Holiday season brings out the scam artists

Sometimes, on a busy day, I’ll take a break in my office to stop and listen as my intake staff takes calls. This gives me a good idea of what is happening in our area, based on the type of answers I hear them give.

I have to admit, it is getting a little redundant these days; I can tell times are tough for some, based on these exchanges. All in all, people spending money are being a lot more careful.

What are we mostly hearing?

•Work at home offers: We probably get 30-plus calls a day from individuals hoping that ad they saw for envelope stuffing or medical billing transcription is real because they want to make some money from home. Remember those ads that told you of “potential” riches from raising chinchillas in your basement? How about getting paid to simply surf the Internet? Rule of thumb here: If they want money upfront from you, it is most likely a scam.

People do not stuff envelopes from home, but this is the scam most callers ask about. People want to believe there is a painless way to work from home and make extra money. The spike in this type of call is typical this time of year, as people are looking for a little cash for the holidays. The need seems more urgent this year.

•Fake checks in the mail: The BBB gets so many calls on this subject that we have set aside a recorded message just to give people enough basic information to make the smart choice to shred that random check from nowhere.

How do check scams work? You receive a real-looking check in the mail stating you have won a lottery or sweepstakes, have been approved for a grant, or have been chosen to become a secret shopper.

If you stop and think about it, you realize that you never entered the Bohemian Sweepstakes, purchased a Lagos lottery ticket, or asked for a grant from the Office of Official Refunds. You never knew how lucky you were!

The check is, in fact, coming from a legitimate company that has been the victim of corporate ID theft. And if you deposit that check, usually for $2,000 to $8,000, and spend any of it before the check clears (it won’t), hold on to your wallet.

Ten days later you will hear from your financial institution that the check bounced and you owe the bank all of what you spent. Looks like your luck has suddenly ended.

Granted, most tellers will catch these checks and warn you about it, but not always. This problem is just getting worse as people look for desperate ways to replace income they no longer have.

•The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Americans are nervous enough and the news media are full of stories that make us want to hide in a cave with our money in a coffee can. But ask questions before you do silly things.

We have recently seen an e-mail circulating that talks about a number of national retailers that are or “may be” going out of business. The e-mail states right at the top that some content may not be true, but it never tells you what part. How helpful is half-baked information without verification?

This e-mail goes on to discourage purchasing gift cards this holiday season because the laundry list of stores provided could or could not be going out of business.

What a disservice to retailers this kind of urban legend can be. And if you choose to forward e-mails to others without confirming facts first, you are adding to the fear and misinformation. If you want to send information to friends and contacts, confirm how much truth is in the message. Don’t have time to do that? Then think twice about contributing to the cyber-gossip machine.

•Black Friday and pending doom: National reports show that Friday, Nov. 28, retail sales were better than expected. My own non-scientific survey of downtown Spokane merchants indicated that it was a darned good day.

We are seeing the effect of news hit us in ways that are tough to measure, but contradiction seems to be the norm of late. If we keep telling ourselves that times are tough, then we can plan on times being tough. Yes, we will be facing challenges on many fronts over the next several years, but don’t buy into all the rhetoric. Locally, we are not hitting the same kinds of lows seen across the nation.

As you make your holiday plans, remember that consumer spending is the oil that keeps the economic machine moving. People are still spending; they are just being more thoughtful and selective about trusting how and where they spend.