While looking for a way to earn extra income, "David" comes across a company hiring a virtual assistant. The posting claims all work is done via email, and instructions will arrive each week, detailing a list of tasks to perform as part of the job. The company doesn't have a website, but there has been communication with what appears to be a local representative via email and telephone. David is instructed to deposit a $3,000 company check into his personal bank account. He is told to keep $500, which is his pay for the week, and withdraw the rest of the funds and deposit them into three other bank accounts at the employer's direction. David is convinced that he has started the job of his dreams, and believes he is performing routine tasks for the company. In reality, he is acting as a money mule and participating in a fraud scheme.
Social Security numbers (SSNs) are like bank and credit card account numbers— unauthorized access can create serious problems for the owner. Scammers hope to use your knowledge of this simple fact against you by falsely claiming that your SSN has fallen into the hands of criminals, and they need your help to resolve the situation.
Pop Quiz! Test your digital payment safety smarts.
Q: If a person texts, and says they’re with Logix and need you to send money
to yourself with Zelle® to reverse a payment, what do you do?
The Romance Scam is one of the most utilized methods of targeting victims for financial gain. Unfortunately, the targets of these scams are once again the elderly, specifically those who have been widowed. Although there are different variations of this scam, here is a very common scenario.
The Grandparent Scam is one of many scams targeting the elderly. A grandparent gets a call (or sometimes an email) from someone who claims to be a relative, usually a grandson or granddaughter, in distress - they lost their wallet and are stuck without identification and money in another country. The caller states it’s an emergency and asks for money to be sent immediately, wired to them through a friend’s account so that they can get home. If the money can’t be wired, they ask the grandparent to purchase $1,000 Visa gift cards to be used as a means to get back home. Oh, and don’t tell their parents because they’ll get upset. Any concerned grandparent would be alarmed and comply without hesitation. Unfortunately, from January 2020 to June 2021 the FBI Internet Complaint Center received over 650 reports of “grandparent scams” nationwide, resulting in more than $13 million in losses.
