"Put your money back in your wallet − where it belongs."

Wildfires are very common in California and other hot and dry areas in the U.S. and across the world. Their effects can be devastating, destroying homes, killing wildlife and ruining vast spans of forests and other natural areas.

If you’ve been a victim of a wildfire, you surely understand how difficult of a situation it can be. Even if you haven’t been affected personally, many people want to do as much as they can to help those in need by donating money or supplies.  Unfortunately, there are people who take advantage of those in desperate situations. This, of course, is not exclusive to California wildfires. Charity scams of these sorts take place all over the world.

Wildfire Charity Scams

Different types of scams pop up after any natural disaster. Some claim to benefit the victims themselves while others claim to benefit the first responders.

If your house and property have been damaged or destroyed in a wildfire, you are more than likely looking for assistance. And scammers know that you are! One common charity scam that makes the rounds after a wildfire is operated by people who claim to provide governmental assistance to the homeless in exchange for a deposit or payment in advance. If you are ever offered such a deal, do not give them any funds! Government employees who provide aid after a natural disaster do not ask for or receive money. You should never have to pay for such services in the first place.

Another type of scam involves fake building contractors. In a declared disaster zone, contractors must hold a license in order to perform work. Scammers will pretend to be approved contractors, insist on advance payments to repair or rebuild a damaged property and then disappear into thin air.

In order to avoid this, make sure to ask to see a contractor’s license in advance. You can also check the license online. Make sure to always get multiple price quotes and don’t rush into making a decision. Although you may be desperate to get your house back, making the wrong decision can be devastating.

Wildfire Fundraising Scams

After a massive wildfire, many people want to donate in order to help families in need. While this is a great thing to do, be careful in order to make sure that your money is going to the right place.

Callers claiming to represent real charities – even the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army – go into overdrive after a natural disaster by attempting to contact as many people as possible over the phone or via email. Also, be on the lookout for purported charities whose names are slightly different from the legitimate organizations you are familiar with. That’s a giveaway it’s a scam. Do research first.

So, if you get a cold call asking you to donate money, make sure to verify that the organization asking for funds is legitimate and the person who called you really does represent them. If the caller claims to be from the Red Cross, for example, call the Red Cross and ask them how to donate money. If the instructions are the same, then the original call was obviously made with their approval. If it’s a charity you never heard of, look online for feedback about its activities and reputation before agreeing to make a donation.

The internet is awash with fake charity campaigns. Even on a crowdfunding site there can be scams. Often, these sites don’t check who is raising the money and where it will go. Make sure to ask lots of questions and try not to make impulse decisions. Once again, check them out online.

One of the biggest red flags is when you’re asked to pay using gift cards. That’s a sure bet it’s a scam, since gift cards are almost always impossible to trace. Always donate using a check or credit card.

As always, use your best judgment before making any donation. If something doesn’t feel right to you, it probably isn’t!

Are you an art collector? Enjoy spending time in art museums and thinking about buying your first major piece? This post is for you.

An art scam is when someone sells you a fake piece of art (not created by the original artist) or even a copy of an original piece while claiming that it’s real. Art scams have become more and more popular and result in victims losing large sums of money.

Artwork can be a difficult field because sometimes even the professionals with years of experience can have a hard time differentiating between original and fake pieces of art. So let’s discuss what art scams are and how you can stop yourself from becoming a victim.

How Do Art Scams Work?

There have been several very famous art scams in recent years resulting in millions of dollars being wasted on fake artwork.

One might think that art scammers would target people who don’t understand art. That may be true, but they also target major galleries and art lovers with vast knowledge of the subject. If they are good scammers, they will be able to get very large price tags for their fake works, which look seemingly identical in style to originals by some of the world’s most accomplished artists.

The most famous art scam in U.S. history took place over many years, beginning in 1995, and resulted in over $80 million in revenue! Glafira Rosales scammed the famous Knoedler Gallery in New York, claiming she had abstract works by the artist Mark Rothko. The scam went on for years as she sold different pieces supposedly by different artists to galleries and individuals alike.

The art, of course, was fake, and great efforts were made to make it all seem original.  Eventually, Rosales was arrested and convicted for the crime.

While this is a major and perhaps extreme case, anyone who is interested in buying art needs to be careful about what exactly they are buying.

How Can I Make Sure I’m Buying What I Think I Am?

First of all, know your seller. It is always best to buy from an established gallery with a good reputation. This is because they are experts in identifying real art who represent another layer of protection in preventing yourself from becoming the victim of a scam.

Do your due diligence before purchasing any piece. You can go to auction houses to see what is available and learn about the market for the type of piece you are looking for.

You should also get to know the artist whose work you are eyeing. This may help you to be able to spot a fake. If that’s a tall order, consult with a professional. Experts, for example, can identify strokes and signatures to make sure pieces are originals. You should also be able to track the provenance – the documented record of any piece of ownership – to make sure it can be traced back all the way to the artist.

Take Your Time

If you’re thinking of investing an expensive piece of art, it is important to take your time and do the proper research. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Buying artwork is a major decision with large financial implications and therefore there is no reason to rush.

