Some of them want all your money in a single transaction, others want to drain you over the long haul. Here’s how to avoid a financial scam.
Picture it: Your college-age granddaughter calls, distraught, scared, and begging you to wire money because she’s stuck in Mexico. You didn’t even realize she was abroad. You hang up and try to verify with her parents, but they’re at work and not available. Her voice didn’t sound quite right, but she was scared. You wire the funds, only later that day discovering she’s perfectly fine.
Scams abound these days, all of them designed to steal your money, sometimes over the long haul, sometimes in a single transaction. Here are the latest types of financial fraud to be aware of.
Imposter Scams
According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, imposter scams rank #1 in the grand scheme of scams. In 2021, imposter scams scooped up $546.2 million from consumers. These scammers pretend to be a business, government entity, or friend in need.
The biggest one happening right now is an Amazon scam, says Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention programs at AARP. You receive a message alerting you to a large, possibly fraudulent purchase on your account. “Nine out of 10 of us will think someone hacked our account and call back,” Stokes says. It can result different outcomes, including the scammer stealing your user name and password after you log into your…
