MODERN - DAY SCAMS Purva Patel, Houston Chronicle 2005-07-04

FINANCIAL FRAUDSTERS Focus on facts and feelings to foil financial fraudsters! The scams aren't new. Only the victims are. Today's con artists twist age-old-scams in search of new suckers. Unfortunately, many still cheat victims of their hard-earned savings. Technology allows today's hucksters to slither through computers and crouch in e-mail inboxes. They remain nameless and faceless through Websites, snail mail or telephones.You don't have to be duped. Learn to spot the red flags and you can Thwart any Con: Too good to be true. Scams often offer a lot for little to nothing deals much better than nay being hawked by legitimate businesses, This is often true of stock investment scams promising extraordinarily high or guaranteed returns. Be skeptical of any offer that's 'free' and then requires you to pay money for a supposed 'fee' or 'tax'. Such advance-fee scams are common with false credit care offers, shady lenders and scholarship search services. Sweepstakes scams also often claim that you've won a prize but must pay to receive it. Prey on our emotions.  The Better Business Bureau says all scams prey on a person's greed, desperation or vanity, said . Scammers will often stress how you are the only one that can help them and appeal to your conscience. Others will use flattery to make you feel like an expert that should know a good deal when you see one. Some will try to create false credibility. Scamsters might create a post on a message board and then respond. For instance, a posting asking ýhas anyone heard of company X? I heard they offer a great opportunity.: That would be followed by a response from someone claiming to have made thousands of dollars through the company. Immediate demands for money.  Any request for money upfront is a red flag, especially if a check, money order or cash are to be picked up by a courier, sent to a mail drop or post office box, or sent overseas. The are likely to be schemes to trick you into sending money or providing bank account information in exchange for promises for goods or services that will never be delivered. A fraudster may also insist you finalize a deal verbally or provide personal financial information without written documentation. Pushy salesman.  Too much pressure in "hurry up and decide" is a sign you should probably slow down and scrutinize the deal. Words such as "urgent" or "final deadline" on sales literature are meant to keep you from thinking too much about what you are about to do, according to the Better Business Bureau. Take your time. If it is worth it today, it will probably still be there tomorrow. Vague Answers.   Scan artists are most successful when they sabotage your ability to think through an offer, so they often avoid answering questions or sending more information. A peddler using a post office box of mail box drop, instead of a street address probably isn't legitimate. The same applies if he or she is unwilling to answer questions or gives partial responses. Persistent Pitches.  Any company that continues to pitch after you've requested that it not call is probably shady, according to the AARP. Legitimate companies will remove you from call lists if you ask. Exclusive, secret offers.   A legitimate salesperson would want as many people as possible to know about the offer to boost sales. But cons will ask you to keep the offer to yourself so others won't question its authenticity. Unprofessional behavior.  Vague Web sites or lack of proper communications are red flags. If you respond to an offer and there's no reply or response with bad grammar, spelling errors or no name, you are probably not dealing with professionals. The Nigerian e-mail scam offering lots of free money is notorious for misspellings and poor grammar. Unsolicited offers.   Fraudulent offers are almost always unsolicited. A random e-mail an unexpected telemarketing call, or an un-requested sweepstakes application that comes straight to you signals a con may be targeting you. Against your gut.   If it makes you queasy, your stomach is probably trying to tell you something.   People say, "I knew in my gut this was a bad thing." So why did you do it?  Sometimes we are just not thinking! (Excerpt from Houston Chronicle Business section July 4, 2005 "Modern Day Scams".