Kids and teenagers today spend tons of time online. Whether it be surfing the internet, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other channels, kids are spending more time than ever in front of screens.

While there can be educational and positive aspects of using of technology among this population, there can also be quite a few dangers.

You’ve probably heard of online scams and hoaxes aimed at kids. Some of these are real and can be potentially very scary. On the other hand, there are many fake scams, that get media attention, that sound scary and overwhelming and turn out to be fake.

Let’s discuss how to protect your children from online hoaxes and how to identify which scams are real and which aren’t.

What is an Online Hoax and How Can I Recognize One?

Have you heard of the recent “Momo Challenge?” Parents all over the world were panicked and trying to protect their kids from Momo. Momo, a scary image, was supposedly an online character that encouraged kids to hurt themselves and perform dangerous tasks.

Despite the not-so-pleasant image and the information surrounding the hype, it turns out that the Momo scam was a hoax.  It simply wasn’t real. The whole idea was to make parents (and teens) become nervous and paranoid. And it worked!

There are many hoaxes out there today, presenting themselves as scary online scams that will endanger and frighten your children. Many of them are simply hoaxes and have no real standing behind them.

This isn’t to say that there are no real scams out there targeting children today. There certainly are, so it’s important to always remain aware.

How Can I Spot a Hoax?

Sometimes it can be really hard to know if something is real or not. A single post on the social media can quickly go viral. Therefore, consult reputable news and reporting sites to determine if a rumor spreading like wildfire is true. You can also try a google search with the word “hoax” or “scam” and see what has been reported on the subject.

Make sure to manage what your child views online. While this can be difficult with older children, it is important to monitor what they are viewing. This may mean putting parental controls on telephones or computers or limiting, which sites and applications children can use.

It is also important to help your children understand the risks of the internet and the online world. If your child (or you) thinks they have identified a real threat or scam online, it is important to report to the online service or even the police if necessary.

Giving Personal Information Online

It is important to teach your children to be careful when providing personal information online, including passwords and login names.

A recent scam on Instagram asked users to log in again to the application. This new login page was a scam and gave the scammers access to many different Instagram accounts. In certain cases this even allowed them to make unauthorized purchases.

If your home’s roof has ever suffered damage due to harsh weather conditions, you know how frustrating the situation can be. Living in a home with a damaged roof can be uncomfortable and in certain situations even dangerous to you and your loved ones.

For these reasons, you will most likely want to repair any damage as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, many scammers recognize this somewhat desperate situation and take advantage. They will promise professional repairs, but in the end, steal your money without performing or completing the work.

How Do “No Roof Scams” Work?

There are many different harsh weather conditions that cause damage to your home, particularly your roof. These include thunderstorms, hail storms, tornadoes and hurricanes.

Scammers work hard to figure out whose homes have been damaged and jump on the opportunity to offer their fake services. Many people are eager to fix the damage on their home and therefore jump at the first opportunity presented to them.

Scammers will knock on your door shortly after your roof has incurred damage and offer you their services. They will most likely make the deal seem very attractive, often with competitive prices. They will offer to repair or replace your faulty roof quickly and professionally.

Before getting to work, you will be asked to provide partial or full payment. At this point the scammer will disappear, leaving you out of the money and still with a damaged roof.

How Can I Prevent Falling Victim to Such a Scam?

There are certain steps you can take in order to make sure you don’t become a victim of one of these scams.

Be wary of anyone who randomly comes to your doorstep to offer services. While some doorstep salesmen may be legitimate, it is best to be wary and not agree to anything on the spot. If you are not sure if someone is trustworthy or not, ask for their contact details and do some research on the company before making a decision.

Find an accredited roofer. The Better Business Bureau provides a list of recommended, accredited roofers that you can reference when looking for a professional to fix your roof. If someone who offers you services isn’t on the list, it’s best to not take a chance.

Ask friends and neighbors for local recommendations. There is nothing better than using someone who others have been happy with!

Don’t make any spontaneous decisions. Even though the situation may seem desperate and urgent, it is important to choose the correct professional for the job. Taking an extra day or two to make the right decision will be worth it in the long run.

Roofing scams may seem scary, and they can be! But by following our tips and using your best judgment, you’ll be sure to choose the right professional.

A good credit score is becoming ever more important in many aspects of our lives. No longer limited to determining access to loans, mortgages and credit cards, credit scores are increasingly being used to affect a person’s eligibility for insurance, apartment rental, and even employment. So it’s no wonder that when people find themselves with less than stellar credit scores, they are willing to move heaven and earth to fix it. Scammers know this, and are ready to take advantage of it.

There are some legitimate companies that offer credit repair services, so how can you tell them apart from the scammers? First of all, you need to know your rights. Many countries have laws in place to protect you from scammers. If you are in the U.S., you are covered by the Credit Repair Organizations Act, a 1996 federal law that demands that any company offering to improve your credit rating:

may not charge you any advance fees

may not misrepresent to you what they can and can’t do for you

must tell you exactly how much their service costs

must tell you how long it will take to achieve results

must make their guarantees absolutely clear to you

must provide you with a written contract

must tell you that you have three days to cancel the agreement

must inform you of your legal rights

The last point is particularly relevant, since among your rights in the U.S. is to demand one free credit report every year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Any credit repair service that fails to tell you this is very suspicious. If they actively discourage you from retrieving your credit report, they’re probably trying to scam you.

