Pulling the Wool Over Your Eyes, Understanding Why We Keep Getting Scammed and the Role You Play
Author: Al Craig
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Date: February 25, 2014
Length: 107 Pages
About The Author
Al Craig is an independent businessperson who has spent most of his life involved in various businesses and investments. From his investment experiences, he has learned to spot the con artists and cheats who take our trust and hard earned money. He has read countless books on how scammers work and what causes them to do what they do.
The Role You Play
Have you wondered why you keep getting scammed?
Have you asked yourself why you can’t spot a con-artist until it’s too late?
The purpose of this book is to create awareness about the part we play in helping the con-artist take our money, trust, and self-worth.
The author lists the following four traits that most scammers have in common:
- Lack of conscience.
- Massive egos.
- Wafer thin emotions.
- Deceitfulness
"You earn honesty and trust in your actions, not with oral hot air."
"A wise man proportions his belief to his evidence."
Scammers are professionals. They know exactly how to identify a likely victim and what to say to make a sale. The author describes how con artists work and explains why they are so successful.
My Thoughts
This is ebook #3 in my quest to read as much material that I can find on Internet scams.
This book explains how our thinking patterns and emotional states make us a target for scammers. Yes, the way you think and feel could make you a victim.
One example of a thinking pattern that can help get you scammed is a pride consciousness. This is a pride that wants to feel superior or special (typically found in a person with a low feeling of self-worth). This attitude allows scammers to spot you immediately and start flattering you. Scammers cast their spells of specialness, exclusiveness and secretiveness to start pride burning. Before you know it...you have been scammed!
The author does a very good job explaining why a victim MUST take responsibility for his thinking and actions. The important thing is to learn from the mistakes of the past. This book explains how that can be done.
The editing in this ebook is a bit rough around the edges, but the content is well worth the time and effort it will take you to read it. If you have been the victim of a scam, this will help you understand why it happened and how you can make better choices in the future.
My Rating: 4 Stars Out Of 5
FYI ~ I borrowed this book with my Amazon Kindle Unlimited membership.
Do you know someone who has been scammed? Please share your story in the Comments Section below.
Social Media Scams: Protect Yourself on Facebook, Twitter, eBay & More (Internet Scams Revealed) (Volume 2)
Author: Kathleen McMahon
Publisher: KTMObooks.com
Date: January 15, 2013
Length: 220 Pages
About The Author
Kathleen McMahon has expertise and knowledge built upon 30 years in the hi-tech industry, including 18 years as an Internet business owner. Kathleen currently hosts active blogs and Facebook pages where users share their social media and email scam experiences.
Online Fraud and Social Media Scams Are On the Rise
Ms. McMahon has declared war on Internet scammers!
This ebook provides detailed information about the most popular and lucrative scams on popular social media sites. She states the top scams are:
- Scammers posing as FBI to defraud victims.
- Identity theft.
- Advanced fee fraud - victims pay for something that doesn't exist or has no value.
- Overpayment fraud - scammers overpaying with counterfeit check and asking victims to deposit and forward a portion (from their good money) to a third party via wire transfer.
- Romance and dating scams.
- Work-at-home scams.
The author explains how these scams work and how Internet users should protect themselves and avoid being victimized by these criminals.
The author's most adamant warning is: NEVER, NEVER send money via Western Union wire transfer. DON'T DO IT!
My Thoughts
I believe knowledge is power. I have set a goal for myself to read every book/report/article that I can find to increase my knowledge on the subject of Internet scams.
This book provides an abundance of information. The author has done a great deal of research and shares her findings in this ebook. She has also collected stories from scam victims and shares some true "horror" stories in this book.
Unfortunately, I learned that scammers are much more clever than I thought. I have been selling on eBay for many years and I found the chapter on eBay scams quite enlightening. I have actually been the victim of several of these scams over the past 15 years.
One time I went to my eBay account and found numerous expensive items listed under my account that I didn't list. I called eBay on the telephone and found out that my account had been hacked and all the fraudulent listings were cancelled. I had to change my passwords but I was able to keep my account and feedback score. None of the listings were sold so I had a minimum amount of damage control to deal with.
I learned about several scams that I didn't have a clue about. DUH!
Do you ever get emails from Linked-In saying someone would like to join your network? These emails can be scams that take you to a bogus web site and will collect your email address and password when you try to sign-in to your account. You should always go to the Linked-In web site and log-in with your password before you approve any of these contact requests ~ DO NOT RESPOND TO THE EMAILS.
I have to admit that I am a little paranoid after reading this book. However, it is better to be safe than sorry. This book could save you some serious grief in the future. Highly recommended!
My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5
FYI ~ I borrowed this ebook with my Amazon Kindle Unlimited membership.
Have you ever been the victim of an Internet scammer? Please share your story in the Comments Section below.
