3 On Your Side: Popular Scams Continue To Target Victims
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- They target victims coast to coast and thousands of people have lost millions of dollars. They're popular scams that most of us think we'll never fall for. But as 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan finds, people are still being caught off guard.
It started when Tim Poulakis got a voice mail message from someone posing as a representative from the Internal Revenue Service. The caller claimed there were errors on several years of Poulakis' tax returns and demanded immediate payment or he'd be detained by the Sheriff.
He was instructed to load up prepaid cash cards to pay off the bogus debt. And that's exactly what he did. Poulakis shelled out over $20,000. He says, "they put the fear of God in me." Afterwards he learned it was a scam. "I was crying. and I couldn't believe it. I was so angry."
"The scam that you just described unfortunately is very typical at this time," says Tim Camus. Camus heads the Treasury Department investigation into the IRS impersonation scam which he estimates targets ten to twelve thousand people a week with bogus IRS calls. According to Camus, "So far as a result of this scam individuals have lost approximately $15 million dollars."
But that isn't the only popular scam that continues to target people. It was a pop up offering help with a computer virus that scammed James Dollison. He just had to click and call to fix it. Dollison says, "He told me that some Nigerians were trying to hack into my computer."
Concerned that hackers could access his online accounts, Dollison gave the scam artist remote access to his computer and forked over $399 hoping he wasn't too late. He says, "I became terrified because knew I just knew all my money would be gone."
Steve Baker is with the Federal Trade Commission. He says, "They pull up some files that are normal but they say indicate you've got very very serious problems with your computer."
It's all part of a familiar pattern according to the FTC. According to Baker, "They claim they are going to get rid of spyware. They really don't because it's not there to begin with."
The bottom line, if you get a call from someone claiming to be from the IRS demanding money, hang up the phone! The same goes for calls claiming to be from Microsoft or Apple trying to convince you to give them access to your computer. Since these scams will continue as long as people let their guard down.
