CHICO — For this week, I wanted to focus on some common terminology used when referring to scams and the various methods of conducting scams that you have likely heard before but may not know what the words mean.
I’ve noticed that a lot of government websites and law enforcement agencies — and maybe certain newspaper columns run by certain handsome reporters — will throw these terms around without always explicitly explaining the meaning.
With that said, I’ve picked out a few of the more popular words and phrases to provide some clarity and definition with some help from the Federal Trade Commission.
Let’s get started.
Cramming
The act of cramming, a horrible term in my opinion, refers to adding unauthorized charges to customers’ telephone bills or credit cards.
This is something that happens usually with businesses, service providers and sellers that want to squeeze a little extra money out of consumers with the goal of them not noticing. In more cut-and-dry cases, you can find this on bills, which is why it can be important to request itemized bills whenever possible because it forces the company to blatantly show you where and how you were charged.
In less straightforward cases, politicians and political organizations might ask for donations and put a little checked box in the corner that makes it so you give the same donation every week without you realizing it.
Do Not Call Registry
This one’s pretty cool.
There is a national registry where you can…
