A bad economy is good for scammers
Unpaid fuel bill
Someone claiming to a representative from your heating-fuel company phones you one of the coldest days of winter (even in Florida it can get cold). He/she says you didn’t pay your last bill, so the company has no choice but to turn off your gas (in most of Florida electricity) immediately. He would like to be lenient, but high prices have made your unpaid bill so large that the company policy requires immediate action.
You protest that you paid your bill, but the representative insists that the payment has not been received. The only way you can avoid a disruption in service is to make the payment immediately by supplying a credit or debit card number. The representative warns that if you do not do this, it will be weeks before the company can send out a technician to restart your service.
The caller is a con man not a heating company employee. This is true even if the caller ID says that the call is coming from the heating/electric company. If you supply your credit card number, it will be used to make unauthorized purchases. Heating/electric companies are heavily regulated by state governments and cannot suspend customers’ service until they have sent several written notices.
What to do: Hang up, then phone your heating/electric provider to confirm that your account is paid in full.
Technicians at your home
Two technicians from your oil, gas or electric company unexpectedly show up at your home. They say they have reason to believe there is a minor problem with your furnace/condenser (or gas line or some other component of your heating or electrical system) that is causing it to use fuel/electricity faster than it should or causing you to be billed for more fuel/electricity than you are using.
These technicians really are thieves. If you let them into your house, one will distract you while the other steals from you. Homeowners are normally careful about whom they allow into their homes, but anxiety over high fuel/electric prices makes the promise of lower heating bills too appealing for many to pass up.
What to do: If utility technicians visit your home when you have not arranged a service call, ask them to wait outside (keep your dock locked) while you phone the company to double-check their story. Do not back down even if they claim they do not have the time to wait. While you are making the call, the scammers will most likely disappear, but if not, called the police.
Work-at-home
A help wanted ad says that you can earn hundreds of dollars per week from your home in your spare time by filling out on-line surveys (one of my friends and a reader fell for this- sorry) sorting e-mails for a large company … or performing some other simple task.
Work-at-home opportunities are attractive to millions of Americans who have lost their jobs and to those who are in need of extra cash to keep up with the rising cost of living. Unfortunately, almost all work-in-home help wanted e-mails are scams.
If you respond, the scammers try to … convince you t buy a list of companies in search of work-at-home employees. The list is worthless.
… sell you a list of on-line survey companies that pay participants. Even on-line surveys that do compensate participants pay so little that it is hardly worth your time or trouble.
… ask you to pay an “application fee.” The scammer pockets your fee. There is no job.
… get you to reveal your social security number or other personal information so that they can run a background check before hiring you. They steal your identity.
… sell your contact information to other con men and internet scammers, who will try to take advantage of you.
What to do: Delete work-at-home e-mails. They are almost always scams.
Gas saver
An ad on the internet or elsewhere claims that your car could be getting better mileage. All you need to do is add special drops or tablets to the gas tank … or attach a special device to the exhaust pipe or elsewhere.
A huge number of supposedly mileage boosting technologies have appeared in response to high has prices. They usually are worthless or worse. Some can actually damage your car.
What to do: Ignore ads and e-mails that promise better mileage. If there were a truly effective fuel-saving gas additive, it would be huge news, not something promoted in internet pop-up ads and spam.
I apologize to my readers that expected more on mortgage scams. After my column on mortgage scams I received several e-mails about scams in general, however they did equate with the home. Next week, back to the grinder and a backlog of e-mails. Thanks to several people for their shared information.
Have a real estate question? Write, call, fax or e-mail:
Bob Jeffries, Realtor,
Century 21 Birchwood Realty, Inc.
4040 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral, FL
239-540-6659 Office 239-542-7760 Fax