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15 Telegram scams to watch out for

how to know scammer on telegram

You might be dealing with an online scammer if they request sensitive personal information, money, or insist on speaking on a chat app of their choice. Award-winning identity theft protection with AI-powered digital security tools, 24/7 White Glove support, and more. Romance scammers will never be able to meet up in person, and will always have excuses that prevent them from meeting over video. They’ll also try to quickly make relationships more intimate by saying they love you or sending onion-based software architecture software development sensitive photos (which are often stolen from other accounts). But in order to complete the sale, you’ll be asked for personal information including your home address and credit card information. Be cautious of any account that reaches out to you and offers support.

Always verify the identity of anyone reaching out to you on Telegram, especially if they request personal information or money. Take the time to check for verified accounts, which are marked with a blue checkmark. If in doubt, reach out to the company directly through their official channels or websites to confirm their legitimacy. In a “pump and dump” scam, the owners of a Telegram channel try to coordinate price manipulation of a cryptocurrency with a large group of members. The admins may claim to have “special” or insider knowledge; but in reality, they’re trying to pump the value of an asset they own and then sell it off before it crashes. In this scam, criminals create fake listings on classified sites for products like cameras, laptops, and iOS devices.

Never click on links

  1. Also, beware of anyone charging for “premium” support or pushing you to pay for an account “upgrade.” These are telltale signs of a scam.
  2. Always use strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication to keep your account secure.
  3. Another thing that Cash App scammers will often ask for is gift cards.
  4. Avoid clicking on any links or showing interest in their giveaways.
  5. This makes it significantly more difficult for scammers to gain access to your account, even if they manage to obtain your password.

This scam goes all the way back to the classing Nigerian 419 scams that involve alleged princes and government officials trying to recover their fortunes. Data brokers collect and sell your personal information, exposing you to unnecessary risks like phishing, scams, and identity theft. If you sent Bitcoin or another crypto token as payment, then your chances of recovering those funds are slim to none, unfortunately. You should definitely change your wallet passwords if you feel they may have been compromised. Immediately transfer your amazon web services what is the difference between scalability and elasticity tokens to a fresh wallet if your seed phrase or private keys were compromised. Some Telegram scammers are after your money, but most will target your personal information.

Telegram Messenger App Scams - How To Not Get Scammed

They might claim to need the money to make bail, pay medical expenses, hire a tow-truck, or any number of other purposes—whatever they think will work on you. The telltale sign that someone might not be who they claim is that they respond privately to a question you asked publicly. If they did respond publicly, they’d likely be shouted down by multiple members of the group, if not outed by the real admin. An admin profile can’t be cloned exactly—the fact that Telegram usernames are unique make this impossible—but a determined scammer can make a very convincing lookalike profile. Read on to learn why these scams are worth knowing about, how some of the most common scams work, and what you should do when you come across them. We’ve got you covered with tips and resources for damage control and recovery.

Finally, If you encounter a suspicious job offer or a potential scam, report it to Telegram and other relevant authorities. One of Telegram’s central features revolves around allowing users to create bots. Unfortunately, scammers exploit these bots and run their schemes using malicious bots. These bots are designed to convince victims to hand over their personal information through a variety of scams.

Were You the Victim of a Telegram Scam? Here’s What To Do

The “Super Cash App Friday,” “Cash App Fridays,” and “Fortune4Days” promotions are or have at different times been real promotions. This is one of those Cash App scams that seems harmless at first glance but then turns out to be particularly scary when you dig deeper. The scam begins with you receiving a Cash App debit card in the mail. The card arrives at your home address and is in your name, but not at your request. In either case, pyramid schemes are illegal in the US, UK, and many other parts of the world. The FTC uses such reports to bring cases against those responsible.

Also, avoid unrealistic returns by retaining skepticism of investments promising guaranteed or unusually high returns. Contact your bank, credit union, or credit card company and explain what happened if you sent a scammer any funds or gave them your credit or debit account details or banking login credentials. They’ll advise you on what to do next and can issue new cards or freeze your account. Ponzi schemes are a sophisticated type of investment scam that Telegram users should be wary of. Fraudsters create fake investment schemes that claim to deliver huge profits. However, the scammers simply use money from newer investors to pay older investors.

how to know scammer on telegram

Telegram fake job listings and offers scams

Look for the red flags of online sales scams —  including suspiciously low prices, sellers who refuse to meet in person, or sellers asking you to talk to them over Telegram. Once you give the forex commodities indices cryptos etfs scammers what they want, they disappear and your prize never materializes. Free prizes, sweepstakes, and giveaways are some of the oldest frauds around.

These scams often exploit the jobseeker’s desperation for employment and can occur through various channels and messaging platforms. This is a type of online fraud where scammers use Telegram bots to deceive users into revealing sensitive information, such as passwords, private keys, or personal details. These bots are programmed to imitate legitimate services or entities, tricking users into providing information that can be exploited for financial gain or identity theft. Similar to tech support scams, impersonation scams occur when a scammer – such as one on Telegram – pretends to be someone they’re not, like a company or public figure. They do this to trick you into sharing personal information with them. For example, you may be on a channel and receive a message from a fake Telegram admin about a giveaway or prize.

Five 401(k) Benefits Myths

As a small business owner, do you think offering 401(k) is too costly and your business is too small? Thank again. Most of you cannot afford not to offer a retirement plan. Read Five 401(k) Benefit Myths Debunked on Benfitspro.com

3 Questions for Calculating Small Business 401k Provider Fees

(The following article is from EmployeeFiduciary.com, a low cost 401k provider.)

Small businesses have a fiduciary responsibility to pay only reasonable 401k plan fees. The problem? Too many 401k providers bury their fees in complex disclosure documents. When 401k fees are hard to find, it can be easy for 401k fiduciaries to pay too much for 401k services. When this happens, participant returns are handicapped unnecessarily and fiduciary liability is increased.

