In today’s digital age, various scams are increasingly targeting unsuspecting individuals of all ages. Job scams exploit job seekers with fake offers to steal personal information or money. Impersonation scams involve fraudsters posing as trusted figures to deceive victims into providing sensitive details. Additionally, luxury online shopping scams lure consumers with enticing deals on high-end products, often resulting in counterfeit goods or lost money. Stay informed to protect yourself from these common threats we cover in this month’s Fraud Watch.
This is one of the toughest job markets we have seen in a while. According to a recent survey, 70% of job seekers say their current search is more difficult than their last one. For this reason, job scams are becoming more prevalent. Scammers impersonate real companies or create fake ones then post the jobs online. To protect yourself, be cautious when filling out the application with personal information including your social security number or banking details under the guise of pre-employment checks. Do your research by researching the company, avoid unsolicited job offers, and be extremely vigilant if you receive any requests for money or personal information.
Impersonation scams involve fraudsters posing as trusted well-known people or companies to deceive their victims into providing sensitive information or money. They may tell you they are anyone from government officials, tech support representatives, or even family members that are in need of money right away — with the help of deepfake AI software, voices can now be matched to that of your friends and loved ones. Scammers use a variety of communication methods from phone calls, emails, text messages, to direct messages on social media. The messages are often convincing to cause you to act quickly, leading you to share personal information, send money, or give access to personal accounts. Before you know it, you have given the crooks money or access to your money.
To protect yourself, resist the urge to act immediately and always verify the identity of anyone before sharing any kind of sensitive information or sending money to them.
Seeing luxury items such as handbags, home décor, and fragrances marked down significantly can be tempting. Scammers are very good at creating sophisticated websites, social media accounts, and other online stores that mimic actual luxury brand e-commerce experiences designed to deceive shoppers to purchase fake or non-existent products.
How do you know if a site is fake? The biggest red flag that a site is a scam is as you’re checking out, it asks you to pay via money order, pre-loaded money card, or even a wire transfer. Once you send the money, it’s very unlikely you will see your money again or receive your items.
We see fraud attempts almost every day. While we do our best to keep every customer protected, there are ways you can prevent fraud from happening to you.
Stay one step ahead and bookmark our help article on avoiding and reporting scams. We update this article regularly to keep you in the know of the latest scams.
More tips to avoid fraud can be found here.
Source of this month’s scam information:
Impersonation scams:
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-warns-against-scams-targeting-seniors-joins-other-federal-agencies-to-recognize-special-awareness-day
Luxury online shopping scams:
https://www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Scams-and-Fraud/Online-Shopping-Scams
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