Be Wary of the A New Scam
If you live in Chesterfield County, Virginia, you might want to be on the lookout for a group of scammers going door-to-door and telling people they need new roofs. This…
BERLIN, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 16: A visitor tries out an Apple iPhone 7 on the first day of sales of the new phone at the Berlin Apple store on September 16, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. The new phone comes in two sizes, one with a 4.7 inch display, the other with a 5.5 inch display. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Sean Gallup via Getty ImagesIf you live in Chesterfield County, Virginia, you might want to be on the lookout for a group of scammers going door-to-door and telling people they need new roofs. This so-called "Squirrel Scam" preys on unsuspecting homeowners by telling them that squirrels have burrowed through their roofs and into their attic. The scammers offer to set traps, remove the squirrels, and patch holes with spray foam. One man has already lost $1,500 to these con artists.
Here's how the scam works:
The scammers will approach homeowners and tell them that they've noticed damage to their roofs caused by squirrels. They'll say they can trap and remove the squirrels for a fee. Sometimes, they'll even offer to patch up holes in the roof with spray foam.
In one case, a homeowner was quoted a price of $1,500 to have the work done. Thankfully, he didn't fall for it and called the police instead.
If you're approached by someone offering this "service," our advice is to say no. If you have any concerns about damage to your roof, contact a reputable contractor or call your insurance company. Don't let these scammers take advantage of you!
As silly as it sounds, Squirrel Scams are on the rise. So be sure to spread the word to your friends and family members living in affected areas. And if you see someone falling for it, don't hesitate to intervene. After all, we all have to beat these scammers together!
Some other scams to watch out for
- Coronavirus and Government Program Scams - While coronavirus-related scams might be losing some steam, you still want to be cautious because scammers continue to use the pandemic
- Phone Scams - robocalls, texts, and impersonators
- SIM Swapping - a thief steals your number and assigns it to a new SIM card in a phone they control. It's the same process you go through when you get a new phone and the mobile carrier gives you a new SIM card
- One-Time Password Bots - An alternative to SIM swapping, some scammers are using so-called OTP bots to trick people into sharing the authentication codes that are sent to them via text or email, or that they have to look up in an authentication app or device.
- Zelle Scams - Scammers are turning to Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment app, as a means to steal people's money. The scammer will email, text, or call you pretending to work for your bank or credit union's fraud department.
- Romance Scams - While romance scams aren't new, their popularity continues to rise. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), people lost $547 million to romance scams in 2021, up 80% compared to 2020 and six times higher than in 2017.
According to an article by Experian these are some ways to avoid scammers:
- Be skeptical when someone contacts you
- Enable multifactor authentication
- Research companies
- Be careful with your phone
- Don't refund or forward overpayments
- Look for suspicious payment requirements
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Verified Twitter Users Sound Off On Elon Musk’s Verification Charge
As Twitter CEO, Elon Musk is giving his employees an ultimatum: Meet his deadline to introduce paid verification on Twitter or pack up and leave.
The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional, $4.99 a month subscription that unlocks additional features, into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users, according to The Verge. Twitter is currently planning to charge $19.99 for the new Twitter Blue subscription. Under the current plan, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe to the higher charge or lose their blue verified checkmark. Additionally, employees who are working on the project were told on Sunday (October 30) that they need to meet a deadline of November 7th to launch the feature or they will be fired.
Leading up to his acquisition of the social site, Musk has been clear that he wanted to revamp how Twitter verifies accounts and handles bots. On Sunday (October 30), he tweeted: “The whole verification process is being revamped right now” in a response to one user asking about help with verification.
So far, “Chief Twit” Musk has fired at least four top Twitter executives as his first order of business (CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, Twitter’s head of legal, policy and trust, and safety, Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett). He has brought in Tesla engineers as advisors and is planning mass layoffs aimed at middle managers and engineers who haven’t recently contributed to the code base. Those cuts are expected to begin this week with managers creating lists of employees to cut.
The Twitter Blue subscription was launched about a year ago as a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers and make other tweaks to the app, such as a different color home screen icon. Advertising remained the vast majority of its revenue and with this plan, Musk seems keen on growing subscriptions to become half of the company’s overall revenue.
Jason Calacanis (one of Musk's top advisors) ran a poll on Twitter Monday asking, "How much would you pay to be verified & get a blue check mark on Twitter?" A majority of the results (81.4% as of Monday) opted that they would not pay to be verified on the social site.
Musk replied to the poll, "Interesting."
See what other verified users had to say below:
