As usual, when a natural disaster happens and the majority of the country band together to get through it, there are always one or two who attempt to profit from the disaster. Most of the time, the attempts at profiting are fraudulent.
The pandemic and shutdown began in March of 2020 and sadly, this disaster has been no different. The fraudu lent vultures still came out in full force, circling around the victims of a dying economy.
Some of the scams focus on the people who were hit extremely hard by the pandemic. These scams prey on victims who are hoping to find goodness in the ones offering “assistance.”
The main on of those scams claim to be a charity looking for donations for COVID relief, or even hurricane relief. In light of the hurricanes that struck southern Louisiana and her neighbors, people were flocking to make donations for assistance. The scammers felt this and tried in every way possible to cash in on that feeling of charity.
Other COVID-19 scams are people calling claiming to have a check in the victim’s name from the government. Then, they request personal information or a fee to issue the victim their check early. The government will not do this.
The scam that tugs at the heartstrings is when the scammer calls and elderly victim and pretends to be their grandchild. The “grandchild” then claims to either have the coronavirus or be in some sort of trouble they need the grandparent to wire money.
Besides pretending to be a sick grandchild is not the only way scammers use emotions like fear to reel a victim in. One scam that has been floating around for a few years is the social security scam. The scammer will inform the victim that their social security number was linked to a crime and their social security number will be blocked. Then, the everso-helpful scammer will tell you that for a small fee, they can help the victim.
Marshall County resident Marcia Jones receives the scamming phone calls often. Just recently, she said she received a call with the scammer threatening to block her social security card after she refused to give the caller her personal information to “verify it was her.”
The Social Security Office sent out a press release stating to never entertain these notions.
“The SSA will never (ever) call and ask for your Social Security number,” the Social Security website stated. “It won’t ask you to pay anything. And it won’t call to threaten your benefits. Your caller ID might show the SSA’s real phone number (1-800-772-1213), but that’s not the real SSA calling. Computers make it easy to show any number on caller ID. You can’t trust what you see there.”
“Never give your Social Security number to anyone who contacts you. Don’t confirm the last 4 digits. And don’t give a bank account or credit card number – ever – to anybody who contacts you asking for it,” it continued. “Remember that anyone who tells you to wire money, pay with a gift card, or send cash is a scammer. Always. No matter who they say they are.”
Another way that scammers attempt to get into the victim’s pockets is what are dubbed as phone scams. The most famous, and annoying one, is the Extended Auto Warranty scam.
These scammers are relentless. They typically call at least 14 times a day and have a computer program that puts the local area code on random numbers. This makes it seem like the victim is getting a local call. Sometimes, the program even clones a real number, so the person’s name pops up on the caller ID. These calls try to push the victim into purchasing overpriced, and often-times useless, auto warranties.
No matter what the scam is, and keep in mind, scammers come up with new and innovative ones on a daily basis, the ftc.gov site gives tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of scam.
According to the site, “Don’t let anyone rush you into making a donation. That’s something scammers do. Some scammers try to trick you into paying them by thanking you for a donation that you never made. Scammers can change caller ID to make a call look like it’s from a local area code. Some scammers use names that sound a lot like the names of real charities. This is one reason it pays to do some research before giving. Scammers make lots of vague and sentimental claims but give no specifics about how your donation will be used. Bogus organizations may claim that your donation is tax-deductible when it is not. Guaranteeing sweepstakes winnings in exchange for a donation is not only a scam, it’s illegal.”
The site also encourages victims to report the scams to FTC.gov/complaint. If a victim is unsure if it is a possible scam, they can also visit that site for a list of current scams circumventing the area.