Also watch out for anyone claiming to offer you a “new” credit profile. If it involves a new social security number (SSN) or anything that is purported to be used in place of your SSN, no matter what they call it, it is 100% a scam. If you are ever required to provide your SSN on an application, you are allowed to refuse, though your request will probably be denied as a result. But if you ever lie and put anything other than your SSN in that spot, you are committing a federal crime and could go to jail. And you will have paid a scammer for the privilege.

So what can you do if you have fallen victim to an credit repair scam? Can you ever get your money back? The good news is that if you paid by credit card or wire transfer, it may be possible. However, this is a very complex bureaucracy-riddled process that can stymie even the brightest and most motivated individual.

We at MyChargeBack have the experience and expertise to guide a dispute to maximize the chances of success. And we have the tenacity to never get discouraged or give up on our clients. We guarantee 100% effort to get you your money back. We are an international fund recovery service headquartered in New York. We have helped clients all over the world recover over $10 million.

If you’re suffering from mental health and psychiatric problems, getting help is critical. These issues can affect your everyday life, stopping you from becoming an active part of society.

Getting help for psychiatric diseases can be overwhelming and scary. Medications, therapies and even hospitalizations can seem like too much at times. Having a support system is often the key to success in such cases. If you’re ashamed of your disease, successful treatment will be much more difficult.

One of the main problems surrounding psychiatric treatment can be the cost involved. Between hospitalization stays, medication and therapy sessions, you will need significant savings in many cases. Some people are also embarrassed about their treatment and don’t want family and friends to know what they are going through.

For these reasons, more and more people are turning to psychiatric medical tourism. Many foreign countries provide treatment packages for a much lower cost combined with the anonymous feel many patients are looking for.

Seeking Help Abroad- Good Idea or Not?

Getting psychiatric treatment overseas has many benefits as well as disadvantages. It’s important to look at both sides before making any decisions about your treatment plan.

The most obvious benefit of medical tourism is the cost. In almost all cases, the treatment costs themselves can be significantly lower than in home countries. This includes treatment itself as well as accompanying medications.

However, there are many reasons to reconsider going abroad for treatment. First of all, traveling with psychiatric and mental health issues can be very difficult. Going to a new country, often with a different language and culture can be particularly overwhelming. This can make treatment much more difficult and often less successful.

It is always recommended to travel abroad for medical treatment with someone close to you. In this case, it is critical. This will obviously make the price go up as well since accompanying you requires significant expenses.

Many countries are lacking in regulation and enforcement regarding medical procedures. Certain countries still use old methods of treating psychiatric diseases such as shock therapy. Lack of regulation is even scarier when it comes to medication. You could receive fake or faulty medication, putting yourself at risk.

Is Psychiatric Medical Tourism Worth It?

Not only are there medical risks, but also personal ones as well. Being abroad, without a support system and your comfortable environment can make dealing with your disease much more difficult.

In addition, psychiatric treatments usually require additional therapy on a regular basis after finishing initial treatment and support. This means you will need to continue at home, but with a different doctor, therapist and support group. That is not ideal. In fact, it could easily lead to regression.

If you find yourself in a situation in which you have received faulty medicine or treatment, the consequences can be severe if not deadly. Doing the appropriate research before choosing your destination and treatment is incredibly important.

For as long as people have been giving gifts, one of humanity’s greatest puzzles has been, “What do I get someone who has everything?” Finally in the 1990s some innovative retailers finally solved the puzzle. A gift card can be redeemed for goods or services at your favorite store, so you can say “thank you” and choose your own gift. Perfect, no?

No.

It seems like every time there’s a new invention, some unscrupulous individuals have just been waiting and wondering how to take advantage of it dishonestly. Welcome to the scary new world of gift card fraud.

Some properties of gift cards make them perfect for scammers. As opposed to credit cards, they are anonymous. Additionally they, or their networks that store their information, contain real monetary value. Finally, the data security on gift cards is typically less robust than credit cards.

So what exactly are the scammers doing?

In some cases, they just walk right up to a gift card display case at suitable establishment, snatch a few cards and, without leaving the store, take them to where they can surreptitiously copy the card numbers and security codes. Then they discreetly return them to the rack. Criminals possess specialized software that tells them when the card was legitimately bought and activated. That is when the scammer is able to use the stolen data to spend all the money it was loaded with.

Taking advantage of the lower levels of security protecting gift card data results in another type of scam. This is the automated bot attack. It’s a “brute force” sort of attack where a computer logs into a card vendor’s online system and automatically attempts thousands or millions of random card numbers and security code variations in the hope of finding a winning combination. Researchers estimate that upwards of 90% of logins to these sites are bot attacks.

