However, we encourage you to take a look at this week's most popular articles from our other sites:
Buying PVA Craigslist: Check out these four important tips when buying Real PVA that will help you avoid making mistakes when buying PVA Craigslist.
Buying Forwarding Phone Numbers Craigslist: Check out the details of buying phone numbers to voice verify Craigslist accounts and create your own PVA's which put more control in your hands.
If you buy items at auction through eBay or other online auction services, you'll want to pay attention to this one.
For expensive goods (say, over $1,000), many auctioneers and bidders use an 'escrow' system. Escrow means that the winning bidder sends the cash to a neutral third party (an escrow company) to be held, usually until the goods are shipped and the bidder is satisfied with their condition.
The benefit is that the escrow company is supposed to be a neutral party to the transaction, a middleman, that protects both the auctioneer and the bidder in case something goes wrong. Of course, there is a charge for this service.
Well, some folks are taking advantage of this system to bilk bidders out of thousands of dollars.
It's scarily simple: the scammers, working in cahoots with the auctioneer, set up a phony escrow company, complete with its own Web site. When you 'place the money in escrow,' you're just sending it to scammers, who then use stalling tactics to explain why the auction hasn't cleared escrow. Eventually they fold their tents and flee, and you're left thousands of dollars poorer and with no recourse.
Here are some tips to avoid getting scammed by this fake escrow scheme:
1. Use an escrow service recommended by the online auction site (for example, eBay recommends Escrow.com).
2. If the seller wants you to use a specific escrow company, ask why. Be sure to check it out carefully.
3. If anything seems fishy, find another escrow company.
More information about fraudulent escrow and auctions:
eBay Members Scammed by Fraudulent Escrow Sites:
==> http://www.auctionbytes.com/pages/abn/y02/m10/i26/s02
Tech TV - New Twist on Auction Fraud:
Fake College Degrees Put You At Risk
You probably remember seeing the tiny classified ads in the back of magazines: Get a college degree now, based on your 'life experience' or other credentials!Of course, this was just a scheme where you paid some 'degree mill' money to get a pretty printed certificate saying that you'd graduated from a non-existent institution, or an institution that just exists to give out diplomas to anyone with a credit card.
Well, times have changed, but the scam hasn't -- it's just become more high-tech. Many sites on the Internet offer to give you a college diploma for cash. Some are so brazen that they're called Fake Degrees or Fake Diplomas. So you know you're not getting a high-quality education.
Why, then, are you at risk? Well, if you're hiring employees, you want to make sure their credentials are real and that they're up to the task.
And if you're going to see a lawyer, doctor, or other professional, it's vital that they be certified from a real educational institution. Otherwise, you could be in for trouble.
If you have any doubts as to whether someone's diploma is legitimate, check out the U.S. Network for Education Information's Web site at:
==> http://www.ed.gov/NLE/USNEI/us/accred-fraud.html
Sometimes, doing a search on the 'college' or 'university' name on Google.com will also turn up fraudulent institutions.
Buying PVA Craigslist: Check out these four important tips when buying Real PVA that will help you avoid making mistakes when buying PVA Craigslist.
Buying Forwarding Phone Numbers Craigslist: Check out the details of buying phone numbers to voice verify Craigslist accounts and create your own PVA's which put more control in your hands.
If you buy items at auction through eBay or other online auction services, you'll want to pay attention to this one.
