Protect Yourself, and Your Family from Fraud.

Here at UMassFive we take your security very seriously. That is why we do everything we can to stay informed and to pass along what our members can do to protect themselves from the latest threat. As the COVID-19 pandemic stressed our economy and lives and kept family members at arm’s length, scammers were at work capitalizing on the uncertainty. Whether under the pretense of romance, official IRS or CDC business, or a friend in their hour of need, here are some red flags to look out for and ways to protect yourself:

• Anyone calling or texting and asking you to pay for a vaccine is a scammer.

• As online shopping increases, so do delivery notification scam calls and texts. If you’re shopping online, make sure you create an account, and log-in when making new purchases. This way you can verify shipping and track your order’s status by securely logging in at a confirmed retailer. Any communication coming via text or phone call should not be trusted unless you can verify that the source is a service you signed up for.

• Peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payment apps like Venmo help consumers avoid contact with vendors, but mistakes can be costly: Recently, scammers have been sending large sums of money to people’s accounts, and then requesting the money back while claiming it was sent by accident. Then, once the person has paid them back, their payment will suddenly disappear. If a stranger sends you money, you should wait 48 hours before taking any action to return incorrectly transferred funds.

• Always check on a charity (for example, by calling or looking at its actual website) before donating.

Loneliness has been an additional consequence of the pandemic

Which might explain why romance scams reached a record $304 million in losses reported to the FTC in 2020. That’s up about 50% from 2019.¹ Though it may be difficult to diagnose when you’re falling yourself, family and friends can be a powerful weapon against these cold-hearted scammers:

• If a friend or loved one mentions a new online love interest, ask if they’ve met in person. Alternatively, if you’ve just started talking to someone new, consider telling a trusted friend or family member about your interest. If you feel like you’re explaining a lot about why you haven’t met or even spoken over a video chat, this could be a red flag.

• If you haven’t met in person, and your love interest asks for money, that’s a scam. Period. No matter what story they tell—even if they send you money or gifts first. Romance scammers will often send fake checks knowing that fraud detection can take weeks, and they can get away with your money before your bank can catch on.

• Many romance scammers have very convincing dating profiles that depict active social lives because they’ve stolen a real person’s identity. Try saving some of their photos to your computer and using Google Images’ reverse image search to see if there are any matches.

• Only scammers tell people to send money by gift cards, money transfer, or cryptocurrency. If you or your friend sends any of these, you probably won’t get your money back.

• Report romance scams to the dating or social networking site, and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Anyone who paid a romance scammer should also report it to the gift card, money transfer, or cryptocurrency platform.

   

¹ ftc.gov

General tips to keep you safe online:

Never give out private or personal information—including financial details—unless you initiate contact or can clearly verify the identity of the person or organization contacting you.

Don’t respond to texts or emails coming from a contact you don’t recognize—and don’t click on links or attachments. Instead, if you need to check on your account, type the website address you want to visit into your browser and securely log into your account.

Check for a “lock” icon in the address bar of your web browser before logging in or submitting information to a website. This indicates that the website you are using is secure, and it will look something like this: 

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