UNITED STATES, Jan 21 — The scammers are sniffing out those troubled by foreclosure fears – widening their net as foreclosures continue to plague the country. One of the victims was Debbie Hodges. She stumbled upon an advertisement in the need while looking for aid for the school where she is employed. Hodges is now careful and said, “Now I don’t respond to ads on the Internet unless I know exactly what they are
T
he Scammers are sniffing out those troubled by foreclosure fears – widening their net as foreclosures continue to plague the country. One of the victims was Debbie Hodges. She stumbled upon an advertisement in the need while looking for aid for the school where she is employed. She thought there was no harm in contacting the advertiser.
47 year old Debbie gave them her credit card number but the final outcome was that she lost $70 without getting any information about available assistance.
She is one among thousands who have filed their complaints with Better Business Bureau in 2009 for being victims of scam. The government grants these scammers refer to are all bogus. They also assure jobs that do not exist. There are lucrative offers about avoiding foreclosures that end up with the borrowers losing their homes and cash. The people weighed down by the recession are now easy targets of these scammers who prey on their vulnerability.
The recent details are still coming through but approximately there were 890,000 complaints filed in 2008. Alison Southwick of Better Business Bureau said, “Consumers are getting bombarded. They have kept their guard up against all sorts of scams.”
The Internet came forth with “free’ offers for a trial period for whitening teeth, pills that would stop aging and other exotic health products. Consumers complained to the Bureau that they were exorbitantly charged for non-existent facilities. There were car warranties and offers to reduce credit card rates. Mails came congratulating winners of lotteries. To get it the persons would have to pay an initial fee claiming to be taxes. Needless to say that the ‘fees’ vanished and nothing turned up.
Debbie Hodges received only a computer disc with nothing of relevance. Later bills arrived for stuff she had neither ordered for nor received.
With the coming of the New Year the Better Business Bureau has warned the people to read carefully the fine print regarding the so-called free trial offers. Consumers are also being told to be cautious about job offers and about electronically sending money to receivers who were not known. Hodges is now careful and said, “Now I don’t respond to ads on the Internet unless I know exactly what they are.”
The recession has changed the attitude of people and they are continuously hunting around for bargains in anything – from teeth whiteners to jobs and lowering of interest rates.
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