The less technology-oriented criminal has updated an old fashioned con to take advantage of the anonymity of the gift card’s stored value. He places a threatening call to an innocent person while pretending to be an IRS, police, or some other frightening government agent. He tells the “mark” that they have an outstanding debt, and that very serious consequences will follow if it isn’t paid immediately. But the scammer “helps” the victim with a quick and easy solution: he can make the problem disappear if the victim goes to the store and buys enough gift cards to pay the fictitious debt. The unlucky prey mark gives the card numbers and security codes to the crook over the phone, and the scam is done.

So how can you avoid becoming a victim? First of all, make sure you only buy gift cards from authorized reputable companies. Whenever possible, the card should have been kept out of reach of others (that is to say, not on a checkout rack). If that’s not possible, at least make sure the packaging shows no signs of tampering. And finally, remember that no genuine government agency will ever demand payment in gift cards for any sort of valid legal debt. If anyone does, just hang up and call the authorities.

It took a long time -- too long -- but binary options finally has a bad name. Some unfortunate people are still not convinced, so the market isn’t totally dead, but the scammers behind the innumerable binary options frauds that flooded the internet from around 2010 until early 2018 have sensed the changing tide and have started to close up shop.

Well, not really.

What they’re actually doing is repurposing their scammy platforms and marketing them as other, ostensibly legitimate, investing strategies. One of the most popular is CFD.

What is CFD? It’s short for “contract for difference.” In this trading model, an investor (buyer) makes an agreement with the broker (seller) that one will pay the other the difference between the value of some asset right now (gold, stocks, currency, or almost anything else that can be traded) and its value at a predetermined future time (the contract time). If the value of the asset goes up, the seller pays the buyer, and if it goes down, the buyer pays the seller.

For example, let’s say the contract were for $100 worth of gold with the contract set to expire 24 hours later. If the value of the gold the next day were $105, the seller would owe the buyer his investment back plus $5. An important difference between CFD and regular stock trading is that no ownership of the asset ever takes place. The investor is essentially just betting on the direction that the value will go. This is similar enough to the bad old binary options that switching over the old flashy binary platforms into new flashy CFD ones was child’s play. The scammers are back in business.

If anything, the new CFD scam is even more dangerous than binary options. With binary, the most you could lose on a trade was everything you put into it. But in a volatile market, by agreeing to pay the difference, whatever it is, the investor risks losing much more than his investment, leaving him deep in debt.

But that’s assuming the CFD merchant is a registered broker in some respectable jurisdiction. In the case of the scammers, they are typically not registered anywhere, are not located anywhere you can reliably find them and are not trading anything at all. They’re just stealing the money you invest the minute you deposit it. You know, just like a criminal.

Eventually, of course, the victim wises up, but only after a lot of money is gone. And where is the purported broker to be found? Good luck bringing them to justice, if you can even find them.

But what about the money? Don’t you at least deserve to get it back? If you are the victim of a CFD scam and paid the criminal by credit card or wire transfer, it may be possible. Unfortunately, the process of opening and winning a dispute in cases like this is weighed down with an unbelievable amount bureaucratic red tape. Fortunately, you have someone to help you.

We at MyChargeBack have the experience and expertise to guide a dispute to maximize the chances of success. And we have the tenacity to never get discouraged or give up on our clients. We guarantee 100% effort to get you your money back. We’re an international fund recovery service headquartered in New York that has retrieved millions of dollars for scam victims the world over.

Thailand had been ranked as one of the world's top destinations for medical tourism for as long as people have been paying attention to the industry. While it’s hard to find reliable detailed statistics, Thailand is typically placed alongside Mexico and India as the most visited nation for medical tourists. Long famous for its reputation for cosmetic surgery, it has also expanded into almost every conceivable realm of healthcare, including cardiac and orthopedic surgery, dental care, bariatric surgery, and much more. It is estimated that close to 10% of Thailand’s burgeoning tourism income comes from medical tourists.

In most cases, people are coming to take advantage of Thailand’s prices which can be far lower than the medical procedure would cost back home. They typically buy a medical tourism package that includes airport pickup and dropoff, hotel, food, and often sightseeing too. Australia has been a major source of patients due to its relative proximity, but increasingly people have been coming in large numbers from the U.S., U.K., and other places around the world.

Thailand is also home to some of the most prolific and harmful scam artists in the world. The country, unfortunately, is notorious for con men, and all sorts of tourists have been victimized. In the case of people seeking medical care, the results can be far worse than an empty wallet. Not everyone who goes to Thailand ends up in a top clinic. Thousands upon thousands of people have fallen victim to unethical brokers who guide their quarry to dubious institutions where the doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are of questionable accreditation and professionalism, and where the facilities fail to meet accepted standards of hygiene and modernity. And the medications used may be counterfeit, substandard, or past date.

In some cases, such as when a British patient died in 2014, the clinic was licensed in Thailand, but the doctor performing the operation wasn’t licensed to perform surgery.  But even the very best hospitals have plenty of their own horror stories. And regardless of the quality of the initial operation, aftercare may be inadequate or non-existent.

All of this is in addition to the stress of travel while ill or shortly after surgery. Predictably, the results for many of these unfortunate people have included major life-threatening complications and infections.

