People urged to verify before responding to potential fraud

Date: 4/4/2023

Have you recently received a phone call from a grandchild seeking financial help? Or a utility company that claims you haven’t paid and is threatening to turn off your power?

Lisa Pandolfi, the fraud analyst at Freedom Credit Union, told Reminder Publishing that consumers are being increasing hit by scammers.

Much of the increase has come from more and more people going online for shopping and other transactions during the coronavirus pandemic.

She said the Federal Trade Commission has reported that in 2020 consumer fraud resulted in $8.8 billion in losses. Pandolfi said the FTC noted that many people are too embarrassed to report they have been defrauded.

Employees at Freedom Credit Union helped prevent more than $100,000 in fraud losses in January alone.

Currently, on the FTC website, consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/03/avoid-scammers-trying-profit-deadly-tornado, the federal agency noted there will be scammers attempting to make money out of the people who survived the devastating Mississippi tornado.

Calling someone and pretending they are that person’s grandchild is one of the top scams, she noted. The criminals are “targeting the heartstrings,” she said, by depicting a grandchild who needs money for bail or car repairs.

Pandolfi added that some scammers even study a TikTok video of a young person in order to sound more authentic.

Despite the urgency of the fraudulent request, Pandolfi urged seniors to slow down. “Make some phone calls and verify,” she advised.

Another scheme presents a consumer with a phone call from their financial institution. The scammers will present the consumer with details of their account and verify them.

“No one [at a bank or credit union] would ask for that information because we already have it, she said. If a person gets such a call, don’t confirm anything and call the institution.

In terms of fraudulent emails, Pandolfi said never to click on any link in an email as that could trigger malware that could infect your computer and deliver scammers financial information.

“We see a lot of that,” she added.

For shopping online, she suggested always go straight to the website rather than a link in an email.

She said scammers have even applied for loans using stolen information of members at Freedom with three such applications in the last several weeks. Credit union employees noticed the email address was different and was able to determine the fraud.

Pandolfi urged people to contact their financial institution, the FTC — go to identitytheft.gov — and local police if they believe they’ve been scammed.