Coastal Vacation Scam, Another Bogus Internet Business Opportunity

The rise in bogus business opportunities as well as work at home scams have become far too large of a concern for law enforcement to ignore. Federal and state task forces are now performing law enforcement sweeps that target phony Internet businesses and scams. There have been twenty-three fraud convictions and twenty-five individual arrests in which scam artists are being sentenced to more than 160 years in prison. Ongoing investigations as well as court hearings are still involved in this ongoing battle.

Scam Types

There are numerous scams and fraudulent businesses on the Internet. Programs such as online surveys, free government grants programs, mystery shopper positions and data entry jobs were all scams. The company coastal vacation has numerous fraud sites appear causing damage to their company name. Scam artists were portraying coastal directors and creating uncanny sales pitches to lure customers in for the scam. The scam artists would tell the victim to send a check for X amount of money and would take the check and disappear. Customers were left to lose the money, vacation offers and trust of online businesses.

The Victims

Both customers looking for a vacation deal as well as those looking for a work at home business have been scam victims. For those who have had to learn the hard way to Internet safety, it’s a difficult lesson. For those of us who have not been scam victims there are tips to prevent this from occurring to you or anyone you know.

Prevention Tips

Never send money upfront without understanding a businesses background. Contact the Better Business Bureau and see if the company is listed. If not put in a request to have them inspected. Do some personal research to see of you can find when and where a company was formed and if they are in fact legitimate. Do not provide a company with your social security number or bank account information. With the rise in identity theft you have to be very cautious when giving out any personal details. Always search for trustworthy proof of a company’s background prior to giving out any of the above personal details.

Stopping Scams And Fraud

Prevention is the key to stopping scams such as the coastal vacation scans. Unfortunately any time there is a high demand product that draws in customers, scam artists follow right behind. With the help of law enforcement tracking in bringing down these scam artists and faux Internet businesses we are making progress. Making ourselves as well as those around us aware of the necessary precautions for Internet safety is the other half of the solution. You can never be too precautions about who you give your money or information to. Think of the story of the big bad wolf. He looked an awful lot like grandma behind those glasses and bonnet. Scam artists are just like a wolf in a disguise. We have to look past the disguise and search deeper for what really lies beneath it all to protect ourselves from getting bitten.