The art of the scam: Fraud is a $5.8 billion business. Here's how to protect yourself

AMHERST — Just minutes before he was scheduled to start a class Thursday on how to avoid costly scams, police Sgt. Brian Bowers' phone chirped. It was a text claiming to originate from Huntington Bank, telling him there was an emergency and he needed to click a link to unlock his account. The catch: Bowers has never been a Huntington customer. "Don't ever click those links," he said, holding his phone up for a group of seniors who gathered at the Amherst Public Library. Most of them said they've been victimized before, even if they weren't bilked out of big bucks. Take Prudy Jefferys of Amherst. She recalled being swindled by someone who claimed to work for Spectrum Cable and promised he could lower her bill. The next thing she knew, she was sending him money. She was lucky. Though there was resistance at first, her bank eventually reversed the charges. Reta Mick, also of Amherst, described how about a decade ago she clicked on a pop-up that claimed her computer was infected with a virus. It locked her computer and held it hostage. "I didn't know what I was doing," Mick said. "I just knew it seemed important, and that I needed to do something." Older residents are the favored targets for scammers, Bowers said. But the truth is they'll go after everyone and anyone, playing a numbers game they hope will pay off. There's been a sharp uptick lately in scams that go after impressionable teenagers, many who just got their first jobs and are learning to handle money, he said. They're especially vulnerable to scams that proliferate on social media, selling items at prices that are too good to be true. Even Amherst police Chief Mark Cawthon recently got a threatening call from a scammer who threatened to have him arrested if he didn't make an immediate payment over the phone, Bowers said. "He got a good laugh out of that" and hung up quickly, Bowers said. The Federal Trade Commission says it received 2.8 million fraud reports from consumers in 2021, with losses of more than $5.8 billion. That represented a 70 percent increase over fraud tracked by the FTC in 2020. The most common traps involved promising prizes, sweepstakes and lottery winnings, internet services and business and job opportunities, according to the federal agency. Consumers reported losing $2.3 billion to "imposter" scams that involve fast-talking, high-pressure demands to send money, usually through wire services or gift cards. They come from people pretending to be bankers, Nigerian princes, Amazon account managers or even police officers — the Lorain County Sheriff's Office has repeatedly warned of calls made by scammers claiming to be deputies and threatening arrest if payment isn't made right away. "Obviously that's not how it would work," Bowers said. Law enforcement isn't going to wipe warrants clean by taking payments over the phone. If there really is a warrant, officers will either knock on your door or handle it when you get pulled over for a traffic violation, he said. The same goes for the Internal Revenue Service. It's not going to text or email to try to collect unpaid taxes, Bowers said, and local police wouldn't be sent to your door for tax-related arrests. Another increasingly common ruse is the "Romeo scam," he said. It's run by someone who kindles romances, usually via social media, worming their way into the hearts of lonely folks until they open their bank accounts. But the most common scam is good old-fashioned high-pressure telemarketing fraud. Bowers recalled a case he worked early in his career, in which a woman was hooked and made payment after payment after payment in pursuit of a "free" car. She lost more than $70,000 by the time the scammer had wrung her dry, Bowers said. "Her kids had to take power of attorney over her because she just kept falling for it every time (the scammer) called," he said. His advice: Don't buy from unfamiliar companies. Beware of fake websites. Don't pay in advance unless you're dealing with a trusted, reputable business. Take time to make decisions. Never respond to an offer you don't understand. Don't agree to keep conversations secret. Don't make payments by wire service or via gift cards. Think twice if a caller claims to be a relative and is asking for money to bail them out of an emergency. Call other family members to verify the story. Don't click on pop-up ads online. Don't click on any unsolicited internet link. Doing so may give access to your digital device and sensitive information, but it also alerts scammers that they found an active number or email address, and they'll start contacting you more often. Don't answer calls from private numbers. Don't give out credit card or banking account information over the phone, unless you were the one who called a trusted business such as your doctor's office. Be wary of door-to-door scams. Many cities, including Amherst, require salespeople to register and get a permit to solicit.That requirement does not apply to the media, religious groups, most nonprofits and companies offering free services such as estimates, however.Bowers said Amherst police buckled down on door-to-door scammers hawking "high-quality cleaner" earlier this summer — it turned out it was just expensive, watered-down Windex, he said. Credit-rating companies are required to provide a free check once per year, so use it. Bowers said it may reveal that an identity thief has used your personal information to open a loan in your name. If you discover a loan that's not yours, call the lender to file a dispute, notify the credit bureau in writing and be sure to file a police report to protect yourself. "Just come up to the police department. We'll get you pointed in the right direction," Bowers said. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.