Be Aware, It's National Fraud Awareness Week

By Stacey Anter
The Library Detective

As the wife of a Private Investigator, I am fully aware of the hundreds of ways someone can commit fraud. National Fraud Awareness Week is August 4th – 10th, and it is the perfect time to pass on some important tips to you. There is always a scam or some kind of fraud circulating around, and most are updated versions of an old one. On their website, the FCC mentions a few recent scams such as “the Do-Not-Call-List verification scam,…Cell Phone Fraud,…Cramming….and Slamming.” Cramming is the illegal addition of unauthorized mystery fees on a phone bill; and Slamming is illegally changing a person’s local or long distance phone service without permission. For more information on current scams, visit the FCC website http://www.fcc.gov.

With more than two billion internet users around the world, online fraud has increased enormously. We’ve heard of phone scams, usually someone calling and asking for a donation to the local charity or fundraiser that doesn’t exist, or when the story given isn’t entirely true. But scams have used the Internet for decades now, (considering the Internet is now 25 years old!) Take phishing for example. A Phishing scam is an email (or a phone call) masquerading as a legitimate institution to coax sensitive information such as account numbers, passwords, or credit card information in order to use this information for identity theft. Some scams may be heavy on the sob story, so if the caller/email sender slabs on the sob story looking for sympathy, beware that they may be doing so to tug at your heart and, as a result, you want to give them what they want. Some phishing scams may say that they want to give you compensation if you help them with something, such as with those “if you give me your bank account number, I’ll deposit some money for you if you do something for me.” Never give your sensitive information. Never, never, never!

There are also incidents of fraud on Facebook. Even if you think your Facebook password is secure, it can be hacked, and when it is, the hacker will pose as you. The hacker can post things that you wouldn’t normally post –mean, insulting things, or things that are damaging to you. He or she can also send messages to all of your friends on your list giving a sob story for money, such as the popular, “I’m stuck in another state/country, my wallet was stolen and I don’t have money to get home, so please send me money so that I can get home.” Always check with the person in another way (not through Facebook) to see if this is true. It usually isn’t. To keep your Facebook, and other online accounts, secure, use a complex password by adding symbols, numbers, and capital letters. It also doesn’t hurt to keep a personal notebook of all your passwords in a safe place, because you know there will be many different passwords that you’ll need to remember, and you’ll be wise to change them often.

Fraud comes in many forms. One thing to remember is, if it sounds too good, it probably is. Unfortunately, in order to protect yourself, you need to be skeptical about people. If you get an email supposedly from your bank, or from your credit card company, or PayPal, asking you to update your information, look at the email address that sent the message. Whatever you do, do not click on any links in the email. Do a separate internet search for the company’s website and contact them to ask if they send an email. Also, look at the email address from where the message was sent. If it doesn’t make sense, or if it doesn’t come from the actual website address (such as employee@yourbank.com ), report it for phishing. Most email companies will have a button to click to report an email as a scam.

Outside of the internet scams, just make sure that you are aware. Only give sensitive information to those you trust with absolute certainty. Keep personal and sensitive information locked away in anticipation of visitors and thieves. Don’t leave your usernames and passwords, or any vital documents, out in the open where anyone can see them. When at the supermarket, keep your purse with you; don’t leave it in the carriage (I know our mothers and grandmothers used to do that, but that was then, and this is now.) Don’t leave pay stubs on the counter at the bank after you cash your paycheck. Take them with you. You would be surprised how easy it is to commit identity theft and create a new identity with some very basic personal information. Just read Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale Jr., (or watch the movie). He has written books on identity theft, scams, and con artists, one of which is, The Art of the Steal.

I call myself the Library Detective because I can find the answers to any question you can think of, or at least I can point you in the right direction. To find out more about fraud prevention, visit your local library; there are more Library Detectives there, too. If you would like to read other blog posts, come visit my WordPress blog at http://librarydetective.wordpress.com/