Page 17 - Senior Scene Magazine December 2017

Avoiding Fraud
By Jason ValaVanis, CFP®, ChFC
(321) 956-7072
The American Journal of Public Health reported that between 30% and 40% of all American seniors have fallen victim to fraud in one way or another during their lifetimes. And, alarmingly so, these statistics are getting even worse with the increase of internet hacking, identity theft, and electronic nancial exploitation.
20 years ago, it was relatively rare to see electronic theft. But today, it is so prevalent that many services are be- ing sold to help us prevent becoming a victim. Sadly though, most of these services are a waste of money. With a little common sense and a few hours a year, you can become your own police department.
Shockingly, seniors exposed to fraud in any given year is 1 in 18, the Journal reported. This is about a 5.5% chance that you will get scammed in the next 12 months. Yikes, Batman! These numbers are growing annually, even though we are supposedly getting smarter – go gure! Here are two of the most frequent forms of fraud that seniors fall victim to:
1. EMAIL PHISHING SCAMS
Here, scammers will send an email requesting validation of your account pro les, a noti cation of your supposed lottery winnings in another country, or pleas for money to help a relative who’s in trouble. Whatever you do, NEVER click on anything inside one of these emails. Once your curiosity wins over and you click, you are likely exposing your entire computer to a hacker. You MUST delete that email and perma- nently block that sender’s domain from ever reaching your email server again. Almost all email servers have this fea- ture. If yours does not, consider switch- ing to Google Mail.
2. IRS TAX SCAM ALERTS
Here, scammers will telephone you
or maybe use email, cloaking as an IRS agent. They will be VERY persuasive. They are trained & convincing actors that claim you have underpaid your Federal Income Tax, but they promise
a quick solution if you pay with your credit card or give them your checking account and routing numbers. This aggressive and sophisticated scam tar- gets taxpayers, and most recently, new immigrants. Callers claim to be employ- ees of the IRS, using fake names and bogus IRS identi cation badge num- bers. They may know a lot about their targets, and they usually alter the caller ID to make it look like the IRS is calling.
Victims are told they owe money
Senior Scene® | December Issue
to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. Victims may be threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting. Or victims may be told they have a refund due to try to trick them into sharing private information. If the phone isn’t answered, the scammers of- ten leave an “urgent” callback request.
I mentioned only two popular scams, but I could go on for hours. The lessons here are evident: BE AWARE and BE SKEPTICAL. We all know the old adage: “If it seems too good to
be true, it probably is too good to be true.” Scams like these come in many, many forms, so always be vigilantly sus- picious. If you feel you have been ex- posed to a scammer, the rst thing you need to do is call the local police. Even if you are mistaken, you are proving to yourself that you have the resolve to take action and protect yourself from becoming a victim.
Jason ValaVanis is a Board Certi ed Financial PlannerTM Practitioner and a Brevard Resident his entire life. Jason owns and operates ValaVanis Financial in downtown Melbourne and he spe- cializes in retirement investing. He can be reached at 321-956-7072 for a free, no-obligation consultation. SS
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