They find out what we need and prey on that and our fears,” said Alexis Abramson, a gerontologist, an Atlanta spokesperson for Comfort Keepers Home Health and author of “Stop Fraud.”
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And the agency has seen 67,000 tax-related scams in just the first half of 2021. The FBI reported a 69% increase in cybercrimes between 20.Īlso on MarketWatch: How much should I invest? | How to Invest: Ep. The Federal Trade Commission received more than 2.1 million fraud reports in 2020, up about 24% from 1.7 million in 2019. Or they say they’re from the Social Security Administration, the IRS or another government agency. Others claim they’re tech support from Microsoft Some of the crooks purport to be from places like PayPal or Amazon There’s currently a rash of similar phishing scams being perpetrated on older adults through email, as well as cons through phone calls and texts. “I felt so stupid, inept and violated,” she said. I said, ‘I think this is a scam, I’m going to call my bank,’ and the man hung up.”ī e sure to read: Worried about Social Security? Panic can lead to bad decisionsĪfter learning the $340 had been transferred to the scammers from her bank account, Deb was mortified. “He then told me I’d have to go to WalmartĪnd buy a $500 gift card to get my money back. This man then had her install an app on her phone. When she saw a $340 transaction come through it, “he told me not to worry about it, that it wasn’t meant for me,” said Deb. “I thought I was really talking to PayPal and they acted like they wanted to correct this,” said Deb. She ultimately became suspicious and asked to speak to a manager.
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Over the next 2½ hours, Deb relinquished her bank account information, Social Security number and several passwords. But I’ve had remote computer work done and they had to have access to help me,” she said.
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“The person was very professional,” she said.Īfter he told Deb they’d need information to refund her money (including access to her computer), “That raised a little red flag. Deb, a retired business owner in rural South Carolina, immediately called the phone number in the email to correct the issue.