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TYLER — On Wednesday the BBB of East Texas reminded residents to be aware of government impostors. “With COVID-19 cases continue to escalate,” President Mechele Mills says, “just as with any disaster which occurs, the number of scammers preying on your fear and your pocketbook grows along with it.” The BBB is alerting consumers about scammers impersonating government officials who are calling about the anticipated government relief fund checks.<\/p>\n
The swindle takes place when someone calls and says they need your Social Security Number and bank information to start the process of sending the government checks. They then take your information leaving your identity and finances at risk. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Using your emotions against you is a common tactic used by scam artists,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mills said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In every situation, including the current crisis, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to make all decisions based on facts, not fears.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
BBB provides the following tips to prevent falling victim to fake government calls:<\/p>\n
Hang up.\u00c2\u00a0The government will not call to ask for your bank information or Social Security Number. <\/p>\n
Do your homework. Stay vigilant and informed on news regarding the virus. Avoid panic decision making when providing information or when making payments.<\/p>\n
Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay upfront.\u00c2\u00a0No fees will need to be paid before you receive these funds. The government stimulus checks are there to provide you with funding.<\/p>\n
Never give personal information to someone you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know.\u00c2\u00a0 Anytime someone initiates an attempt to get your bank account number, SSN or other sensitive information, steer clear. <\/p>\n
Check your bank statements online.\u00c2\u00a0Don’t wait for monthly statements. If you see something you don’t recognize, call your financial institution immediately.<\/p>\n
Don’t use unconventional payment methods.\u00c2\u00a0Scammers often ask for payment via wire transfer, prepaid card and gift cards. The government will never ask for payment using these methods.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
For more resources on COVID-19, go to\u00c2\u00a0https:\/\/www.bbb.org\/council\/coronavirus\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TYLER — On Wednesday the BBB of East Texas reminded residents to be aware of government impostors. “With COVID-19 cases continue to escalate,” President Mechele Mills says, “just as with any disaster which occurs, the number of scammers preying on your fear and your pocketbook grows along with it.” The BBB is alerting consumers about … Continue reading BBB Alerting Consumers to Be Aware of COVID-19 Frauds<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":817314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-862724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-04 23:10:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=862724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":862729,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862724\/revisions\/862729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/817314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=862724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=862724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=862724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}