Economic Scams

Economic Scam. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

The current economic down turn has a lot of people fearing for their jobs and livelihoods. Those that have lost a job are doing everything they can to find new employment. From the most rural area of the country to the biggest cities, that fear has brought out the worst in some people.

MCKENNA: We are seeing a surge in scams and con jobs that are aimed at people in financial distress. We are seeing scams aimed at the unemployed for example. The work at home scam is one of the most common where someone wants you to pay them money to set you up in a work at home operation like transcribing medical records or being a secret shopper.

That’s Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna who says even he is not immune to the scammers.

MCKENNA: You’ve won the pay in lottery, wire transfer $2000 from the check of $4000, I’ve received three of those at the office. They don’t use my title – they’ve pulled my name and address off of our office website I’m sure. We’re also seeing spyware spreading across the internet when people click on links to phony job search websites.

Even relatively safe, well known websites like “Craigslist” are not immune to the dangers of the scam artist.

MCKENNA: I personally know a number of people who use Craigslist recently for example to sell a car or advertise an apartment for rent or sublease, everyone of them has been contacted by a scammer. The people who are looking for jobs on Craigslist are also becoming victims or people are trying to victimize them with the classic work at home scheme for example.

McKenna says the sad thing is that during these times of economic stress people are very vulnerable.

MCKENNA: You know that’s true. People are likelier to grab at a straw when they’re real down on their luck and they’re more likely to suspend the kind of common sense and intuition that would normally protect them from falling for such a scam. It’s just despicable that the con artists deliberately target the most vulnerable people in our community but that’s exactly what’s happening.

The old adage really does hold true, if it sounds too good to be true; it probably is. Hit the delete key on the computer or simply hang up the phone on scammers. McKenna urges anyone who thinks they are or have been scammed to contact your states attorney generals office and report the crime.

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.