Don't Get Played: Identifying Scammer Tactics

In this eye-opening episode of "Hood Winked: Surviving the Scam," we're diving deep into the subtle, yet significant red flags that signal a scam in the making. From the first point of contact to financial gimmicks, learn how to spot the tactics scam artists commonly use to deceive entrepreneurs. Arm yourself with knowledge as we expose emotional manipulations, bogus credentials, and sketchy payment methods that scammers often employ. Tune in to elevate your scam-spotting game and protect your hard-earned success. Don't just survive scams; learn to thrive beyond them.

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Transcript

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Hey, biz besties. You're tuned in to Hoodwinks Surviving the Scam, the podcast that's all about turning scams into success. I'm your host, Rita Owens, and I've been exactly where you are, deceived, betrayed, but never defeated. You know what hood like mentality is. Right? That street smart, relentless hustle that some have misused to trick us? Well, this podcast is dedicated to those who've been deceived but refused to be broken. Each week, we'll spotlight entrepreneurs who've been scammed but bounced back even stronger. We'll expose the scams, reveal their impact, and arm you with the knowledge to rebuild. We're not just surviving scams. We're thriving beyond them. So if you're ready to turn your setbacks into comebacks, then let's dive in. Hey, biz besties. Welcome back to another episode of Hoodwinked Surviving the Scam. Last week, we dived deep into my own Personal story about how I was scammed out of $25,000, and boy did that hit home for a lot of you guys. Thank you so much for reaching out and for sharing your stories and experiences with me. So today, we're gonna go ahead and dive into something that's Really crucial for all of the entrepreneurs out there, recognizing those sneaky red flags that signal that you might be walking into a scam. And trust me, you guys, you're going to want to listen closely because this episode could save you a whole lotta heartache and also a whole lot of cash. So let's go ahead and get into it. Alright, you guys. So let's go ahead and kick today's episode off with the very first step in the Scammers playbook. Now that's gonna be the initial contact. Now I know many of you guys are sitting there thinking, like, Rita, I would never fall for a Scam, but let me tell you something. These people are super crafty. They have got the art of cold calling and DMs and emails, all of those things down to a science. We're talking about, like, seemingly genuine messages that make you feel like they're Willy Wonka. Right. Like, they have the golden ticket to your success. So what are the things that you're going to look out for? Well, the first thing is you're gonna wanna look out for things like unsolicited emails or any unsolicited messages. If somebody reaches out to you just completely out of the blue, especially with something like an offer that seems too good to be true, I need you to put your detective glasses on, and I want you to start scrutinizing every single detail. Okay? You are going to be your own best advocate, and I want you to remember that. When it comes to emails, right, you're gonna wanna look at things. If it looks like it's coming from a reputable company, you're gonna wanna look at things like misspellings. Right? Sometimes even with those scammers, they can just, you know, misspell something just a little bit, and that's the same thing with social media. I'll tell you guys. I have Encountered, you know, myself having people create duplicate pages of my own social media accounts, and I've Seen the same thing happen with my friends where it will look like 1 of my social media friends are DMing me, but then when I take a closer look, Maybe one of the letters have been moved around. That is something that happens all too often. The other thing that I want you to remember is if you get a message from someone, and maybe it looks like it's your friend. If that person is asking you for money and that person doesn't normally ask you for money, then I want you to take a step back and I want you to think to yourself, okay. Does this look like a scam? Because 9 times out of 10, It's going to be a scam. And and some of the things that I make a practice of doing as well is making sure that if someone DMs me and they say, hey, Rita. You know, I have this Really great opportunity and it's one of my friends. I will then reach out to that friend personally and say, hey. Look. Did you send me a DM? I'll send a screenshot. A lot of times, they'll say no. It wasn't me, and then I go ahead and block and report that page. Okay. So that's just a little side note. Now, Also, I want you to pay close attention to the language that they're using. Are they using a whole lot of buzzwords, but not really saying anything substantial? Okay. That's going to be a red flag as well. Are they promising you something like quick results? Right? Like, Make $10,000 in 5 days without doing any work. You know, things that just seem outlandish and too good to be true, Those are things that you really want to take a look at. Those are things that are going to be red flags. Now I'm not saying that every single cold contact is going to be Scam. But what I am saying is to be cautious, you guys. I want you to do your own research and always, always Trust your gut. I can't tell you how many times I've fallen into scams where at the end of it, I analyze it, and I'm like, you know what? Yeah. That was a red flag. I totally ignored that. I should have been more careful. So it's better to go ahead and do the analyzing