Stop Scammers in their tracks!
With great crisis comes great opportunity for scammers to profit at your expense. This is a sad fact we face worldwide with the governments and law enforcement unwilling to get involved. The standard response is ‘we have no way to catch them’ so we are left exposed.
What if there was a better way?
There is! If we the people ban together and provide information about scams to a handful of media outlets like here at garycanada.com we can make a difference! The focus is to collect enough examples and credible reports/information that can be collectively presented to our lawmakers and enforcers with extra TV media exposure that something will be done. As an additional benefit, it provides a central place where we can compare an offer to the collection of information and hopefully catch most scams before we become a victim.
Why do I care?
I fell victim to a very attractive and convincing scam just recently. I have a friend on Facebook that I know personally and trust. His account had been spoofed or duplicated 16 times with each one requesting me to connect as a friend. In my shortsightedness, I thought something had happened to his account and I had been dropped so he sent me another request. On the eve before Christmas Eve, 2020 I received a Christmas greeting from my friend followed by a link to apply for a federal grant. This followed up with a query as to if I had responded to the link. I figured there was nothing to lose so I clicked on the link (this was all done through Facebook Messenger on my phone). The link took me to a page where I entered that I was interested, and was promptly accepted after providing my personal information. The presentation was about a United Nations Relief Grant and the individual identified himself as Agent Steve. I was instructed to go get a Google-Play gift card, photograph it, and the receipt, and text it to them. I realize I was a special kind of stupid but like so many the Pandemic has left me in tight circumstances so I fell for it. The Monday after I received a message that I needed to send an additional $500 to pay for gas, shipping, and processing. Mind you this was to be sent out FedEx. It was at this point I called my friend on the phone and asked him about the grant. He was shocked and said that he had not sent me a message at all.
Avoid this link: https://www.facebook.com/Stevehendrix076/
All the information has been forwarded to Facebook and the authorities but as I mentioned earlier they are doing nothing about it. We all need to continually contact Facebook and the Federal Government until their message boxes bust. Maybe then they will take this situation seriously!
My total cost of education (scam) was $1500.00 which was more than I could afford. Needless to say there are bills that will not be getting paid this month, and no trips to the grocery store just to recover.
Please do not let this happen to you! Be cautious, understand that there are no fees if you receive a grant, and there are parasites out there that will take your money!
Grandpa Gary
