It seems that scams are more rife than ever right now, and we all need to be alert to them. They are definitely becoming more sophisticated too; as technology evolves, the scammers devise ever more cunning methods to trick us. But there are lots of things we can do to keep ourselves and our money safe. Knowing how to protect yourself and others from scams is something we all need to learn more about.
Whether scammers are using traditional methods such as calling you and claiming to be someone else, such as your bank or other services, or using more updated methods such as AI voice cloning or deepfake videos, anyone can be targeted. Because of this, Chums have launched a campaign to help educate and protect people from scams, especially those that target the over 60s.
First, I’ll share with you a story of how I almost fell victim to a scam. Now, I consider myself fairly savvy, but I was caught on the hop and in a fluster. I was at work in the TV gallery, about to go on air with the regional news. (My job was to keep the programme to time.) My phone rang and it was displaying as my credit card company – they’d legitimately called me before so I really thought it was them.
A man said he was from the fraud team and someone was trying to make a purchase on my card. He went on to say that a security code had been sent to my phone and I needed to read it out. I’ll admit, a warning bell went off in my head. In hindsight, he sounded slightly aggressive but I was very pressed for time and thinking about the looming live broadcast.
Despite my better judgement, I read the number out, getting it wrong at first. His tone became more stern, asking if that was correct. I then read it out correctly and that was that. Immediately, I knew I’d made a big mistake, I was so cross with myself. I had just enough time to call the number on the back of my credit card and explain to the very lovely lady who answered, what had happened, and that I was working on a live programme with about two minutes to spare!
She was very understanding and helped assuage my feeling of embarrassment at being so gullible. To my relief, she informed me that an attempt to purchase a Louis Vuitton bag in London had been blocked and my card cancelled. Feeling rather shaken but enormously grateful to the credit card company, I plonked myself down in my chair and finished my shift at work.
When I thought about it afterwards, I realised that if I’d had more time to stop and think, I probably wouldn’t have fallen for the trick. It was an important lesson to always stop and think when confronted with this type of situation. It’s a bit like those hard sell marketing tactics that offer time-limited special offers. They apply pressure to panic you into making a snap decision.
My experience is just one of the many pitfalls to be aware of. There are countless others, from phishing emails, bogus calls to fake online shops. Almost everyday I find an email purporting to be from someone in Burkina Faso or Nigeria offering to deposit millions of dollars into my bank account. That’s an easy scam to spot, but there are other more sophisticated ones.
If you receive a suspected phishing email, click the report button on the email. DON’T click on any links within it. Some of these emails replicate the logos of banks and retail companies; one giveaway that it’s not genuine is if the email address looks misspelt or contains an unusual character. A gmail address is a definite red flag! With the increase in cyber attacks targeting big high street retailers recently, it’s even more important to be vigilant. If there’s a chance that your personal data has been compromised, change your password. Phishing texts are also common, often pretending to be from a delivery service such as Royal Mail or DPD.
With so many online accounts, remembering passwords can be a real problem. It’s tempting to use the same one for everything, but that leaves you vulnerable to having your personal data stolen. Turning on Two-factor authentication (2FA) is recommended. Two-factor authentication is a security measure that requires two different forms of verification to access an account. One factor is typically something the user knows, like a password, and the second is something the user has, such as a code sent to their phone or an authenticator app. This adds an extra layer of protection making it much harder for unauthorised users to access an account, even if they know the password.
You don’t even necessarily need a mobile phone to enable two-factor authentication. Some organisations allow you to use an email address, landline number or a separate device, such as a card reader for online banking. My mum has one of these which I use to help manage her accounts.
Older people can be vulnerable to scams as they are often perceived as being less tech savvy. Making older friends and relatives scam aware is vital. My husband and I frequently help and advise our mums when they receive unusual texts and emails. Of course, some are legitimate, but we always say that it’s better to check.
Scams can have a big impact, even if they aren’t successful. They can leave people feeling vulnerable, frightened and less confident. Where they do succeed, victims of personal fraud often feel ashamed, gullible and think they’ve been foolish. It’s important to remember that anyone can become a victim of personal fraud and if you do it’s not your fault.
This is a collaborative post
Recently, someone used my husband’s debit card number. He’s never used it as we use only two credit cards. We had a debit card hacked a number of years ago so we don’t use them. I called the bank, cancelled that card, and had new ones sent out. It makes me wonder if someone near him had the technology to scan his card through his wallet. It is awful how older people are targeted because they haven’t grown up with this technology. Thanks for the tips, Emma!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
It’s extra worrying when you don’t know how it happened because you feel a bit helpless to stop it happening again. You can get some special security wallets that prevent the contactless technology. My mother-in-law was looking into getting one because she’s concerned about that happening to her.