Once they get back home and discover that they have been duped, the cost of fixing the problem may be many times greater than the money saved in the first place. And some of the damage may never be undone.

Have you or a loved one been the victim of a Thailand medical tourism scam? Aside from the ongoing health problems that it caused, don’t you at least deserve your money back? Unfortunately, the process of opening and winning a chargeback dispute in cases like this is weighed down with an unbelievable amount bureaucratic red tape. Fortunately, you have someone to help you.

We at MyChargeBack have the experience and expertise to guide a dispute to maximize the chances of success. And we have the tenacity to never get discouraged or give up on our clients. We guarantee 100% effort to get you your money back. We’re an international fund recovery service headquartered in New York that has retrieved millions of dollars for scam victims the world over.

If anyone is a perfect victim for a scam artist, it’s someone who is desperate. When a person is terminally or seriously ill and standard medical treatments have been exhausted, they are ripe for recruitment by any swindler with a tempting hope-filled story to tell.

When one thinks of “alternative medicine” clinics bilking desperate patients out of their life savings, one might expect them to be found in locations such as Tijuana or the Philippines, but in fact one of the prime destinations for such treatments can be found right in the middle of developed Western Europe: Germany.

Germany’s history and legal system have led to a combination of factors, the result of which is a proliferation of these alternative clinics throughout the country that charge exorbitant fees to provide a combination of unproven and discredited therapies under virtually no governmental or regulatory oversight.

Historically, Germany has been at the forefront of all sorts of innovation, and this has included scientific, social, economic, and pseudo-scientific varieties. The latter includes homeopathy, an utterly discredited medical philosophy invented in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Homeopathy continues to enjoy support by people around the world, and even more so in Germany, its place of origin.

And German law has an enormous gray area in which alternative or “natural” healers are permitted to practice, treating or pretending to treat a wide range of real illnesses that in most other developed countries would be limited to licensed medical doctors.

The alternative clinics claim to treat everything from mental illness to heart disease, but the field that has earned them the most notoriety (and money) is cancer treatment. Private oncology clinics have been popping up all over Germany and often use convincing but misleading claims and testimonials to recruit terminal cancer patients from around the world to come and spend more money than they can possibly afford in exchange for the hope of a cure. Entire families have sold their houses, taken out loans, started crowdfunding campaigns and wiped out their financial futures to enrich these quacks in the vain hope of an impossible cure.

The existence of this system was brought to the world’s attention when American actress Farrah Fawcett was diagnosed with aggressive cancer in 2006. After exhausting her treatment options in the U.S., she traveled to Germany several times for mysterious alternative or experimental treatments before dying in 2009.

Have you or a loved one been the victim of an alternative medicine scam in Germany? Aside from the ongoing health problems that it caused, don’t you at least deserve your money back? Unfortunately, the process of opening and winning a chargeback dispute in cases like this is weighed down with an unbelievable amount bureaucratic red tape. Fortunately, you have someone to help you.

We at MyChargeBack have the experience and expertise to guide a dispute to maximize the chances of success. And we have the tenacity to never get discouraged or give up on our clients. We guarantee 100% effort to get you your money back. We’re an international fund recovery service headquartered in New York that has retrieved millions of dollars for scam victims the world over.

Breast augmentation is the most common form of cosmetic surgery in the world, and by far the most common in the U.S., where close to 300,000 women undergo the procedure every year. Even though the U.S. is the world leader in cosmetic surgery, it is also where the highest prices are. Other wealthy countries, including Canada and Western Europe, also suffer from the combination of high demand and high prices.

Not surprisingly, this situation has led to a booming industry of medical tourism, in which western women travel to destinations such as Mexico, South America, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, and elsewhere to save money. These countries typically offer a very attractive “all-inclusive” package involving airport pickup and drop-off, hotel, food, and even sightseeing. The total for the whole package can be much cheaper than the surgery alone back home. This can be a very tempting option for a woman who cannot afford breast augmentation otherwise.

As night follows day, the billions of dollars changing hands in this ever-growing industry has attracted any number of bad actors. Women have told numerous horror stories related to their experiences with breast augmentation tourism. Sometimes, it’s an outright scam in which the company never intended to perform the contracted procedure. More commonly, the conditions the patient is subjected to are far below the standard of care in her home country. The doctor may not even be accredited, or may have received his accreditation from some shady or questionable institution. This of course can lead to a botched or low quality operation.

Other potential problems include the sanitary conditions in the operating room leading to infection. And post-operative care may be anywhere from insufficient to non-existent.

Regardless of the outcome of the surgery, once the woman comes home, if there are any complications, they can be very difficult and expensive to take care of. Even if the original clinic is willing to take care of the problem (by no means a given), it would involve the expense and pain of traveling again. And if she needs to have the problem fixed at home, it can be much more expensive than the original breast augmentation would have been. And, of course, sometimes there’s no going back. The damage done can be permanent. A woman may be scarred or disfigured for life, and in extreme cases women have even died due to substandard breast augmentation procedures.