up front, and don't be afraid to ask questions. If someone reaches out to you and they tell you that they can provide a service, you know, to you, ask as many questions as you feel comfortable with. If they are uncomfortable answering the questions, then that in itself is also a red flag. So be wise and don't let that initial Contact turn into something that's a financial mishap. Alright. So let's move on to the next weapon in the scammers arsenal, and that's gonna be emotional manipulation. Listen, you guys. These scammers know exactly how to push those emotional buttons. Things like urgency, Fear and even flattery are used in order to get us to loosen up our purse strings. Now first, I wanna talk to you about urgency. Do you guys ever get those messages that say limited time offer or only a few spots left? What they're trying to do is they're trying to rush you into making a decision without thinking it through. It's that FOMO. Right? It's that fear of missing out. And I will tell you that that is one of the things that I know has constantly gotten me into hot water when it comes to scammers is that Fear of missing out, that sense of urgency. Now I'm not saying that as a business owner, you should not have sense of urgency. I mean, that is definitely how we're making our money, right, is putting something out there and encouraging people to go ahead and make those quick decisions. But It's still something that is a red flag, and it's still something that is in that arsenal that they use in order to get you to make those quick decisions. So I want you to be really cautious about that and don't let anybody rush your decision. Some people are really good at making decisions fairly quickly. But if you're someone who needs to take the time in order to think things through, Don't let someone else rush you into making a decision, okay, with that sense of urgency or that fear of missing out. The next thing is going to be fear. That classic, you're gonna miss out on this lifetime opportunity or if you don't do this, your life is going to suffer, You know, things like that or your competitors are already doing it. They want you to feel like your whole entrepreneur journey is at risk. Don't fall for it. Fear should never be the driving force behind your business decisions. It is the worst thing that you can do for your business. And last but not least, Blattery. Okay? Yeah. They're gonna butter you up. They're gonna make you feel like you're gonna be the next Jeff Bezos or the next Oprah. You know, like those things where they tell you you've got all this potential and you need their service in order to unlock your potential? Listen. Everybody is amazing in our own right, but I want you to be aware of people who just lay it on too Thick, especially if they don't know you. Now this is something that I have found when booking consultations. Right? Consult calls. You know, you talk to somebody for the 1st time and then all of a sudden, they're your number one fan. They're a raving fan, and they don't even know anything about you. And a lot of times, they don't even ask the qualifying questions on the call to find out about your business, and they haven't done any research on your business whatsoever. But all they do is flatter you, and you get so wrapped up in the flattery that it causes you to make decisions that you otherwise would not have made if you took the time out to think about it and see whether or not that's That's something that's going to be great for your business. So the next time that you find somebody that's laying it on super thick, who has that sense of urgency, they're they're pumping fear into you, they're sweet talking you, I want you to take a step back And I want you to remember, the scammers prey on emotion to cloud your judgment. Okay. I'm gonna say that again. Scammers prey on emotion to cloud your judgment. So let's go ahead and keep our emotions in check and our eyes Wide open. And that brings us to another devious tactic and one of my favorite ones to talk about because this is The one, you guys, that I feel like causes people to really fall into that trap of getting scammed, And this is gonna be credibility illusions. Okay. We're talking about things like bogus credentials, fake testimonials, And those so called high profile partnerships, these con artists are masters at making you think that they're legit when they're anything but. And let me tell you something. In my industry, this is so prevalent that sometimes it's sickening to see people purposely creating Fake credentials, fake testimonials, and getting into these high profile partnerships with others who are also looking to scam you. It's crazy, and it's something that really gives my industry a bad name. But let's go ahead and get into the first thing that I mentioned, which is bogus credentials. These scammers, they love to toss around words like certified or I'm an expert or award winning, and they expect for you to take their word for that. Don't just take their word for it. Do some digging. Do the research. For example, when I started out in the credit repair industry, people tossed around The certified. I am a certified credit specialist. I'm a certified credit repair. Who is certifying you? What board is actually providing you with the certification. Are you talking about maybe you took a class and you received a certificate? Like, is this a is this a board that is certifying you, to be qualified in order to fix my credit. Like, these are questions that you need to ask people when they throw the Certified up there. Who is certifying you? Right? If they won't answer that question, 9 times out of 10, it's just a marketing tactic. They're just throwing that