Planet Antares Scam Advice | How to Avoid Pay-To-Play Scams
The Internet has opened up many legitimate business opportunities, and just as many illegitimate ones. One popular scam that makes frequent rounds is a “pay-money-to-get-money” scam. Currently, many of these scams take the form of a “Nigerian” or “lottery” scam, but the premise is the same: the potential victim is asked to pay money in order to get money.
In this type of scam, whether you’re being asked to invest in a business, pay taxes on a windfall, help someone in need by transferring money, or refund an overpayment you’ll be asked to put up some money of your own. The scam request may come in the form of a request for help from a foreign national, or as “inside information” on “found money.”
Here are some tips to help you avoid a “found money” scam.
Do not respond to email from persons you do not know if the email offers you the opportunity to purchase a “share” of money that has been abandoned, acquired illegally, or found.
Do not provide financial information, including credit card numbers, bank account numbers, or routing numbers to anyone who contacts you by email or over the phone.
The hallmark of this scheme is the request to put up some of your own money to cover the cost of processing your request, paying taxes or any other expense associated with transferring money. If you are asked to pay any transaction expenses to get access to “found money,” you can bet you’re dealing with a scam.
