Here Are Some Tips to Avoid Telephone Fraud

There are always people trying to con you out of your money. Many do it over the telephone.

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credit, telephone, division, money, information, donation, phone, consumer, consumer protection, scam, fraud

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Fraudulent schemes range from peddling water purifiers, vitamins, and make-up kits to stock investments and abusive "900" numbers. According to the Alliance Against Fraud in Telemarketing (AAFT), Americans lose an estimated $40 billion each year to telemarketing fraud. Con artists and swindlers use the telephone more and more as their "weapon" to hold up victims.

If a sales pitch sounds too good to be true, just hang up. If you don't, you may become the next victim of telephone fraud.

Top Phone Scams

While some of the following products and services can be and are legitimately sold by reputable telemarketers, the Division of Consumer Protection has identified seven areas where fraud can occur and does the most damage to the consumer's wallet:

Free Prize Offers: If you receive a phone call that you have won a free prize, be cautious! Usually there are conditions to securing those offers such as substantial handling fees, shipping charges, membership fees and/or the purchase of other merchandise.

Ask the telephone solicitor what the prize is worth. It may be of little value, and it may not be worth the money you will have to spend to receive it. A "contest" or an offer of a "free" prize or gift is only a sales tactic. No one is in business to give things away. Look for strings attached. Telemarketers must be registered with the Division of Consumer Protection. Call the Division to verify current registration.

Charitable Solicitations: Telephone solicitation is one method used by charitable organizations to raise funds from generous consumers. Unfortunately, fraudulent charitable operators may call you, too. State law requires charities to inform donors if they are registered with the state, what the permit number is and what percentage of your donation will actually go to the charity. Call the Division of Consumer Protection to verify the information they give you.

When you make a donation, it is a good idea to pay by check and make the check out to the organization, not the person collecting the donation. Be cautious of organizations that pressure you to pledge money on the spot or tell you they will send a representative immediately to your home to pick up your donation. A legitimate charity will gladly accept your donation today, tomorrow, or a month from now.

Travel Offers: It can be quite tempting to purchase a bargain-priced travel package over the telephone, but be careful. Many of these scams operate by enticing people to join "vacation clubs" or offering consumers "free trips." Often the vacation club or free trip has many hidden costs or conditions attached. Your bargain or free trip could end up costing you a lot of money.

Investment Fraud: Many unsound investment opportunities are peddled over the telephone. Fraudulent sales pitches usually involve such statements as "you must act now," "there is no risk" or "this must be kept a secret." Promoters will often try to make you feel guilty or silly for asking questions or exhibiting doubt. Stop and think before you quickly turn your money over to an investment promoter calling on the phone. Ask for written information. And, if you are receiving undue or uncomfortable pressure, or if other "warning flags" arise during the conversation, hang up.

"900" Numbers: When you call a "900" number, you are charged either a fee for the number of minutes you are on the phone or a flat fee for the entire call. These fees can add up rather quickly after you have spent more than a few minutes on the telephone.

Some services will keep you on the line for an extended length of time before you get all of the information you called for, making it a very expensive phone call. Find out the costs of the call before you make it, and never call any "900" numbers that doesn't disclose the costs up front.

Recently, unscrupulous telemarketers began transferring calls made to toll-free "800" numbers over to "900" numbers. This improper practice makes it more important today then ever before to know who you are calling. You should also listen carefully to any recorded information at the beginning of the call.

Advance-Fee Loan Scams: These scams often target people who are out of work or have poor credit ratings. Con artists promise "guaranteed" loans, no matter what your credit rating is, in exchange for an up-front processing or application fee. You may wait weeks or months to find out credit has been denied and the processing fee is not, as promised, refunded. Or, you may never hear from the company again, and may even find the company is withdrawing from your credit card or checking accounts using information you disclosed over the phone.

Credit Repair Schemes: If you are having a problem getting credit, you may be tempted to listen to telephone solicitors who advertise quick and easy solutions to credit problems. Unfortunately, in many cases, these companies take your money and do little or nothing to improve your credit history. Credit repair companies cannot remove bad credit information from your files. If there are genuine mistakes on your credit file, you can remove them yourself--for free. Credit repair companies must be registered with the Division of Consumer Protection. Call the Division to verify their registration.

First Line of Defense

Your best defense is yourself. Follow some basic rules, and arm yourself with the tools to safeguard your hard-earned money from telephone con artists.

Can Telemarketing Fraud Happen To You?

