Scams, Cons, and Other Things to be Aware of

[Tami]

It's so easy to get tricked, scammed, or conned. Lets' shed some light on them. Starting with this:

This Indianapolis charity says it helps police. Police chiefs say it's a scam.

An elderly man in Trenton, Michigan, received a dire letter that warned about the "greatest threats to our public safety in our nation's history."

The solution, the letter says, is clear: “Give our law enforcement officers the crime prevention tools they need.” A donation of $10, $15 or $25 would help keep communities like Trenton safe.

Donations, however, aren’t directed to the Trenton Police Department — or typically any other police agency, for that matter. Instead, the money makes its way to a new nonprofit based in Indianapolis.

At least four police departments in four states have found the letters to be confusing and misleading enough to issue "scam alerts" in their communities. One police chief even reported the operation to a federal postal investigator.

“I’m thinking, ‘What the hell is this, using our name and our police department to raise funds?’” Trenton Police Lt. Mike Hawkins told IndyStar. “Get out of here.”

The group behind the letters is the National Police Association, a nonprofit that raised more than $100,000 in its first 10 months, according to a 2017 tax filing, largely through letters critics say use fear-mongering language to target vulnerable people.

[JackDaw]

Never forget rule 1: “If it sounds too good to be true, it’s a con”.

Always surprised at number of people who don’t hear the clang of warning bells, when investments offer a “safe” rate of return when above current norms.

[Kirby101]

What amazes me is the people who fall for scams when someone who says they are from this company or that calls. (Amazon, Microsoft, etc..) These are companies that you can't get in touch with if you tried, and people believe they are calling them??