1000 mentions of fraud and phishing

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

It’s not like I haven’t posted about potential fraud and scams involving e-mail when people post product items to classified ad web sites. The chiropractic community has really stepped it up and I appreciate all the efforts many have taken to foreword suspicious e-mails in a timely fashion. As I’ve said before, An active community minimizes classified ad fraud activity.

I had an e-mail yesterday from someone who apparently never read the bolded red text on avoiding scams and fraud. That motivated me to organize information one more time and share it here. If this stuff is of no importance to you feel free to move on. However, if you ever plan on posting a classified advertisement on the Internet, info presented here may be of value.

In the case of planetchiro classified ads, it’s recommended that everyone read the potential scam information first. That means read it before doing anything (like creating an account, posted your personal information into advertisements, listing your e-mail, etc.).

For those of you that did not click on the link here is a summary from the page…

Recognizing scams
Most scams involve one or more of the following:
* inquiry from someone far away, often in another country
* inquiry from someone on behalf of a “client”
* Western Union, Money Gram, cashier’s check, money order, shipping, escrow service, or a “guarantee”
* inability or refusal to meet face-to-face before consumating transaction

Among the related posts that include information mentioned above are:

I can haz ur money? (an example of poor spelling, mention of wire transfers and excess funds, and mention of a shipping company)

Surface EMG & Thermography Sales (information related to the selling of specific chiropractic items)

Spotting Fraud on Nervo-Scope Ads (Example of potentially fraudulent e-mail sent regarding a specific type of chiropractic product)

X-Ray Equipment For Sale Attempted Fraud (information regarding an overpayment scam)

Classified Ad Scams Chiropractic Table (copy of an actual e-mail sent regarding making a purchase using a cashiers check)

If you’ve read this far, you may be thinking “wow this sucks, people are real losers and dirt bags.” The reality is in most of these cases (at least from what we’ve witnessed on our web site) involve only a handful of individuals that will e-mail EVERYONE posting a product for sale classified advertisement. Those selling chiropractic practices or those seeking employment are rarely bothered. To make matters worse, some users publicly share their e-mail addresses within ad posts, which in my opinion is a surefire way to be marked as a target.

North Phoenix, Arizona chiropractor, Dr. Roxane Zamora, found and purchased her chiropractic office thanks to an advertisement she read on planet chiropractic. I’ve been meaning to interview her as I thought it was a really cool story.

Dr. James Von Hipple (now practices in Murrieta) sold his Washington practice thanks to the classifieds and shared some information in an interview.

I’ve heard many success stories from chiropractors across the globe, but that in no way means there is not people trying to game the system. Be alert and most of all use common sense. If someone e-mails you requesting to purchase your neurocalometer you may want to ask him some questions about their chiropractic history, like what kind of technique they practice.

Thanks for allowing me to share this information one more time in a different fashion. Hopefully it helps.