Too many consumers are losing money to fraudulent telemarketers.

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prize, money, telemarketer, law, credit, telemarketers, offer, companies, telemarketing, business, repair credit, repair

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Telemarketing fraud victims are of many different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and range from those with little formal education to those with professional degrees. All ages are affected, although seniors receive a large percentage of the calls. The problem with telemarketing fraud is that it is difficult to tell whether a caller is legitimate, and it is sometimes difficult for people to hang up on telemarketers. Certain individuals, and especially seniors, are targeted relentlessly by telemarketers. This is especially true if the person has already given money to a telemarketer or has been victimized in the past.

Common Telephone Scams

Prize offers: "You are eligible to win the grand prize!" "You have won the lottery!"

There is no prize, or the prize is worthless or overpriced. You are usually told that you have to pay something in advance to get your "free" prize. In most cases, you are told to pay "taxes", or "handling fees" or "delivery charges" or are forced to buy vitamins or some other product in order to receive your prize. Chances are you will never see any prize or winnings. In some situations, the offer of a prize is merely a ruse to obtain your credit card or checking account information.

It is against the law for a telemarketer to require you to pay ANY money or buy anything to enter a sweepstakes or contest. In Hawaii, it is against the law to participate in a lottery, whether the lottery is located in Hawaii or in another state or another country.

Charities: "You have given money to XYZ Law Enforcers Federation in the past, and we are asking for your annual contribution to our Children's Fund. We fight drug abuse, sponsor sports events for poor children, and publish a magazine. How many tickets can you buy?"

Con artists often label phony charities with names that sound like better-known, reputable organizations. They won't send you written information or wait for you to check them out with Consumer Protection or the Better Business Bureau. Because these organizations may not be actual charities, your contributions may not be tax-deductible.

Credit repair/loans: "We can repair your credit and get you a loan!"

Many companies promise, for an up-front fee, to repair credit or lend money, and then fail to provide the advertised services. It is against the law for a telemarketer to ask for an advance fee to repair your credit or get a loan.

Recovery rooms: "We know you got taken by a telemarketer and for a fee, we can help you recover the money you lost!"

You may be scammed a second time. It is against the law to ask for an advance payment to recover monies lost to telemarketers.

Tips to protect you from telemarketing fraud

Tell the caller that you do not wish to be called again, and hang up the phone. It is illegal for interstate telemarketers to call you if you have asked to be placed on their "do not call" list. Calling times are restricted to 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time. Interstate telemarketers must tell you if they are making a sales call, the name of the seller, and what they are selling before they make their pitch. If it's a prize promotion, they must tell you that no purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win.

Never buy at the time of the sales pitch. Always take your time making a decision.

Legitimate companies won't pressure you to make a fast decision. Never respond to an offer you don't thoroughly understand. Never send money or give out your credit card or bank account number to unfamiliar companies. Don't believe that giving some money to a telemarketer "just one time" will make him or her go away. You will probably receive even more calls.

Don't do business by phone with unfamiliar companies. Legitimate businesses understand when you want more information about their offer or company. Always ask for and wait until you receive written material about any offer or charity. If you feel the telemarketer is pressuring you, hang up.

Check with the Better Business Bureau and the State of Hawaii Office of Consumer

Protection to determine whether other consumers have filed complaints against the telemarketing organization you are investigating. Unfortunately, not all-bad businesses can be identified through these organizations.

Harvard Drug Research Fraud and Cover-up: How Off-Label Profiteering Works

Drug company money influences and corrupts research. That is a given.

What is less understood is why drug manufacturers spend billions for research on off-label uses for their products - uses that were never cleared with the FDA when the drug was submitted for approval.

Off-label use allows drug companies to get "through the back door" what they could never, and I mean never, get away with by going directly to the FDA for approval for a new use of a product - what is known today as an off-label use.

You would hope that researchers wouldn't corrupt the commercial experimentation of a new, or off-label, use of a drug to treat children by covering up their consulting fees from Big Pharma. But that's what happened.

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Biederman, drug companies, drug manufacturers, drugs, fraud, Harvard University, off-label uses, personal injuries, research ethics, Spencer, unethical research, Wilens

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Harvard Drug Research Fraud and Cover-up: How Off-Label Profiteering Works

Drug company money influences and corrupts research. That is a given.

What is less understood is why drug manufacturers spend billions for research on off-label uses for their products - uses that were never cleared with the FDA when the drug was submitted for approval.

