ScamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. Urban Legends: Anti-Scam Groups Are All Good

Helping To Set The Record Straight

With thousands of amateur and pretend anti-scam groups on social media, many spread misinformation, fake newsFake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. It often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue. However, the term does not have a fixed definition and has been applied more broadly to include any type of false information, including unintentional and unconscious mechanisms, and also by high-profile individuals to apply to any news unfavourable to his/her personal perspectives., and urban legends, instead of the real situation and knowledge. These guides will help provide confirmed and correct information you can rely on in your avoidance, discovery, and recovery.

First Principals

SCARSSCARS SCARS - Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc. A government registered crime victims' assistance & crime prevention nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, U.S.A. SCARS supports the victims of scams worldwide and through its partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Incorporated in 2015, its team has 30 years of continuous experience educating and supporting scam victims. Visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn more about SCARS. is a formal crime victims’ assistance and crime prevention nonprofit organization.

Our goal is to see everyone avoid scamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. of all kinds, but if that is not possible, then to make sure that they receive accurate information to help properly identify and discover these crimes, and to get the needed support to be able to recover from them.

There are amazing dedicated groups & organizations around the world that share this vision with SCARS, and in fact, are partners and affiliates of SCARS – supporting victims in more than 60 countries worldwide – helping SCARS to support scam victims worldwide.

In addition, we have programs to help individuals or existing groups improve the quality of the information and support they provide by working with us as volunteers or becoming affiliated with SCARS through our affiliate & partner programs. This helps well-intentioned people to become professional in their aid to scam victims.

Unfortunately, far too many are driven by other desires and the victims in their care suffer for it.

Some of these social media anti-scam groups are actually run by scammers so they can harvest vulnerable victims.

Our Urban LegendUrban Legend Urban Legend An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend is a genre of modern folklore comprising stories circulated as true, especially on social media. These legends can be entertaining but often concern serious topics. They may also be confirmation of moral standards, or reflect prejudices, or be a way to make sense of societal anxieties. Urban legends are most often circulated orally but can be spread by any media, including newspapers, mobile news apps, e-mail, and social media. Some urban legends have passed through the years with only minor changes and seem impervious to exposure as untrue. series of articles is designed to help counter false information and to help victims make better choices about who they trust.

Online FraudFraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain (money or other assets), or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, for example by obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's license, or mortgage fraud, where the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. A fraud can also be a hoax, which is a distinct concept that involves deliberate deception without the intention of gain or of materially damaging or depriving a victim. Has Been With Us Since The Late 1980s And So Have Groups Claiming To Help Victims And Expose Scammers

From the days of Compuserve, AOL, and Prodigy there are have been people that have tried to help others understand about scams – we started just that way 28 years ago on the old America Online and on the TigerDIrect.com website – initiated by our founder who was also a founder of TigerDirect’s original company. Most of these have been well-intentioned, but some have not.

We have talked about various types of personality disorders such as Savior SyndromeSyndrome It is a group of symptoms that can consistently occur together or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms. types who firmly believe they are the only ones that can save other victims and in the process become a danger to others due to their zeal and lack of competence in the subject of cybercrimeCybercrime Cybercrime is a crime related to technology, computers, and the Internet. Typical cybercrime are performed by a computer against a computer, or by a hacker using software to attack computers or networks. nor in proper crime victims’ assistance. But there are also many (almost beyond counting) anti-scam groups that are either hate groups disguised as anti-scam groups, frauds, or in simple fact, created and operated by the scammers themselves.

Yet victims who have just been scammed and profess that it will never happen again, rush into the arms of these fake, fraudulent, or criminally operated groups and believe in them blindly!

Have You Ever Asked To Even See Our Legal Status?

FYI, we are a legally registered charitable tax-exempt nonprofit corporation – incorporated in the State of Florida, U.S.A.  –  Look us up! File Number: #G20000137918

In fact, we just re-registered from Delaware to Florida to change our status to a full tax-exempt charitable entity to better serve victims worldwide.

