Online scams, SeniorSSuperStoreS Keeping in Touch newlsetter

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This issue of Keeping in Touch deals with more matters of interest to Prime Time Surfers:
1.) Online Scams
2.) National Procrastination Week
3.) Lilly Answers the Discount Drug Challenge
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1.) Online Scams

Steering clear of scams online is pretty simple if you use some common sense. But there are a few devilish schemes that have bilked many unsuspecting folks out of their hard earned money.

So today we'd like to share with you the... "Top 10 Scams Online", courtesy of Audri and Jim Lanford of Internet ScamBusters (tm). (See the credits and link at the end of the article if you want to subscribe to their newsletter.)

Scams on the Internet are growing -- and with the vast selection, it was hard to only choose ten. We've tried to soften this list with a bit of humor. But please don't let the humor make these scams seem any less serious than they really are.

Some of these scams are very dangerous.

A word of warning, so to speak. These aren't ranked by dollars lost or people scammed. There's nothing scientific about the list. It's just the ten scams that we find the most disturbing.

You'll note that most of these involve spam. There's a reason for that. The mentality of a spammer is exactly the same kind of mindset as a con artist. As we always say: "If it's spam, it's scam."

Here are the top 10 scams of 2001...

10. Herbal "Viagra" (and so forth)

This is really a whole category of scams, relating to the sale of medical or "alternative" medical treatments online. Usually using spam to get to the "customer."

If you're lucky, these products will do nothing at all. Some of them are seriously dangerous by themselves. They promise cures for life threatening illnesses, causing those who buy the promise to delay proper medical treatment, sometimes past the point where it would have helped.

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before buying into any of these nostrums. It'll save you a lot of headaches and heartache later.

Folks, consider this: If you wouldn't trust a spammer to handle your money, why would you take medical advice from them???

9. Internet Investigator

"Be the first kid on your block to know all the dirty secrets your neighbors are hiding! Find out what your prospective mate has hidden in his past! Find the lost city of Atlantis! Find your lost remote!"

This one is more an annoyance than a real problem. It serves as a great example of the pure hype that you should watch out for in online advertising.

Filled with promises of secret knowledge that's not available to anyone else, it delivers nothing more than a list of places you can pay to search for information. It's the perfect example of a pitch that's not quite a scam, but it clearly misleads in its promise.

Ask yourself this: If this stuff was as easy as the ads make it out to be, wouldn't you see these "secret techniques" in magazines and on TV?

8. Pump and Dump

You've probably gotten these. The subject line or first part of the email says that this is "Highly confidential information."

This scam is based on touting "advance information" on specific stocks in an attempt to drive up the price past its true worth, so the promoters can sell at the higher price.

They pump it up, and then dump it; hence the name. This is generally illegal. And certainly a bad way to get investment advice...

Ask yourself: If it's so confidential, why are they spamming it to millions of people?

7. Credit Scams

There are all sorts of these that prey on the desires of people to repair or establish credit.

The worst are the alleged credit repair services. They promise to help you to remove accurate but negative information from your credit record, or to show you how to get a federal Employer ID Number, usually in very questionable fashion.

Not only do these techniques not work, they can get you in deep trouble for committing fraud.

You're not going to fix your credit while you're in jail.

As far as easy credit, guaranteed approval credit cards, and home equity loans that don't require equity in your home...forget it.

This one should be obvious: Cheap money? From a BANK???

6. Auction Antics

You can get a lot of terrific deals through online auctions, but you need to be careful. Before buying anything that seems too cheap, or that shouldn't be on an auction site at all, ask questions.

Look at the seller's feedback rating and comments. You'll get a lot of clues from that. Check the retail price of the merchandise. If it's new merchandise, you can probably expect to pay 1/2 to 2/3 of retail, even at auction.

Remember the old story of the fellow who raffled off a brand new Lincoln at a small town carnival? Tickets were $1 each, and everyone figured they had a good chance. He sold a lot of tickets, and, as promised, he delivered a brand new Lincoln... penny.

For more on auction fraud, you can check out the issue of Internet ScamBusters called "Online Auctions: Deals or Steals" at: www.scambusters.org/Scambusters43.html.

5. Chain Letters

"Add your name to position X, move the name in position Y to position Z, send 200 copies of this letter to your closest personal friends, and very soon you'll have no personal friends left!"

Don't believe the claims about legitimacy, folks. These things are illegal, immoral, and probably fattening.

4. Viruses

Get a good anti-virus program, keep it updated, and keep it running. Huh? What are viruses doing in the ranks of scams?

They're actually among the more clever of scams, if you think about it. Deceptive subject lines, hidden code that causes you to spread them to your friends, and almost always appealing to the most common desires.

3. Nigerian Fee Scam

This is an oldie, and a real baddie. The basic line goes like this:

"I represent some high mucky muck who wants to get a lot of suspicious money out of my country, and we need help from you to do it. We'll pay you stupid amounts of cash to be a front person."

