In August, while checking her emails, Deb (she prefers not to reveal her last name) was alarmed to read a message she received that appeared to be from the online payment company PayPal. PYPL,
He said someone had accessed his PayPal account and taken $ 500 from his linked bank account.
Deb, a retired business owner in rural South Carolina, immediately called the phone number in the email to correct the problem. âThe person was very professional,â she said.
After telling Deb that they would need information to refund her the money (including access to her computer), âIt raised a little red flag. But I did remote computer work and they had to have access to it to help me, âshe said.
Over the next 2.5 hours, Deb gave up her bank account information, social security number, and several passwords. She eventually became suspicious and asked to speak to a manager. Another man got on the line. âI thought I was really talking to PayPal and they acted like they wanted to fix that,â Deb said.
The man from ‘PayPal’
This man then made him install an application on his phone. When she saw a $ 340 transaction, “he told me not to care, it wasn’t for me,” Deb said. “He then told me I had to go to Walmart WMT,
and buy a $ 500 gift card to get my money back. That’s when he clicked. I said, ‘I think this is a scam, I’m going to call my bank’ and the man hung up.
Be be sure to read: Worried about social security? Panic can lead to bad decisions
After learning that the $ 340 had been transferred to the crooks from her bank account, Deb was mortified. âI felt so stupid, inept and raped,â she said.
Unfortunately, she is in very good company. There is currently a wave of similar phishing scams perpetrated against older people via email, as well as phone calls and texts. Some of the crooks claim to be from places like PayPal or Amazon; AMZN,
others claim they are Microsoft MSFT technical support,
or Apple AAPL,
Or they say they’re from the Social Security Administration, IRS, or some other government agency.
The Federal Trade Commission received more than 2.1 million fraud reports in 2020, up about 24% from 1.7 million in 2019. Total losses last year: $ 3.3 billion. And the agency has witnessed 67,000 tax scams in the first half of 2021 alone. The FBI reported a 69% increase in cybercrime between 2019 and 2020.
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You can blame the pandemic, in part. âThe lockdowns have made us more vulnerable. They find out what we need and tackle that and our fears, âsaid Alexis Abramson, gerontologist, Atlanta spokesperson for Comfort Keepers Home Health and author ofâ Stop Fraud â.
One of the reasons seniors, in particular, are targeted: âPeople in their 70s and 80s are more confident and they are generally financially stable with good credit,â said Abramson.
The “Friends Talk Money” podcast, co-hosted by Next Avenue editor-in-chief Richard Eisenberg, has a new episode devoted to these types of frauds and how to avoid them. (You can hear it everywhere you get podcasts.)
âThere is fear and urgency,â when people get calls, texts and emails from scammers, said Terry Savage, co-host of âFriends Talk Money,â columnist and author on personal finances. And, added Pam Krueger, co-host of the podcast: “Scammers just keep getting smarter and smarter, so it’s really hard to tell what’s real.”
Read also : Will you outlive your savings?
Why are scams on the increase
Abramson said Deb was the target of what is emerging as a more sophisticated email scam system. âPreviously, these types of scams involved spelling mistakes and grammar errors. But they have become very sophisticated in their language and even their logos, âshe noted.
Her own father, whom she describes as a “brilliant” retired doctor, was the victim of one of these scams.
And, said Abramson, Deb’s embarrassment isn’t unique. Only one in four people who get scammed tell their loved ones about it, she said.
“I’ve spoken to reformed crooks who say they’ve been taught how to sell themselves and even anticipate the target’s reaction and the questions they will ask,” Abramson said. “Victims who have been scammed should speak to someone who can help them.”
Read also : Planning for retirement is hard, but you can do it one step at a time
Ann Martin, director of operations for personal finance website CreditDonkey, said the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to educate yourself on the latest scams.
âI implore family members to reach out to the elderly around you and stand up for them by teaching them good cybersecurity etiquette,â Martin said. âThere are many programs online that teach you what a scam looks like and prepare you for cyberattacks. “
Abramson’s tips for avoiding getting ripped off:
-
Never click a link in an email or text unless you expect it from someone you know. If you don’t know the sender, it’s best not to click on it at all.
-
Before replying to an email from a business, go to the company’s website and go to your account or call the number directly from the site and talk to someone about what the company is saying. E-mail.
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If you get a call asking for financial information, âStop and take a hit; they want to scare you. Tell them you want to hang up and do more research.
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Sign up for fraud alerts on your credit cards and bank accounts.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a scam:
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Immediately close or suspend your bank accounts and the accounts of the retailers you use
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Notify the three credit bureaus – Equifax EFX,
-0.57% ,
EXPGY EXPGY,
-1.06% ,
TransUnion TRU,
-0.65%
and put a freeze on your credit -
Change all your passwords
-
Be careful. If you’ve been scammed once, your name could end up on a scammer’s “scam list”.
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Contact the authorities. FBI Special Agent Siobhan Johnson gave Friends Talk Money this advice: âCall the FBI [at 800-CALL-FBI] and ask “Is this legitimate?” Because nine out of 10 times they’ll instantly say, “No, this is a common scam.” At [email protected]. And report a tax phishing scam by emailing [email protected].
Deb said she learned a hard lesson from her painful experience that took a lot of work to close accounts and change her passwords. However, his bank reimbursed him $ 340.
Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell is a full-time freelance writer and author living in the Ozark Mountains. She is the founder and administrator of the public Facebook page, Years of Light: Living Large in Widowhood and a private Facebook group, Finding Myself After Losing My Spouse, dedicated to helping widows / widowers get ahead.
This article is reproduced with permission from NextAvenue.org, © 2021 Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All rights reserved.
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