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Identifying scams and avoiding being scammed

Featured photo: Client Mary Clemons with Caregiver Carla Thomas sit together in the city of Flint.

Written by Tanya Terry

Erica Riley, HR manager for Right at Home of Flint, recently spoke to the Courier about an issue she strongly feels matters, which has affected her parents and continues to affect her.

Last year, Americans received an estimated 21 billion scam robocalls, costing Americans an estimated $30 billion a year, ranging from money lost directly through fraud to as much as $3 billion a year in lost time and nuisances.

According to Riley, her parents had a scam call that scared them.

“They almost ran out and started to give them everything the scammer was asking for until they stopped and slowed down and said ‘I’m going to call my daughter,’” Riley explained.

Riley stated her parents were then told they shouldn’t call anybody.

“That’s when it kind of clicked,” Riley added.

Riley said the scam that was directed at her parents was one people could easily fall for.

“It was somebody calling saying they were representing Amazon. They had told them that somebody had purchased something under their account, and it ended up being some type of crime.”

Riley continued by explaining her parents were told they needed to come up with a large amount of money or the police would come for them.

“It was obviously a scam. But some of our older community-they don’t recognize that. They don’t understand it. They just think ‘I’ve got to take care of this, and I don’t want any trouble; so, I’m going to give them this money.”

Riley noted with working in the home care field for 12 years, she primarily deals with senior citizens.

“Our whole goal is to keep them at home and keep them safe. So, it’s important to me and it’s important to us as a company to be leery of these scams that are going on and try to know what scams are going on so that we can get that information out. Our caregivers can also know to listen for this stuff happening.”

Erica Riley, HR manager for Right at Home In-home Care and Assistance, recently spoke with the Courier.

Riley said she was even called by a scammer pretending to be her car insurance company who asked for her banking information. She called her insurance company to ask if she owed them money and was told there was a scam going around.

It’s important to remember con artists force you to make decisions fast and may threaten you.

“They’re going to want you to be upset and want you to make a decision really fast because they don’t want you to figure them out.”

Riley pointed out that in the case of her parents, they were told not to alert anyone of the call because they didn’t “know who was involved” with what her parents were told was a crime. They were threatened by the possibility of the police coming.

Sometimes scammers also obtain information about who their target’s relatives are.

“They’ll say your grandson has been involved in x,y.z. We need $2,000.”

In this case, it works to the scammer’s advantage that their target usually wants to help their family member.

Con artists disguise their real numbers, using fake caller IDs.

“The caller ID will say they are from a company they’re not from.”

Con artists sometimes pretend to be the government. Riley noted this happens quite frequently.

“They claim to be the IRS. They say that they owe money. The IRS is not going to call you and say that to you. They are never going to call you and ask you to pay anything over the phone. They’re never going to ask for your personal information like that over the phone.”

Con artists often try to get you to provide them with personal information like your Social Security number or account numbers.

“You really shouldn’t be giving that information out over the phone to anybody. But if they were a legitimate company, they’re not going to need that information. They should have that information-especially the IRS.”

Before giving out your card number or money, please ask a friend or family member about it. For those who do not have friends or family members they can contact immediately, Riley pointed out they can contact the police.

“Tell them you can’t make a decision right now. Tell them you need to think about it. Ask your police department about scams that are going on. They know too.”

Regarding “free travel offers” offered over the phone, Riley has some advice.

“I would be leery of anything that says it’s free. There’s likely going to be something behind that. They’re going to want some information. They’re going to want you to come up with some kind of money.”

Riley said legitimate businesses will have phone numbers you can call them back at.

Concerning emails, Riley advises never opening an email you don’t recognize, especially if it looks suspicious.

“Look for an actual company name, not a Gmail, and not a bunch of numbers and letters. I would go to the company’s website and find out what their email is and make sure it’s a real email.

Some scammers use text messages.

Riley also explained caregivers for Right at Home are kept up to date about the newest scams as information is available on them.

“They can hear these scammers calling and they can help to alert us so we can alert the family. So, we have eyes and ears that can keep an eye on that stuff and let us know what’s going on. It’s probably a real positive thing for the Flint community in that aspect.”

 

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