If it says "UK," stay away July 4, 2007

Happy Fourth of July!
It’s a wet one here in Houston, but don’t let it ruin your holiday.
Drag your grills under a patio and save me me some bar-b-que. I’m at work today!

OK.. who hasn’t gotten some variation of an e-mail like this one?

From: Madam Susan Cole.
Email: madamsusancole06@hotmail.com
msusancole001@yahoo.co.uk
Here writes Madam Susan Cole, suffering from cancerous ailment.
When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of 10Million (Ten Million Pounds Sterling) which were derived from his vast estates and investment in capital market with his security company here in Europe . Presently, this money is still with the security company. Recently, my Doctor told me that I have limited days to live due to the cancerous problems I am suffering from.
Though what bothers me most is the stroke that I have in addition to the cancer. With this hard reality that has befallen my family, and me I have decided to donate this fund to you and want you to use this gift which comes from my husbands effort to fund the upkeep of widows, widowers, orphans, destitute, the down-trodden, physically challenged children, barren-women and persons who prove to be genuinely handicapped financially.
I want you to stand as the new beneficiary to the funds. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the security company in Europe.
I will also issue you a Letter of Authority that will empower you as the new beneficiary of this fund.
My happiness is that I lived a life worthy of emulation. Please always be prayerful all through your life. Please assure me that you will act just as I have stated herein.
It is often said that blessed is the hand that giveth. I took this decision because I do not have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are bourgeois and very wealthy persons and I do not want my husband hard earned money to be misused or invested into ill perceived ventures. I do not want a situation where this money will be used in an ungodly manner, hence the reason for taking this bold decision. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am going to be with the Almighty when I eventually pass on. The Almighty will fight my case and I shall hold my peace. I do not need any telephone communication in this regard due to my deteriorating health and because of the presence of my husband relatives around me.
I do not want them to know about this development.
With God all things are possible.
Hope to hear from you soon and God bless you and members of your family.
Please send all emails to my private confidential emails below:
msusancole001@yahoo.co.uk
madamsusancole06@hotmail.com
Yours sincerely
Madam Susan Cole.

Are you kidding me? Who in their right mind would fall for that load of garbage?
The answer: obviously enough people that it’s worth it for Madam Susan Cole (more likely an identity thief named Steve or Joe) to send millions of these letters. If only 1 percent of the recipients reply, sending the letter was successful to this scammer. Why? Many of these people or groups send these e-mails by using computer programs that automatically generates every possible combination of letters and possible e-mail addresses. They do this realizing many of the addresses created may not even be valid addresses. But if you reply to say “Buzz off!,” that lets the scammer know yours is a good e-mail address. That’s one more thing than they already knew. Your address will then likely be shared, maybe even sold to other groups sending these types of “offers.”

Here’s another e-mail I received this week.. another UK connection:

Hello and good day. I have a question. Me and my husband ran into a really good car for sale in the Houstonchronicle website. The car sounds really good. But the guy is in United Kingdom, claiming his in the miltary. He says that the miltary will ship the car to us on a plane? And he wants to use a third party escrow. www.pppay.com to be exact. Have you had any issues on this before? Is it safe? He even sent me the VIN number. The amount he is selling the car for is 5,300. Plese let me know, what you know about this kind of situation. I would be so grateful. Mrs. Garza

My reply:

NO! Don’t buy this car. Your inclination to be somewhat skeptical about this scenario is right on. We get e-mails all of the time from people who get caught up in this type of scam. The bottom line.. if the deal goes south.. who will be there to try and get your money back, file a police report against, etc.
Check out this warning about the scam from the Internet Crime Complaint Center:

ESCROW SERVICES FRAUD
In an effort to persuade a wary Internet auction participant, the perpetrator will propose the use of a third-party escrow service to facilitate the exchange of money and merchandise. The victim is unaware the perpetrator has actually compromised a true escrow site and, in actuality, created one that closely resembles a legitimate escrow service. The victim sends payment to the phony escrow and receives nothing in return. Or, the victim sends merchandise to the subject and waits for his/her payment through the escrow site which is never received because it is not a legitimate service.
If you believe you may have fallen victim to this type of scam and wish to report it, please file a complaint with us.
In addition, visit Escrow.com for security alerts and fraud prevention tips.

You can visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center’s website for yourself at http://www.ic3.gov/crimeschemes.aspx#item-18.

We’ve all heard the old addage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
I’ve got a new one. “If it says ‘UK,’ stay away!”

Debt collectors, your credit and your rights! July 3, 2007

Okay.. who doesn’t have a credit card?
Show of hands.. have you ever been late on a payment?
Have you ever gotten so far behind you started getting calls from bill collectors?
(You can put your hands down now.. I really can’t see them anyway).

My point is a lot of people are in debt. Many consumers owe a lot of money.
And debt collectors make a living sometimes trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip.
This is not to say you shouldn’t pay your bills. Of course you should. You buy it.. you should pay for it. Nothing is free. But there are also laws protecting consumers from unscrupulous collectors. The Texas Debt Collection Act and the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act each outline what your rights are, what debt collectors can and can not do when trying to collect a debt you may or may not owe.

I want to share some of the e-mails I received recently on the subject.

Dear Amy:
You probably receive a ton of emails and requests for help, so I will be brief.
Unfortunately, due to health reasons and having missed work and income, I am behind on payments for my furniture contract. The lender/store, Star Furniture, has contacted my neighbor, stating who they are and asking if and when they had seen me, and left their phone number. This neighbor, however, is not one of my references listed on the contract. Can they legally do that or have they crossed the line into invasion of privacy and deceptive trade practices? It was very embarrassing to hear from my neighbor that so and so called asking for me, since the nature of the call is very clear. What can or should I do?
Thank you in advance for your advice. Something like this has never happened to me so I am unsure on how to proceed.

Here’s the answer:
Debt collectors can contact your neighbors, but only to get location information for you. They can, for instance, tell your neighbor who they are and ask your neighbor where you are.. if they have seen you, etc. They can not disclose that you owe money or that you are behind on your payments.
Now.. if this collector knows where you are. If they have your phone numbers and addresses and even spoken with you recently.. then it would seem they are only contacting your neighbors to sort of intimidate, embarrass or harrass you. You could have a case against the collector for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Another woman from Willis wanted to know if her cell phone was off-limits to debt collectors.

Hello- I’m not sure if this has happened to anyone else but….
We’ve had some financial problems are seriously deliquent in credit card payments. That aside, it appears that some creditors have discovered the technology to manipulate my own personal cell phone. I will get a call showing my name and number on my caller ID. I’ve attempted to answer the call and the line is dead. Within a few moments the line will ring again and it will be from a creditor. This has happened about six times since last Thursday. I know I am not in the “right” with my financial situation, however is this legal?

My answer:
There are no laws preventing debt collectors from calling your cell phone. You can, however, ask collectors not to call you on specific numbers.. and under the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, they must comply.
The only way to stop them from calling you on your cell phone (or any other phone) is to send a stop calling letter.

The Texas Attorney General spells out the rules under the Texas Debt Collection Act here:
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/AG_Publications/txts/debt.shtml

You can find some of the laws covered under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act here:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/fdc.shtm