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Mass Consumer Affairs Blog
The Official Blog of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation
An intern in our office recently received a Facebook friend request from a relative he hadn’t seen in years. Not wanting to be rude, he accepted. Within minutes, the relative began messaging him. At first the messages were your standard distant relative messages “How are …Continue Reading Social Butterflies Beware: Watch out for fake Facebook friend requests
It is estimated that five million elders are exploited each year in the U.S, costing them $36.5 billion annually. Yet, studies show that only 1 in 14 cases are reported to the authorities. As a group, the elderly control a large amount of the …Continue Reading Preventing Elder Financial Abuse
The United States offers a variety of different vacation destinations, from its warm beaches in Hawaii to exhilarating ski mountains in Colorado. Still a trending option, timeshare companies offer consumers partial ownership and regular access to vacation properties, providing them with a consistent and …Continue Reading Timeshares: A Way to Take Affordable Vacations?
Almost 470 million members share their personal information and professional details on LinkedIn to market themselves to potential employers. That‘s why it’s important to keep an eye out for suspicious people reaching out to you, as scammers use the service to target unsuspecting job seekers. Scammers …Continue Reading LinkedIn Scams
Whether you need to pay a friend back for dinner or send money to your family, Venmo is a useful tool to exchange money among those you trust. A hit among millennials, Venmo is a fast and easy way to transfer money. However, as with …Continue Reading Venmo Scam
For most of us, our computers are a central part of our everyday life. So when tech support calls and informs you there is a problem with your computer, it’s only natural to follow their directions to ensure important documents, precious photographs, and your …Continue Reading “Operation Tech Trap”
Digital coupons often pop-up on Facebook. Usually utilizing big chains stores, consumers are lured with a coupon offering amazing deals such as 50 percent off everything, or $100 off any purchase. But shoppers must be wary because these coupons are usually scams aimed at …Continue Reading Facebook Coupon Scam
The unusual worm that landed in the mailboxes of Google’s Gmail users last week was a sophisticated identity phishing scam that quickly spread to various other contacts. Scammers were able to get users to open a malicious link using one the oldest tricks in …Continue Reading Google Phishing Scam
The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation is warning consumers of a new PayPal phishing scam. Fraudsters are sending out convincing, sophisticated e-mails which feature the PayPal logo and fine print at the bottom to further the appearance of being legitimate. The message …Continue Reading PayPal Phishing Scam
As scammers continue to progressively become more tech-savvy with the execution of their scams, consumers have to be on-guard more than ever in order to spot their sophisticated tricks. One popular scheme to be on the lookout for is the fake Airbnb website, set-up …Continue Reading Watch Out for the Fake Airbnb!
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2017