To show 401k fiduciaries the “all-in” fee their 401k plan pays annually - and how much they could save by using our firm - we launched a no-cost 401k fee comparison service two years ago. Since launching this service, we have gotten pretty good at finding 401k fees – even the hidden ones.

I’d like to share the 3 questions we ask to calculate 401k service provider fees. If you are a 401k fiduciary, you can use these questions to easily find out how much your plan pays on your own.

Question #1 – Who provides services to my 401k plan?

The answer to this question may seem obvious, but it’s often more complicated than you know. 401k providers can use a “bundled” or “unbundled” approach to deliver 401k plan services. Under the bundled approach, one provider delivers all plan services. Under the unbundled approach, a lead provider partners with independent, subordinate providers to deliver services.

Before you start your 401k fee search, I recommend you first confirm your plan service provider(s). For help, speak to your day-to-day provider contact. You might be surprised to learn your plan has multiple service providers with separate fees.

Question #2 – Are my service provider(s) paid from plan investments? 

401k fees may be paid from three sources today – the plan sponsor, participant accounts or plan investments. 401k fees paid by the plan sponsor or participant account deduction are considered “direct compensation,” while fees paid by plan investments are considered “indirect compensation.” Both types of compensation reduce participant returns, so you have a fiduciary responsibility to keep these fees in check.

  • Direct compensation is the most transparent type of 401k fees. It’s explicitly reported in provider invoices, 408b-2 and 404a-5 fee disclosures, and plan statements.
  • Indirect compensation is a different story. It can be estimated in 408b-2 disclosures, buried in the investment expense ratios of 404a-5 disclosures, and not appear in plan statements. For these reasons, indirect compensation is often called “hidden” compensation. There are two basic types:
    • Wrap fees. Insurance company providers often use variable annuities as 401k plan investments. Variable annuities are basically mutual funds wrapped in a thin layer of insurance with additional fees and redemption restrictions.
      • Variable annuity “wrap” fees increase the investment expense of the underlying mutual fund. Sometimes by more than 1% per year!
    • Revenue sharing. Some mutual fund companies compensate the 401k providers that use their funds. “12b-1” payments and sub-transfer agency (sub-TA) fees are the two most common types of revenue sharing. 12b-1 fees can be found in fund prospectuses, while sub-TA fees cannot.

It can be easy to overlook indirect compensation due to its lack of transparency, but you can’t do that as a 401k fiduciary - 401k fees paid by indirect compensation reduce participant returns just like fees paid by direct compensation.

Question #3 – How much are my 401k service provider(s) paid?

Once you’ve confirmed all plan service providers and whether or not they receive indirect compensation from plan investments, you’re ready to calculate how much your 401k plan pays its service providers.

If your plan does not pay any indirect compensation, you are lucky – totaling your 401k fees should be straight-forward because the amount of direct compensation must be explicitly reported in provider 408b-2 fee disclosures. To confirm your total, you can cross-reference provider invoices.

If your plan pays indirect compensation to any provider, you have a lot more work to do. Indirect compensation can only be estimated in 408b-2 disclosures because it can vary based on plan fund balances. To calculate the dollar amount of indirect compensation, you need to use a fairly complicated spreadsheet. To make this job easier, I would just ask the provider for fund-level breakdown of the annual wrap fees and revenue sharing (as applicable) they would receive from your plan given today’s fund balances. Don’t settle for a total, insist on the fund-level detail – you need to know.

The stakes are high! Don’t settle until you know your 401k fees!

401k service providers are not monolithic in the way they deliver 401k services or get paid. Regardless of this variability, you have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the amount your 401k plan pays its service provider(s) is reasonable.

For this reason, I recommend you only choose service providers that don’t receive indirect compensation. You don’t want to be surprised to learn your plan pays excessive hidden fees down the road that can result in personal liability.

Not sure if your plan pays indirect compensation today? Answer our three questions.

Written by: Eric Droblyen

Eric Droblyen began his career as an ERISA compliance specialist with Charles Schwab in the mid-1990s. His keen grasp on 401k plan administration and compliance matters has made Eric a sought after speaker. He has delivered presentations at a number of events, including the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) Annual Conference. As President and CEO of Employee Fiduciary, Eric is responsible for all aspects of the company’s operations and service delivery.

Hidden Costs of 401(k) Plans

Got a 401(k) plan? Great! But do you know how much you are paying in fees? (Hint: It's not easy for most people to find out exactly how much they are paying, which is why you need an advisor with fiduciary who won't sell you another product(s) with high fees)

Read this New York Times article and understand what's going on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/your-money/hidden-costs-of-401-k-plans.html?_r=1

회사를 통한 은퇴계좌인 401(k)가 있으세요? 좋습니다! 그럼 그 계좌에서 비용을 얼마나 내고 있는지 아시나요? (힌트: 대부분의 사람들에게는 정확히 얼마를 내고 있는지를 알아보는것이 쉽지 않고, 그래서 비용이 높은 다른 금융상품을 팔지 않고 고객의 이익만을 위해서 일 해야하는 fiduciary 인 어드바이저가 필요합니다)

위에 있는 링크를 클릭하여 높은 은퇴계좌 비용 때문에 손해를 보는 사람들에 관한 뉴욕타임기사를 읽어 보세요.

This video can save you $$$

Watch what John Oliver (HBO's Last Week Tonight) says about retirement plans. He points out the problems associated with retirement savings, especially high fees on 401k plans and non-fiduciary advisors, which most people don't know/think about.
As he said in the show, "As a favor to your future self, it's worth watching this" This 20 min. video can save you so much money!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Rqmf98PLs