How Identity Thieves Are Exploiting Your Trust
Con artists are finding new and unexpected ways to take your money and personal information. Here's what to do about it.
Con artists are disguising themselves as well-known brands to steal your money and personal information. Want to know what to do about it? Kiplinger spoke with Doug Shadel, managing director for Fraud Prevention Strategies, LLC, a Seattle-based consulting firm. He served as strategy director for AARP’s Fraud Watch Network for nearly 20 years.
You’ve been on the front line of fighting fraud for more than 30 years. What has changed in that time? Have we become any better at protecting consumers? There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that over that 30-year period, fraud has gotten precipitously worse. It’s the new crime of the century. The good news is that there are a lot of people focusing on fraud prevention. As recently as 10 years ago, it was hard to get law enforcement interested. Now, stopping hackers, phishing and other scams is all anybody is talking about, and a lot of people are paying attention.
One of the most recent trends is imitating trusted brands, such as banks and major retailers, to trick consumers into giving up personal information. Why is that effective? I’ve interviewed more than two dozen con artists about their strategies, and they all say the same thing: Gain the victim’s trust, get them “under the ether” and create urgency. Getting them under the ether — a slang term all the con artists use — means getting people into such a heightened emotional state that they’re no longer thinking rationally. It used to be that the number-one tactic was promising wealth. Now, the vast majority use the fear of loss — they’ll try to convince you that somebody hacked into your bank account or got your Social Security number, for example. Whether they’re saying something too good to be true or too bad to be true, either will get you into the ether state. If you get a text message or see a social media post that causes you to become anxious or nervous, that’s a red flag.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Who is most vulnerable to fraud? With some scams, age matters. For older people, it’s tech-support scams, because they’re uncertain about how to use their computers. But I spent 20 years looking for a magic demographic description that makes people vulnerable, and I couldn’t find it. The closest we could come was people who had experienced stressful life events. The really skilled con artists spend the first conversations looking for the victim’s Achilles’ heel — the loss of a child, for example — to ratchet up the ether.
Con artists often use social media to scam people. How can we protect ourselves, short of leaving social media altogether? On Facebook, make sure you’ve adjusted your privacy settings so that only close friends and relatives can see what you’re posting. We’ve surveyed people about whether they’ve changed the privacy settings on their Facebook account, and 40% say, “What’s a privacy setting?” Lots of people belong to Facebook groups, and you trust people in the group because they’re your peers. That leads to what’s known as affinity fraud. Anytime somebody reaches out to you out of the blue, whether it’s from your Facebook knitting group or your bank, it’s a red flag.
What are the most-effective ways to shield yourself from fraud outside of social media? If you use a peer-to-peer payment app, never send money to someone you don’t know. Update antivirus software on your devices, freeze your credit, and use call-blocking tools to prevent scammers from contacting you by phone. As artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated, you need to reduce the likelihood you’ll be targeted, because AI makes it increasingly difficult to detect who is a fraudster and who isn’t. AI can make somebody in the Philippines sound like a sheriff in Texas. If they can’t reach you, you don’t have to worry about that.
Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.
Related Content
To continue reading this article
please register for free
This is different from signing in to your print subscription
Why am I seeing this? Find out more here
Block joined Kiplinger in June 2012 from USA Today, where she was a reporter and personal finance columnist for more than 15 years. Prior to that, she worked for the Akron Beacon-Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. In 1993, she was a Knight-Bagehot fellow in economics and business journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has a BA in communications from Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va.
-
Earn Delta SkyMiles Worth Up to $1,800 with an AMEX Business Card
Delta SkyMiles and American Express offer 150,000 on business credit card for new cardholders.
By Ellen Kennedy Published
-
How to Help Your Kids Without Ruining Your Retirement
Here are some general considerations to ensure the gift of assets to your kids will not negatively affect your financial future.
By Mario Hernandez Published
-
Your High-Yield Savings Account Is About to Look Less Appealing
High-yield savings accounts are about to pull less of a punch. Here's a look at what to do with your savings once interest rates drop.
By Kim Clark Published
-
Ease on Down the Road to Retirement
Want to keep working, just not as hard? A phased retirement may just be the answer.
By Kimberly Lankford Published
-
You Should Be Investing in a 529 Now for Your Kids' or Grandkids' Tuition
Learn how to maximize investing in a 529, a state-sponsored college education savings account for qualifying educational expenses.
By Emma Patch Published
-
Retirees are Getting Into Camping — Here's How You Can, Too
A guide to camping for retirees, as older Americans are increasingly trying out the unique time outdoors.
By Yvette C. Hammett Published
-
How Inflation, Deflation and Other 'Flations' Impact Your Stock Portfolio
There are five different types of "flations" that not only impact the economy, but also your investment returns. Here's how to adjust your portfolio for each one.
By Kim Clark Published
-
How to Help Your Kids With Finances When They Move Back Home
For millions of older parents, the nest is as crowded as ever.
By Ella Vincent Published
-
Is Identity Theft Protection Worth It?
Should you consider identity theft protection? Monitoring services can help you spot red flags quickly, but they won’t stop criminals from targeting you.
By Sarah Brady Published
-
What's Happening with Frequent Fliers in 2024?
Bargain airfares are back, but use your frequent-flier miles before they lose value.
By Sandra Block Published