Phone Scams: Protecting Yourself in a Digital World
In today’s digital age, advancements in technology have made our lives easier in many ways, but with these advancements, new avenues for fraudulent activities have emerged. Phone scams and spoofed call scams have become increasingly prevalent, targeting unsuspecting individuals and causing financial and emotional distress. We’re here to help shed some light on the different types of phone and spoofed call scams, their potential consequences, and essential tips to protect yourself from falling victim to these deceitful practices.
Understanding Phone Scams
Phone scams involve scammers using various tactics to deceive and defraud unsuspecting individuals over the telephone. These scams can take many forms such as impersonating government officials, lottery schemes, tech support scams, debt collection fraud, and even your credit union. Scammers will often try to pray on your trust, fear, and lack of awareness to manipulate you into providing sensitive personal information or making financial transactions.
Spoofed Call Scams Explained
Spoofed call scams use a technique known as caller ID spoofing. By falsifying the caller ID information, scammers can manipulate the displayed phone number to make it appear as if the call is originating from a different location or organization – including your credit union. This enables scammers to trick you into answering the call, and gaining your trust or extracting sensitive information. Spoofed calls are frequently used in various phone scams, amplifying their effectiveness and making them hard to identify.
Common Phone and Spoofed Call Scams
Here are a few common phone and spoofed call scams to keep an eye out for:
- Financial Institution Impersonation Scams: Recently, we have received numerous reports of members receiving phone calls from individuals posing as Robins Financial Credit Union employees. They have spoofed our phone number in hopes to trick members into providing sensitive information such as your Digital Banking login credentials, your Secure Access Code (SAC), and even your debit or credit card information. It’s important to never share this information with anyone under any circumstance. If you receive a call from someone claiming to be an employee of your financial institution, hang up, and call us directly to verify.
- IRS/Government Impersonation Scams: Scammers will pose as government officials, often from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and demand immediate payment for overdue taxes or try to intimidate you with legal consequences. Many people fear the IRS and may fall for this scheme without asking questions.
- Tech Support Scams: In this scheme, scammers impersonate technical support representatives, often claiming to be from well-known tech companies. They try to trick you into believing your computer has been compromised, then gain remote access to steal personal information or demand payment for bogus services.
- Social Security Scams: Scammers will pretend to be representatives from the Social Security Administration, claiming that your Social Security Number (SSN) has been compromised. They are aiming to extract personal information or convince you to make immediate payments to resolve the issue. Often, people end up sharing the SSN with the scammers in order to “verify” their information.
- Grandparent Scams: With this scam, the target are vulnerable individuals, often the elderly. The scammer will pretend that their grandchild is in distress and try to manipulate them into sending money to help with emergencies or legal troubles.
- Lottery or Sweepstakes Scams: Who wouldn’t love to win the lottery or a sweepstakes? Scammers are well aware of this desire and use this scam to try and convince you that you’ve won the lottery or a sweepstakes getaway. The only way you can redeem your prize is by paying the fees and taxes in order to collect your winnings.
How These Scams Can Impact You
Falling victim to phone and spoofed call scams can have severe consequences and it’s important to be vigilant. These consequences can include:
- Financial losses
- Identity theft
- Emotional distress
- Damage to personal relationships
- Reputational damage
How to Protect Yourself
It’s important to take preventative measures to make sure you don’t fall victim to phone or spoofed call scams. Here are some tips on how to protect yourself:
- Be cautious of solicited calls: Avoid answering calls from unknown numbers. If you do answer, never provide personal or financial information unless you have verified the legitimacy of the caller.
- Verify caller identity: If a caller claims to be from a reputable organization, independently verify their identity by contacting the organization directly using official contact information.
- Be wary of urgent or threatening calls: Scammers often try to create a sense of urgency or fear to manipulate you into sharing information or make unnecessary payments. Don’t let them intimidate you.
- Use call-blocking tools: You can install call-clocking apps or activate built-in features on your phone to filter out potential scam calls. The tools can help reduce the number of unwanted calls you receive.
- Report scams: If you happen to encounter a phone or spoofed call scam, report it to your local law enforcement agency as well as relevant regulatory bodies or consumer protection agencies. By reporting scams, you help authorities track down scammers and raise awareness to others.
The Bottom Line
Scammers are getting more advanced in their schemes and our goal is to make sure you have the knowledge and tools you need to protect yourself and your information. Tune into our Scams and Frauds playlist on YouTube for more information on potential scams. You can also read our blog to learn more cybersecurity tips to protect yourself online. Overall, it’s important for you to stay vigilant and report fraud immediately.
At Robins Financial Credit Union, our mission is to enhance the financial well-being of our members and community. We honor this commitment by providing educational content to help you make the most of your finances. Read our other blog articles to help you gain the financial knowledge you need to succeed.