Slam the Scam

We hear the stories with more and more increasing regularity: someone gets scammed by a person, text, email or call they thought was legitimate. In 2021, the National Council on Aging reported over 92,000 older Americans being victim to fraud that year, resulting in $1.7 billion in losses, the majority of which was never recovered. Having helped clients with these issues and heard far too many horror stories, this is something about which I've written before.

March 9 is apparently National Slam the Scam Day, and the Social Security administration has put out a good list of signs (reminders, really) particularly for Social Security scams. Because this potentially applies to every single one of us, I wanted to share the gist of their message.

I think by now, most of us would be suspicious of that Saudi prince who needs help getting money to his relative in Mississippi and is willing to pay us handsomely for our time, and likewise the scammers have mostly abandoned that story. Now scammers often pretend to be associated with a familiar organization or agency, such as the Social Security Administration. If they call, they might provide you with a toll-free “call back” number that sounds legitimate. If you call that number, they're likely to even answer in a seemingly-legitimate manner. If they connect to you via email, they might send attachments with official-looking logos, seals, signatures, etc. If you're not tech savvy, I can tell you that neither am I, but even I could create – in about 15 minutes – a computerized document that would appear to be real.

Scammers often appeal to your human decency, greed or just curiosity, which we all possess. They might mention that they need your help solving an issue (thus the Saudi prince scam worked for years) or that you can benefit financially from helping. They might say that your Social Security number has been involved in a crime, for example, and they need your help to “crack the case”.

Scammers benefit when you are scared or pressured, so they use these tactics to urge you to make a quick decision and not to involve other family members or friends. One of my family members was almost convinced by a scammer who was “very concerned” about my family member's reputation when she had “missed jury duty”, and that same scammer told her that he was tracking her phone calls and if she hung up and made a call to a family member or friend, he would know immediately and would be sending someone straight away to have her arrested.

Obviously, scammers are out for a quick grab so having you send a check is out of the question, as is your using a legitimate credit card; those transactions can be tracked. He or she is going to “make it convenient for you” by allowing you to pay whatever it is you're paying with a prepaid debit card, cryptocurrency, money transfer or even cash. (Please, for the love of all that is holy, never mail cash to anyone!) Due to the ease of internet transactions, scammers can now give instructions to transfer money to a “holding account” that is “safe”.

Bottom line is that most legitimate agencies are never going to call you. If there is a need for them to contact you, they're almost always going to do that by mail. If you do get a call from someone who seems on the up-andup, hang up and call a number for the agency that YOU found on your own, preferably one that's on a printed document. Did you get that part: HANG UP. And don't answer if they call back. (Note: That call-back is likely to be from another number.)

If you get an email regarding an account issue of any kind, don't simply reply unless you were expecting that email. And if you're still unsure, don't respond. Quick story: I had an email from “my bank” one time that alerted me to a problem on my account. It gave a link to click, but also a number to call. Instead, I chose to call the number I found when I went directly to the bank's website, the one I use for online banking. I discovered that there was, in fact, nothing wrong with my account at all. It had been a scam attempt.

If you do happen to find yourself in the middle of something nefarious, please, please, please don't be embarrassed to ask for help. The scammers count on that, as well. If it's a Social Security scam, you can report to the SSA Office of the Inspector General. Otherwise, our State Attorney General's office handles scams. But bottom line is this: Don't try to handle it yourself. At this point, you're likely to be upset and perhaps not thinking as clearly as you might. Bring in a family member or friend to help you.

It's sad that this is the time in which we live but burying our heads in the sand won't help. On this National Slam the Scam Day, perhaps you can share this piece with a friend or family member, just to remind them to remain diligent. Now, as they said on Hill Street Blues, “Lets' be careful out there.”

Barbara Runnels Coats*, FICF, RICP, Modern Woodmen of America Financial Representative.