Saturday, April 30, 2022

The Scams and Frauds Going on Around Us

This weeks Blurb is to protect your finances and health from the hottest scams that are now occurring in the US. My intention is to arm you, so you don’t get sucked in and lose money and possibly have your health affected by the monetary loss.

About 3 years ago, I almost fell for a scam. I was about to fall for it, when I told my wife, Elizabeth, what was happening, and she said Whoa! And she was right! So, I’m sensitive to what’s going on out there and want to raise your awareness level, so you don’t fall for a scam.

This list of 2022’s Hottest Scams came from the AARP Bulletin, April 2022. A number of them I’ve never heard of before.

Google Voice Scam  

This might happen when you post something for sale online or a plea to find a lost pet. The scammer will call you and they first want to verify that you aren’t scamming them. They’ll tell you they are sending you a verification code from Google Voice. What’s happening is they are setting up a Google Voice account in your name. This will allow them to pretend to be you.

So, never share verification codes with anyone. If they got ya, go for help to support.google.com/voice.

Rental Assistance Cons 

If you’re behind on your rent, you could be contacted by a phony government employee or nonprofit employee. They will say they want to help you and will need your personal information and money up front for application fees. 

So, to find legitimate rental programs in your area, go to the Consumer Protection Bureau’s website at cfpb.gov.

Fake Job Frauds  

The scammers get your info that you posted on legitimate job websites. They contact you pretending to be a recruiter and are offering you high-salary or work-at-home job offers. They are looking for additional info about you or to convince you to send money for bogus home-office setups or fake fees.

The suggestion to avoid this is to set up a separate email address and phone number free on Google Voice that will ring on your phone but keeps your real number private. You should also call the company’s human resource department to verify that the offer is real.

Fake Amazon Employees

You’ll be contacted via phone, texts, email, or social media message about suspicious activity or unauthorized purchases on your Amazon account. 

You can contact Amazon customer support at 888 280-4331 to verify what’s going on.

Cryptocurrency ATM Payments

You’ll be contacted by a phony government official, utility agent or sweepstakes representative. They’ll direct you to pay a fee, bill or handling charge by cryptocurrency ATM machines that are popping up in convenience stores, gas stations and big retailers.

This one is easy. If anyone says to pay by cryptocurrency, it’s a scam!

Local Tax Imposters

Scammers are impersonating state country and local law enforcement and tax collection agencies to get your personal info and to have you send money to settle a tax debt that they say you have. They may threaten to revoke your driver’s license or passport.

Legit agencies will send a letter and they won’t ask for passwords, bank account or credit card info. They won’t threaten to call the police or have you pay by gift card or cryptocurrency.

Favor For a Friend Gift Cards

You get an email from a “friend” (really the scammer) that they need a favor. They’re having trouble buying a gift card for a birthday gift with their own credit card. They will ask you to buy the gift card for them and for you to call them back with the numbers on the back of the gift card. The top retail stores where the scammer’s are saying to buy the gift card at are Target, Google Play, Apple, eBay and Walmart.

Call or text your friend to confirm that it’s really them.

What can you do if you’ve been scammed?

You can contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network helpline to talk to a trained fraud specialist who will provide you support and guidance on what to do next. Call 877 908-3360 even if you’re not an AARP member or are over 65. They’ll help anyone who calls!

So…realize you need to pay attention to the spreading frauds out there and protect yourself as best you can. Hope you find this information helpful!

 

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