Trick the Scammers & Follow These Tips
In the world today, scammers are around every corner. We have complied these tips and tricks as well as some current local scams that we are aware of to help you avoid being the next victim.
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Stay Alert: Did you know that scammers will try passwords on accounts months after they have taken that information? You should never reuse passwords, especially if you have been a victim of a scam. Reusing the same passwords for different accounts increases the risk of your information being stolen.
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Midyear Review: How often do you review your financial situation? This would include looking at your monthly income, expenses, savings goals and emergency funds. If you don’t look at this monthly, make a point to do a Mid-Year Review in July. Take the time to review and see what changes you may want to make. See if making mid-year changes helps to keep up with the goals you have set for the year.
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Set Limits: Did you know that you can set spending limits right from your mobile app? It can deny any transaction that exceeds the limit you set on your card. Also set up alerts so you are notified if your account goes below a certain amount or when transactions are made from your account.
Here are some scams that customers have reported in our area.
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Scam Waiver Letter: Community members have been receiving this FINAL NOTICE letter, which threatens to revoke an allocated waiver associated with you and the bank you may or may not currently be using. Please DO NOT call the number listed or respond to this letter in any manner. The number provided will connect you directly to a scammer. If you have any questions, please reach out to your bank for assistance.
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Cryptocurrency Scams: Scammers use social media platforms and dating apps to trick their victims into investing in fake cryptocurrency sites. They earn your trust and help you invest your money into cryptocurrency and even show you fake profit reports, so you add more to the new investment. When trying to withdraw funds, the bogus companies vanish before you can receive anything back.
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AI Voice Cloning and Deepfakes: An AI deepfake is an AI-generated video image or audio recording that appears real but is a forgery. Most of the time it depicts a familiar person. Technology using “deep learning” (hence “deepfake”) is being used to create these highly realistic videos and audios to mislead people into giving out personal information. Be cautious when receiving calls from “known” people asking for personal information or any amount of money.