PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
ARCHBOLD ROTARY SPEAKER … Jacque Wells (right), Bank Secrecy Act officer for the F&M Bank, told Archbold Rotarians about scams and fraud that frequently target older people by convincing them to send the perpetrator money for any number of reasons. She said some $20.9 billion a year in the United States is lost through Internet crimes with losses related to crypto currency recently exceeding $8 billion a year. The program was arranged by Rotarian Barb Britenriker.
Scams and fraud that target older people are quite common and easy to draw in victims, according to Jacque Wells, the F&M Bank’s Bank Secrecy Act officer.
She told Archbold Rotarians Wednesday, Oct. 7, that once money or information that can lead to a loss of personal savings occurs then it is frequently impossible to recover.
Wells warned that scammers offer opportunities to make money or fix a problem that the victim has just encountered, but they need to act fast. They may ask for personal information such as banking account numbers, birth date or social security number.
The simplest rule to follow, she added, is “if you didn’t initiate the contact, never give the caller personal information or send money.”
Research the company the person represents by calling the company using a telephone number that you look up rather than one the caller gives you to ask if the offer is legit.
Or, ask a trusted friend or family member what they think about what you have been asked to do or send someone before you do it. Don’t make a hasty decision about sending money or sharing information with someone you never met before, she warned.
The scammer’s key to success is to convince you that you have to act quickly, Wells said.
She warned that a call from a distressed relative needing emergency cash may not be what it seems to be. Artificial intelligence is able to generate conversations from recordings of the person, she explained. It’s a good idea for families to have a code word that only the family knows to prove that the caller really is the relative and not an AI generated version of the person.
The Internet has become a preferred way to launch scams with some $20.9 billion a year lost to on-line fraud in the United States alone, Wells said, with on-line dating scams accounting for nearly $547 million.
Scams that involve paying fees up front in order to cash a check that appears to be legitimate should be a red flag, Wells said. Perhaps the fee is to cover taxes on winnings that must be paid before or immediately after cashing the check.
Wells explained that banks post a check to your account immediately after it is cashed, but if they later determine that the check was fraudulent, it is deducted from your account. She said if you wired money to pay the fees, then you have lost “your winnings” as well as the fees that you paid.
Wells encourages persons who think they may have been scammed to call their bank immediately, so that accounts can be protected before withdrawals can be made.