{"id":925946,"date":"2020-09-27T17:21:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-27T22:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=925946"},"modified":"2020-09-28T18:23:42","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T23:23:42","slug":"bbb-dont-fall-prey-to-a-scammer-in-disguise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=925946","title":{"rendered":"BBB: Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fall prey to a scammer in disguise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"TYLER — Halloween is not the only occasion people disguise themselves as someone they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not. Impostor scammers are out in full force all year long. While there has been a decrease in the number of victims so far in 2020 – the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports approximately $300 million in losses \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a 15 percent increase over 2019 numbers. Better Business Bureau serving Central East Texas (BBB) cautions consumers to verify all calls, texts, social media messages and emails from well-known organizations or individuals, particularly if they are requesting payment or personal information.<\/p>\n

Impersonating a well-known brand or someone with authority is a very common tactic used by scammers to gain access to your financial and personally identifiable information. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so important for consumers to know how to recognize and avoid this costly scheme.<\/p>\n

BBB warns consumers about the following common impostor scams:<\/p>\n

Bogus going out of business scam<\/strong>. Be on the lookout for fake ads disguised as COVID-19 related going out-of-business sales. Victims report receiving low quality items or no items at all.
\nGoogle image scam. Use caution before clicking on a link inviting you to view an online photo album. It could be a fraudster trying to access your Google login information. <\/p>\n

Utility impostor scam<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0Utility company impostors claim to be a representative from the local water, telephone, electric, or gas company. In the most common scenario, the fraudster will say a payment is overdue and will threaten to shut off your utilities unless you pay immediately. <\/p>\n

Bogus bank texts<\/strong>. If you receive a text message alerting you of fraudulent activity on your account, never respond with account, pin, or personal information. Instead, call your financial institution to verify fraudulent activity and whether or not they sent you a text message. <\/p>\n

IRS impostor scam<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0There are many ways to tell if a call about tax debt is a fraudulent IRS call. According to the IRS, people with overdue taxes will always receive multiple contacts, including letters and phone calls. They will also notify taxpayers via mail before sending their accounts to a private collection agency. Remember. The IRS will never send you a text message or ask you to make payments via gift card, wire transfer or other unconventional method.<\/p>\n

Emergency scam<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0Also referred to as the Grandparent scam or Family\/Friend scams, this scheme involves the impersonation of a friend or family member in a fabricated urgent or dire situation. These\u00c2\u00a0emergency calls pull on your heart strings and plays on your emotions as they plead for help and money. Verifying whether or not the call is legitimate is easy. Simply hang up and call your family member or friend to confirm or deny the caller\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claims.<\/p>\n

Tech Support scams<\/strong>. This scammer attacks one of two ways. Either a tech support rep calls you at home and offers to fix a computer bug, or a popup warning appears on your screen instructing you to dial a number for help or to give \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tech support\u00e2\u20ac\u009d remote access to your computer. Your computer is then held for ransom until you pay up. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also given someone access to your personal information. <\/p>\n

BBB offers the following tips to avoid falling victim to impostor scams:
\n\u00c2\u00b7Never give out personal information over the phone. If you receive a suspicious phone call, hang up immediately. If it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important, they will leave a message.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00b7Verify information. Ask the representative if you can verify their identity and call them back. Look up the main number for the agency they claim to represent, call and ask to be directed to them.<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00b7Never click on suspicious links. Beware of links in unsolicited emails\/texts or those found in ads on social media sites. Be cautious when using public Wi-Fi, as these networks are not secure. When entering financial or credit card information, be sure that the website is security enabled (https).<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00b7Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make payments using unconventional methods.\u00c2\u00a0Scammers often pressure people into wiring money or by sending funds via prepaid debit cards or gift cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TYLER — Halloween is not the only occasion people disguise themselves as someone they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not. Impostor scammers are out in full force all year long. While there has been a decrease in the number of victims so far in 2020 – the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports approximately $300 million in losses \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a 15 … Continue reading BBB: Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fall prey to a scammer in disguise<\/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-925946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-02 20:48:34","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\/925946","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=925946"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":925950,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925946\/revisions\/925950"}],"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=925946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=925946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=925946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}