😱 Fear Scams

You're in trouble now!!

30 Jun

Fear Scams - Anxiety & Urgency

🆘 PANIC! Somehow there’s trouble! Keep calm and carry on out the window! But wait, someone, for a fee, will solve everything…

Did you just get caught by a fear scam? Here’s what you need to watch out for.

What are the seven main types of fear scams?

  1. 🏛 CRA scams

  2. ✈️ Immigration

  3. 🥸 Social Insurance

  4. 🚩 Blackmail

  5. ⌛ Bill Overdue

  6. 🚫 Windows Repair

  7. 🚓 Extortion

Let’s break down each one!

🏛 CRA scams

You owe tax money! The scammer tells the victim that they owe the government money and they face fraud charges if money is not repaid IMMEDIATELY. ⏱️

Then, an “repayment” amount is named with instructions to send it to the “CRA” through a bitcoin ATM. During this process, the scammer attempts to keep the victim on the phone so their minds get even more scared, confused and scrambled. 😨

✈️ Immigration

🍁 Accent bias, scammers make assumptions on who to scam based on assumptions about victims’ citizenship. In this type, scammers will cold call people to find someone with an accent and scare them about deportation from Canada as a “representative” of Canada Immigration.

But luckily for them… immediate deportation will not happen if they pay “owed” legal fees. 👩🏻‍⚖️

How do they pay this representative?

The scammer provides a bitcoin wallet for victims to send money to and using the same tactic as the CRA scams, keep them on the phone the entire time.

🥸 Social Insurance

Identity theft! Now, this scam gets elaborate. 🕵🏼

First, the scammer calls the victim to let them know that their social insurance number has been exposed and was used to take hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans under their name.

Time is of the essence! The individual is told to secure their money before the alleged thief takes it out of the bank. 🏦

🚨 Now, there’s a handoff. The first scammer transfers the call over to the “police” (badge number and location “given”) who tells the victim to remove ALL of their money from the bank and take it to a bitcoin ATM to put it in a secure account. 🏧

A wallet address is sent under the illusion that it is now the victim’s account that they withdraw from. However, “securing” funds into this address is transferring funds to the scammer’s pockets. 💸

Sometimes, all the victims’ savings cannot be removed in one withdrawal, so there are repeat phone calls until all the money is received by the scammer or the victim finds out about the scam.

🚩 Blackmail

WARNING! Victims get a warning on their browser that they have been exposed at looking at indecent or illegal sites so they will be reported unless they call the number on the screen. The scammers then tell victims to pay a certain amount of bitcoin or else they will be “exposed” for going to illegal websites or looking at child porn. 🚔

⛓ Until the victim runs out of money or blocks the scammer, the blackmail will continue. ⛓

Violation of trust. The second variation.

💔 Someone is convinced by another person online to send “nudes” and is threatened to pay a certain amount of bitcoin indefinitely unless they want the photos sent to friends, family and/or co-workers.

⌛ Bill Overdue

IMMEDIATE TERMINATION. Generally targeted at building, property or business owners, they get a call from a local utility provider to pay their months overdue service fees or face cancellation. ⚙️ Then, the victims are told that the full balance must be paid ASAP through a bitcoin ATM.

🚫 Windows Repair

VIRUS DETECTED. A popup appears on an individual’s screen warning that their computer has been attacked by a virus, and they need to call the number on the screen for help. 💻

👾 The scam center pretends to be Windows support. Then, someone logs into the computer and pretends they found the virus.

There are two ways it generally plays out.

  1. The option of what level of service they would like to pay for computer service is offered. However, victims need to send bitcoin to pay for those services.

  2. Scammers lock customers out of the computer until their price is paid. 🔒

🚓 Extortion

The most serious ones. A serious criminal situation rather than a scam, specified payment is required or else the victim’s loved ones will get hurt or killed. Typically occurs when a loved one gets captured overseas by criminal or terrorist organizations. 🔪

💗 When it seems like your whole life or your loved one’s is on the line, it is hard to think rationally. Remember to be understanding of victims and take notes.

Did you catch up on other primary types of scams?

Have any suggestions? Let us know what you think!

DISCLAIMER: Rallie Finance does not support the use of bitcoin for fraud and we are always finding new ways to educate and warn our customers in hopes of preventing them from falling for these scams.