scam

Automated phone scams annoy many of us on a daily basis, and they present a variety of serious threats. The TEN looks at the efforts being made to combat them.

Vermont’s attorney general is pointing to a landmark settlement which he says could provide a pathway to future enforcement actions against robocall scammers. T.J. Donovan, a Democrat, said Vermonters received roughly 5 million robocalls in March 2021 alone. Many calls impersonate real government agencies and make threats trying to get victims to cough up cash. “Through this settlement, I believe…

Last month alone, Vermont residents received about 5 million unwanted robocalls.

With the application period for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s COVID-19 funeral reimbursement program now open, Attorney General Maura Healey and the Massachusetts Funeral Directors Association are advising residents to be wary of scams and not to give out personal and financial information over the phone or email. Eligible individuals can receive up to $9,000 per funeral and $35,500 per…

Since 2018, people have reported losing almost $245 million in gift card scams.

Robocalls are declining, but if you are still getting too many, there are ways to block them.

The Maine Department of Labor has warned residents of an online fraud in which a scammer is masquerading as the labor department on social media. The labor department says the scammer is committing a phishing fraud for Mainers’ personal information. They’ve created social media pages that mimic the labor department’s and are asking victims to direct message them for...

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is looking to reimburse people who lost money in a fraudulent tech support scheme.

Market Basket is warning customers about an apparent Facebook scam the company says is aimed at gaining their personal information.  The company took to its official Facebook account on Monday to warn that an imposter was masquerading as Market Basket and sending friend requests to users on the social media platform. According to the store, the imposter was contacting people…

Eileen Vallatini, of Holliston, Massachusetts, was recently targeted by scammers. As she learned, scammers aren’t just targeting the elderly; parents of college kids are at risk, as well.

You may have heard of the ‘grandparents scam,’ where seniors are tricked into sending money to help a grandchild they believe is in trouble. But as a Massachusetts woman recently found out, scammers aren’t just targeting the elderly with their “person-in-need” scams.  Eileen Vallatini, of Holliston, learned the hard way that parents of college kids are at risk, as...

If something sounds too good to be true, it often is, and an Aldi offer for free groceries that’s been making the rounds on Facebook this week is, in fact, a scam.

With COVID cases on the rise, you may be looking to stock up on cleaning and disinfecting products, but the Federal Trade Commission has received hundreds of complaints about scams.

A typical IRS phone scam took an unexpected turn when police say the scammer showed up at the victim’s door in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Police say it was a brazen attempt to steal money. Now, the victim has a warning for her neighbors. “It’s just crazy to think that someone would do that and go to those extremes,” said...

More than 550 employees of Worcester have been targeted in a nationwide unemployment insurance benefits scam, city officials say. The scam involves identity thieves using the victims’ personal information to file claims for unemployment benefits. The city received about 40 fraudulent claims from March to mid-August, Dori Vecchio, the city’s human resources director told The Telegram & Gazette. Since then,…

Residents across the United States are finding packages of seeds mailed to them from China in what is believed to be part of a scam to skew online shopping algorithms.

A couple helped run an international romance scam that used bogus profiles on dating websites to woo dozens of victims into giving up more than $6 million, federal prosecutors said. Martins Friday Inalegwu and Steincy Mathieu, both of Maple Shade, New Jersey, were charged Tuesday with conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Inalegwu, 31, made his initial court appearance…

Police in Winthrop, Massachusetts, are warning the public of a personal loan scam. A letter went out to residents offering a $17,000 loan and gift cards in exchange for filling out an online application, according to police. One letter that had a return address of an undisclosed administrative office was returned to the Winthrop Finance Department, which contacted Winthrop Police….

In the midst of this pandemic, the Boston Police Department is warning people about being scammed online while searching for jobs. “This happens every time there’s a national emergency or tragedy,” said John Moynihan, a cybersecurity expert and president of Minuteman Governance. Moynihan says scams happen when people are most vulnerable. “These type of overtures prey on impulse,” he...