Scam Seasons Are A Changin'

With the end of summer coming up and fall and winter rearing their heads, there is the inevitable change in tactics of the door to door and local scammer. The cooling of the season, the return of kids to school (particularly those going away to college) and big family holidays coming up present a different opportunity from those present in the warmer months. Let's look at a few of the anticipated scams we will see getting an uptick in the coming months:

• The Grandparent scam - While always present, the return of kids to school away from home adds credibility to this scam where the fraudster will call an elderly person and pretend to be a grandchild who got into trouble while away at college and is too embarrassed to call home. Seeking a fat payout, these scammers will usually look to get a few thousand out of a particular victim before moving on to the next.
• Charity Scams - As seen whenever there is a natural disaster, these cretins seek to take advantage of the giving spirit normally associated to the coming Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. These usually come disguised as real charities and can be door to door or online/telephone enabled. Either way, they target a large number of relatively small hits, but will gladly take a larger donation where available.
• The furnace upgrade scam - While the insufferable hot water heater/water filtration scams start to wane, they return in another form, seeking to gain entry to your home while presenting themselves (or at least heavily alluding to the fact) that they come from a utility or city department out of concern for your home. at one end, the scammer is looking to assess your home for a future break in while at the other end they are trying to peddle some overpriced equipment you don't need and lock you into a punishing contract.
• Lastly are increases in parking lot muggings and assistance scams. While the muggings are straightforward and common during the heavy shopping seasons, there is also a large upswing in "benevolent helpers" who will identify things you dropped to get close to you to swipe your keys or take a more valuable package while you are distracted. This is actually a new style of pickpocketing which requires you to view the individual in a positive light while they distract you to obtain your goods.

As with all scams, it pays to be attentive while moving with goods from the store to your car and ask plenty of questions when being solicited, even from family members if there is any doubt as to their identity. Also, ensure to help family members at risk (such as the elderly) are aware of scams which target them specifically to help all enjoy the coming season a bit more.

Blog post is courtesy Elemental Investigations: Private Investigator Edmonton, an Edmonton, Canada based private investigator agency. They can be found online at www.elementalpi.ca