I've been caught shaking my head lately by some people's naiveté. It seems that every day or two in the paper or in the newspaper, I read another scam story. Some person, usually a senior, has wired thousands of dollars to a friend or family member in need. Or to claim a major lottery win.
The problem is, there was no friend or family member. There was no lottery win. There was a scammer in another state or country that preyed upon the gullible person. And he or she let them. Walked right into it. Withdrew money and went to the location and wired the money to a name he or she didn't recognize. Without questioning. Without checking. And that money is gone.
I have to admit, my emails' inboxes are full of garbage. Garbage that if I didn't get much mail, I might think twice about. A phishing scheme from an email that looks a lot like my bank. An occasional email from someone who has hacked a friend's email and says she's in Europe and needs help. A veteran in Iraq that needs my help for banking services.
The news stories, Better Business Bureau warnings and notes on Facebook warn people every day. Does it make sense? If you have any question at all, don't do it. Don't wire money to someone you don't know. Don't wire money to your friend in Europe without checking to see if she left the area. Don't ever send money to collect a lottery winning (first question, did you play the Canadian lottery? You can't win something you didn't play). An inheritance from someone you've never met? How did that veteran get your email? Yes, you were spammed.
Some of the schemes come by phone. And while much of my generation screens calls, much of the older generation does not. So when someone calls and tells them their grandson is in trouble with the law and needs bail money and doesn't want his parents notified, the grandparent jumps into protection mode. Even if he or she didn't talk to the grandson. Even if the caller never mentioned the grandson's name. And even if he or she didn't question the grandson's whereabouts with another relative. The grandparent wires $1,200 to the "friend" who is trying to get help for their grandson. And maybe another $500 when there is a secondary problem.
If you have senior parents, even if you think they are extremely cautious, tell them about these scams. Explain what phishing is. Tell them never to wire money without checking with a family member. Tell them about hacked emails. Don't laugh about their lack of technical knowledge about spam -- protect them.
No comments:
Post a Comment