HYIP Scams

Since their inception about a decade ago, high yield investment programs (HYIPs) have always been linked with scams, specifically the Ponzi and pyramid schemes. Thus, it is perfectly logical if you are hesitant and uneasy about making a venture into HYIPs. However, in spite of the great quantity of scammers around, you cannot simply discount the genuine and legitimate HYIPs, of which there are still plentiful. They may not always last very long, rarely living up to a few years but often flourishing for a few months, but if you cannot take advantage of the potential for high returns simply because of the fear of scammers, then that would be a total shame. Hence, it is of great importance for you to be equipped with enough know-how to discern legitimate HYIPs from scams.

As to be expected, one of the questions most frequently asked is how you can determine if an HYIP is a scam or not. Fortunately, this is perhaps one of the simplest things that you can learn in your investigation as a prospective speculator. Most of the time, you can find out all that you need to know from forums, which are online sites serving as a venue for HYIP investors to meet, discuss and keep abreast of the latest ideas and information with regards to venturing into the world of HYIPs. A common misconstrued belief, however, is that the people who participate in these forums are the best sources of knowledge on spotting scammers. On the contrary, you should take everything posted by these participants with a grain of salt because most of the information posted by them is either misinterpreted or simply wrong. That is why you would rather ask the forum administrator if you want to know how to prevent being scammed on HYIPs.

One basic premise behind asking the forum administrators directly would be the fact that, by doing this, you would get a general impression of how they make transactions and how they deal with investors. Of course, their opinions may not always be truthful and factual, but even so, you would still be able to develop a better feel for HYIPs, especially as you go further along in the industry.

If the particular HYIP you are interested in is a Ponzi scam, the forum administrators will not give you the information that you are asking for or will either indirectly answer your questions or not even answer them at all. Basically, be wary of administrators who will come across as being shady. They may provide lame excuses like being unable to gain access to their files or reports immediately or rendering themselves more susceptible to losing their privacy by answering your questions. Be suspicious if you get shifty responses like these, or if they persistently refuse to answer your queries at all.

On the contrary, administrators who do answer your questions are not ruled out from not being scammers at all. Remember, if mere forum participants can post wrong or misleading information, so can forum administrators who can also be capable of trying to put one over you. Hence, it is crucial that you take extra precautions and investigate all statements and assertions that come your way. Do a background check on every possible angle.

Still another thing that you should be wary of would be HYIPs tendering shockingly high returns on your investment. In general, HYIPs with daily gains of about 1 to 3 percent, or a total of approximately 50 to 100 percent in profit, are legitimate HYIPs. Beware of HYIPs asserting that they can give payouts of 120 to 200 percent at one time, as they are most probably scammers or will not even last very long. Moreover, keep away from HYIPs declaring that they can pay on weekends, because no programs pay on weekends in general.

Last but not least, be conscious to the fact that HYIP scammers are more apt to require a minimal investment or a small membership fee from prospective investors. Furthermore, fraudulent HYIPs are also more likely to offer incentive commissions to current members for referring and recruiting new and potential speculators and investors into their program. This is due to the fact that by doing these, HYIP scams are able to attract more members and investment money into their pool, in the fastest time possible, before closing down.

Source:
http://www.sovereign-investments.net/hyip-scams.html

Revealing the cold calling scams

Typically a small business might be asked by a fake publisher to contribute to a crime prevention booklet, wall charts or drug awareness book.

Businesses are usually approached by telephone, with their number sometimes being taken straight from the telephone book.

The calls are unsolicited and aimed at catching the recipient by surprise.

Those behind the scam repeat the message in their calls that by signing up they are helping a good cause - often posing questions like: "do you agree that children need better drugs education?"

They repeatedly stress that it is for a good cause, to make the victim feel guilty.

Of course as with any approach for money over the phone, you should be sceptical, and if you have any doubts contact your local Trading Standards office, Citizens Advice Bureau or even the police.

Be wary of anyone cold calling you asking you to place an advertisement in a Wall Planner, Diary, Children's Fun Book, Drug Awareness Book, Magazine for Emergency Services Personnel, or other publication.

They usually claim to be calling on behalf of or associated with a charity who will receive a donation or free books for resale.

Alternatively they may be claiming to be from one of the emergency services or promising to distribute their magazine to an audience such as off duty emergency services personnel.

How to avoid becoming the victim of a scam

DON'T agree to place an advert over the telephone unless you are absolutely happy with the publisher with whom you are dealing and what you are being offered.

DON'T speak to them unless you've got time to ask all the questions you want.

