sid kirchheimer

Love: A $56 Million Ripoff

Posted on 05/24/2013 by | Money and Work | Comments

Bulletin Today | Money & SavingsThe following is a guest post by Sid Kirchheimer: Love don’t cost a thing?  Not according to the latest findings of the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. More than 10 percent of total financial losses in online scams reported last year — about $56 million out of the $525 million overall — involved romance ripoffs. The biggest losers, in money and heartbreak: Women 50 and older, who lost $34 million, roughly two of every three dollars in romance scams. Similarly …

FTC Busts ‘Contrepreneur’ Work Scams

Posted on 11/19/2012 by | Money and Work | Comments

Bulletin Today | Money & Savings | WorkThe following is a guest post by Sid Kirchheimer: They’re not entrepreneurs. They’re “contrepeneurs,” or scammers who dupe people who are trying to start up their own businesses. The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday announced law enforcement actions against seven companies it says are perpetrating these cons. The firms claim to help people set up home-based businesses as mystery shoppers,  website operators, or processors of credit card payments and government insurance refunds. The companies targeted are not nationally known [read this FTC release for their names]. The legal action was …

Crime Does Pay When It Comes to Nigerian Scam Letters

Posted on 06/22/2012 by | Money and Work | Comments

Bulletin Today | Money & SavingsThe following is a guest post from Sid Kirchheimer, a frequent contributor to the AARP Media News team The Nigerian scam letters that pop up so often in your inbox have become the Rodney Dangerfield of email cons: They get no respect, just laughs. Who in their right mind would fall for a stranger’s misspelled offer of millions of dollars of loot for essentially doing nothing? Who would believe someone claiming to be in the very country that’s become synonymous with …