Protect Yourself Against Scams

Protect yourself against money and other scams

An article appeared online regarding 7 ways to protect yourself against scams. They list;
1-freezing your credit file, with a full or partial freeze,
2- obtaining your credit report by mailing out a form to Transunion, Experian and Equifax with two pieces of identification, such as proof of identification and proof of current address.
See actual letter I received from Equifax

letter from Equifax requesting identification

3- People calling you with news that you won the lottery, when you never entered one, or telling you that your grandson is in jail in a foreign country and needs money to bail out.  I met these schemers in FCI Fort Dix and MDC, Brooklyn. One, Peter Gruman from Canada, told me that he was doing the sweepstake/lottery scam for many years, out of Canada and then out of the Dominican Republic and making a lot of money, stealing it from elderly victims. He was extradited from the D.R. and he got eight years for his crime.  I met him in MCC and back in MDC when I went to Otisville. He is a charming individual and he says he can and beat anyone in a telemarketing contest.

Peter Gruman , mug shot photo in the D.R.

His occupation at Fort Dix is probably track walker, far away from harming elderly victims. A person named Jason Katz, was doing the grandson is in jail scam and he got like 30 months for his crime.
4- Be less social. Peter Gruman gave me the best advice. He said when you get a call from telemarketers, just hang up on them. Once you engage with them, it is too late . You will fall victim to their scam. His partner in crime, Randy, told me how a victim was reading him the fed ex tracking number and then he heard a crunching noise. On the way to mailing out the check to them, the victim was killed in a car crash. But that was not enough for the schemers, as they found out where the funeral was held, called the relative of the victim and swindled the relative as well. So it is not only stealing peoples money, it could even lead to your death.

5- clean your wallet. Only take copies of official documents and cut out some of the numbers so if your wallet is lost and a thief picks it up, he/she wont steal your information.  I once found a wallet in the basement garage of a building, it was full of cash, credit cards and ID. And guess what? I called the person as I found his business card and I gave it back to him whole. He was president of some teachers organization in Toronto. Yes, I went to jail for immigration fraud but I have a conscience.

6- Change your password every few months against data breach. I was bunking with Hector Xavier Monsegur for approximately 8 out of my 15 months in MCC, New York. He was a hacker affiliated with  Anonymous and turned FBI informant. He told me that he would call secretaries up to get information like passwords to steal information. His advise to me was not to even have a computer, as that is how vulnerable we are. If we have a computer, we will get hacked. He showed me his indictment and he said he could not believe that was him,since it showed him hacking into government computers like Tunisia and others. He said he was partly responsible for the Arab Spring.
When demonstrators would march in the back of MCC Friday evenings, he would scream, liberta, liberta.   

Hector Xavier Monsegur

Eventually, he bailed out since word spread in 7 North that he was a rat and his life was in danger. 

He was always nice to me so I wish him the best. He said this arrest made him totally broke. He would always like to hear me sing my Jewish songs. He said he was Puerto Rican and from the Taino native Indians. Hopefully, he will rebuild his life with his girlfriend.
7- Prepare and file taxes ASAP. Why?Because there are scammers filing fraudulent returns to get refunds.
8- Immigration Scam- if someone offers to find you a job sponsor to obtain a green card, whether it is a lawyer or an immigration consultant, run from that person. This kind of scam got me a five year prison sentence.

To see the story in it's original (not counting tip 8), go here http://news.sys-con.com/node/3624775. As you can see, I added my two cents tips. As you can see, I came across some interesting characters in prison.

 If you want to see what my prison life was like, read, Prison, What to Expect, http://www.amazon.com/PRISON-expect-Federal-Bureau-Prisons-ebook/dp/B011GTWLOG

   
I also wrote http://www.amazon.com/Dont-victim-Identity-Theft-Fraud-ebook/dp/B014LRVBBE