Preventing Fraud

 

The best way to prevent fraud is to be aware of the types of fraud and have ways to protect your money. ​Most fraud types are avoidable if people are cautious and verify what they are doing makes sense.

 

Here below are some prevention tips provided to help protect people from fraud:

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1. Hang up on unknown callers who are asking for money, personal info, or access to your devices. Yes, this includes people who may be trying to impersonate the IRS, Social Security, and even Banks.

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2. Be cautious of links sent to you. Emails or texts sent to you could contain harmful malware. These scam texts or emails may look official but most of theses have slight spelling errors or a strange sender address.

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3. If someone calls you and says your computer has a problem and they need remote access to help you, do NOT trust them, they are not tech support. Only allow people who you know and trust to have remote access to your devices.

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4. If someone is requesting an unusual payment method like gift cards, Bitcoin, wire transfers, etc., this is a major red flag. Scammers ask for payment through these methods because it is harder to trace and recover.

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5. Protect your personal information. Do not share your social security number, banking info, and any other important info unless your absolutely sure who you are talking to is trustworthy. Remember to shred documents that could contain this information.

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6. If something seems suspicious, do not hesitate to ask a trusted person if it is legit. Scammers often rush their victims to prevent them from thinking clearly about the situation.

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Following these simple prevention tips can be very effective.