Common countries participating in online scams include Nigeria, Romania, Ukraine, Spain, UK, Italy, and Netherlands. It doesn't mean that scamming is limited to these countries. It could be anywhere in the world.
The most dangerous type of online scam is identity deception. Some merchants intentionally disguise their identity inorder to defraud the customers and avoid detection. The technology of the Internet makes it very simple for the users to disguise their identities. Some of the marketers claim to be their location in China. They will be using the location either to disguise their true location so that they can fool the customers and swindle their money or simply to promote their business. The fact is that they will have no connection with China at all.
There are some simple ways to identify these kinda scammers. These scammers usually use a VOIP number to disguise their location. The numbers with prefix +4470 or +4487 are not usually used by genuine companies and are not used in China at all. The simplest method of checking the location of the companies is through their phone numbers. Using the Website numberingplans.com one can search for the geographic location of any phone number. If the location differs from the one that has been claimed by the company, say no to them straight away, no doubt it is a scam.
The predominant way to identify a scam is to make an effort to check the information provided. “Please! Be smarter than the scammer”
Nowadays we can see a lot of advertisements like the above title. Haven't you seen it? Oh! I am really sorry; I forgot to tell that they will be in a different form. Ok have you ever come across any advertisement like, “Congratulations, you have won a cash prize of 500 U.S. dollars click here to claim the prize”. If yes, this advertisement is the disguised way of telling that “you are going to loose your money, click here to do that”.
Please understand that, “There is no such thing as something for nothing”. You are probably dealing with a scam if
- You receive uninvited gifts or goods from any source
- An offer from overseas
- A request to pay a fee for more benefits.
- Pay a fee and collect the prize.
- A huge offer on purchase which is hard to believe.
Another way to loose money is through the purchase scams. Assume that your have a car that has to be sold. And you have published it in the Internet. What happens, is you get an immediate response for your advertisement. The only mistake that happens is that the buyer sends a cheque that is more than the value that you have quoted for your car. What you will do is you will call up the buyer and inform him that he had sent some extra money. And the buyer advises you to send back the extra amount when shipping the car. He also arranges an associate to organize the shipping and collect the car. You will do all the steps that have been told by the buyer. Finally you understand that the cheque is dishonored one. But it will be too late when you figure it out. You have already sent the surplus funds to the buyer and also your car. Atlast the shipper disappears with your money.
Reports indicate that the import of steel to India has been increased by 70% in the period of April 2007 to march 2008. One of the key reasons for this mammoth increase in the import rate is that there is a fast growing demand for steel in India. The fast growing demand of steel is not the only reason of increased steel import in India. The other important factor being the lowered import duties and the relaxed rules and regulations of scrap metal import (Not the safety measures). Import duties of steel have been lowered from 15% to 5% during the period of 2007.
However there was a sudden increase in the import of steel in India in the year 2008. The reason being, the 5% import duty on iron, steel melting scrap, and aluminium scrap was totally scrapped in the government’s budget of 2008-2009 (i.e. Import duty is now 0% ). Moreover the general excise was reduced to 14% from 16%. We hope that this sudden cut down of import duties and general excise was to increase the availability of steel in the domestic market. Anyway this is absolutely good news to metal traders in India which keeps them smiling wide. The Indian steel imports has raisin in such a way that it exceeds the exports.
I don’t want anyone to get overwhelmed by the numbers above. To make it simple, let me tell you something about the impacts of this change in the import duty, general excise and the relaxed rules.
- The reduction of import duty of steel will allow Indian steel producers to access raw materials at lower prices.
- This act also boosts the consumer demand for the finished products in India.
- Also this reduction in import duty of scrap steel will enable India to produce steel at much lower cost than China.
- If automobile manufacturers pass this reduced excise duty in the form of lower prices, the demand of steel will increase and hence helping the companies like TATA to supply steel.
- Reduction in customs duty for on aluminium metal scrap will benefit the secondary aluminium manufacturers.
- The reduction in excise duty will enhance the housing and infrastructure activity.
- The excise duty reduction will bring down the prices of automobiles and also eventually increase their demand.
- The rule and regulations of scrap metal import are very much relaxed as they seemed impractical in India (virtually to promote the trade).
- The imports of scrap steel and aluminium will become easier and convenient than any other countries.
