“The phone rings. Your caller ID says it’s the Social Security Administration. You hesitate. You’re not expecting a call from them, and you’ve heard about impersonation scams. But something inside you makes you pick up. And everything you’re about to hear is designed to scare you into doing whatever the caller says.”
The Federal Trade Commission has released an alert regarding an impersonation scam which is running rampant. In this scam, an individual receives a phone call from an individual representing themselves to be with the Social Security Administration. They issue an urgent warning: Your name and Social Security number are linked to serious crimes like money laundering and drug trafficking.
This is alarming news for anyone to receive—alarm is exactly the response the scammer wants to invoke. The scammer will the increase the pressure by saying there’s an arrest warrant out on their target, and that the courts want to seize money from all their banking and retirement accounts. How can they protect their funds? According to the scammer: buy gold! The agent tells the victim that they will send someone to pick up their cash and keep it safe until their name is cleared.
Frightened and flustered, the target is then instructed to go straight to the bank before funds can be seized. The agent helpfully offers to stay on the line with them so that they know what to say to the bank teller. According to the scammer, no one can be trusted but him.
In order to protect yourself from scams like this, it is important that you build a relationship of trust with your bank. Bankers are trained to watch for a customer on the phone with someone and/or conducting uncharacteristic transactions, they will attempt to slow things down and have a conversation with the customer alone. They will want to understand why the transaction is occurring and might respond with scam alerts issued by the FTC . Sometimes, all it takes to save a customer thousands of dollars in fraud is one conversation.
In addition to developing a good relationship with your bank, remember these three strategies to stay safe.
Three things scammers say:
- Scammers tell you to move your money to protect it.
- Scammers say you have to get cash and drop it off.
- Scammers tell you to buy gold and give it to a courier.