DON'T agree to something to get rid of them - you could be making a binding agreement.

DON'T take their word for it that you have placed an order previously or that someone in your organisation has agreed to take an order- this is a ploy used by some companies to trick you.

DON'T feel guilty - there are other ways of giving to charity.

DO make it clear in ALL telephone calls that you are NOT placing an order - they often record the second "confirmation" phone call - this is carefully worded to sound like you are agreeing to the order even if you have just requested further information.

DO insist on seeing written details and a copy of the publisher's full terms and conditions before placing an order.

DO ask them some detailed questions about the publication (a suggested list of questions is below).

DO get details including the number of any charity mentioned and check this with the Charity Commission

DO get them to send you an example of a publication they have produced with details of its circulation - if they refuse DON'T agree to go any further.

DO make a record of all contact with these companies - time, date of calls, person you spoke to, what they said etc.

DO make sure all your staff know about this advice on dealing with these cold callers and to be aware of unsolicited invoices.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/4647512.stm

Nigerian Money Offer Scams

The email from Dr. Olad Olayeni asked for help. As director of his country's engineering and project services, he wanted to transfer what remained of a "total contract sum of $283,600,000" out of his country. He's offering to pay you 25 percent to help him.

That too-good-to-be-true offer - and others along the same line - are called "Nigerian Money Offer Scams" for the country where they started. Sometimes they're called "Advance Fee Fraud" or "4-1-9" schemes. That's after the Nigerian criminal code that fights fraud. But these scams also come from other countries. Wherever they're from, they all have a similar pattern.

The offer comes by email, letter or fax. The writer is a high-ranking person in a foreign country. You're offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The writer, stressing privacy, wants your help to move a large sum of money out of his country. All you have to do is to allow him to transfer millions of dollars into your bank account.

He promises you'll get a large part of that money after the transfer. To accept, all you have to do is send your bank information, business letterhead, telephone and fax numbers. Sounds like an easy way to make millions.

And if you do?

You get another letter saying asking you to pay a series of fees for taxes, bribes, attorney expenses or transaction costs before the money can be released. And on and on. In the end, you lose your money, never receive the money you were promised, and stop hearing from the "official." And - by giving out your bank information - you've handed over the keys to your bank account. Your savings can disappear.

Thousands of consumers fall prey to these scams. Even when people think the letter can't be for real, some respond because of the huge rewards promised.

The U.S. Secret Service investigates Nigerian fraud. It gets hundreds of telephone calls and letters every day about this scam. It estimates that victims in the United States lose a million dollars a day.

Although the most common business "proposal" is the fund-transfer scam, these foreign money scams are only limited by the writer's imagination. We've seen letters asking for help getting an inheritance out of the country, receiving shipment of goods, buying real estate, converting "gold" coins, and selling crude oil. Check out the sample letters in our Resources section.

While this scheme takes many forms, the Secret Service says to look for these clues:

• You need to respond immediately and confidentially.
• The writer claims to have strong ties to high ranking foreign officials.
• You receive many official-looking documents. (They're forgeries.)
• You are urged to travel to a foreign country.
• You're given the impression you are the only one getting this special offer. (Actually millions of these emails are sent every day.)
• To accept, you must send your bank account number.
• You are promised huge returns for what looks like an easy thing to do.
• You must pay a number of fees to "process" the transaction. Each time you're told that is the last fee required.

Scam Prevention Tools

You can avoid becoming a victim of a Nigerian scheme by following these steps.

• Never respond to this type of email, snail mail, or fax from Nigeria, even to get more information about the offer. Delete it or throw it away.
• Do not travel to meet the e-mail's sender. Many who have gone abroad to pursue these offers have been robbed or held for ransom. One American was even killed.
• Do not travel to meet the author of the letter. Many who have gone abroad to pursue these offers have been robbed or held for ransom — one American was even killed.
• Report Nigerian money offers you receive to the fraud section of your local police and postal inspector.
• I" If you have already have lost money in one of these schemes, contact the Secret Service and ask where to send your documentation.

Adopted from http://www.aarp.org/money/wise_consumer/scams/a2002-10-02-FraudsNigerianMoneyOffer.html

Welcome to Sunshine Empire Scams

Welcome to Sunshine Empire Scams!

We are here to feature and highlight some of the scams found internationally and how you can prevent yourself from getting involved in them.

Since setting up of the Sunshine Empire Smiley site, we have received considerable amount of viewerships and hence, we decided to use the same name and call our site Sunshine Empire Scams.

Stay tuned!