A woman receives a phone call saying her nephew has been arrested and urgently needs bail money. They arrange for a “bail bondsman” to come to her house to collect $29,000 in cash.
The following day, after another urgent call, the bondsman again turns up at her house, attempting to collect an additional $10,000 in cash for “bail.”
Instead, he’s arrested.
Mr. Anderson and his co-conspirators often told victims that the money they handed over would be returned to them at a later date, according to court documents.
They also often told victims that “there had been a ‘gag order’ placed on the case requiring secrecy and that the victim could not share the information with others,” the DOJ stated.
About a year ago, Lindy Wise, a web designer and all-around technology aficionado in her 60s, received a text saying her Social Security payments had changed, and if she wanted to see why, to “click here.”
“It was very well done,” Ms. Wise told The Epoch Times. However, at the last minute, she said that something didn’t feel right, and she decided not to click the link.
“You know, when you walk out your front door and you get in your car to go anywhere, you’re walking downtown, you have to be aware of what’s around you and be alert,” Ms. Wise said.
“Now, we have to be just as alert online. I get messages all the time—usually several times a week. And I’m in the tech industry, so I know what to look for, but wow. These guys know the elderly are vulnerable. We’re less familiar with the technology, and our generation is more trusting. Sometimes, we’re alone, and we’re lonely. So, we’re vulnerable to various types of scams.”
CSN is a nonprofit organization that provides training, develops resources, and works within law enforcement and consumer protection ecosystems to help victims recover after they’ve experienced a cybercrime.
“With regard to phone scams ... some examples are a robocall (calls delivering a prerecorded message), text messages (smishing), or just a ‘live’ phone call with a person,” Ms. Armeson said.
“As far as smishing, all of us get those supposed texts from Amazon, or a bank, etc., telling us about suspicious activity that will result in our accounts closing unless we reset our password at the provided link.
“Most of the time, we can tell the link is not official, but if a person is in a hurry or distracted, they may click on the fake link and give their login credentials away. Distraction can really get us into trouble. Scammers know we all get distracted—and those smishing texts are an easy, low-effort way to get people’s information and steal money.”
Ms. Armeson said that while smishing scams are prevalent and often effective, the scams that consumers fall for most often are “imposter scams.”
They’re also some of the most traumatic for victims.
“With enough research and preparation, cybercriminals can very convincingly pretend to be anyone—someone from a government agency, a family member or friend, a potential love interest—especially now that they have generative Artificial Intelligence at their disposal,” Ms. Armeson said.
“We had a romance scam victim who, after reporting the incident, was threatened by the scammer in multiple phone conversations. The scammer said he was going to come to her house to harm her.
“What made this more frightening was that the victim lived alone and was legally deaf. While the police assured the scam victim that the cybercriminal was located outside of the United States and that the victim was not in harm’s way, the victim couldn’t help but be frightened, especially at night.
The Rise of Phone Scams
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 1.2 million complaints about robocalls in fiscal year 2023.
Victims ages 50 to 59 reported losses totaling a little more than $1.8 billion, and nearly 95,000 victims ages 30 to 39 reported more than $1.2 billion in losses.
“The reality is that older adults usually have more money saved [for] retirement, and so they are more ‘profitable’ targets,” Ms. Armeson said.
“A scammer will put more time and effort into a scam if they think they will get more money, so our older population may be hit with more thoughtful or elaborate scams.
“Some of these scams can get pretty complex, and the scammers are good at getting people anxious or scared by saying things like, ‘Your account has been hacked/compromised,’ ‘You owe money,’ ‘You will lose benefits.’”
Ms. Armeson cautioned that while the elderly are increasingly targeted, so are younger generations.
“Perhaps a good way to think about who scammers target is that they target people with some kind of vulnerability,” she told The Epoch Times.
“Many scams target older people who haven’t had the experience with technology that younger populations have. That’s a vulnerability. Other age groups have different vulnerabilities.”
Once the victim realizes that the check isn’t real, they already owe the transferred funds to their bank, and the scammer has their money.
Such was the case for Karl, no last name given, who jumped at the chance at what he thought was a legitimate job—evaluating customer service at retail stores.
