Protect Those Who Protected Us
There are not many things that really bother me. I am generally pretty laid back; however, I can not stand when people take advantage of those who took care of us - veterans and/or elders. Unfortunately, they are being targeted more than ever during this holiday season. While we usually see an uptick in scams over the holidays, the financial pressure from Covid has placed additional stress on the lower level criminals who are now becoming increasingly sophisticated.
I have learned through my professional career that the people who tend to be the most vulnerable frequently fall into the categories below:
Elders (especially over seventy)
Isolated from society/lonely (Covid has made us a target rich environment)
Trusting/loyal/generous
Men (romance scams)
Good credit (they are considered better targets)
People that say, “I am not vulnerable. I am too savvy. It won’t ever happen to me.” This demographic is largely male and in their early twenties.
In my opinion, anyone who thinks it won’t ever happen to them is at more risk than anyone. Please do not allow your confidence or identity theft protection services allow you to have a false sense of security. Although I am considered an expert in this area, I have had my identity stolen three times. That was all before I even turned twenty-five.
Thankfully, since it’s what I did for a living, I was able to handle everything on my own; however, a lot of people need costly litigation via an Attorney and credit repair (another large source of scams). Ironically, it can be quite difficult to prove that you did not open accounts and/or make charges. You don’t have the benefit of the doubt in this scenario. You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. Reporting everything to law enforcement and keeping records it critical to your success.
Being attached to the Department of Defense makes you a larger target which is one reason why we need to protect those who protect/protected us. In addition, people will troll job boards with resumes and LinkedIn to find people with security clearances to specifically target.
According to a recent survey done by AARP, veterans are twice as likely to be a victim of scams. Please educate yourself on what these scams look like so you can protect yourself and your loved ones. They aren’t exclusive to military or age either. They take all forms, shapes, and sizes. I will even tell you if I have fallen for any of them. Here is what is currently popular, as they tend to rotate:
Opportunity to refinance Veterans Affairs (VA) home loans at extremely low rates which results in identity theft and/or they are the new owner of your home.
Pose as government agencies in order to access personal information for identity theft.
Offer lump sum payments up front for signing over all their benefit checks. This sounds like a great idea if you need a lot of money or you don’t think you will live very long; however, people don’t get their lump sum “settlements” like they are supposed to.
Create fake charities that target veterans (usually by appealing to their benevolence by “benefiting” other military personnel or first responders). I have been accused of this one because I collect items with my church for deployed troops every October and November. I would rather people be suspicious than freely give without question.
Pretend to be an old friend offering “sure thing” investments. This can happen to anyone and the friend can even be real. Sometimes they are unknowingly a participant. I know so many people this has happened to, it is sad and it usually hits the same people multiple times because they are always chasing the dream of the next get rich quick scheme. They are also particularly vulnerable to pyramids which are illegal in Texas; however, we still have them. They are called MLMs, for multi-level marketing, and operate in a grey area of the law. Generally speaking, if you have to invest in something and you will only advance if you recruit, call it what it is - a pyramid scheme. I have been in three MLMs. I fell for the first hook, line, and sinker right after a divorce when I lost virtually everything. I only joined the other two on the condition that my recruiter would pay my “membership fee” and essentially used it as a discount program to buy their products at “wholesale” prices. I guess you could say, I scammed the scam. I definitely found a loophole to exploit.
Hack/copy a friend’s social media account, say they “lost their wallet”, are “stuck out of town”, and “need cash to get home”. Always ask a question that only that person would know and have them follow up with a call. While it is noble to help a friend, we don’t want to “help” criminals. This happens on Facebook quite a bit and my first question is always, “Please tell me how we met.” If your own friends and relatives don’t know how you met, report the account as fraudulent, block it, and alert the person being impersonated. I also follow up with a post on their profile alerting others.
Pay money to someone in anticipation of receiving something of greater value (e.g., car, additional cash, loan, contract, investment, gift) and then receive nothing in return.
Charity and disaster fraud schemes seeking donations for organizations that do little or no work. I have fallen for this one and I even raised money for them - be careful who you associate with. You can check to see if a charity is legitimate by using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search Tool.
