Telemarketing fraud
Encyclopedia
Telemarketing fraud is fraudulent selling conducted over the phone. It most often targets the poor and elderly. Common types include:
- Advance fee fraudAdvance fee fraudAn advance-fee fraud is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance sums of money in the hope of realizing a significantly larger gain...
(typically claiming that the victim will receive a lotteryLotteryA lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
prize, government grant or loanLoanA loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower....
, etc) - Pyramid schemePyramid schemeA pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public...
s and other misrepresented investments or business opportunities - Overpayment fraud (where the victim is overpaid for a classified advertisingClassified advertisingClassified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...
or online auction purchase, with a counterfeit check or money orderMoney orderA money order is a payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. Because it is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, it is a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.-History of money orders:...
, and asked to wire back some of the excess) - Charity fraudCharity fraudCharity fraud is the act of using deception to get money from people who believe they are making donations to charities. Often a person or a group of people will make material representations that they are a charity or part of a charity and ask prospective donors for contributions to the...
- Preacquired account telemarketing fraud and cramming
- Bank-assisted telemarketing fraud and cramming
- Misrepresented office suppliesOffice SupplyOffice Supply is a New Wave band consisting of three keyboardists. The band has successfully released their debut album Work in Progress, on the independent record label Toaster Records on April 30, 2006...
(most commonly tonerTonerToner is a powder used in laser printers and photocopiers to form the printed text and images on the paper. In its early form it was simply carbon powder. Then, to improve the quality of the printout, the carbon was melt-mixed with a polymer...
) or directoryTelephone directoryA telephone directory is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that publishes the directory...
listing services - Creation of false Third-party verificationThird-party verificationThird party verification is a process of getting an independent party to confirm that the customer is actually requesting a change or ordering a new service or product...
recordings attributed to customers of other telephone carriers, used for telephone slammingTelephone slammingTelephone slamming is an illegal telecommunications practice, in which a subscriber's telephone service is changed without their consent. Slamming became a more visible issue after the deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the mid-1980s, especially after several brutal price wars...