I’ve been popular lately. Amanda wants to see me.
Ramon Juan Carlos feels I will be the best person to help with a business transaction.
In addition, folks are watching out for my security.
USPS texted me that the address was unavailable on a package. They provided me a link via text where I could enter my info. Amazon wanted to confirm my purchase of a new computer. My account would be charged unless I contacted them via the text link or phone number provided.
Are We Ever Safe?
The emails are clearly a scam. But the USPS and Amazon text sound like they could be legit. I had to think twice on the USPS one. I had some oil filters and oil I had ordered online and I was hoping it would be delivered before the weather got cold. We want our stuff and we order lots online. This could be legit.
And the Amazon one could be Amazon confirming a large purchase…right?
Any scammer contact whether it’s phone, mail, email, text or door to door has 2 secret ingredients. It’s something we want, and there is some urgency to respond quickly.
No, we are never safe. Any phone, mail, email, text or door to door contact I have gotten recently that has not been from a trusted source has been a scam.
Trusted Sources
This week I tried a new auto service place. I found them through repairpal. I love repairpal. They help me find reputable shops and they provide a price range I should expect to pay for any repair for my make and model vehicle.
Anyway, I immediately added the new shop to my contacts because I do not ever respond to calls, texts, email or any other communication if I don’t know who is initiating. And this includes a call or text from someone not in my contacts but with a caller id I recognize. Caller ID can easily be faked.
A trusted source is someone in my contacts. All others go to voicemail.
Is It Safe to Respond?
There is a chance that a voicemail, text, email from an untrusted source may be legit. When Paypal texts me to say that they are confirming a transfer of $595.12 to Amazon.com, I am interested. I have a paypal account that I use online and I shop quite a bit at amazon. Perhaps a mistake has been made.
It would be irresponsible to ignore this.
It is safe to respond, but only if you do it on your own.
How to Respond
Even if I’m 99% sure an email came from a trusted source, I never click on a link. I open a web browser (with my VPN on) and I navigate to the website.
If I received a text or voicemail requesting a call back, I look up the number from a trusted source and I call the main number. Here’s an example:
A few years back, I was helping my mom with some medicare fraud on her account and I reported some bogus claims to Medicare, HHS and my congressman. A while later, I got a call which I ignored, from the FBI. A nice young man left a very professional VM saying that he was looking into a fraud claim and needed more info from me. He left his name, special agent so and so, and a number to call him at in Washington DC.
I looked up the FBI main number online and called the switchboard and asked for agent so and so. I was put through (he existed) and I told him why I was calling. He seemed a little flustered and promised to look into my claim and get back to me.
I never heard back, which is unfortunate. But the scammer somehow knew I was involved in a fraud claim (then again, who isn’t) and they took the time to find the name of an actual FBI agent.
Note that if I had looked up the agent’s name and found him to be a real agent and then called the number he left, I might be calling a scammer. Only call numbers you know and can verify are legit.
Trust No One
Sad, but true. We really can’t trust anything that comes to us.
I was home one day last week and the doorbell rang. I answered the door and a nice kid with an iPad and a Verizon ID badge wanted to tell me about Verizon FIOS. I had seen the trucks in the neighborhood and he pointed out the new equipment on the power line across the street.
I was interested to see if I could get a better price on home internet (I couldn’t) so we chatted and he explained that if I wanted to sign-up, I could fill out a form on his iPad and an installer would be out within a week.
Pretty cool. He explained that I would put in my name and address, my SSN so they could verify my credit and my credit card info or bank account so they could take an immediate deposit and bill me via auto-pay each month.
Even though he was a nice kid and he had a laminated badge that said Verizon on it (and Verizon was spelled correctly), I was alarmed that I might be putting my SSN and card info into a strange iPad.
Scenario 1. This could legitimately be Verizon. I could enter my info and feel safe.
Scenario 2. The kid printed the badge himself and is trying to get me to enter sensitive info into his iPad.
Scenario 3. The kid is legit. He really thinks he works for Verizon. The Verizon he works for is fake. It’s a scammer who prints up badges and mails out iPads to folks who apply to work as FIOS sales folks.
Scenario 4. Everyone’s legit but the iPad and the mechanism that transmits my data is not secure.
I’m Too Skeptical
Maybe.
If I were truly interested in FIOS, I would go online at Verizon’s website and sign-up using my browser (and VPN).
2 questions we need to ask in every transaction
- What could go wrong?
- Is there a safer way?
Warning Signs
Here are some things to watch out for:
- Requests for payment in gift cards. Legitimate businesses do not transact using gift cards – ever.
- Requesting use of your bank account. Example, mine is frozen, could I send the money to yours and have you send it out. Folks have done this. Welcome to the wonderful world of money-laundering. You could go to prison.
- False sense of urgency – act now, limited time offer. When we are pressured into acting, we’re less likely to think about consequences.
- Contact via social media. We can’t trust phone, email and text, so we should be extra suspicious of contact via social media. My daughter is a fraud investigator for a major corporation. She regularly deals with people who claim her company interviewed them and offered them a job via Facebook. (spoiler: they didn’t)
Wrap-Up
I have recently started doing some volunteer work helping folks untangle themselves from fraud. This is sad and horrifying. This is big business because:
- It’s easy to get info about us. Between social media, data brokers and the info for sale on the dark web. It is easy to find out about anyone and use information to exploit our weaknesses.
- Communication can be automated. These emails, texts, calls are going out to millions, not just us. Computers make this easy.
- Source can be faked. Recently there was a scam going on where the caller ID said “Massachusetts State Police”. Technology makes this easy.
- We’re all vulnerable. The people I’ve met through volunteering are all intelligent people. If we’re behind on our mortgage, or out of work, we might be more susceptible to financial scams. Scams involving our loved ones are particularly effective. Read my experience here.
…and most of all, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry.
Protect yourself. Be skeptical of any communication that comes to you from an untrusted source. Search for posts categorized under Protect Wealth for more examples and stories as well as steps you can take to protect yourself.