Financial Friday: Beware of Scams

Financial Friday, Stetson University
Valrie Chambers, Ph.D., Stetson University professor
Valrie Chambers, Ph.D.

Most people may be good, but there are still people out there who may try to take advantage of your trust, and gullibility. Every year, thousands of people lose money and personal information to scams, both by phone and online.

Here are four scams targeted at college students and quick ways to make sure your family isn’t “had.” As we are in the middle of tax season, the IRS scam tops the list.

1.      The IRS Scam: You receive a call from a scammer pretending to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) who makes persistent demands that you owe money to the IRS and threatens your arrest. The scammer then offers a solution to the problem through immediate payment by money transfer or prepaid debit card. Many scammers target international students as they are more unfamiliar with the U.S. tax system. What to do: Do not give out personal or payment information to incoming calls. If you know you owe taxes or think you might owe them, go to the official IRS website and contact the agency  directly.

2.      The Ransom Scam: In the ransom scam, someone, often with a foreign accent, calls your grandparents and tells them that you traveled with your car or truck and were in an auto accident. You’re okay (or have a broken leg, etc.), but there was some property damage, and you are jailed until the city/state/country is reimbursed for the damage. Supposedly, you asked the caller to phone your grandparent for the money, but please don’t tell Mom and Dad! Please wire the money to a specific foreign bank account. Of course, it’s all lies, but Grandma doesn’t know that and pays. What to do: Tell your grandma that this is happening, and not to fall for it. Bonus – she would love to hear from you.

3.      The Delivery Scam: You receive an email/text from what looks like UPS/FedEx/DHL/USPS that says there’s a package for you, but they’re having problems delivering it to you. In this scam, they may ask you to identify yourself – you know, with your Social Security number, bank account or credit card info. None of this is good. What to do: Don’t click! Take down the information and go directly to the official website. Look for the “s” at the end of “http” and also an icon that looks like a padlock, like in the address bar below. Track through the official sites only.   

4.      The Poser Scam: You receive an email/text from what looks like a trusted vendor, like Netflix. You click on this link and it takes you to the homepage of the vendor, and, without any visible signs, also downloads malware to your device. This malware tracks the credit card information and other sensitive data that you type in for other legitimate transactions, and turns it over to scammers to use or sell to other thieves. What to do:  If you did not initiate the conversation with the “trusted” vendor, don’t click. Type the address directly in the address bar and check for messages, deals, etc.

Professor Valrie Chambers at [email protected] is responsible for the content of this message. This announcement is part of the Financial Friday series. Every Friday, students receive an announcement that is meant to bolster their financial wellness, including preventing financial mistakes, tips for safeguarding their assets including their financial identity and tips on how to critically think about financial decisions that need to be made.