Hence this total cut of import duty of scrap metal in India will take India’s metal trade to the peak in the global scrap metal market. And also the new rules and regulations of scrap metal import, laid by the Indian government where withdrawn because of the impracticality of those rules. The old rules said that unshredded scraps were only permitted from suppliers who have been registered by the government. However this rule has been totally scrapped off. Don’t get confused with the facts and figures mentioned above. The thing is that “the gateway of India is wide open for metal trade, all are welcome to do the metal trade in India! So come let’s do the trade!”
“Exiting offer! Mercedes Benz C-class for just rupees fifty thousand. Hurry, limited offer! Select your transaction method!” Please don't search for the location where you can get it. We are not gonna mention it, as it is simply impossible, as everyone knows, and this is an example for scam advertisement.
A Western Union scam is any scam that uses Western Union method of payment. If anyone sees an advertisement as the one above, you will be anxious in getting a Benz and you will straight away agree to send the money through a transfer service. Anyway the money will be sent, but you will not receive the C-class Benz. Unfortunately the money has been already picked up. It means that you've been a victim of online auction fraud. If you are lucky enough you will atleast receive prototype model of a Benz C-class.
About western Union:
The Western Union money transfer service is the great way to sent money to the people you know and trust. And Western Union recommends not using western union money transfer service to pay for online auction purchases as they do not offer any types of purchase protections or escrow service. To make it simple, once the money is sent, there is no protection on it, and no way to get it back.
TIPS TO AVOID WESTERN UNION SCAM:
- Be cautious if the online seller will accept only one type of money transfer. Most legitimate sellers will accept more than one form of payment.
- Make sure that you check out any seller references or feedback before making a purchase. However, often this method won't work because the seller can himself create the feedback or reference and may be bogus.
- Western union money transfer is the 100% preferred payment method of scammers. Because the moment the scammer gets the MTCN number or the money transfer number he can get the money and disappear into cyberspace, leaving you with an empty box, damaged pride and a hole in your pocket. So even if sellers say that there paypal accounts are down, don't pay them through western union.
We take the issue of consumer fraud very seriously. We value the consumers who use our services and know they work hard for earning every single penny. When consumers loose money, we feel like we loose. So please report any abuse if found.
NIGERIAN SCAM- ADVANCE FEE FRAUD:
This Nigerian scam escalates rapidly once you show the interest in it. Let us make it clear with an example.
Assume that you have received a purchase order for your company's product. However, intentionally, the initial order won't be large; the scammers will usually start off with a sample order which will be paid with a bogus credit card or a draft. These fake importers will lure you, saying that they will be placing a big order soon. Aiming at the big order, you will send the sample to them. After some days, you will receive an email stating that your sample has been approved for sale and all you have to do is to send 500 U.S. dollars (sometimes even more) to get you registered to trade your products in their country. Falling into temptation you will send the cash for registration also. However, you won't receive any bulk order thereafter, and you won't be able to contact the importers also. Simply, your money is gone!
However, this Nigerian scam can be avoided easily. Credit cards and demand drafts from Nigeria, Togo, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Ghana can be avoided. Ship the goods only after receiving the money in your account, which you can withdraw. In addition, keep in mind that it takes up to three weeks to clear an International deposit. Even your bank should confirm it in writing.
Moreover, this Nigerian scam is often dangerous physically too. Wondering how? In some cases you will be asked to travel to Nigeria to complete a transaction. You will also be told that no visa is required to enter the country. “Entering Nigeria without a valid visa is a serious offense.” So how do the scammers get benefited in this? These cunning scammers bribe the airport officials and tell them to allow the marketer to pass the immigration and customs. Hence the victim's illegal entry into the country will be used by the scammers as leverage to coerce the victim into releasing funds. If the victims don't obey to what the scammers say, then the will be killed!
To protect yourself, say no any offer if you feel something fishy. Never provide any personal details if you are not sure about the genuineness of the importer. The main thing is to report the abuse if found so that thousands of people will be saved from it.
Success is not only measured by how much money we make, but also the impact we have. Don't fear that I am going to overwhelm you with some with numbers, graphs, and figures to explain you the success of recycling. Nowadays recycling is appreciated and practiced from schools to international organizations. They are digging... Oh sorry that's not digging; they are mining the garbage and are finding dollars out of it while caring the environment too. There are many recoverable metals in our nation's thrash which can be recycled and reused for 'n' number of times.
