By Selen Ozturk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Payment methods that scammers<\/u><\/a> insist you use \u2014<\/em> like gift cards, cryptocurrency and wire transfer \u2014<\/em> are telltale signs of scams, the Federal Trade Commission reported at a Sept. 22 Ethnic Media Services news briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the first six months of 2023, $4.4 billion dollars were lost across over 1.1 million reports of consumer fraud, per the FTC\u2019s\u00a0Consumer Sentinel Network<\/u><\/a>\u00a0\u2014 \u201cand we know from our working experience, and from surveys, this is only the true tip of the iceberg,\u201d said Lois Greisman, Associate Director of the FTC Division of Marketing Practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forms of contact, payment<\/p>\n\n\n\n The primary point of contact that scammers use to reach people is social media, by which $658 million was reported lost in the first half of 2023. Phone calls have the highest per person reported losses, with a median loss of $1,400 per person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust as scammers like certain forms of contact<\/u><\/a>, like the telephone, which are most effective at getting someone to part with their money,\u201d said Greisman, \u201cthey like certain types of payment because they can take the money with very little trail, while for the consumer it\u2019s virtually impossible to get this money back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By far the greatest losses by payment method owe to bank transfers, for which $901 million was reported lost in the first six months of 2023 alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An example of this scam: \u201cI get a call. I am told my grandson has been in a car accident, can\u2019t find an insurance card, and needs surgery right away. The only way he can get it is if I go to my bank and I ask them to transfer $7,895 to an account in Canada,\u201d Greisman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other common payment methods include wire transfers, by which $164 million was lost in the first half of 2023; credit cards, by which $123 million was lost; gift cards, by which $109 million was lost; debit cards, amounting to $106 million; and payment apps like Zelle and Venmo, and Cash App, amounting to $102 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of these losses owe to imposter, lottery, investment, and business fraud \u2014 for example, \u201cYou get a phone call from the IRS that you owe back taxes, or from the sheriff\u2019s office that there\u2019s a warrant out for your arrest, or you\u2019ve won the lottery and all you have to do is pay a processing fee\u201d by sending or reading aloud the numbers of \u201ca gift card for $100, or a few hundred,\u201d Greisman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not always easy to spot a scam, especially because scammers are incredibly persuasive and can also be very threatening and scary, says Lois Greisman, Associate Director, Federal Trade Commission Division of Marketing Practices, Washington D.C.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the case of larger payments in the thousands and tens of thousands through\u00a0cryptocurrency<\/u><\/a>\u00a0and wire transfers, \u201cthere may be an \u2018expert\u2019 online who wants to teach you how to get rich quick trading cryptocurrency, or becoming an entrepreneur by selling on eBay,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sophia Siddiqui, an attorney for the FTC Division of Marketing Practices, said that due to low regulations, cryptocurrency<\/u><\/a> has been on the rise over recent years as \u201cthe payment method preferred by scammers. Through online trading groups or social media, they\u2019ll say they\u2019re making millions in cryptocurrency, and that they\u2019re offering investment advice for a limited time for an upfront $10,000 fee. You pay using their link, they put that money in their crypto wallet, and never contact you again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never send money \u201cto someone you don\u2019t know or trust, who pressures you to pay immediately, or says that a certain payment method like a wire, gift card, or crypto is the only way to pay,\u201d said Siddiqui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you call your bank and say you didn\u2019t authorize a charge on your credit card, they have to investigate, and you shouldn\u2019t be liable for more than $50 \u2014 many banks won\u2019t even charge you that,\u201d said Siddiqui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, for a <\/a>gift card<\/u><\/a> like Amazon, or a <\/a>wire transfer<\/u><\/a> like Western Union, \u201ccontact the company and ask them to reverse the charge. If you send cash or a gift card in the mail, ask USPS to intercept the package. If you give a scammer your social security number, go to identitytheft.gov<\/u><\/a> to see what steps to take, like monitoring your credit,\u201d she continued. \u201cIf you give a scammer access to your phone or computer, update your security software, run a scan, and delete anything problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those facing a scam can report it at\u00a0reportfraud.ftc.gov<\/u><\/a>, and find information on how to avoid scams in various languages including Arabic, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Spanish, Russian, Tagalog and Vietnamese at\u00a0ftc.gov\/languages<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best weapon in the fight against scams is, by far, education<\/u><\/a>, Greisman and Siddiqui agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Never underestimate how persuasive a scammer can be,\u201d said Greisman. \u201cWhat most helps is informing people about red flags. The bottom line is that how they want you to pay is<\/em> the red flag. If you get a call or message<\/u><\/a> asking with threats or promising returns for a gift card, a wire transfer, crypto \u2014 hang up, delete it, go offline, do whatever you need to do to stop contact. That\u2019s not how a government entity or other institution would reach you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likewise, Siddiqui added, it boils down to this: \u201cOnly a scammer will guarantee that you will make a lot of money with no risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nStopping scams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Red flags<\/h2>\n\n\n\n