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The phone rings and the caller asks if you are "Grandma" or "Grandpa" (usually depending on whether they think you are male or female by your voice). You have grandchildren, and the voice sounds sort of familiar, so you say "Yes". The caller immediately goes into a story about how they went to Canada for some reason and are now being held by the police and need money to "get out of jail".
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A truck pulls into your driveway loaded down with tool boxes, ladders and buckets, or perhaps with a load of blacktop. They offer to "fix" something on your property. Or they tell you they have blacktop "left over" from a job they just finished and offer it to you at a cheap rate just to "get rid of it."
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- For a few dollars you are promised a huge payback or "return" on your "investment". You don't know how they got your name, but they sure make it sound like you are the most important person in the world to them.
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- You receive a fax or e-mail from a "representative" from a "foreign government", "bank", or "attorney". They tell you that they need help to "transfer" a huge amount of money to a United States bank. It looks legitimate - if you can get past the poor spelling.
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- You notice a strange transaction on your bank or credit card statement. You have been doing alot of shopping lately using a debit or credit card, some of it online. Was that something that you bought, or has someone stolen your identity?
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The above examples are general in nature, but stories like these hit the headlines every day. How does a person know if someone is trying to steal from them? Or if they have already been a victim?
The old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," makes sense today more than ever. The stereotype of the scammer as a sleazy, fast talking huckster is no longer the case. Today's "con-artists" are clever, smart, and aggressive. They will say or do whatever is needed to make you a believer. Their primary goal is deception. They want you to believe in them, however impossible their story may be, and they will prey on your weaknesses to convince you they are genuine.
Sympathy is a common tool used by scammers who try to draw on our basic desires and emotions. The call from a relative claiming that they are being held by police in another country is intended to make you want to help keep your "relative" out of jail. The caller will at first identify themselves simply by title: grandson, granddaughter, neice, nephew, etc. If you ask who they are, and give a relative's name, they will quickly respond that yes, they are that person and are in trouble. You have just given them the answer they needed for your question. They will continue this effort, and pressure you to help them immediately with a credit card or bank account number. A recent variation on this even left a phone number and a name to call them back when the money was available.
Others are more traditional will try to take advantage of everyone's desire to be rich. Their "deals" can involve health, romance, mortgage, insurance, or anything they can use to gain your trust. Some will even offer to help you avoid being scammed...for a small fee. Sometimes they will try to get you to believe that you are helping them with some problem, preying on our tendency to be a "good Samaritan".
Some scammers use less obvious methods to steal from us, and some avoid all personal contact. They will go through our mail or trash, looking for bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, and tax information. They will submit a Change of Address form to the Post Office to redirect your mail. They will use web sites to collect personal information from us, or get a job as a store clerk so they can "skim" our credit card information.
For a good article on how "con-artists" and scammers operate, check out this web page.
It may at first seem like we are powerless against this type of activity. But avoiding many of the worst scams can be as easy as saying, "No." When you encounter an "offer", or a "deal," or any kind of story that seems to offer something for nothing, especially if there is a "fee" of any kind before you get it, the safest thing to do may be to just say, "No."
If someone claims to be a relative in trouble, don't ask them questions using an answer. When they ask if you are Grandma or Grandpa, ask them who they are, and press for a name. If they don't have the right name, they are probably a fraud. Even if the name is right, don't assume that they are who they claim to be. Ask for the phone number for the "police" and a name, and tell them you will call them back. Then hang up and call your local law enforcement agency for help in making sure the call is legitimate. Keep in mind that the caller won't want you to do that, they want you to give them money right away, and will say anything to try to make you believe them. Once your money leaves the United States, it is difficult or impossible to get it back.
Scammers also operate in large volume, especially today when we consumers are more aware of scams than ever before. They realize that only a small percentage of us will fall for their deception, so the more of us they can contact, the better their chances of success. If we resist by saying "No" and by asking questions such as "What is your name and the name of your company?" and "Where are you located?" we can slow them down to the point where they will give up and move on.
E-mail scams are perhaps the most annoying, filling our In-boxes and swamping us with "incredible" offers. These are the easiest to avoid, though, with the simple touch of the "Delete" key. There are also many anti-spam filters available for e-mail, but be sure to get one from a reliable source and that is recommended widely on the Internet. Scammers try to use this as another way to get our money. Just doing a search on the name of the spam filter can be informative.
Identity theft is perhaps the worst kind of deception, since it can have the longest consequences and can be the hardest to recover from. The first line of defense against this type of theft is in the home - be sure to shred any financial documents or anything with personal information on it. Do not share personal information with anyone who does not have a legitimate need to know. Verify anyone who wants personal information and make sure they are who they say they are. Use the Internet, the library, your local Chamber of Commerce, anywhere you feel that you can find out about the people who want your information.
There are legal protections for those who have been a victim of fraud and identity theft. Contact your financial institution for help on your accounts. You can also visit the Federal Trade Commission web site for more information, Click Here. The law also allows you to get one free report per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies.
If you have been a vicitim of any kind of fraud, scam or identity theft, be sure to file a Police Report with your local law enforcement agency.
Click here for a free guide on dealing with Identity Theft, the Federal Trade Commission's "Take Charge"
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