But what can you do if you have fallen victim to a medical tourism scam? Can you ever get your money back? The good news is that if you paid by credit card, it may be possible to issue a chargeback. However, this is a very complex bureaucracy-riddled process that can stymie even the brightest and most motivated individual.

Even if you paid by wire transfer, or you paid by credit card but the time limit for a chargeback has expired, it still may be possible to recover your funds.

We at MyChargeBack have the experience and expertise to guide a dispute to maximize the chances of success. And we have the tenacity to never get discouraged or give up on our clients. We guarantee 100% effort to get you your money back. We’re an international fund recovery service headquartered in New York that has retrieved millions of dollars for scam victims the world over. 

You are looking to escape the cold weather in your country and travel somewhere warmer with lots of sunshine. You go online and start to search for travel deals. Many results come up in the web browser and you idly scroll through them. You click on a couple of links randomly, not giving it much thought and a great deal comes up. Sound familiar? This is how many of us search for travel deals and this is why so many people end up being scammed.

Failure to pay attention can result in the heartache of being tricked into paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars to fraudulent travel companies. We generally assume that the results of our internet searchers are authentic, so without giving it too much thought we follow the stipulated procedures and book. That’s a dangerous move!

Our advice to you is do not take it for granted that all sites are genuine. If you take the time to look a bit closer, you may find that many sites are compelling fakes. In most cases, the sites are replicas of genuine ones, put together by scammers who use or alter written copy and images from the original sites.

Notorious travel scams include, vacation rental scams, timeshare purchase scams, fraudulent timeshares, fraudulent vacation packages, and airfare scams. 

1.   Vacation rental scams

Often a scammer will publicize an ad for an affordable rental house on an online classified site such as Craigslist. Because the scammers often use true images from the real property to make it look authentic, many people end up paying deposits, and obtain nothing in return.

2.   Timeshare purchase scams

Certain offers may entice victims with the promise of amazing free gifts, such as a cruise package or a car. The fee to deliver many of these items is often very steep and the gifts generally end up being very different and far inferior to what was promised.

3.   Fraudulent timeshares

Scammers may lure their victims by offering incredible deals on a timeshare. They cash your deposit and then conveniently claim to have gone out of business. Victims remain out of pocket and, of course, without their timeshare.

4.   Fraudulent vacation packages

Many individuals buy discounted vacation package. Not only are they often charged additional fees, but they also find out once it is too late that the value of the package and quality of the experience is considerably lower than what they were led to believe.

5.   Airfare scams

You see an ad offering cheap flights and purchase one. You naturally attempt to pay with your credit card but the transaction is declined. You can’t figure out why but the deal is too good to turn down, so you send a wire transfer instead. In the end there is no airline ticket and you lost your money.

How to Avoid Travel Scams

When possible, only book accommodation though an accredited travel agent you have previously used that provided a good experience.

Research any travel agency you aren’t familiar with before you book through them. Begin by checking its credentials. If it’s a fraudulent company, victims are likely to have written stories about the company online. Also check that it has a listed phone number and verifiable address.

Avoid transferring funds directly into a bank account. A scammer will not provide a valid receipt. It is always desirable to pay by credit card.  

Check invoices, receipts and study the small print. You should be suspicious of any company that doesn’t leave a paper trail.  

It’s easy to understand when someone with a vested interest promotes his own product, but when an outsider becomes his spokesman, it somehow sounds more genuine to the listener.

It’s an even more powerful marketing tool when the spokesman is rich and famous. When it comes to investments as dicey as crytpocurrencies, where scam after scam has occurred, it is patently obvious that using celebrities who know little or nothing about the product smacks of desperation.

Think about it. If cryptocurrency were such a sure-fire winning investment, then why does it constantly need endorsements and puff pieces by the rich and famous? If a new investment option is legitimate, why is it necessary to pay someone to promote it? After all, if it’s a sure bet to riches, everyone will find out about it anyway.

The real question is, therefore, why should the promotion of a certain cryptocurrency by celebrities have any bearing whatsoever on its credibility as a serious and successful investment?

Did you ever hear of a celebrity advertising a Rolls Royce? Without traditional ads, Rolls-Royce still managed to beat a 107-year-old sales record in 2012.

Now, you may say, what does a luxury car have to do with cryptocurrency? After all, crypto is brand new, it needs a lot of explaining as to what it is and people need a lot of assurance before they’re willing to hand over cash for a digital alternative. They know very well what an electronics shop is or a luxury car, but “block chain technology?” What in the world is that anyway?

But let’s face it. Are celebrities like Lionel Messi, Steve Bannon, John McAfee, the Winklevoss twins, William Shatner, Dennis Rodman, Akon, Jessica VerSteeg, Jamie Foxx, Nas, Gwyneth Paltrow, and who knows else able to understand it themselves? After all, we all know that if they’re moving their lips, they’re just reading a prepared script. This begs the question. Is it more hype than substance?

