Just about everywhere you turn these days, you hear about some poor unsuspecting person being scammed.
That is an outright shame.
Anyone can get scammed these days. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how much education you have. Anyone can be tricked.
My son was scammed and lost his entire life savings. He was just a young man at the time and it devastated him.
He thought he was talking to Revenue Canada on his cell phone and thought it was a legit call. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
As a parent, I wanted to strangle the perpetrator. I did everything I could to support my son and his young family.
We held a fundraiser and set up a Go-Fund-Me page for him because the scammers took everything right before his second son was about to be born.
I wanted to scream!
Now I educate whoever will listen. Scam artists come in all shapes and sizes and are from every country, even your own. They are lurking, ready to pounce on the next victim.
Don’t let it be you!
DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE
We’ll start with cell phones.
Don’t feel like you need to answer the phone just because it’s ringing or buzzing in your pocket. Yes, it might be important, but it might also be a scammer.
If you don’t recognize the caller, don’t answer it. If it’s important enough, the person who is calling will get in touch with you some other way.
The moment you answer that call, you are at risk.
If it is a scammer like it was for my son, they caught him during an inopportune time. He was busy. They didn’t let him get off the phone. They threatened him.
They scared him.
They used scare tactics that seemed very real. They play games with your head and make it all seem believable.
If you don’t think it could ever happen to you, take a look at the Go-Fund-Me pages under scams. There are hundreds of people that thought the same thing.
Some of those stories are the saddest stories I’ve ever read. People from all walks of life and educations are embarrassed that it happened to them. They lost everything!
It can happen to anyone.
To prevent it from happening to you, put protective measures in place. Be proactive so the scammers can’t get a foothold.
Don’t even give them an inch.
If your phone says no-name, no-number on the call display, don’t answer it. Let it ring. I know that’s hard to do, but let it ring.
I do this all the time and I’ve never missed an important call from those I love. Like I said, if it’s important, the caller will find another way to get in touch with you.
And what’s with the no-name, no-number anyway? You’re friends and family should all be listed on your call display so when they call, you know it’s them.
Pay for call display.
Cell phone plans usually come with call display so there is no need to risk taking a call from an unknown person who could mean you harm.
Then there are landlines. Scammers love them but can get you no matter what kind of phone you have.
People think getting rid of landlines is the answer because the only calls they get are from telemarketers.
But I can tell you, they bombard cell phones too. I once got 30 calls from telemarketers in one day on my cell phone. So no, a phone is a phone no matter what kind it is.
Then there are those scammers who spoof numbers and make it look like the call is coming from a familiar place. Don’t be fooled with that either.
If you inadvertently take a call from a scammer, hang up immediately. Don’t feel like you have to hear them out. It’s hard to get rid of them that way and the risk of them scamming you goes way up.
Be rude!
Yes, you heard me. You’ve got to be tough and tell the scammer off, or just hang up without saying a word. Remember, if you give them an inch, they will take a mile.
You don’t want that. You want to stop them in their tracks!
DON’T GIVE OUT YOUR SIN#
Do you know what a scammer can do if they get a hold of your social insurance number? I didn’t until someone explained it to me.
I just never thought about it before. I didn’t know that your social insurance number holds your identity.
I just thought it was a number for income tax purposes.
I didn’t realize if someone gets a hold of your SIN# they could steal your identity. They can literally take over your life.
They can open bank accounts. They can open credit cards. They can assume your identity and make your life a living hell.
There are people who do this for a living. They steal social insurance numbers and live fraudulently every single day.
Don’t think this doesn’t happen. It’s our naivety that gets us into trouble. Protect your social insurance number at all costs.
Don’t even carry it in your wallet with you. If you lose it and it ends up in the wrong hands, you can kiss your life goodbye.
And don’t give the number to anyone over the phone or in an email either.
Be wise!
PROTECT YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
Your bank account is how you live. If you don’t have money in it, you can’t buy food. You can’t pay your bills; you can’t exist.
Don’t give your bank account out to anyone.
If you are an online entrepreneur, there are ways around it. You can get a secondary bank account specifically for online funds.
Once you make money, it gets deposited into that ‘holding’ bank account, and then moved by you to the ‘real’ bank account.
I don’t even like email money transfers. I don’t think they’re a safe practice for transferring money even though I’ve been told they are.
I don’t like emails period. Too many scammers find their way into emails and I don’t trust it. That’s just me, but it’s always good to be overprotective of your money.
I don’t like paying bills online either. I just think it makes you vulnerable to attack. Anything can happen when your banking information is online.
I don’t even put the app on my phone.
I know, I might seem ridiculous to you, but I don’t care. I do it my way, you do it yours. That’s okay. We’re all different.
I’m just talking about potential dangers.
Another risky practice is a cheque. Do you know your cheque says your bank account number right on it?
Many elderly people leave cheques under the door when a business is closed. They feel it’s a safe way to pay their bill after hours. Well, it’s not.
