Thoughts on Marketing…

Because you read messages like this one, you’re probably the kind of person who is way too savvy to fall for any scams, but since you probably have friends and relatives who are new to internet use, maybe you can alert them.

One new one is hitting the airwaves now in response to Tax Day. Now that most people have filed their 1040′s, the phishermen are out in full force, pretending to be the IRS. They’re writing people to let them know there’s some little thing that needs to be corrected or verified on their income tax return – and either directing them to send info by return email or go to a website and enter information.

And… as a nation of citizens scared spitless of the IRS, people are responding out of fear and handing over the personal information that can let a crook assume their identities with no trouble at all.

Just tell your friends and family this one fact: The IRS does not communicate via e-mail. If they want to talk to you, they’ll write you a letter and send it by the U.S. Postal Service. Any e-mail you get that says it’s from them should be forwarded to <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> phishing@irs.gov

If someone tells you they’ve responded to an e-mail from the IRS, or if they find something suspicious on a credit report, tell them they need to report identity theft immediately. My article at: www.allcreditscoresnow.com explains what to do if you’ve become a victim. Identity theft is big business in this country right now, so it pays to be vigilant. If the economy worsens, the problem will no doubt grow.

So be careful…

A new scam that I hadn’t seen before landed in my in-box tonight. It’s a notice that I have a job offer from UNICEF! Now hopefully everyone would know that was bogus. UNICEF doesn’t just pick people at random and offer them work. And if you scan the message and see poor grammar combined with a reply e-mail address at @yahoo.comm you’d know instantly that it was a phishing letter.

But if some people weren’t responding to these messages, no one would be sending them, so…

A third one is not a phishing scam, but an attempt to extort money. And this one may come via telephone or postal mail. It’s an attempt by unscrupulous collection agencies to get you to pay money you don’t owe.

I was reminded of it tonight when I read a tweet on Twitter – someone had gotten a phone call from a collection agency demanding payment to a health club that had billed him fraudulently 9 years ago.

Anyway, what they’re doing is either trying to collect from families of the deceased or trying to collect on old accounts that were discharged in bankruptcy or written off after a dispute. This one can cause you trouble because it can affect your credit scores.

I wrote a whole article on it a while back – you can find it here: www.allcreditscoresnow.com

UPDATE ON STINKY MARKETING

Remember the guy who wrote and gave me heck because I hadn’t responded to his letter? He’s written me about 4 times since I told you about it, and he’s sounding crankier all the time. Before long he’s going to be cursing me…