe are now hitting Australian shores. Plus, they're grappling with new scams of their very own -- like the self-lighting cigarette con.

We also discover two new scams running this week in a single Oregon town, the return of the Grandparents Scam in two different US locations, a new outbreak of the Real Estate Title Scam, another mortgage trick and the remarkable story of a victim who paid a fortune for a share in the unseen contents of a money bag.

Since this week's issue of Scambusters was about specific news of the past week or two, we're going to keep this issue of Scamlines short.

We have the low-down on a new front-door phishing expedition in Texas, bogus fund-raising teens in Boston, a sneaky trick criminals use to get those precious printed security digits off the back of credit cards and the latest fraud numbers from Australia. Check it out...

Banks, law firms, investment companies and other businesses all show themselves to be easy targets for con artists who take them for an expensive ride in this week's roundup of the latest scam headlines.

We also turn up two new variations of travel scams that use phony coupons and stolen credit cards to hook their victims, a new 809 scam, and a clever trick a blogger dreamed up to get his readers to do all his promotional work for him.

In total, we have 10 news scams for you this week -- including the curious case of the conman who claimed he worked for the Pope!

Whenever there's something new and unknown on the horizon, you can count on scammers to cash in on the confusion. That's what's happening right now with the planned switch-off of analog TV transmissions next year.

In this week's round up of scam headlines, we show how rip-off merchants are four-times overcharging for digital TV converters. Meanwhile, other con artists have been using scare stories about the Iraq war and a fire on the Statue of Liberty to fool their victims.

In our collection of 8 new scams this week, we've also uncovered a cunning phony sting on convenience stores and two interesting variations of established frauds -- the mystery shopper and domain name scams.

As if they're determined to prove they have no conscience at all, scammers love to hit their victims when they're already down and out. So we weren't surprised to pick up news reports from across the Midwest this week where evil tricksters are preying on victims of the floods.

Another favorite ruse is to cash-in on people who do have a conscience by passing themselves off as charity workers. Charity cons are commonplace but we were shocked to discover how young the scammers are these days -- in one case, a girl of 12.

In fact, we've got news of two charity scams, two new phishing scams and a clutch of other tricks in this week's Scamlines round-up. In total, we've got eight new scams to report -- plus news of a hoax to watch out for.

Get the lowdown and be prepared for when these scammers turn up in your town -- as they surely will.

Sometimes, crooks go to elaborate lengths to make their scams seem more believable, as the first two of the incidents reported in this week's Scamlines demonstrate.

Our trawl through the headlines also turned up two versions of one of the most basic scams that still claims scores of victims every day -- selling forged or non-existent tickets -- as well as three new variations of phishing tricks.

And we've uncovered a phony betting tip alert, plus a new outbreak of data "kidnapping." In all, we've nine new scams to warn you about. They happened all over the world, but remember, your city could be next on the criminals' hit list.

Scams that operate just inside the framework of the law feature in this week's Scamlines roundup. We've two cases -- one in Canada, another in Australia -- where legitimate companies try to fool victims into paying for something they don't really want.

We also have the lowdown on a fascinating land fraud in Japan that could just as easily happen in any other country and news of a new outbreak of a nasty and costly scam we've reported on before -- fraudulent online escrow funds.

But it's not all bad news. Investigators announce they've busted a huge, international ring of scammers believed responsible for thousands of phishing/identity theft attacks in the US.

There's a distinctly British flavor to this week's round-up of the latest scam headlines, with new frauds and tricks turning up in various parts of the UK and beyond. Of course, many of these cons are familiar to readers in the US and elsewhere because scams know no boundaries. If they haven't arrived in your town yet, you can be sure they will!

Keeping up the international flavor, we've also uncovered a cheeky traffic ticket scam in South Africa. And picking up on one of the British headlines, we've a spate of distraction burglary scams to tell you about, plus a new tax con, and a wedding gift scam involving a famous celebrity.

As you can tell, we've got lots of scam news for you this week, so let's get started!

It had to happen (and frankly, we're surprised the scams didn't start even more quickly). With the plight of earthquake and cyclone victims in China and Myanmar hitting he headlines -- and our hearts -- every day, it didn't take aid scammers long to put together phony relief campaigns and solicit donations. More on this below.

Another fund-raising scam this week preys on trusting clergymen in Israel, while we've turned up two more of those phony ad scams, where businesses pay to promote themselves in non-existent publications.

Watch out for these and the other cheap tricks in this week's round-up of 8 new scams in the headlines. Remember, they could turn up in your town next.

Some of our haul of 8 new scams could qualify this week as "Crazy Scams Week" after a spate of outrageous tricks. In one case, a conman sells a church; in another a scammer claims to be a Native American Chief raising money for his stranded son.

Weirdest of all, a Vietnamese man falls for a claim that a liquid mixed with his money will double its value. And there's more, as you'll find out in our roundup below.

Also this week, as the promise of summer brings the threat of rising gasoline prices, the Federal Trade Commission warns of a new flood of spams on ways to save fuel. Let's start there.

Tax scams -- we've written about them so many times, but with economic stimulus and refund checks finding their way to millions of homes across the US this month, it's time to sound a new warning.

Police departments across the nation, the IRS itself, the FTC and a host of consumer organizations have issued a full-scale alert.

And don't think you're safe if you're outside the US. Australian authorities issued a tax scam warning in the past week. Who knows where they'll strike next?

Also in this week's round-up of scams in the headlines: a couple of cons based on the American Idol TV show, a cunning scam tricks people into paying for something that's free and a baffling spam-scam hits a Texas zoo.

We all know the saying "All that glitters is not gold" but that doesn't stop scammers from pretending it is. This week we have two stories from the headlines about scammers passing off fake coins and gold-colored bars as the real thing.

Sadly, as some of our stories show, plenty of people fall for even the simplest and most obvious tricks. Many of these cons have been around for years and regularly feature in our weekly Scambusters article topics. Others show great cunning, like the scammers who passed themselves off as a monk stranded in Canada!

There's a strong international flavor to this week's clutch of scams. But many of them will ring a bell with people in just about any country, including the US. Even if you haven't come across them previously, be warned: they could soon be on their way to your locale.

In the past few days we've uncovered 10 new scams from around the world, including three variations of job scams where, one way or another, people lose their money, their possessions or their identity -- or all three -- in return for non-existent work.

There are also a couple of cunning new tricks to look out for and one that's currently spreading like wildfire - a cheeky spam email that suggests someone has an incriminating video of you!

Is it possible to scam the dearly departed? Absolutely. Separate incidents in this latest Scamlines round-up show two different ways scammers have stolen the identity of recently deceased people. In both cases they were caught -- but their crimes can be a warning for all of us, if or when we lose a loved one.

An old "favorite" -- the advance fee loan scam -- is also among the latest con tricks we've uncovered for this week's Scamlines, along with important news about PayPal's bid to thwart the scammers.