Scam Prevention and Avoidance

Scam Awareness and Prevention Tips for New Hampshire Families

​This installment is about scams - not scabs, scars or Spam - and so I appreciate your opening this message and taking the risky chance that it's not just another of those we all receive that warrants immediate use of the DELETE key.  Unfortunately, scams have become as ubiquitous in our lives as the cell phones and computers they often arrive on - and that's because our communication and financial transactions have largely moved online.  Plus, with the assistance of AI, scammers now have almost infinite numbers of ways to convince us to accept their tricks as legitimate offers, deals and requests.  So, while your fraud antennae may already be pretty sophisticated, here are some hints that may also minimize the sad stories we hear too often from those who've already been taken in.

One of the most effective ways to avoid disaster is to understand that scammers succeed by creating urgency and fear.  Thus, our bank account has been compromised; a valuable prize we've won just requires us to authorize the shipping charge on our credit card; legal action will taken if we don't immediately authorize a payment we didn't even know we had; or the old favorite: a family member needs money wired from our account for some critical purpose.  This urgency, if it seems even remotely plausible, is designed to make us stop thinking clearly and to act before we can protect ourselves.  The best rule of thumb for this one is just to slow down.  First of all, we need to remember that legitimate organizations rarely demand instant action or threaten severe consequences without providing the notices they actually use.  In fact, the IRS, credit card companies, and collection agencies never use simple phone calls to pursue their claims.  They want a record of the contacts and requests/demands they've made, so they send written notices.  That means the best way to respond to such calls is to say we'll need to discuss their business with our lawyer or financial advisor or consult our own records - and we'll need a hard copy of the relevant documents to do so.  Legitimate claimants won't have any problem with that response, but scammers will do nearly anything to force a payment out of us before they'll let us off the phone.  That's the critical litmus test for phone call scams and it warrants an immediate hang-up.  It's also the best strategy for any charitable organization or supposed alma mater who may be calling during a "today-only" fund drive - that urgency is the dead giveaway and they'll appreciate our contribution next week as much as right this moment. 

But what about those drastic emergency calls from a child or grandchild who needs bail money or funds for a plane ticket home, just to name a couple of the heart-string pullers?  We shouldn't even assume we can verify the caller by the sound of the voice at the other end.  Again, AI has developed ways to make those calls sound just like our real family members, despite our disbelief that that's really possible.  One safeguard our family uses is to have a special password we've all agreed to require before we proceed further.  If our troubled family member doesn't know the word or doesn't even know we have one - or maybe doesn't know a nickname they call us - then we're talking to someone else's family member and they should make another call.  Goodbye and good luck!

Of course, we should never give out personal information over the phone or by e-mail, even if it's needed right away to verify or correct our records.  The best way to flush out the crooks here is to say we don't have that information handy and we'll call back the organization at its legitimate number as soon as we can locate what they're looking for.  And, too, if we receive what looks like an official letter or form that asks us to update key information, or to call a certain number to do so, or to mail the form in a stamped envelope conveniently provided, it may be tempting, but we shouldn't ever do it.  Instead, we should contact the organization ourselves - at a customer service number on a recent statement we know is legitimate or by checking the organization's actual website. 

Sometimes, we've actually shot ourselves in the foot just by opening an e-mail from a source we don't recognize.  Even doing that can also provide information that can be used against us.  It's not a coincidence that spam and scam sound so much alike.

Finally, we should keep our usernames and passwords in good shape, by using ones that aren't easily guessed or aren't used for every single account or site we have or use - and then by changing them periodically.  So-called password lock boxes and security services that shield individual passwords from hacking are also worth investigating, particularly if we do a lot of online buying or surfing among random or unfamiliar sites.  But check to make sure those are legitimate, too.

And, of course, if we decide or discover that we've already been scammed, then speed in contacting our bank or credit card company is the key to cancelling or reversing the charge or having it taken off our account.  We should also consider reporting it to the NH Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division at 603-271-3658, as that may not only help us but alert the office to a new and virulent new scam tactic.  

The way I look at all this is that sophisticated scamming is going to keep trying to stay ahead of our attempts to thwart it - there are people sitting around thinking them up and plotting how to prey on us at this very moment.  And it's going to remain a more serious threat in ever more unexpected places and disguises if we don't use just as much guile to protect ourselves.  I mean, we're not dealing with door-to-door sellers of vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias anymore.  Those people are now retired and living in Florida on our parents' and grandparents' money.  Let's at least not fund the next generations' nefarious lifestyles.