Scams, Scams, and More Scams

By Kathy Brown.

February 18, 2021 — Back in November 2019, I wrote this article about scams, which still has good information about how to avoid them.  Recently, I was personally affected by two scams, and thought it might be beneficial to share those experiences.

A couple of weeks ago, my father, in his 80s, called for a ride because he had a “banking emergency” and we hadn’t shoveled out his car after the previous snowstorm. My son, who is attending college virtually, went to the rescue, and drove my father to the bank. Apparently a man had called, claiming he was from Geek Squad/Best Buy. They told him that Geek Squad owed my father $200 as a refund for services that they no longer supported. My father filled out an online form for them, which included his checking account number (SCAM FLAG), and they told him to fill in $200 for the refund amount. But when he hit enter, uh-oh, the $200 turned into $20,000, and they wanted “their money” back in a wire transfer immediately, and threated to call police/their lawyers (SCAM FLAG).

His banking emergency was to check the balance of his checking account, which did, in fact, have an extra $20,000 in it. Unfortunately for the scammers, his credit union doesn’t allow wire transfers. The wire transfer they were demanding was supposed to go to a bank in Singapore, with a person’s name on it, not a business (SCAM FLAG). Unable to convince my father after several hours of phone calls that it was a scam, my son called me for backup. When my father saw that there was $20,000 extra in his account, he wanted to give it back to “Geek Squad,” and they created urgency by saying that at least one person would lose their job if the money wasn’t returned that same day (SCAM FLAG).

When I got to my father’s place, I took the phone right out of his hand to talk to the person from “Geek Squad.” I figured if it was legitimate, they wouldn’t mind talking to someone else. The man was very belligerent with me, and told me he was trying to go “around the law” but if I wanted to do it legally, we would hear from his lawyers. I told him I would love to have it done legally and he hung up on me.

I called corporate Geek Squad and relayed the story to them, and they said to contact the bank immediately. They explained that they don’t use a bank in Singapore and they would never issue a refund like that. When my father went to log on to his bank account to show me the $20,000 deposit, there was a security question that was never there before, which prevented him from accessing his account. The credit union was closed, so my father sent them an email, alerting them that his bank account might have been compromised.

The next day, he visited the credit union, and learned that the scammers had transferred $20,000 from his savings account to his checking account, to make it look like they had “refunded” him the $20,000. Quite the elaborate scheme. He closed out that account.

Yesterday, after I sent an email to Resident Trooper DeAngelo, asking for scam advice, I got an alert that I had a Facebook message, from Uncle Fred. It was a pretty innocuous greeting and was plausible, until I asked how he was, and got this response: “I’m doing pretty good and extremely happy but I’m not sure if you have heard about the recently good news yet?” Uncle Fred definitely does not talk like that.

Since I was already writing a story on scams, I decided to keep communicating with fake-Uncle Fred. He told me about “Gradient Grant Community Outreach Supports” and how he had received $50,000 from a grant. All I needed to do was apply, and he could hook me up with a Live Agent. He sent me the link. I thanked him for more information for my scam article, and suddenly the message was deleted, along with the duplicate account of my uncle. I  quickly emailed my real uncle to tell him to alert his Facebook friends, and to change his Facebook password.

Scams come on the phone, emails, messenger. They are getting very creative. And people of all ages need to be wary and alert for scam flags like:

• Someone who asks for a bank account or credit card number
• Someone offers to let you pay them in gift cards
• Someone claims that the transaction must happen ASAP/now or the deal is off
• Someone tells you that you will be arrested if you don’t send money now
• Foreign scammers often use bad grammar and/or strange word choices.

The FBI has a very long list of current scams. Here are some examples:

• charity and disaster fraud where someone claims to be seeking donations for a fund.
• counterfeit prescription drugs where you pay for what you think is legitimate medicine, and get counterfeit, often useless drugs in return
• internet auction fraud where someone says they are selling something, and once you send the money, you get nothing in return.
• online vehicle sale where people post a vehicle for sale, and the vehicle has never been in their possession.
• romance scams where someone adopts a fake online identity, gains the victim’s trust, then manipulates or steals from the victim, often for healthcare or other emergency.
• tech support scam where someone poses as a tech support representative and offers to fix non-existent computer issues, and gain access to the victim’s device and sensitive information.
• sweepstakes/charity/lottery scam where someone claims that the victim has won a foreign lottery or sweepstake and they can collect it if they pay a fee.

On the FBI’s website, they have good advice:

• Recognize scam attempts and end all communication with the perpetrator.
• Search online for contact information (name, email, phone number, addresses) and the proposed offer. Other people have likely posted information online about individuals and businesses trying to run scams.
• Resist the pressure to act quickly. Scammers create a sense of urgency to produce fear and lure  victims into immediate action. Call the police immediately if you feel there is a danger to yourself or a loved one.
• Be cautious of unsolicited phone calls, mailings, and door-to-door service offers.
• Never give or send any personally identifiable information, money, jewelry, gift cards, checks, or wire information to unverified people or businesses.
• Make sure all computer anti-virus and security software and malware protections are up to date. Use reputable anti-virus software and firewalls.
• Disconnect from the internet and shut down your device if you see a pop-up message or locked screen. Pop-ups are regularly used by perpetrators to spread malicious software. Enable pop-up blockers to avoid accidentally clicking on a pop-up.
• Be careful what you download. Never open an email attachment from someone you don’t know, and be ware if email attachments forwarded to you.
• Take precautions to protect your identity if a criminal gains access to your device or account. Immediately contact your financial institutions to place protections on your accounts, and monitor your accounts and personal information for suspicious activity.

“Generally speaking, if someone experiences actual financial loss we recommend that they contact their local law enforcement in addition to reporting to the FBI utilizing the iC3 form,” said Haddam’s Trooper DeAngelo.  “Also, if people are unsure whether they should contact the police or not, or if they are simply looking for advice on how to move forward, re-secure any personal information that may have been distributed, or feel that perhaps their identity may have been stolen; they should also contact their local law enforcement for further guidance. Reporting it to the FBI cannot hurt and could potentially be beneficial in helping others to not be victimized.”

Be vigilant. Stay safe.