Protect yourself from Internet scams

Times Reporter

 

Different schemes to get your money have been taking place for centuries, and over time have evolved to fit the times. These days more and more scams are taking place through online sources, such as Kijiji. The company Kijiji itself, and others like it, are not to blame, as they will ban a person when they find out, however, all the person would have to do is get a new IP address to be back in business. 

“That’s a common theme, we’ve seen it here, it’s kind of the explosion of Kijiji and the Internet and all that,” said Sgt. Kevin Reilly with the Strathmore RCMP.

“Recently, and I mean in the last two months I’ve probably seen different files here that are exactly that. They say, oh I’m selling $100,000 trailer and fifth wheel and this guy calls up and says absolutely I’ll pay it but I need $1,000 to fix my truck and I don’t have that, could you send me the $1,000 and then I could drive down there and pick that up, and so they do. It’s like if he doesn’t have the $1,000 where is he coming up with the $100,000?”

Scams such as this are becoming more and more common, and some of the people perpetuating them have even been using a fake Paypal page as a way to try to convince people to send money. 

The Paypal page will say the money is there in your account, but it has a hold on it, which means you still need to send the money to be able to access the money. It’s not very logical, but there are instances where people not knowing any better have sent the money requested. 

“Anything that says you’ll get this if you send us this much money, you’re almost guaranteed that it’s not true. If there’s anything from out of the country I would suggest that you probably really think about it,” said Reilly. 

“I would be very cautious about anything on Kijiji where you’re sending money in any regard, whether it’s you buying something or you trying to sell something. If you’re trying to sell something then why are you sending money, if they are giving away things for free why are you sending money?”

Most of us have seen those Ally Bank Commercials, especially the one where the man (banker) offers a pony and one girl gets a real one, and the other gets a toy one. He then blames it on the one girl for not asking if she was getting a real pony. Reilly said some of the schemes may not even fall under fraud and encourages buyer beware thinking from people.  

“Really is it a fraud if I say I’m going to send you this car but you’ve got to give me $1,000 and then I send you a matchbox car. I haven’t lied, you just thought it was a real car,” said Reilly. 

“It’s partly a buyer beware, but it’s also partly common sense and knowing does this make sense.”

For bigger purchases, such as a new car or a fifth wheel, which could likely be rather expensive purchases, usually no more than a deposit is asked for and Reilly doesn’t believe it would be more than $1,000. 

When picking up the vehicle, then the rest of the money would be paid, and Reilly said if someone else is picking it up then it is best to get a confirmation that you are getting what you wanted before releasing the rest of the money. 

“There are things you can do to protect yourself, if you think something is strange it probably is. If it is too good to be true, it probably is,” said Reilly.

“If you’re in doubt, speak to your family and friends and see what they think, and then if no one really knows then maybe call us. There are other ways to figure it out, don’t try and do it yourself.”

Other popular schemes are the ones where someone is offering to give away an animal, say a dog, but they are in Africa and need money sent to them to be able to send you your new pet.  The people can be convincing and may even have ‘family photos’ with the pet. 

Another popular scam that is getting a new twist is the home speaker scam. Years ago people would drive around with useless, cheap, speakers in the back of their vehicle. The speakers would be dressed up in a box promoting a high quality product. The people in the vehicle would then approach someone and make up some excuse as to why they need to get rid of these speakers, and how the person they are talking to is getting such a great deal if they buy them for only a couple hundred dollars. Projection Televisions have mostly replaced the speakers but the game is still the same, it is a scam.