How to Spot and Avoid Scams!

Scams are not new but scammers are changing the look and the feel of their scams. Technology everywhere has increased the challenge of deciphering the real from the fake. With knowledge and education, you can spot a scam from miles away. I'm going to help you do that! A lot of this will sound basic but I assure you, many people forget the basics when they are desperate for a solution to their problems.

8 Tips to Stop and Avoid Scams!

1. If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS! Period!

2. Urgency and pressure. Anyone trying to get you to buy something NOW is exhibiting a sales tactic to rush you to spend money (e.g. Countdown Timers on Shopping websites). If you don’t have time to think, you don’t have time to be logical. Wait 24-48hrs. Err on the side of caution.

3. Unsolicited contact. You should ALWAYS know where you spent your money! If you know you haven’t bought anything from a particular company, chances are your information was part of a data breach. When data breaches happen, scammers now have your information and are hoping you respond to their phone calls/emails. Don’t! You know what you buy and who you do business with. If you don’t, this is something for you to start being mindful of. I recommend you keep your transactions limited to a set of services and providers that your regularly do business with. Don’t make or have accounts everywhere.

4. Requests for sensitive information, pins, social security numbers, EID, seed phones. No reputable service will request any of these things out of the blue. Banks and financial institutions have multi-factor authentication in many places in the world and don’t need this information after opening your accounts. Reputable sweepstakes also don’t require this information from you.

5. Unusual Payments (crypto, gift cards, wire transfers, etc.). This is similar to unsolicited contact. Scammers are hoping that you click on the link that will take you to a fake page that looks like an official website. They hope that you will be fooled to enter your login information or confirm your bank account just so they can get access to your real account on the real bank's page and steal money from you. Delete the message! Hang up the phone!

6. Check email address links by hovering your mouse cursor over the link (DON’T CLICK IT!). This is how you can make sure the address is from a legit source. Ignore password reset requests that you didn’t ask for. Never click links in emails from senders you don’t know!

7. Download apps only from official stores. Enable 2-factor authentication and check for odd/strange looking domains. (See example)

8. NEVER send money to someone you haven’t met. I’m primarily talking about romantic or friendship endeavors. If there is a man/woman/other asking you to send them money and you don’t even know this person, DON’T DO IT!

9. Travel companies should have a physical address. If you are traveling and you can’t find a physical address of a travel agency, that’s not a good sign. There are many businesses that are online only but I am referring to services that should have a physical location in the event you have any digital problems (travel agencies, banks, LLCs, non-profits, corporations, etc.).

10. Avoid job offers asking for personal information, fees, and payment upfront. No job on earth should be asking you to pay to get hired. PERIOD! If they ask for this information, don’t give it to them and end contact.

    
    

If you do get scammed, contact your bank and credit card companies immediately, freeze your cards and change your passwords. You should have a password document for yourself (physically and/or digitally) or a password manager with 2-fatctor Authentication.

You can report scams to the FTC at identitytheft.gov or text 7726 (SPAM) to report to your mobile service provider.

📢Need financial advice? Contact me for a 1-on-1 financial coaching session!