Avoid Money Scams

What happened today most likely also happened yesterday, or last year, or last month.  What happened today will very likely happen again tomorrow, or next year, or in twenty years.

By paying attention to the lessons learned from just a year or two ago a person can often avoid or minimize the impact of some problems of tomorrow.  One great example of this are the fluctuations of the stock markets.  Stocks have dropped in the past.  Stocks have dropped to “historic lows” in the past.  That is why the lows are historic.  This means that we have some indication of the forces that affect the markets.

This same kind of study can be applied to nearly every aspect of life.  If you have questions about what is going to happen tomorrow, then a good place to start is to look at what happened yesterday.  If the conditions that made people act in a certain way occur again, it is a good bet that they will act that way again.

A person cannot function without doing some form of business with others.  We interact with each other all the time.  Whether we are face to face or over the internet, telephone, or just on the television, we are deciding who we will allow into our lives and how.

At some point we all come across money.  We’ll spend that money on the things we want or need.  Who we give that money to depends a great deal on our perception of the integrity of the many vendors selling the products and services we want and need.

Remember that any person using any form of media can easily represent any falsehood.  Be patient.  Do your research.  Choose to do business with the best businesses that you can find.  This will not only protect yourself, but will help to maintain the integrity of the overall economy.

The magician’s force is the art of giving someone a choice without really giving them any choices at all.  In essence it is a way of controlling the outcome of an apparently random situation.  A simple example would be to present two relatively similar choices.  “Pick a card,” for example, from two face down cards.  The magician in this case knows which is which by their location, but they appear to be random.  When the person chooses a card the magician will either say “excellent choice” and reveal the chosen card or say “excellent choice, that one will be spared” and then use the other card.

In either case the card that the magician wishes to use is chosen and used.  The person feels like they made the choice.  They feel like they have the power when in reality they do not.

This same type of mental force can be used by con artists.  If you feel like no matter what decision you make the outcome is the same then you may have already been caught.

I mentioned a few posts back about being a bit careful about the news.  I think I failed to mention just how important watching the news really is.  Or reading it online or in a newspaper.

Knowing and understanding the important issues of the day not only helps keep your mind sharp and bright, but also can help protect you.  The news is quick to issue a report on a bad guy.  They may get their facts mixed or miss a few details, but knowing what to look for can make the difference between being caught unawares and making the right choice at the right time.

As always, look with a critical eye at what is being reported, but by all means don’t ignore the world around you.  All too often the difference between trouble and smooth sailing is information.

There are a number of people each year who become victims of foreign scams.  For whatever reason they send money to strangers in other countries and only later find out that they have been scammed.

If this happens to you, the Secret Service requests that you provide them with all information related to the scam.  One of the most difficult obstacles that authorities face when fighting this type of fraud is that individuals do not report the fraud out of embarrassment.

Contact the United States Secret Service, Financial Crimes Division, 950 H Street NW,  Washington, D.C. 20223

Phone: 202-486-5850

In any event contacting legal authorities is a good response.  Although they may not be able to give you the full measure of justice that you seek, you will be helping yourself and others and may perhaps hold the one clue that puts a con artist behind bars.

Why am I writing about the Nigerian Money scam?  It is one of the most famous and continuous ongoing scams of this century.

According to snopes.com it originated in the 1920’s and continues today.  In essense someone from a foreign country promises great wealth in return for a limited amount of help with their funds.  After sending the money the scammer will follow up with additional promises and try to continue to get more money until finally the victim gets wise and stops sending money.

This scam, as simple and obvious as it may seem is widely successful.  Some figures estimate that scammers are recovering millions of dollars annually with this process.  Obviously a con artist is not going to stop a con that is working.

The lesson as always is to be vigilant.  If a letter, a fax, or an email appears to be fraudulent then be careful.  Don’t send money to strangers.  Don’t believe wild promises.

Drug advertising is one of the forms of advertising that bothers me the most. I do believe that pharmaceutical companies need to build their businesses. Otherwise there would be limited funds for research and development. However I don’t know that direct advertising to the general populace is the best method.

Increasing the amount of fear about health conditions without providing an equal increase in the amount of information about the drugs, research and interactions may have an adverse effect. Increased spending on unnecessary or irrelevant medical procedures and drugs will not build the overall health of the world or ultimately benefit the economy.

Like all other products and services, be sure to do a bit of extra research in order to fully understand the implications of any medical decisions.