Our organization is affiliated with the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, as well as EuropolEuropol The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, better known under the name Europol, formerly the European Police Office and Europol Drugs Unit, is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU) formed in 1998 to handle criminal intelligence and combat serious international organized crime and terrorism through cooperation between competent authorities of EU member states. The Agency has no executive powers, and its officials are not entitled to arrest suspects or act without prior approval from authorities in the member states. Based in The Hague, it comprised 1,065 staff as of 2016. WEBSITE LINK and other law enforcement entities. Groups claiming to be nonprofit are one of the more common scams and are enforced aggressively by law enforcement.

A Perfect Example

Here is an example of a group liked by nearly 5,000 victims that claim to be a nonprofit yet obviously they are not – that quite simply is fraud. Here is one such popular Facebook page:

The Point

Is Simply This: You Are Being Scammed Again By These Groups!

Any anti-scam groups that claim to be HATERS or POLICE should be avoided!

In fact, anyone that is not a SCARS Member should be avoided, because simply all SCARS Members adhere to our strict Code of Conduct, the SCARS Ethical Standard for the Reporting of Scammers, and the National Organization for Victims’ Assistance standard. No one else claiming to be an anti-scam group does. All of these groups are either just victims that decided to save their fellow victims and have no idea what they are doing or are actual scammers masquerading as anti-scam groups hunting more victims for other types of scams.

For 28 years our organization or its founder has worked to help you understand that SCARS (or its Romance Scams Now division) are trustworthy, and to realize that MANY others are not.

Most Victims Are Not Learning This Lesson

You can make the difference by demanding that anti-scam groups show you who they are and what their real status and experience are. This was the reason that SCARS founded its Transparency Project several years ago on Facebook – to provide a framework for honesty and integrity. In fact, SCARS has had to remove several members for violations of its Code of Conduct including the owners of the ScamHaters United and other anti-scam hate groups (original membership application on file).

When it comes to fighting against global online fraud why are YOU supporting yet another fraud – even if they are not criminals their claims of knowledge and expertise are still fake – they are making it up as they go.

How Can We Say That?

Our Credentials:

• United States Department of Homeland SecurityDepartment of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department (under the President) responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cybersecurity, and disaster prevention and management. – Crime Victims’ Assistance Partner
• United States Department of Justice – Office for Victims of Crime – Registered (Victims’ Assistance Provider)
• Sentinel Reporting Partner of the United States Federal Trade Commission
• The European Union’s Council of Europe – on cybersecurity and cybercrime initiatives
• The University of South Florida, U.S.A. – Advisory Board Member for Cybersecurity
• A fully incorporated nonprofit crime victims’ assistance and crime prevention organization
• And so much more – visit www.AgainstScams.org to learn about our credentials

In addition, SCARS Team Members hold certifications in:

• Crime Victims Assistance & Advocacy
• Deception (Lies Detection)
• Trauma-informedTrauma-Informed Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care needs to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — in order to provide effective care services with a healing orientation. Adopting trauma-informed practices can potentially improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes. care
• Life Coaching
• U.S. Department of Defense Cybersecurity Certified Certifier & other Cybersecurity Certifications
• Continuous Process Improvement
• Anthropology
• Psychology
• Regulatory Law
• HIPAA Privacy & Security
• COPPA Child Online Safety
• And many more.

We are a registered Online Crime Victims’ Assistance & Support Organization, registered with the Nation Center for Victims of Crime

In addition, OUR principals helped co-author major privacy & security regulations:

• United States HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) as a co-founder and co-chairman of HCCO » and WEDI/SNIP
• United States COPPA (The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act)

Our principals hold numerous cybersecurity certifications: including: U.S. DoD (Department of Defense), U.S. HHS (United States Department of Health and Human Services), and many others.

Take the time to understand who you place your faith in!

This Is Who SCARS Is

Ask Them Who They Are!

Or better yet, unlike them, unfollow them, unjoin them, and blockBlock Blocking is a technical action usually on social media or messaging platforms that restricts or bans another profile from seeing or communicating with your profile. To block someone on social media, you can usually go to their profile and select it from a list of options - often labeled or identified with three dots ••• everyone that has no credentials and who is not a SCARS member, partner, or approved affiliate!

The choice is clear, you can continue to let yourself be scammed by people claiming the sun the moon and the stars or you can follow an organization that is real and truly looking out for victims worldwide. You also have to help others understand this choice too!.

STOP BEING FOOLED BY FAKE ANTI-SCAM GROUPS