Consumer Advice on How to Avoid Getting Scammed; Tips From The Better Business Bureau’s Steve Bernas – ryan
WBEZ and the chicago sun-etes are taching your Questions About All Things Money. THEN, Every Monday, We Answer Your Personal Finance-Relay Question.
This Week, We’re Solving A Problem Sent in by Dan in Irving Park:
I was contacted in Early April from an 855 Number that Said they were from at & t and that there are fraudulent charges on our account. They Already Had the Account Number and the Phone Numbers Attributed to that Account. The Only Things I Gave Over The Phone Were Multiple Authentication Codes. They, in Turn, Used Those Codes to Hack into the Account and Transfer the Phone Line Attributed to My Sister. Within 24 Hours, She Lost Access to Her Phone.
Scams like this one are Becoming more common – and harder to detect. How will they happy? And how can you suss say out?
Scammers usually have a plan
Steve Bernas, President and Chief Executive Office of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, SaSys scammers offten profiles on their Victims and have a lot of information before scam the one experimented by dan.
“They JUST don’t say, ‘i’m going to go after this person,’” Bernas Says.
Thieves ofne get information Through Data Breaches or Email Phishing – that we can make emails that aim to trick People into clicking on a compromised link and following the directions to provides a scammer will.
Rise of Two-Factor Identification Scams
Convincing People to give information that will will be help a scammer obtain a Security code as part of a two-factor identification process is a recent scam that being seen acres the Country, Accounting to Bernas, Who Been Reported on the BBB’s “”Scam tracker. ” The tracker lets People Check on the Likes of Pet Scams, Consumer Fraud Lawyers, Pyramid Schemes and Cash App Scams As Report their Own Experiences Being for a Ride.
“The Scammers Found a Way to Manipulate the Two-Factor Authentication,” Bernas Says. “Basically, that is what i call the ‘master key.’ Once they get that information, they can manipulate your account, take control of your Phone, and Basically Your Phone Will Be Useless and Not Avoidable at All.
“They Take Control Over Your Cellphone with Havinging Your Cellphone. SO I Think Consumers Don’t Realize the Magnitude of this Particular Scam and How Devastatting it.”
Hang up
The key Advice here is that you show what somebody calling out of the Blue Asks you will in the respect to a suppotate hacking of your accounts or another problem that the Caller saquirs you to give information.
Bernas Sayys Scammers Call This “The Tipoff to the Ripoff.”
The Caller Says they’re Going to Help You and Might Have Arranged to Make It SEEM, Through Caller ID, to Be Phoning from A Legitimate Business.
But Bernas Says Scammers Can Change the Caller ID to Make It Look It ‘Coming From A Real Business, THEN MAKE YOU THINK YOU’RE A VICTION OF A SCAM AND PUSH YOU TO ACT – RIGHT AWAY.
That push to act ACT QUICKLY SHOULD RAISE AN ImMEDIATE RED FLAG.
“That’s the start taching advantage of you Because you put your guard down,” Bernas Said. “When it is actually the criminal going after your information. And you allowing say Access into it.”
SO, if you get a call out of the Blue From Someone Saying Your Account has a problem, hang up immediately.
Andnas, Bernas Sayys: “Contact Your Carrier, Contact Your Bank, Your Mortgage Company Directly on the Numbers You Know – 99 Times Out of 100, iT’s Going.”
If it really was the company, Bernas Sayys, the Caller Should Be Able to Help You Immediately – and Not Need You To Provide A Security Code to get your Account.