“You get this check for $2,950, you text them saying ‘assignment received.’ And then you go ahead and deposit the check in your bank, and you send them [the scam employer] a text saying ‘funds are deposited.’
“You wait until the check is cleared before you go do any shopping—so I figured, well, OK, this is not a scam.”
FINRA said the scammers told Karl to then “quickly go to a series of stores to send money orders totaling $2,600 to specific addresses provided by the company” and to provide feedback.
“Karl’s new employer stressed that he needed to fulfill the assignment as quickly as possible. He was told to keep the remaining $350 for completing the task,” FINRA stated.
However, the check was fraudulent, resulting in Karl wiring $2,600 of his money to the scammer.
Loss of Trust, Money, and a Relationship
These types of scams can cause feelings of shame and guilt, and lead to financial loss. But like Ms. Armeson, Ms. Wilson said romance scams are the most insidious and traumatic.
“The scammer will sometimes build a relationship with the person for months before broaching the subject of helping the victim invest,” Ms. Wilson said.
Ms. Armeson said romance fraud inflicts trauma in two ways.
“The victims deal with a loss of trust and hope. It is often a lonely recovery because people are ashamed to seek help and report the crime. Many victims won’t tell family or friends what has happened to them because they feel so much shame.”
Ms. Wilson said people often assume that the person who was scammed must be “dumb, careless, or gullible.”
“Being scammed does not mean a person is dumb or gullible. It means that a scammer—a criminal—found and used a vulnerability. Scammers have a high level of skills in taking advantage of others with circumstances they create, information available on the internet, and their ability to use psychological manipulation,” she said.
“Each of us needs to keep in mind that absolutely any person can be scammed.
Finding Healing
If someone has been the victim of a scam, Ms. Armeson recommends several specific steps:1. Stop all contact with the individual(s) who contacted you.
2. Save all information or messages about the individual(s) who contacted you in case you need to take legal action.
3. If you provided financial information, such as your credit card number or bank account information, contact your bank or credit card company right away. They may be able to help you cancel the transaction or get your money back.
4. If you sent funds via gift card or money transfer, report the scam to the issuer. They might be able to help you stop the transaction. Find its contact information by visiting its legitimate website.
5. If you provided personal information, such as your Social Security number, you may be at risk for identity theft. Keep an eye on your credit report and financial accounts for any unusual activity, and consider placing a freeze on your credit.
“There is a serious scarcity of information about the emotional impact,” she said. “Believing that they are stupid and feeling a lot of shame is awful when someone first realizes a situation has been a scam.
“I don’t always recommend counseling because that isn’t helpful for everyone. We all find support, solace, and healing in our own ways. At the same time, working with a counselor skilled in trauma healing is extremely helpful to many.”
As for how family members and loved ones can support a scam victim, Ms. Wilson said, “My first and most important advice I would pass on is please do not say ‘How could you fall for that?’
“Your acceptance and kindness are priceless in supporting your loved one.”
“Our peer support program is one of the only resources out there for romance scam victims,” Ms. Armeson said. “Our goal is to provide cybersecurity knowledge, camaraderie, self-empowerment, and post-traumatic growth.
“Unfortunately, romance scam victims often also experience scam revictimization because so much of their information has been stolen by the romance scammer.”
Ms. Armeson said that if someone has been the victim of a scam, even a tiny scam, they’re more likely to be targeted again.
“Cybercriminals have what they call a ’suckers list,'” she said. “The suckers list is an ongoing database of names of people who are good targets for scams or who have been affected by scams in the past.
Protecting Yourself
The types of scams that people should watch for are constantly changing.The best safety practices that people can use to protect themselves from scammers include being skeptical of unexpected calls; verifying caller identity independently; never sharing personal or financial information; not trusting caller ID alone; being wary of urgent or threatening language; implementing call screening and filtering; and always reporting suspicious calls, according to Ms. Armeson.
She suggests that everyone set up a “good cyber defense,” which includes implementing multi-factor authentication; updating privacy settings; activating automatic updates for apps, software, or operating systems; using a password manager or creating strong passphrases; and becoming familiar with the elements of phishing emails.
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