Scams coming from China have been a huge problem in the United States for the past few years, the FBI reports. A lot of these scammers disguise themselves as American websites, phone calls, or even people in order to coerce unsuspecting victims to give money.
In January, a federal grand jury charged two Chinese nationals with operating an illegal money transfer business that moved money from China to the United States. The two men would use the proceeds of romance-based scams to provide money to their U.S. customers.
“Romance scams” are situations where a criminal takes on a fake identity online in order to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The criminal then uses their relationship to manipulate the victim into giving them money. Dianwei Wang and Zhili Song are both on the run from the authorities currently. The FBI seized around $1.9 million from accounts controlled by Wang and Song.
In 2018, the FBI’s Seattle Division received reports that citizens were getting phone calls that were people disguising themselves as Chinese law enforcement. At least five people said that they were told by these scammers that they needed to send money to the law enforcement agency for investigation purposes.
Websites like – https://www.sdecorshop.com – are disguised as American websites, but customers have reported receipts that are from a Chinese company.
Ricki Lee Casper, who is an executive assistant and interior designer at ZUBI’s, was upset with his recently completed order. “I paid over $200 for five wreaths listed at 22’’ diameter, and they are 12’’ diameter, and they are refusing to give me a refund, it’s unreal,” he said.
How To Spot A Potential Scamming Website
The Better Business Bureau suggests looking for the following before purchasing from an online website.
Some website URLs can look identical to a reputable one. Be sure to look at the spelling of the URL. If two letters are swapped or if there is punctuation in the wrong places, it is not an official website, and you should close the tab.
Some URLs lead to a subdomain, like amazon.com.retail.com, with the real domain name being “retail.com,” the hope is that the real domain will not be recognized.
Phishing Scams are a very common scammer tool. Used in texts and prize giveaways, the message will say you won something, you owe something, or it could be a text message acting like someone you already do business with. They will “fish” information from you or ask you to download something to access your personal information. Scammers will phish for your social security number, passwords, birthdays, credit card information, or other personal information to use for identity theft.
The design of a website is a big indicator of a potential scamming website. Look for design flaws, misspelled words, offset printing, mismatched fonts, and the overall quality of the website. If, in addition to the look of the design, the website seems “off,” it is best to not use the site.
Kapersky.com explains how scamming sites exploit unsuspecting consumers by making them feel as if there is a sense of urgency, creating fear and/or excitement.
Look for contact information. If the information is missing, not aligned with the product or service it provides, it is best to take your business elsewhere. Just like you would in a physical sense if there is no easy point of contact, it probably will be more trouble than it is worth.