There are many schools that have earned hundreds or even thousands of dollars through simple recycling. This is a survey about the global recycling programs. Starting in 1960 recycling was about 6%. In 1990 it increased to 16%, later in 1995 it was 26% and finally now it's nearly 50%. I think, I lied that we won't use any figures or numbers in this passage. Anyway this won't happen again. The survey above shows the fast improvement in recycling. All the fast growth in recycling is because of its positive affect on the environment and high competition in the market.
Nowadays recycling is done with the help of two programs. One is a voluntary program in which the residents are encouraged to recycle the waste produced at home. However they are not forced to do so. The other one is mandatory program. As the name shows, some communities have passed laws mandating citizens to recycle at least the trash produced by them. Anyway the second program is not successful as the first one. The reason is simple. “Enforcing law is impractical”. Successful recycling programs are those that make people easy to recycle the thrash. The most successful move is to provide thrash containers in the city so that recyclers can collect them easily. This method is widely practiced nowadays.
Apparently recycling is in the path of success. Let's ask you, how many times have you been encouraged to recycle? “All the so-called "secrets of success" will not work unless you do”. So let's work together and do great things.
Open the doors to waste reduction with the help of recycled steel.
Steel use is dominated by the automobile, household appliance and construction industries. There is hardly any product that people use that does not contain steel included or not made of steel. Among all other steel based products automobiles are highly recycled nowadays. Cars now are simply valuable to be left to get rusted and vanish.
Steel is also mined from an ore. Iron ore stripped from a blast furnace can be used for steel production. Let's make it simple. Here is an example to show the extend of steel being used. “Each household uses approximately 600 cans per year”. Anyway all these cans will be scrapped after use. It is reported that only 70% percentage of scrap steel is recovered and the remaining 30% is landfilled.
Recycling of one tonne scrap steel saves 80% of CO2 emissions. Recycling 7 steel cans saves enough energy to power a 60 watt bulb for 26 hours. Steel cans contain 25% of recycled content and are completely recyclable. Virtually every car that has been driven on road can be recycled if wasted. Or, else they could cause a traffic jam circling the Earth more than one three quarter times. When the steel in just six cars are recycled we can get enough steel to build a new house. And the very important fact about steel is that we cannot make new steel without recycled steel.
About 75 percentages of all major appliances are made of steel. So is the scrap produced also and all the steel scrap is recyclable. And the main property of steel recycling is, steel never looses its strength. Major part of industrial waste produced is steel. They can be absolutely recycling into new steel and the waste can be reduced.
So we hope everyone understood how to make a key to waste reduction using steel. All we need is to recycle the scrap steel. The importance of making this key is to reduce wastage, to reduce the dependence of natural resources, reduction in pollution and the reduction in energy required and the main thing is to fulfill the demand of steel without depleting the natural resources. So let’s all hold “the key”.
We already know recycling helps to keep tons of waste out of landfills, but did you know that recycling helps to save energy too? Industries that produce new products from recycled materials use less energy since they don’t have to process raw materials from the scratch. The goods we use and the materials that are made require energy to produce and they make an impact on the environment when they are disposed. Recycling of the disposal solves both the problems.
Energy conservation is the main benefit of recycling. The usage of recycled products rather than producing a new one eliminates the energy consumption in transporting the raw materials to the manufacturing unit. Secondly only less energy is required to manufacture a new product through recycling, than producing it from the raw materials. The recycling of aluminium cans is an excellent example. This reduction in cost of raw materials and the savings in energy input costs reduces overall price of the product and increases the competitiveness of the industry.
So we can see that recycling is closely tied to energy conservation. Recycling saves energy by reducing the following parameters:
• Delivered electricity.
• Process heat.
• Transport
• Miscellaneous energy inputs.
Shown below are some facts about energy conservation through recycling:
• Recycling aluminium saves 95 % energy used to manufacture virgin aluminium.
• Recycling 1 tonne newspaper saves enough energy to heat a home for 6 days.
• A recycling 1 tonne plastic saves the equivalent energy of 3.85 barrels of oil.
• Recycling one glass bottle can save enough energy to light a 100 watt bulb for four hours.
• In total, the recycling of 953,900 tons of paper, glass, plastic, and other materials in a year saves enough energy to power 124,000 homes for the same one year.