At a time when national financial and investment regulators like the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Federal Trade Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in Britain issue warnings against fraudulent crypto projects, and with new scammers popping up virtually every week, how can anyone seriously ascribe credibility to a rap star called “Nas” when he says that crypto “will evolve into an industry as big, if not bigger, than the Internet.”  Or former boxing champion (and convicted rapist) Mike Tyson, who has stated that, in his humble opinion, “Digital currency is the future and the more I learn about it the more intrigued I become. Digital currency is going to level the playing ground for those that want alternatives for financial freedom.”

To make matters worse, some cryptocurrency scammers, whose entire business model is based on defrauding people, have found a foolproof way to cut their marketing budgets. They publicize completely fake celebrity endorsements to trick victims into investing in their fraudulent coins. The most famous of these victims was none other than Pope Francis, whose Twitter account was spoofed to push a crypto giveaway scam. And a photograph of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardem was posted on a fake news site to promote a crypto scam as well.

You’ve found your dream home. You’re nearly ready to take possession. But you still need to make the down payment before all systems are go… The hardest part is over. What could possibly go wrong now?

The answer, unfortunately, is plenty. And the scam that can do you in is way too easy to fall for.

How the Scam Works

In this scam, criminals hack the email account of one of the parties involved in a real estate transaction – a real estate agent or title company, for example – and start to monitor the account to learn about home sales scheduled for closing shortly. Once a decision is made to target a particular buyer – and home sales involving larger amounts are obviously the preferred targets – the scammer, impersonating the owner of the hacked email account, contacts the buyer with instructions to wire the money to a bank account. Since the scammer has been monitoring this email account, he can provide the buyer with all kinds of information – name of sellers, names of banks, the amount involved – and increase the impression of legitimacy. In many cases the buyer suspects nothing and wires the money to the account. By the time the victim figures out he’s been scammed, the criminal and the victim’s money are long gone. Some people have lost every penny they had.

A Growing Problem

According to FBI statistics, in 2016, frauds involving home buyers and wire transfers totaled $19 billion. Yet by 2017, the figure was a staggering $969 million in real estate sales that had been diverted or that someone had tried to divert, an enormous increase over the previous year.

And given the large amounts of money that change hands in real estate transactions, this is a tempting target for scammers, particularly because it is not difficult to perpetrate.

The Best-Case Scenario

In some cases, victims have been able to get back most or all of their money. The sooner they realize what has happened, the faster they can notify the bank. If they are lucky, procedures the bank has set up to prevent money-laundering will prevent it from transferring the funds immediately, and this can work to the benefit of a scam victim who acts quickly. Sometimes it is the bank itself that flags the transaction as suspicious and prevents it from going through right away.

The Weakest Link

Real estate agents, lawyers, and the like do not always have appropriate cybersecurity measures in place, and that makes them the weak link in the process.

How Can You Avoid Becoming the Next Victim?

Here are a few suggestions:

1. The best policy is to pay by check, in person, not by wire over the internet. Then you will know who is getting your money.

2. If for some reason you are adamant that you want to wire the down payment, never respond to an email with instructions about where to wire it. Instead, call your agent or whoever the email is supposed to be from and make sure that you are not about to be scammed.

3. Make sure you are calling the correct number. Never use the phone number that appeared in the email with wiring instructions. That number most likely belongs to the scammer.

Congratulations on your new washing machine! Looks like you spent a little bit extra to make sure you got a high-quality machine.

Your machine has a two-year warranty. That’s good. When you buy it, you are instructed not to remove the packaging when it’s delivered but to phone the distributor and have a service rep come and set it up so that the warranty will be valid. You figure that seems reasonable enough. After all, if you break something while installing the machine, it’s not the distributor’s responsibility. Warranties are meant to address defective products and parts that fail, not accidental damage by the consumer.

When the service representative arrives, he takes off the packaging and makes sure the machine is properly settled in its spot, then connects the plug to the outlet. That’s not exactly rocket science, and you probably could have done it yourself without any problem. Next the guy explains the operating procedures, and since this a higher-end machine and it has numerous options, you don’t mind having the added benefit of his explanation. Who knows what might have happened if you had loaded the machine and then pressed the wrong button.

Next your service guy points out to you that even with a two-year warranty, you should try to avoid some problems that can occur. The first thing he tells you is not to tilt the machine, especially when it’s on, and also, to be careful about the minerals that can build up in the various parts of the machine. So far, it all seems logical to you. You know that electric kettles can experience this buildup of sediment, so presumably a washing machine can as well.

But you’re not done yet. The service rep also mentions that power surges can harm or even destroy your machine.

Don’t worry though, because you’re in luck! It just so happens that the service guy brought with him three optional items that can help you avoid these problems. And you are welcome to purchase any or all of them.

First there is a frame with small wheels and a brake for the machine to rest on. That way, it can be easily moved just by releasing the brake. Then you’ll never have to tilt the machine and possibly damage it.

Next you can buy a water filter to avoid mineral buildup. You’ll need to check it once in a while, but it will last for the life of the machine and save you from the problems that go with excess sediment.

And the last item is a surge protector. Plug the washing machine into the surge protector and kiss those power surge worries goodbye!

