{"id":946,"date":"2020-03-02T14:39:17","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T19:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/?p=946"},"modified":"2020-03-03T16:16:26","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T21:16:26","slug":"scam-invincible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/scam-invincible\/","title":{"rendered":"Scam Invincible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week, during National Consumer\nProtection week, our staff members are opening up and sharing stories of when\nthey were scammed. Because no one is invincible to being #scammed. Let\u2019s keep\nthe dialogue moving, share this post and your own scam stories and lessons\nlearned.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I’ll never forget the first time I was\nscammed. Yes, there was more than one time. And, though the world might expect\nthat because I have an advanced degree and am now a consumer topic expert that\nI could never be scammed, I assure you I can. And, I know I am not alone in\nthis. In answering the CAP hotline, I often hear scam victims say \u201cI know\nbetter. I\u2019m a [fill in the blank]. I am so ashamed.\u201d I\u2019ve heard this line from\nprofessors, financial analysts, doctors, computer programmers\u2014the list goes on.\nNo one is invincible to the scam artist. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mindset that we are invincible, however, and that we won\u2019t be scammed is a surefire way to get scammed. My personal fault is that I trust in humanity. Perhaps my Vermont upbringing is at play here. I live my day-to-day life anticipating that those around me do not intend to harm me and that I could trust and rely on them if I needed to. If I extend kindness and honesty, the same will be returned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in my professional career, a colleague\nand friend got a kick out of \u201cTickle Me Elmo.\u201d I mean, who didn\u2019t? The\ncommercials showed the squeaky voice character laughing and shaking with great\nglee. I planned to buy her one for her birthday, but like many prized items, I\ncould not find it for sale anywhere. So, I took to eBay. The site had many\nlistings, some new and some used, all pricey, except one. It was advertised as\nnew and, in the box, and the price was right\u2014 so right some might say it was\ntoo good to be true. I checked the seller\u2019s ratings and she had 99% positive\nratings. I thought that was pretty good. I agreed to \u201cbuy it now\u201d as opposed to\nbetting my luck with the auction option and in a few clicks the Elmo was set to\nbe mine.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After I agreed to the purchase, I got a notice\nfrom the buyer that I had to pay with a money order, or cash. I sent a postal\nmoney order as instructed and never received my item. I filed a dispute with eBay.\nThe seller claimed, \u201csomeone must have stolen it\u201d (My packages were never\nstolen.) and the item didn\u2019t arrive because I had a \u201cweird military address\u201d (I\ndid not have a military address). My eBay account ended up getting restricted\nbecause the seller complained about me for having posted a negative\nreview.  I believe the company has since changed\ntheir policies. I asked the Post Office what I could do about the lost money\norder and package. They told me I could do nothing; I was scammed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having never met the eBay seller, I trusted her to fulfill her end of the agreement as I had completed mine. <\/a>Having the mentality that I wouldn\u2019t be scammed contributed to the reason I ultimately was. I trusted a person on the other end of the internet without questioning her motives or having her prove her intentions to me. Scammers will scam whomever they can. I know now there are several things I could have done differently. We can practice healthy skepticism by asking questions to make informed decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my scam lessons learned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Question offers that are too good\nto be true.  <\/li>
  2. Do a deep dive into online\nseller\u2019s ratings.  (When I later looked\nat buyer comments, I noticed others had complained of the same problem). <\/li>
  3. Before paying, demand proof that\nthe item exists.  One option is having\nthe seller send multiple pictures with a specific word documented next to it.<\/li>
  4. Only pay for online purchases with\na secure and trusted method of payment, like with a credit card or known\ntransmitter.<\/li>
  5. Never pay for online purchases\nwith cash, money order, bank check, personal check, wire transfer, gift cards\n(outside the merchant\u2019s website), peer-to-peer payment, bitcoin, and any other\noption that is not a credit card or known transmitter, like noted above. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Once I was scammed, there are more things I\ncould have done to identify the scammer to authorities and prevent others from\nbeing victimized:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. File a complaint with the Consumer\nAssistance Program about eBay\u2019s dispute process and this seller.  <\/li>
    2. Notify the US Postal Inspector\nregarding the cashed money order and report the address of recipient.<\/li>
    3. Report the issue to the police. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Over the years, eBay scams have adapted. The\nmost common eBay scams we hear about at CAP now involve communication outside\nthe eBay site and a demand to pay with gift cards. Others report replying to an\neBay email or searching for eBay in a browser and being sent to a lookalike eBay\nwebsite. Always check the site you are on and take steps to validate it. Never\ncomplete the transaction outside of the store website. Always be suspicious if\na seller requires a specific form of payment, even if it\u2019s eBay gift cards and\nit looks like you are on the site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Have you ever been scammed? Tell us about it. Share this post and your own scam stories and lessons learned. The best form of prevention is awareness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Contributing Writer: Crystal Baldwin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This week, during National Consumer Protection week, our staff members are opening up and sharing stories of when they were scammed. Because no one is invincible to being #scammed. Let\u2019s keep the dialogue moving, share this post and your own scam stories and lessons learned. I’ll never forget the first time I was scammed. Yes,… Continue reading Scam Invincible<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4480,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[505556],"tags":[520681,626561,481474,626997,482450],"class_list":["post-946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-consumer-protection-week","tag-lessonslearned","tag-scammed","tag-consumer","tag-online-listings","tag-scams","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4480"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions\/951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/cap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}