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Close Modal×TANGGapp works every day to prevent consumers from becoming victims of Fraud. It’s our goal to educate our consumers on ways they can safeguard their money and personal information to avoid becoming a victim of consumer fraud. Visit our list of common consumer scams to know what to look for. The most important tip we can give is: “Do not send money to someone you don’t know or have not met in person.”
Please visit the sections of our consumer fraud prevention for FAQs, resources, and other information to protect yourself from fraudsters. If you used TANGGapp to send money and found out you were scammed, please contact our Customer Support at (1) + (408) 556-9208 or email us at support@tanggapp.com to report it.
The following is a list of common consumer fraud scams. Please note that this list provides examples of fraud scams that have been observed but may not include all potential fraud scams. Criminal methods for defrauding consumers evolve over time, so from time to time, this list may be updated.
Romance/Relationship Scam: Scammers can take advantage of people’s genuine desire for love and companionship. They create fake online dating profiles to win the trust and affection of unsuspecting victims. Beware when someone you have never met in person claims to be head over heels in love with you. They’ll use the façade of this romantic relationship or friendship to manipulate you into sending money and other gifts. It’s often too late by the time you realize that your supposed “lover” or friend is fake.
Emergency/Elderly Scam: In this scam, the victim is contacted by an individual pretending to be a friend, relative, or grandchild in distress, or a person of authority such as a medical professional, law enforcement officer, or attorney. The fraudster describes an urgent situation or emergency (bail, medical expenses, emergency travel funds) involving the relative that requires a money transfer to be sent immediately. No emergency has occurred, and the victim who sent money to help their relative has lost their money. Always confirm with friends or family members that the receiver is in fact the person in need of funds. All people, regardless of age, can be victims of fraud. However, historic trends show that the elderly or seniors are often targeted more often by fraudsters.
Advance Fee/Prepayment Scam: In this scam, the victim is asked by fraudsters to pay upfront fees to receive something of greater value, like a loan, credit card, grant, investment, or inheritance money. The victim sends money to the scammers using money transfer service but receives nothing in return. These loans, credit cards, grants, investments or inheritance never actually existed.
Lottery/Prize Scam: Victim is told that they have won a lottery, prize, or sweepstakes and that money must be sent to cover taxes or fees on the winnings. Typically, the victim will receive notification of their winnings via email or letter. The victim may receive a check for part of the winnings and once the check is deposited and money is sent, the check bounces. The victim is responsible for paying the bank for the fraudulent check and loses the funds sent to the fraudster.
Tax Scam: The victim is contacted by someone claiming to be from a governmental agency saying that money is owed for taxes, and it must be paid immediately to avoid arrest, deportation, or suspension of driver’s license/passport. The victim is instructed to send a money transfer to pay the taxes. Government agencies will never demand immediate payment or call about taxes without first having mailed a bill.
Corona Virus Scam: In one of these scams, the scammer will inform you that they have hard-to-find COVID19 vaccines or preventive medication available. They’ll request you to send money so that you’ll be moved to the front of the line to receive these vaccines or medications. In another COVID19 scam, the scammer will ask you to send a processing fee to receive a government stimulus payment. As you can see, this new type of scam combines techniques from the existing types of scams (e.g., advance fee and counterfeit). Beware!
Anti-Virus Scam: The victim is contacted by someone claiming they are from a well-known computer or software company and a virus has been detected on the victim’s computer. The victim is advised that the virus can be removed and the computer protected for a small fee. The payment should be by either credit card or money transfer. In reality, there was no virus on the computer and the victim had just lost the money they sent for the protection.
Phishing Scam: Phishing is a type of online scam that targets consumers by sending them an e-mail that appears to be from a well-known source, an internet service provider, a bank, or a mortgage company, for example. It asks the consumer to provide personal identifying information. The goal of a phishing scam is to get access to your personally identifiable information or other privileged information. Be careful with emails or text messages which ask you to open a link to confirm a transaction. Your compromised information can be used to access different types of benefits in your name. Scammers may also use phishing emails to obtain your sensitive login information to apps and take over your accounts. Make sure you know the sender. If you don’t know the sender of the message or if you weren’t expecting that message, please don’t open the link.
Charity/Humanitarian Scam: The victim is often contacted by email, mail, or phone by someone asking for a donation to be sent by money transfer to an individual to help victims of a recent or current event. This type of scam is most common after high-profile disasters such as typhoons, hurricanes, tornadoes, or health epidemics. The scammers appeal to your compassion by painting a believable story about people severely affected by disasters. This is also common where fake “orphanages” in developing countries ask for small donations to feed homeless children and orphans. Remember to research charities or organizations before sending donations.
Internet Purchase Scam: The victim sends money for the purchase of an item ordered online. Items are often advertised on Craigslist, eBay, Alibaba, etc. You should be careful about people who are very eager to sell you high-value items (e.g., pets, cars, jewelry, household items, event tickets, etc.) at highly discounted prices than their market value. This type of scammer typically asks you to send your payment before they mail out the item. Sometimes you receive the item but find out it’s fake. Other times, you will not receive the item at all. Instead, you’ll find out that the shipping and tracking information provided to you was fake. Again, remember that if the deal sounds too good to be true then it probably isn’t true. Do your due diligence before paying for these items sold online such as requesting a valid Kimberly Process Certificate for diamond purchases.
Employment Scam: The victim responds to a job posting and is hired for a fictitious job and sent a fake check for job-related expenses. Check amount exceeds the victim’s expenses, and the victim is asked to send the remaining funds back using a money transfer. The check bounces and the victim is responsible for the full amount.
Answering frequently asked questions about fraud.
There are common practices that consumers must implement that will assist in preventing fraud. ALWAYS use common sense and follow tips. These include:
Keep yourself informed and safe. The more information you have, the better protected you will be from criminals. With these additional resources, you can report fraud, stay up to date on the latest scams, and learn how to spot con artists. Here are several organizations that provide information to help protect you from fraud. Select from the organizations to learn more.
