Financial scams 101: What to know and how to avoid them

As the holidays approach, cybercriminals are busy devising new and innovative ways to seize your personal information and scam you and your credit card company out of millions of dollars each year, according to Harvard Law Review. For many internet users, this is a daily occurrence between spam calls and junk email.

Making yourself aware of possible scams that often circulate and knowing the best ways to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of financial scams is sometimes the best protection. No generation is immune to falling prey to these scams.

“I see clients of all ages falling victim to these scams,” said Cristina Briboneria, a managing director at oXYGen Financial, Inc. “I always encourage my clients to verify the sender of an email.

“It is becoming more prevalent with text and email scams,” said Briboneria, who helps manage clients’ finances in the greater Atlanta area and nationwide. “Say you get notifications that UPS or FedEx delivered a package. You may unwittingly give a cybercriminal login or credit card information.”

Briboneria suggests not taking the sender’s name at face value, “it may look inconspicuous, but if you hover your cursor over the name, you will see the email that may not be related to the organization they claim to be.”

Tips to avoid financial scams

The Federal Trade Commission offers advice on taking critical steps to protect yourself and prevent a potential scam:

• Do not rush into action. Many cybercriminals will use language that conveys a sense of dire urgency – a common tactic is for the scammer to incite a feeling of panic or emergency to speed up the scam.
• Pausing to discern if a call or solicitor is legitimate will always be worth the extra time. If you get scammed, you will spend much more time getting new bank accounts and credit cards and monitoring your accounts. Don’t respond or engage with unfamiliar contacts out of a sense of urgency or stress.
• Do your research. If a text or email comes through, rewrite the text into your internet search bar. Many scams use similar verbiage and language. Users often share mass scams to warn other potential victims.
• Block phone numbers that leave suspicious voicemails or send texts with unexpected promotions and links.
• Do not click on any links you receive via text or email that you are not expecting or do not come from a familiar source.
• Hang up if someone calls you asking for your birthday, address, Social Security number, or banking information. If the person on the other line tells you they are from your credit card company, ask which one and hang up. Then, call the number on the back of your credit card — if they have no record of contacting you, report the scam immediately.
• Be skeptical of any contractor or company that requires payments in full before the job has begun or is complete. If they want a full cash payment as opposed to accepting credit cards or checks, do not agree to the terms before you’ve done more research.
• If you receive an offer that requires you to pay for a prize, throw it in the trash. You should never have to pay for a free prize, even if the cost is just shipping. These are most likely scammers attempting to get more information from you, such as checking account information or a credit card number.
• Contact local shops to troubleshoot tech problems. If you are unsure what to do with pop-ups, windows, or warnings on your screen, contact a local computer repair shop and ask them to walk you through the safest next steps. You may also do a Google search and call the company that is supposedly alerting you of a problem with your computer, such as Microsoft, who would handle any Windows-related problems via phone at 1-800-MICROSOFT (1-800-642-7676).
• No matter how much information an unfamiliar person or organization may or may not have, do not give them any more. A simple Google search can provide any internet user with your private information, from social media pages and public phone listings to voter registration, property records, and beyond.

Federal government scams

The IRS will never contact you via text, e-mail, or social media. How do you know if the IRS is legitimately trying to reach you? According to its website, the IRS typically contacts you via old-fashioned snail mail. The IRS may try to reach you by phone at your home or business, but they will likely contact you by mail first.

Even with physical mail, beware of scams. Double-check the contact information in the mail, or contact your local IRS office. Fraudsters have become extraordinarily savvy and have learned to make decent duplicates of government forms and letters.

Current scams sometimes revolve around natural disasters, like Hurricane Helene and Milton. Such a threat was addressed in a consumer alert that after Hurricane Helen. In it, Attorney General Chris Carr encouraged residents to keep an eye out for various types of fraud. They included home repair, charity and impostor scams.

“As we pray for the families of those who lost their lives and all Georgians affected by Hurricane Helene, our Consumer Protection Division continues to actively monitor reports of potential home repair fraud and other storm-related scams,” Carr said. “By researching a company or contractor, you can help to prevent one tragedy from leading to another. We won’t allow criminals to prey on families or business owners when they’re most vulnerable, and we stand ready to assist those who think they have encountered a scam.”

For more information on scammers’ specific methods of collecting payment, check out the step-by-step guide from Georgia’s Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at consumer.georgia.gov. Numerous resources — including specific websites and helplines — are available for wire transfers, banking apps, credit card companies, and more.