Think of the worthless garbage turning into worthy energy! Sounds great isn’t it? So from the examples shown above it’s clear that recycling is the very important way of saving energy. So let’s encourage recycling and help in producing “clean energy from dirty scrap”.
The success of any business depends on the knowledge of the businessperson and advertising. Before starting a scrap metal trade, one should know the position of the scrap market worldwide. I am sure one cannot travel cross the globe to seek the information about the market. All say that Internet is the world's largest library. Yes Internet is definitely the world's largest library. Nowadays there are many websites that provide bundles of information regarding the market.
And the very important use of the Internet is the International access. Without the Internet it is very much difficult trading outside the country or virtually impossible. However Internet breaks all the barriers and opens the door for the international market. “National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway”.
The most important parameter in a successful business is advertising. “Doing a business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.” Probably there are many advertising media such as radios, newspapers, television and the Internet. So of these four modes of advertising why should one choose Internet? The answer is simple. Think that you have a small scrap metal business. If you have a Website for that business, the Website makes your small business look big. By using Internet your business will become really big! The marketer's and consumers dream is the World Wide Web. It is the best of mass advertising and the best of target making.
If we do it right, the Internet can enhance your company's image, build customer loyalty, and get information to customers quickly and cheaply. According to a journalist, Neil Chase, “The net users are the cream of the crop in terms of income”. One of the Internet's greatest strengths is its ability to help the consumers find the right needle in a digital haystack of data. Nowadays there are many websites that help the company's to sell their scrap in the International market and helping them to connect to the right customers they wish to deal with.
So the conclusion is Internet is the best medium to expand the business. Many websites even provide information about the scrap metal prices updated every second. They also provide the facility of selling your products to the right customers without the need of roaming all around, looking for business. Though most of these services are free of cost, if anyone feels it so good, they can pay for the service and get more benefits. However the benefits will overweigh the money one spends on the Internet.
Finding information about the scrap metal trade in the Internet is simple. Just Google in the keyword scrap, you can find about 38,000,000 websites. So why settle for less when you can get more? Hooked up to Internet? Help is just a “CLICK AWAY”.
"Money doesn't grow on trees?" is an old proverb. How about this one? "There are dollars lying in dustbins and junkyards?" Yes there's a lot of money lying in waste disposal areas and junk yards. Unable to believe it? Everyone knows there would be robbery where there is lot of money and where the robbers remain un-noticed. Metal prices have come up about 25% and that has thieves targeting construction sites and junkyards. The example stated about the thieves is just to define the demand for metal and the price hike, nothing intentional. Anyway the theft of scrap metal is a problem world wide. Now any one can believe there is a lot of cash in scrap metals. Once there was a report on missing manhole covers. Does anyone know a manhole cover fetches about $20 in the scrap market? And an important note: don't try this at home or you will live the rest of your life in prison. Anyway this is not an advertisement to promote robbery. Pardon us if it seemed so!
It was told in a review that "Everyone is looking all the nooks and crannies," "I'm even thinking I should go through my garage." We all know the incident that happened on 11th of September 2001. Yes the day World Trade Center was destroyed. What would have happened to the debris of that great collapse? They were not just thrown off. Reports say these thousands of tons of scrap steel were exported to part of India and Asia. Those scrap was recycled and reused for various constructions. Most of the demand was from China. The scrap importers in India had some shipping restriction earlier. Even under this situation India imported metal scrap worth $1 billion per year. And now some of the rules laid by the government were scrapped. So with the doors wide open India has a great opportunity to grow in the scrap market.
Unauthorized gathering of scrap metals is called robbery. So what would be picking up scrap paper called? It's called "Environmental awareness" The scrap paper prices are expected to rise by 10% this year. It seems there is a lot of money in dustbins also. Did anyone start searching the dustbins now? There is one more interesting aspect in this market. China imports many junk materials from America, then convert them into useful items and then export it to India or even back to America and turn the scrap into cash. It means that we are getting the same scraps that were exported to China. Interesting isn't it? Scrap metal nowadays seems to turn into gold. The items ranging from old window panes to old engine parts are fetching very high prices at local scrap metal marketers. The scrap metal prices has sky rocketed from $380 to $480.
So let make a new saying, “There is gold in scrap metal." We are not only making money from scrap but also saving the earth from degrading! And the conclusion is "MONEY MATTERS"