Aidpage

Got an email from a UPSTATE MUTUAL FUNDING
about being approved for loan, trying to figure out if this is a scam

I received a check for $3200.55 from HSBC Bank. This check is bogus,
I called the man that I was instructed to call. The letter told me to send $2800.00 by western union to a tax agent. I informed the man on the phone that taxes are deducted from any funds that you receive so why would I send the tax agent any money. He rudely hang up. Scams are everywhere.

Have you given money to anyone on this website? So many people ask for help, both here and on craigslist. How to tell who is a scam artist and who is really in need? Also, are they living wastefully or foolishly to end up desperate like this? I would like to hear your thoughts.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes. read more >>

It is an ugly truth that this kind of plea for help can sometimes generate unwanted attention, from less than decent people. In the last week I have posted on two Help sites and all it has generated is scam attempts. It has been very frustrating, but it has taught me a few things. First, there are very few people out there willing and/or capable of helping a total stranger who posts a plea on a website. Second, there are thousands of people out there cold hearted enough to try and scam the poor and desperate. It's sick.

I have a 20 year old daughter who has a nasty form of cancer. She has undergone various forms of treatment and has fought it for 3 years. That, combined with the terrible economy and even worse jobs availability in my field has hurt us badly. We have been able to fight off the final blow for some time, but we have reached it now. We have no food in the house, are about to have our utilities shit off and after the first we face eviction.

I court ridicule and laughter from my family by seeking aid online using begging sites, but I felt I had no choice. The upshot of it all was that I ended up being ridiculed and given false hope by scammers. I opened myself up to this obviously, but it is still frustrating. I have givin up all hope of charity coming our way, and I am preparing myself for a very bad time. But there is something I can offer the legit aid seekers out there.

Please, be careful who you treat with when going after any offer that comes your way. If someone offers you help via email that should be the first red flag. Most donors are not going to contact you prior to giving you that donation. There are some that may however, so here is what to look for when it happens.

Bad spelling and phrasing in the body of the email It usually starts with an strange endearment like "Hello Dearest" or the like. Phrasing looks as though it were put through a translation site.

A free service email address. Anyone actually speaking for a church or charity is unlikey to have a gmail or Yahoo email address. If the person contacting you is not doing so from a organizational email address it is a scam. You can also look at the email header and see what the "Recieved From" IP address is and run it through a whois service. Even if they are using a free email address the IP will still be recorded. Of the 20 or so emails I have had offering help all but one originated in Lagos Nigeria.

Anyone who askes you to pucrhase equipment as a way of getting started, askes for a processing fee or wants you to distribute a portion of your funds is a scammer. Legit donors will never ask you for these things. 

Never give out personal info, especially bank accounts or passwords and think twice about giving out your address. If the person will not use Paypal you are likely getting scammed.

Be careful. These scams will not only cause you further money problems, but some can even end with YOU in legal trouble.

Hello.

I'm an 18 year old girl living in Europe. Me and my boyfriend have been together over 2 years now, meeting only once a year because he lives all the way in canada. We were both saving up so that I could start living with him once I have finished my education, however, that has all turned around now.

At his working location there was this costumer that needed to borrow money, at first my boyfriend thought he meant borrowing from the shop... Turned out he needed to borrow from my boyfriend. Just $200, so that wouldn't be too much of a loss. The man, called peter, came back happily the next day with a cheque of $500. However the next day he needed money again, this time a much larger amount. The man had lost his wife, his cell phone and his money. My boyfriend, being a naturally good person, gave him the money again. The man paid back happily once again, but now it becomes scary.

Peter forces him to drive around, pay for  peter in restaurants. All because Peter says he has to pay him something (which is true when you see that the guy pays him like $1,500 for the $1,000 he borrowed). In this process, my boyfriend lost $7,000... Because when the weekend was over, the cheques did apparently not come through.