The system escalates until you've got money sunk into the scam, and they want you to visit the country in question in person. There have been people who played along with this and never made it home alive.

Originally this was focused through Nigeria, but with recent events, you may hear about Taliban leaders wanting help, or people from other war-torn countries.

Don't respond to these people in any way. People die falling for this one.

For more on this scam, check out:www.scambusters.org/NigerianFee.html.

2. Identity Theft

This is a VERY serious problem. We covered this in our last issue of Internet ScamBusters. If you haven't read it, do so now at:www.scambusters.org/Scambusters47.html.

1. WTC Scams

The spams relating to the World Trade Center began within an hour of the attacks. They range from appeals for aid to the victims, usually sent through the spammers' web sites, to fake news items concerning reported attacks.

There's nothing funny to be said about these.

Don't pass them along, and don't contribute through any site that doesn't belong to a recognizable charity, such as the Red Cross or the United Way.

You can read more about these scams at:www.scambusters.org/Scambusters46.html.

Most online businesses are run by honest folks and are quite safe. Just use a little common sense and caution, and you should be fine.

Thanks again to Audri and Jim Lanford of Internet ScamBusters(tm). Don't get scammed on the Internet. Sign up for Audri and Jim's free subscription to Internet ScamBusters, the #1 publication on Internet fraud. Send a blank email to subscribe@scambuster.org or visit: www.scambusters.org.

Editorial Comment:

We second the advice that the authors give, and we'd like to add our own sage advice.

First, make good use of your delete key. So often, we want to click on the email just to see what the sender/scammer has to say. When we do that, it's the same as striking up a conversation with a telemarketer who calls us at home to sucker, uh, sell us something that we just have to have (according to the caller).

Second, let's say you open the email and find the content distasteful, or at least something you don't want to be bothered with. You may have just exposed your computer to a virus.

Furthermore, if you try to unsubscribe, following the instructions given in the email, you may have just played into the spammer's hand. Spammers often don't know if their email was delivered to a legitimate mailbox, a receptive mailbox or an interested reader. They also don't know if their mail was read. But, if you reply, in an attempt to unsubscribe, you just provided answers to all of this spammer's questions. The best thing to do about email that sounds or looks suspicious is to simply delete it and forget about it!

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2.) National Procrastination Week

Did you know that this is National Procrastination week? We're doing our part, are you? Got those taxes done yet?

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3.) Lilly Answers the Discount Drug Challenge

Following are excerpts from the announcement from the Eli Lilly Company on Tuesday, March 5, 2002, about their new drug card for low income seniors. This initiative by Lilly comes on the heels of similar announcements in recent weeks by Novartis, Pfizer and others. You can read about those programs by accessing our Archived Newsletters. (Our January 18, 2002 edition covers the Pfizer program, and the November 29, 2001 edition contains information about the Novartis program.)

Overview of the Lilly Program:

LillyAnswersSM Program Helps Medicare Beneficiaries Achieve Potential Annual Savings on Average of $600 per Lilly Prescription.

To assist those seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in Medicare, who most need help in purchasing vital prescription drugs, Eli Lilly and Company announced on March 5, the creation of the LillyAnswers patient assistance program. The centerpiece of the program, the LillyAnswers card, allows low-income seniors without prescription drug coverage to pay a flat fee of $12 for a 30-day supply of any Lilly retail drug. Eligible participants can save an average of nearly $52 per 30-day prescription, or an average of $600 per year per medication under Lilly's $12 fee.

LillyAnswers will provide eligible Medicare beneficiaries access to Lilly's portfolio of retail products for illnesses such as osteoporosis, diabetes, depression, and schizophrenia - chronic diseases that afflict nearly 18 million or one of every two seniors. These products include Evista(r) for osteoporosis, Humulin(r) and Humalog(r) for diabetes, Prozac(r) for depression, and Zyprexa(r) for schizophrenia.

Seniors with an annual income below $18,000 per individual or $24,000 per household, with no prescription drug coverage, are eligible for the LillyAnswers program. It offers immediate help to the more than five million Americans who qualify.

In addition to offering a month's prescription for a flat $12 fee per month, LillyAnswers will provide additional help to seniors and families facing the complex challenges illness presents. Included in the LillyAnswers assistance package is One Care StreetTM, an award-winning program in which patients can build a personalized and convenient information resource, complete with nutritional guidance, exercise recommendations, alternative treatments and medicines, and step-by-step health action guides.

After March 5, Medicare-enrolled seniors and disabled who meet eligibility requirements can apply for a LillyAnswers card by calling 1-877-RX-LILLY to request an application.

Program enrollment is free, and the application process takes two to four weeks. Participating pharmacies will begin accepting the card on April 1, and once a patient receives a LillyAnswers card in the mail, he or she will be covered for 12 months for Lilly retail products purchased at participating pharmacies.

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So, until next time, here's goodbye. Remember, if you want us to add any resources or items of interest, just drop us an email from the SeniorSSuperStoreS Contact Us page. Watch your email box for future newsletters!

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