Scams are popping up all over in all kinds of schemes. Today I was checking my checking account balance at my local credit union. I logged in and low and behold, there was an article about a new scam that hit nationwide.
The warning is about a scam that is sent to people thru emails, telephone calls, social media websites and various other means. The scam says that the President of the United State, Barack Obama, has set up a federal assistance program that helps you with your utility bills. To get the assistance the scam asks for your SS#, your bank account routing # and your bank account #. Then the scammer gives you a fake bank routing # for you to use to pay your utility bill via a fake automated telephone service.
The telephone service accepts the payment but in a few days you will get a notice of a declined payment because of an invalid account information. So now your utility bill didn't get paid and someone has stolen your account information.
NEVER give your personal information (SS#, Financial Institution info, credit card #) to anyone that calls you. If someone calls you about paying a utility bill, or if you are getting pressured to pay a bill over the phone, hang up and contact that utility company via their customer service line. You can make your payment there if you need to. If someone comes to your home inquiring or insisting on payment or checking your home, ask for their company ID and call the company and check on the individual.
These scams to steal your personal, financial and credit card information have become more advanced. Use your common sense and don't let anyone pressure you to give them money or information.
Just last week a co-worker got a letter from a lawyer in Germany saying his distant relative, 78 yrs old, died 6 years ago. It took them this long to find my co-worker who stands to inherit $118,000,000. Of course my co-worker had a strange german name which is why he got the letter. All my co-worker had to do was give the lawyer his bank account # and they would deposit the money into his account. My co-worker doesn't actually remember the dead mans name ever coming up in his family circle. He actually was thinking about giving his account # to this lawyer in Germany.
What would you do or say? Would you investigate the letter. By the way, the envelope had no return address on it and the postmark was somewhere in Portugal. Sound phishy to you?
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