A variation of the charity/disaster scam that is on the rise. It occurs when there is an event that has happened which triggers someone to open an account like Gofundme. Criminals will often take images of people from the web, copy details from the media, and set themselves up as a beneficiary after the fundraiser ends. Please make sure that the account you are donating to has been approved by the beneficiary. For example, Jon and Jane are married. Jon gets Covid and suddenly passes. Their eldest daughter, Sally, sets up a Gofundme to benefit her mother in order to offset funeral and medical expenses. Jon’s death was sudden and tragic. Everyone loved him, so it made the evening news and is all over social media. The criminals get the details of his passing, find a photo, establish a Gofundme in his honor benefiting his bride, but after they have reached $10,000 they stop accepting donations, close down the account, change the beneficiary, and transfer all of the money out to themselves. Jon’s family doesn’t see a dime. All the kind people that thought they were helping were likely funding criminal industries instead.
Prepaid funeral services vary from state to state, providing a window of opportunity for unscrupulous operators to overcharge expenses and list themselves as beneficiaries.
Nigerian letter fraud, or “419” emails and letters, can come from anywhere. They combine the threat of impersonation fraud with a variation of an advance fee scheme where a letter is mailed, or emailed, commonly from Nigeria. They offer the recipient the opportunity to share in a percentage of Millions of dollars they are attempting to transfer. Usually, they ask the victim to “pay the taxes or transfer fees” and will they “will be rewarded later” with all of their investment plus a substantial amount of cash as a reward/payment for their assistance. This scheme is so popular in Nigeria that they have internet cafes that cater to it where men sit and send emails all day. It is a job to them. In contrast, it is a female dominated industry in Jamaica, but they usually work from home.
Online vehicle sale fraud is on the rise. The consumer is asked to either pay an exorbitant amount to have the vehicle transported or pay in full without ever seeing the vehicle because it is states away. The criminals generally use fraudulent online classified advertisements, offering vehicles for sale that they haven’t ever even seen, much less owned. Then, the victim is left without their cash or a car.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware, that prevents you from accessing your computer files, systems, or networks and demands you pay a ransom for their return. The new spin is that they will say that they will send your confidential files to your contacts, so if you have something on your computer that you don’t want someone to see…. I have gotten these, but I don’t have anything to hide and I don’t negotiate with terrorists. They can have the crime watch stuff! Maybe they will learn something. ;) The problem is that if we pay them, it perpetuates the cycle. Then, you are at their mercy forever.
Reverse mortgage scams are engineered by unscrupulous professionals in a multitude of real estate, financial services, and related companies to steal the equity from the property of unsuspecting seniors or to use these seniors to unwittingly aid the fraudsters in stealing equity from a flipped property (investment).
Wrap loans are also a dicey area. They are technically legal and replaced the assumption mortgages when they were banned in Texas; however, with a wrap you are “selling” your home, moving out, and the mortgage is still in your name while the buyer/investor pays the mortgage as they do renovations in preparations to sell it for a substantial profit. The buyer/investor is essentially using the seller/owner’s credit to flip the property. If they don’t make a payment, it goes against your credit, and you don’t get the house back. Legal, yes…. Smart? No. People exploit the loopholes. There is little risk for the buyer/investor because it is placed on the seller/owner. They often target people that are older because they tend to have been in their homes longer which means several things:
They have more equity
Their payments are significantly lower because they bought the home at a fraction of its current value
The homes need costly repairs and the owners tend to be on a fixed income and unable to make them
They can take advantage of their tax exemption status(es)
They are also able to avoid costly closing costs and PMI. When everything is to the advantage of one party, to the detriment of the other, it is a red flag that can end in a foreclosure. In these circumstances, they usually pay the owner/seller $1,000-$5,000 to move out for a house. They generally do not work with Real Estate Agents who are professionals that protect your interests. They often have established relationships with people in your area who have lived there a while or work for a government entity or the HOA (trash, police, code enforcement) who are aware of high-risk properties that are paid a $500 commission for each sale.
Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic relationship to manipulate and steal from the victim. It is so popular that there is an MTV television show about it called Catfish that has been on the air since 2012. Even people that aren’t “typical” criminals are pulling this scam. It is particularly cruel due to the emotional aspect since the victim often has feelings of love or affection for the perpetrator who frequently doesn’t even exist at all - much less return their feelings. Sometimes there are women from cam sites, chat lines, fan sites, and other sources that use their real images; however, they portray the victim’s fantasy woman and the romance is conditional on remuneration. Some men pay hundreds of thousands a year to these women without ever meeting them.
Always, ask questions. If someone is legitimate, they should not be offended. If it is too good to be true, it probably is. If something feels “off”, trust your gut. That “once in a lifetime opportunity” can wait while you research and think about it. Talk it over with a trusted friend, family member, or professional advisor. Honest people/companies will not rush you to make decisions that you are uncomfortable with. They will realize that is a poor representation of themselves and their company. Your time and money are worth something. Keep them.
Please look out for one another.