Off-label use allows drug companies to get "through the back door" what they could never, and I mean never, get away with by going directly to the FDA for approval for a new use of a product - what is known today as an off-label use.

You would hope that researchers wouldn't corrupt the commercial experimentation of a new, or off-label, use of a drug to treat children by covering up their consulting fees from Big Pharma. But that's what happened.

More important than what happened is why it happened and at the bottom of all this is a terrible mistake the U.S. has made in allowing the exploitation of off-label use.

The devil is in the details, so here is the story as it has unfolded.

Leading Harvard professors studying off-label uses, the gold mine of the drug industry, have violated National Institute of Health reporting requirements when more than $10,000 has been received from a subject company, according to the New York Times, "Researchers Fail to Reveal Drug Pay" June 8, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/us/08conflict.html?em&ex=1213070400&en=9971013dfd33290a&ei=508720say20are%20sorry&st=cse isn't enough.

If Harvard doesn't fire them, it will be complicit in the cover-up.

Throw them off campus. Ring the bell loud and clear that no matter how renown or stellar, if you don't play by the rules, you can't play at all. And the NIH should forever ban them from receiving grants.

Don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Once appropriate punishment has been served, give these researchers a chance to polish their tarnished reputations. Allow them to conduct research under the supervision of a responsible administrator who knows that "veritas," means truth, accuracy, honesty, and uprightness and that it's more than just a motto.

Onward.

Richard Alexander

http://www.alexanderinjury.com

Don't Get Caught With Google Adsense Click Fraud

Avoiding getting caught up in Adsense click fraud.

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Many web site owners are getting their Google Adsense account terminated when they have done nothing wrong to deserve the punishment. Considering the money that they are getting from Adsense, they would certainly want to get back into it, and no wonder as the money that can be made over time is huge!

It is that same consideration why the Google Adsense click fraud is thought of and why many people are getting into it.

Click fraud is the act of clicking on ads for the purpose of costing the advertiser money. It is simply the same as paying out cash for false leads. Many people website owners are aware of this fraud and are sharing the same sentiment that this is the one big problem that Adsense is facing.

How do you prevent being involved in this fraud?

Majority of web hosts are offering access logs. Once this is offered to you, it is necessary that you hand it over to Google as well. This allows them to look for any suspicious activity on your site. Problems like this are very serious and giving it to them is saying that you would want to help them in any way you can in solving the problem.

It can also help if you have a click monitoring software. If you do not have one yet, you should try and get one. There is absolutely no major factor preventing you from having one because most of this software is free.

As usual, all the information you have received should be turned over to Google. This is showing Google that you too are fighting against click frauds and that you are not a part of it.

Study your server logs and watch for any activity that seems suspicious. Report anything that you may find odd, may it big or small thing.

You may want to consider disabling ads for your own IP address and local geographic area. This will certainly prevent accidents and will not make Google mistake another user as you. You can do through an htaccess file. This will avoid Google mistaking as clicking on your own ads and be kicked out because of it.

Keep your Adsense off on pop ups and pop unders. Your ads should not be displayed on content sites that promote illegal activity or tampering of the legal rights of other people or business, these include content that is considered adult and of a gambling nature. If you think that you may be breaking this rule, immediately remove your content or Adsense from the web page.

Be truthful and confess up to Google about times when you might have clicked on your own as, whether accidentally or intentionally. Or the times when you have done something that is against the Terms of Service that they are implementing. Be honest about anything that you may have done that is wrong. Confessing is way better than Google learning about it eventually. It would mean eventual termination and no getting back what you have worked so hard for.

Do not tell your family or friends about Adsense on your website. Chances are they may start clicking on them to help you make money without you knowing it. They may be doing more harm to you than help by trying it in the first place.

If ever someone you know chanced upon your Adsense, ensure they understand that they cannot click on your ads under any circumstances. It would be wise to brief them on important things about Adsense and what not to do with them.

Most pay per click networks have different measures in hand to protect website owners against click frauds. Other search engines can track more than 50 data points, IP address, browser’s information, user’s session info and pattern recognition. They also have “systems” available that detects fraud. Not to mention the specialized teams monitoring how things are going and helping advertisers stop click frauds.

Google offers suggestion on how to avoid click fraud. Using “negative keywords” can be used to keep your Adsense showing on products and services that are in no way related to yours. Consider adding tracking URLs to your links so you can track the traffic coming from Google.

Do not be caught in the Google click fraud. Be aware and be wary.