by Janet Stoica

Since the birth of the internet and the information superhighway, the volume of scams, frauds, and ransomware has risen by many thousands-fold. The old saying “there’s a sucker born every minute” is almost a joke as any one of us reading this article knows that saying has now become “there’s a sucker born every millisecond.” Have you ever been given a compliment and know it’s patronizing but you’d really like to believe it anyway? There goes that old saying again…

While speaking with some bank employees I learned that just a few years ago the banks might have one or two lottery scams to deal with per year but now it’s just about a daily occurrence. 

There are ongoing Mystery Shopper Scams where someone is emailed an offer to mystery shop at a local store. This is one of the most well-known scams. People are “hired” to be mystery shoppers and told that their first assignment is to evaluate a money transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram. The shopper receives a check with instructions to deposit it in their personal bank account, withdraw the amount in cash, and wire it to a third party. Once money is wired, it is gone forever. There is no way to get it back. The check is a fake and by law, banks must make the funds from deposited checks available within days but uncovering a fake check can take weeks. It may seem that the check has cleared and that the money has posted to the account, but when the check turns out to be a fake, the person who deposited the check and wired the money will be responsible for paying back the bank. A sad situation indeed. But there’s that old saying again…

Lottery scams are always out there where a letter is emailed or postal-mailed telling the receiver that they’ve won the lottery but they have to pay a sum of money before receiving their winnings. An old but tired scam that still seems to work. Scammers who contact victims by phone and who reel their victims in tell grandparents that their grandchildren are in need of money and it must be paid immediately via gift cards. The victim must then buy the gift cards and phone the scammer with the serial numbers. Once the numbers are given the cards are useless as the scammer has used them to their advantage. 

Many scammers advise their victims not to talk to anyone about their transactions which is a huge clue that a scam is in progress. The reason they don’t want you talking to your relatives, friends, or police is that their scam will be revealed and they certainly don’t want that to happen. These scammers have full-time jobs scamming the public. Other well-known scams include romance, working from home, and Facebook or Craigslist offers that are too good to be true. If a scammer tells you to wire money to them or buy gift cards, it’s a sure bet it’s a rip-off. Many times emails/letters are received telling you that you have been chosen by an overseas lottery to receive good fortune and all it takes is to wire them some cash before they release your money. What a big clue that one is. Anytime money is required in advance, alarm bells should go off fast and loud. 

The two age groups who appear to have the largest susceptibility to fraud are teenagers and senior citizens. Teens are susceptible to gang influences where they are asked to deposit fake checks to their own bank accounts. The teens are told that they will make money by depositing these checks and they are happy to make the extra cash to pay for college textbooks or to have spending money for college break. It turns out that the checks are stolen or fake and the teens are left with nothing. It’s even worse if their checking accounts are tied in with their parents’ accounts as the parent will suffer as well. 

Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, X, etc. are also breeding grounds for scams. Many of us post way too much information on these sites and it’s just what scammers are looking for. According to the police, your date of birth, your anniversaries, your family member names, your address, the dates you’re going on vacation when no one’s home, etc.—these are all perfect for scammers to get your personal info and use it to open accounts in your name or to ransack your house. Don’t ever post this information on social websites.   

Good tips to keep in mind: If it sounds too good to be true, it really IS too good to be true; if the email or letter you receive has plenty of misspellings and run-on sentences, it’s definitely a fraud; credit card skimmers at ATMs and gas pumps are rampant especially with gas stations that are open 24/7 (skimmers are insertable devices used by scammers that are placed in ATM or gas pump credit card slots. These devices use pinhole cameras and Bluetooth transmissions to obtain your PINs); asking for money up-front is a sure sign of scamming; and reverse mortgage scams are very prevalent as well (I, personally, can attest to reverse mortgage scams as close relatives were almost taken in by this before an intervention was made).

Your local insurance agency offers fraud insurance for nominal fees. Individuals and businesses might do well in contacting them for more information. Protect yourself by never, ever hesitating to call your local police for assistance. They are here for you and are your absolute best defense!   

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