Scammers can pick your pockets

Ann Ramjit got taken for a ride. Literally.
On December 11, Marionette Dover, 54, and her two accomplices pulled up next to Ramjit, 44, with a story almost anyone would want to believe.
They had a bag of money in their car and were offering to split it with Ramjit. First, they said they had to stop at a bank to make sure it was real, according to the police.
The suspects told Ramjit they needed to withdraw $8,000 from her account and the group drove to a Citibank where Ramjit withdrew the money from her account while Dover waited with her.
The group then went to a Sovereign Bank branch on Lefferts Boulevard where Dover took Ramjit's envelope containing the money and wrote the name of her alleged boss, Carmel, on the outside. She then handed another envelope, also marked Carmel, to Ramjit and told her to go into the bank and ask for an employee of the same name, the police said.
Inside, Ramjit found that no such person worked there. When she returned to the street she found the car and its occupants were gone.
According to the police, Ramjit opened the envelope and found fake bills that read, &#8220Bank from Hell.”
This &#8220good faith” scam that Ramjit fell victim to was one of an estimated 40 to 50 such scams in Queens in the last year, according to Sergeant Scott Guginsky, Commanding Officer of the Organized Theft Squad, a specialized unit within the Detectives' Bureau that operates citywide.
According to Audri Lanford, co-director of ScamBusters.org, a public service web site aimed at helping people protect themselves from online and offline swindles, other hi-tech forms of fraud abound in the Internet Age, such as identity theft. Other schemes to be aware of:
CHARITY SCAMS: Charity scams are rife during the holiday season, but can happen at any time of year. A person claiming to be from a charitable organization asks you for a donation to that cause. Filled with good will, you hand over $5 and go on your way. Instead of buying measles vaccinations for children in developing nations, the money winds up in the fraudster's pocket instead.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: If you must donate to a random person who approaches you on the street, Lanford suggests writing a check instead of giving cash. If you are instructed to write the check to an individual it is a swindle.
JURY DUTY SCAMS: You receive a phone call from some official-sounding person who informs you that because you failed to report for jury duty there is a warrant out for your arrest. You protest and say that you never received a summons. While allegedly attempting to rectify the problem, the caller tries to collect personal information about you including your social security and credit card numbers which he or she will then use to try to access your bank account or steal your identity. WHAT YOU CAN DO: The New York State Court System does not ask prospective jurors for financial information such as credit card and bank account numbers or for personal information such as names and ages of your family members.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: If the allure of free money is too enticing, then be aware that if it were a legitimate lottery, you would probably be breaking the law. According to Lanford, it is illegal for U.S. citizens to participate in overseas lotteries which are, in most cases, where these &#8220winnings” allegedly come from.
More information about these and other swindles and how you can protect yourself can be found at www.scambusters.org and www.fraud.org.