up there, and they hope that you're going to believe it because it makes them feel and it makes them seem more reputable and more legit. When you see something like award winning okay. Is this really an award? Who gave you the award? Ask those questions. You know, It's really important for you, again, to be your own advocate. You have to ask questions. If someone tells you they're an expert, Alright. How long have you been doing it? How many years have you been in this industry? Do you have any proof to show me that you are an expert at what you say that you do. Check if those certificates or those awards even exist or if that university that they claim that they've attended has even heard of them. You have to, unfortunately, do your due diligence when it comes to working with people in business because they will take your hard earned cash and they'll move on to the next person. The next thing we have is one of my personal favorites. It's it's really disgusting, but, you know, it happens, right, especially in The social media scheme of things is fake testimonials. Okay? The the classic Jane Doe from Texas made Six figures in her 1st month. Wow. That's so convenient that there's never anybody there to verify that Jane Doe even exists. Right? Testimonials can be faked so easily, you guys, and it's up to us to seek out genuine reviews from sources that we trust. Anybody can create a website. Anybody can, you know, create fake testimonials. Anybody can go to a website like fiverr.com and pay people in order to create fake testimonials. That's why for me, I prefer video testimonials over the written testimonials, and to take it a step further, I even ask for references. But you also have to be careful with references because with references, sometimes, the scammers have their friends who know that they're Scamming provide those references. So as you can see, it can get really complicated really quickly. So, again, you have to do your due diligence when it comes to fake testimonials. Now let's not forget the next thing that I mentioned, which are the high profile partnerships. People love to name drop y'all. They love it. They love claiming that they worked with these big brands or these industry leaders. And, again, I want you to verify that. You can even go on LinkedIn, right, and start reaching out to people or companies and check and see if these companies have even Heard of these scammers. I'll tell you a quick story. I remember being able to avoid a scam that a lot of my friends actually did Fall 4, and it was this lady, we'll call her Didi. We'll call her Didi. Right? Because, you know, I don't like to drop names just for legal reasons, but we'll call her Didi. I remember that Didi was constantly reaching out to me, constantly wanting to work with me, constantly wanting to show me how she can help me to improve my business. She positioned herself as this expert in the industry. I remember her name dropping that she'd worked with, you know, certain people that I valued in the industry, certain coaches that I had worked with in the industry, and I remember her even saying to me like, You know, this coach told me to reach out to you, and this coach told me that you could use this service. And I just found it really odd because why would another coach Tell you to reach out to me to provide me with a service that that coach could have provided me with. So I reached out to the coach and I said, hey. Look. I have Didi in my inbox, and she's wanting to work with me, and she's wanting to charge me several 1,000 of dollars to do that. Did you ask her to reach out to me? And he was like, no. I did not. And in that moment, I was like, okay. Blocked. Blocked. Because don't lie to me and don't tell me that someone sent you to reach out to me when they didn't. That is a red flag, you guys, and that happens so so often. And so that's why it's important for you to make sure, again, that you're doing your due diligence. And if someone is saying that they worked with somebody, There should be receipts. There should be proof of that. So remember, if something seems too good to be true, then most likely it is. Scammers are all about illusions, but we're in the business of dealing with reality, so let's not get swept away by their fabricated world. Okay. So let's get into the nitty gritty part. The part where these tricksters start to hit your pockets. It's time for us to talk about financial red flags. This is where scammers start showing their true colors when it comes to money moves. First off, let's go ahead and talk about Sketchy payment requirements. If somebody is asking you to pay through untraceable methods like cryptocurrency, gift cards, or wire transfers, that's gonna be a huge red flag. These methods are almost impossible to trace, making it super easy for the scammers to take your money and run. The other thing I wanna talk to you about is things like, Cash App. Right? Cash App because I have been a victim of being scammed through Cash App. The scammers will have you pay through something like PayPal or Cash App in the sense of send money to a friend, And when you do that, you lose your protection in order to charge back because, essentially, what you're doing is you're Sending money to a friend, you're not really sending money for a service or a product. That money is gone. And so I want you to look at that as well in terms of red flags because you never want to send money to someone and you have no way to get that money back if they don't deliver on their promise, which is their product or their service. So the other thing that I wanna talk to you guys about is that When it comes to scammers, you're gonna see them dodging questions about