Normally these three devices would cost you $100 a pop, but you’re in luck! If you agree to add eight years to your two-year warranty, the price comes down to a mere $50 each. And you also get the benefits of eight more years of warranty coverage for parts and service. That means a full 10 years of coverage. Great, you think, you’re covered for a good long time. But hold on. If the cost of the extra years in the warranty is $480, then something just doesn’t add up.

You’ve already bought the frame, water filter and surge protector to avoid the most common problems with washing machines. And you’ll be paying $480 for that extra warranty time. But if over 50 percent of washing machines sold in the United States cost $500 or less, what are you saving yourself?

Unfortunately for all of us, tax scams can happen at any time of year. But they are particularly popular at tax time, when people are in a hurry to get their tax returns in and are more likely to believe that a scammer who emails or phones them about their taxes is actually from the IRS.

There are many tax scamming methods in use today, and new methods are being developed all the time. To keep taxpayers up-to-date, every year the IRS publishes its “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams, and one perennial entry on this list is phishing scams. It isn’t possible to stop scammers entirely because there’s too much money to be made, but you can avoid falling into their trap by learning how they work.

Phishing

Phishing is a popular type of financial scam, and it’s not used only in tax scams. In a tax phishing scam, though, the scammer typically sends an email purporting to be from the IRS and asks you to click on a link or download a file, then provide the password or PIN for your bank account, credit card, or the like. The idea is simple enough: trick people into believing that the email is legitimate so they will hand over their secret personal information and enable the scammers to empty their bank accounts.

Often emails and websites used in phishing scams look genuine, so it’s easy to be fooled. But as the IRS points out on its website, it will not “initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information.” And no one who works for the government or a financial institution should be asking you for your PIN or password. Those are secret, known only to you, and they’re meant to be kept that way.

What this means is that if you receive an email with such a request, it should immediately put you on your guard. It’s dangerous to click a link or download a file from a phishing email, since doing this is likely to infect your computer with malware that enables the scammers to collect data on your identity or financial information. Once they have that information, you can kiss your money goodbye.

What Should You Do?

If you receive an email that is supposed to be from the IRS, do not open it, do not reply, and never, ever click on a link or download a file from such an email. What do you do next? Probably the best option is to just delete the email. If you are really worried that the IRS is trying to contact you, you can call them and find out. And if you want to access the IRS website for more information, type www.irs.gov in your browser yourself rather than clicking on a link that will supposedly take you to the IRS site.

If you have lost money to an IRS scam, you can file a complaint using the Federal Trade Commission’s Complaint Assistant. You can also report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General Administration on the IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting page.

It seems like no matter what country you live in, scammers are there, looking to make money off of your misfortune. If you are in the market for a home or other property to buy, rent or sell, you need to be on your guard against a whole slew of scams that can cost you money and cause you grief.

Here we are going to focus on property scams in South Africa, but a lot of these scams are international and not limited to a particular country. And even if the exact details may differ from one location to another, many of the methods used are the same.

Watch Out for These Real Estate Scams

This is but a small sampling of the real estate scams you may encounter. To protect yourself, it’s best to always be on your guard and to exercise caution and a healthy dose of suspicion:

1.      Fraudulent listings: Scammers find rental listings and then advertise the properties at a significantly lower price, even though they clearly have no right to do this. People interested in renting these properties will send money to the scammer, thinking he is the true owner. Avoid this by doing your homework to ensure that you’re working with a reputable agent.

2.      Fraudulent purchasers: Here, the scammer makes an offer to purchase a property, and not long afterward, asks the seller to sign a document so he can get a home loan. The seller, not suspecting that anything is amiss, will sign, only to find out later that someone else is claiming to have bought the property. In fact, the scammer who pretended to be a buyer has also been impersonating a real estate agent and marketing the property online. The person claiming to have bought the property has been victimized by the scammer too. Be careful to verify every last detail when you’re involved in the sale of a property so that scammers can’t get anything past you.

3.      Fraudulent requests for payment: The scammer hacks the email account of a real estate agent, lawyer or banker involved in a property transaction, then uses this legitimate email account to impersonate the account’s owner. The scammer instructs the purchaser to wire the money to a bank account that actually belongs to the scammer. If you receive such an email, particularly if it involves a change in previous arrangements, call your agent and find out what the true story is. Paying in person can also enable you to avoid this scam. 

If You See These Flashing Warning Lights, Don’t Ignore Them

Often, scammers use tried and true methods of bilking their victim. If you encounter these, back off or at the very least, check things out much more carefully. No matter how badly you want to buy, sell, or rent the property, it isn’t worth the risk:

1.      The advertised price is much lower than normal. This should immediately set off alarm bells.

2.      The seller asks to be paid by wire. Scammers love to have money wired to them because they are hard to trace.

3.      The seller puts pressure on you to close as soon as possible. Scammers want to take your money and run.

4.      You ask to see the property and the real estate agent puts you off or flat out refuses. If the listing and the agent are genuine, the agent will want to show it to you.

5.      The seller pressures you to buy or put down a deposit even when you haven’t seen the property.

Whenever you are parting with large sums of money, the potential for being scammed is there. Always be cautious, and if there are warning signs, don’t overlook them.