I had no idea this was happening, I did not know of the existance of uncovered cheques and I thought my boyfriend was being paid in real money. The worst thing is, that the scammer did not just stop there, he kept on bugging my boyfriend with depressing stories for about 2 months! Also friends of Peter were stalking him.

Yes, he did get the police involved and they are looking for the men that scammed him out of all his savings. He has only just graduated from College and was looking for a good job while working in a convenience store for the mean time... Now he will have to stay at the convenience store. But the manager of the store was mad with him because Peter stalked him at work, so they moved him to a location which is a 40 minutes drive, rather than 2 minutes!

He can't pay for gas, any of his bills.. Because Peter brought him into the red numbers at the bank. His family helped him a little bit by donating to the problem to pay for the bills, but nothing more than that. 

I feel so helpless over here. I'm not making enough myself to support him, going to school full time. I can see he is rather depressed over the situation and I'm asking myself if I should still come over to see him this summer (because that would take him from his job, resulting in him earning less money).

I just wanted to get this off my chest...

-Mumbling

The tables may be turned someday and you too may need a helping hand. On that thought I have always tried to be an honest, generous and courteous person all of my life. I try to treat others as they would like to be treated in return however in the last few years I have had some tough roads to travel and am in dire need of help. In 2003 I was in a bad car accident and went through many trials and tribulations. I lost my job, my house and my 15 year relationship, had my water and electric shut off many times and had blood clot that almost took my life. I had both knees replaced and have injured 4 discs in my back. Right when I thought I was ready for a relationship again I was scammed out of apx $10,000. I loaned this person money from refinancing my car so he could get health care for his son but when he paid me back it was from a fraudulent check. The check cleared the bank after apx 10 days but much to my dismay 2 weeks after that the check was returned as "altered" leaving me $6,000 overdrawn in my checking. My bank was good enough to write this debt into a loan but my entire disability check must go to it every month. ALL I ASK IS THAT ANYONE WHO IS FINANCIALLY SECURE PURCHASE FROM MY WEBSITE SO I MAY MAKE ENOUGH EXTRA INCOME FOR MY UTILITIES, CAR INS AND FOOD. GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

There is one man that claims to be diabled, and being held against his will on aidpage. He is known by the Colorado Police, and is considered to be a scam.

Hey everyone...

Ok well i'm new here and I'm not really here to 'tell my story' but i just want to say a few things to anyone who cares to read this... Firstly I have just read someones story and all the comments posted by other people following it... and i would just like to say that some of them are disrespectful and rude. I know some of the stories might sound like a scam but have you stopped to think 'what if they aren't' you are making judgements on people who you have never met or seen so how can u possibly judge whether what they r saying is real or not? I know everyone is entitled to their opinion and that is the point of this site but i just want to ask why you can't put your opinion across to other people in a less judgemental and harsh way. You never know for certain what other people are going through. And just because someone is having a waaay more difficult time than you it does not mean that they are making the whole thing up.                                                                     Thanks guyss

xxx 

my name is mr. ducey, this is a complaint agianst a loan firm in lagos ,dba as efirms 2009, orchestrated by a floyd johnson, will loan any amount as long as you keep paying fee after fee after fee, i started with a lone for 800.00usd, i have since spent over 2500.00 usd to procure this loan , I did however made final attepmt to complete this transaction only to be hit with yet another fee

It is my contention that your goverment should shut down mr. johnsons operation, and i will follow this note to the american embasy, director of federal buearo of investigation. your immediate attention in this matter will be greatly appreciated

thank you

Leland Ducey

Check out some scam alerts. Please be awear so you are not ripped off.

yeah i really needed a job to stay on my feet i just moved out of my parents house and wanted to work and be independant. I took a job working for mystery shoppers i heard a bout this through friends and family newpapers and online so i tooked the job well to make a long story short i got hired they sent me blanks money orders and i cashed them all untill the checks bound i now own money to the bank for all the checks i cashed i really need help i dont know what to do i own the bank 11,206 dollars it was 13,000...can you please help thank you your friend Tonya Barbour