things like contracts or invoicing or even providing any type of paperwork that would legitimize the transaction. Legitimate businesses have absolutely no problem putting things in writing. I put everything in writing. Where I have fallen victim to scams is when I have not Had things put in writing or had things put in writing and it wasn't clear. And sometimes, you know and we talked about the different, tactics that scammers use, like that emotional thing. Sometimes you get wrapped up and and maybe you See a service online and you're like, oh, this person's great. I've been following them for a long time. I trust them. I trust them. I trust that they're gonna deliver me the service that they said that they're gonna deliver to me. I'm just gonna go ahead and pay through their payment link. There's no There's no promise. There's just that payment link on the website. No, you guys. No. Because even if you've been following someone for some time and maybe you've never seen anything negative about them. That's exactly why we have this podcast is because a lot of people don't talk about their negative Experian says. So even though it looks like that person is legit because you don't see any negative reviews, It does not mean that they're not scamming. And let me tell you something. The scammers don't stop. I know people who have Scammed me who are still out there scamming other people, who will still show their faces, do their lives, you know, sell their products, doesn't even matter. And the reason why is because, a, they're either scrubbing their reviews, or, b, people are too afraid to speak up and talk about the fact that they were scammed. Okay. So make sure you get everything in writing because in the event that you do have to either do a chargeback Or in the event that you have to take them to court, you wanna have something in writing. So that's really important. The other thing is going to be something that we mentioned prior, which is that sense of urgency. Right? They put that limited time offer or only a few spots left And then today only and, again, these are those tactics that are used to pressure you into making some quick decisions without doing your homework. Take a breath, Step back and do your due diligence. Okay? Because that is how they're trying to get you to part with your money. So there you have it. Those are the financial red flags to keep your eyes peeled out for, and I always want you to follow the rule that if you cannot trace it, Do not waste it. Okay? Don't waste your money. Keep that money in your pocket and keep those scammers at bay. Alright, miss Bestie. So we're wrapping up another enlightening episode of Hoodwinked Surviving the Scam, and now it's time for the big takeaway. So today, we've been dissecting the tricks and the traps that scammers use to try to dupe us, especially us Entrepreneurs who are out there just doing the darn thing. From that initial shady contact to the emotional games that they play, to the Faux credibility that they flaunt, we have covered it all. And let's not forget what we just covered. Right? The financial red flags that scream, Hey. Something is not right here. Now let me just take a moment to reflect on my personal advice for you guys. Always trust your gut. If something doesn't feel right, then most likely it isn't. I want you to pause. I want you to take a step back, and I also want you to do your due diligence. I know that I've Said that throughout this podcast, but it's so true because you're gonna end up kicking yourself in the end When you realize, like I shared with you that I have, that you saw those red flags from the very beginning, but you allowed all of those things to cloud your judgment. I want you to not feel ashamed or feel, you know, afraid to consult with trusted advisers or even better with professionals within the same field. Be very aware of scammers who Partner with friends who are also in it to scam you as well. Again, you guys, that is something that happens all too often, especially within my industry of business credit and business funding. There are so many people who work together in order to scam you, and they're not providing the services that they promise. They're not providing the products or the quality of products that they are promising to you, so that's very important. I want you to remember that these scams are constructed to exploit our weaknesses and also Our ambitions, but knowledge is power. And the more that you know, the less likely you'll get hoodwinked. Let's go ahead and keep our guards up, and let's keep our eyes open and our businesses scam free. And that, my friends, is your big takeaway for today. Until next week, stay savvy, stay strong, and let's thrive beyond the deceit. So that's a wrap for this episode of Hoodwink Surviving the Scam. We've peeled back the layers, Beau's the fraud, and most importantly, we've learned how to bounce back stronger than ever. If you found value in today's episode, I would be so grateful if you could leave a review and share this podcast with someone who needs to hear it. Also, if you're someone who'd like to share your story, Please reach out to me. I will leave the information in the show notes, because I'd love to invite you to be on the podcast in order to share your story and how you were able to grow beyond the scam. But before you go, don't forget to sign up for my email list so that you can be the 1st to know about upcoming episodes, exclusive tips, and you'll also get access to our community of resilient entrepreneurs just like you. Until next time. Remember, we're not just surviving scams, we're thriving beyond them. Stay savvy. Stay empowered. Signing off, this is Rita Owens. Take care