Anyone can pick up that cheque, try to cash it, and steal your banking information. Yes, they don’t have your bank card, but that doesn’t stop scammers.
Scammers can hack a bank account quite easily if they have enough information.
Protect your bank account number at all costs even if it seems silly to everyone else around you.
It’s better to be safe than sorry.
DON’T TRUST ANYONE
I know, this isn’t exactly good advice. In life, there is an element of trust we must have if we want to function in the world.
We can’t distrust everyone. They’re not all out to get us. We would be paranoid to think this way, but even still we have to be aware of potential dangers.
The worst thing in the world is to think that everyone you meet is a good guy. They are not. Unfortunately, that is reality.
Never wear rose-colored glasses.
The ways scammers get you should alert you to taking precautionary measures. Don’t trust a person who calls you from an unknown number.
Don’t trust a person who calls you and says they are from a government agency.
Don’t trust an email just because it says to click a link.
Don’t give out personal information including your credit card on the phone just because someone tells you to. This is especially important for seniors. I wrote another article specifically about that called, Cyber Safety as You Age, for more on that.
For now, just remember you are in control of who you trust.
There are instances where it’s totally okay to be a paranoid person. When it comes to self-protection pertaining to ways scammers gain access to you, it’s perfectly normal to distrust.
ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK
If you’re ever in doubt if something is legit, just get a second opinion.
When scammers stole my son’s lifesaving, they said they were from Revenue Canada. This scam runs rampant in the U.S as well as the U.K. Many have been devastated because of it.
One of their tactics is they hang up saying the police will call immediately after them. Then a so-called constable calls you with a badge number and credentials making it feel very scary and legit.
Their initial call is to advise you that you owe back taxes and make you aware if you don’t pay it immediately you will be incarcerated for tax evasion. They make it seem very believable.
There have been many documentaries done regarding this specific scam. It’s heartbreaking for those people who have fallen victim to it.
Most are embarrassed and never tell a single soul.
My son wanted people to know what happened to him so he could get the message out to prevent anyone else from getting scammed. That’s why I’m telling you this now.
It should be everyone’s concern. Innocent people are being victimized all over the world with this scam and others like it.
The scammers told my son that if he didn’t transfer funds through bitcoin immediately, he would be incarcerated. They told him if he hung up the phone, the deal was off and they were only going to make an exception this one time.
He had to move fast or the police would arrive.
Isn’t that sad? How terrifying to be caught up in something like this. I can’t imagine how utterly afraid my son was. Of course, he wanted to follow the rules because the constable gave a badge number and everything.
He didn’t want to end up in jail just before his baby was born. He was the provider of the family and wanted to abide by the law.
See how believable these dirty rotten scammers can seem? It’s ridiculous that we even have to put up with these kinds of threats, but it is the way it is.
Scammers are there waiting, lurking, ready to pounce.
Make sure they don’t pounce on you.
Protect yourself and always get a second opinion. Hang up immediately even if they say the deal is off if you do.
Don’t believe it. They are conning you!
Hang up. Call the police immediately or better yet, go down to the police station yourself. Sometimes these scammers spoof numbers.
When you hang up, they somehow stay on the line and make it seem like you’re talking to the place you called, when in reality, it’s still them.
Hang up. Wait a while. Think about it. Use a different phone, or head to the police station to ask questions.
When you do, the police will inform you it was a scam.
REPORT IT TO THE POLICE
If you feel like you’ve just been scammed, report it to the police immediately. Go down there and fill out a report.
If the scammers took your money through a bitcoin machine, it’s untraceable. They know that. No legitimate government agency would ever ask you to go through a bitcoin machine even if it’s supposed to be the most secure way of transferring money.
It’s untraceable. That means the police can’t trace where your money ended up.
They can’t get your money back for you, unfortunately, but they can forewarn others and gather information to take them down.
There are task forces set up to investigate and take down these perpetrators.
Banks can’t refund money that was willingly taken out by you. Unfortunately, they don’t insure funds that way.
They only insure funds taken out fraudulently by someone else. If you take your own money out and send it to a scammer through a bitcoin machine or email money transfer, there is nothing they can do.
That is sad.
That means the scammers won.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I just want to say how incredibly sorry I am if you were a victim of a scam. Nobody should ever have to go through something like that.
We shouldn’t have to feel afraid to live our lives.
When something like this happens to someone you love, it becomes very real. The threat is real. Scammers are pouncing on their next victim even as we speak.
Don’t let it be you.
Take safety precautions. Don’t answer the phone if you don’t recognize the caller. Don’t feel you have to carry out a conversation with them to be polite.
Be rude and hang up in their ear.
You don’t owe them anything, not your courtesy, not your information, nothing. Just hang up especially if you’re in doubt. Hang up and get a second opinion.
You have that right!
Don’t give your social insurance number out to anyone. Don’t even carry it with you. Your identity can be stolen if that number ever falls into the wrong hands.
Protect it at all costs.
Don’t give your bank account number out to anyone. Don’t give your credit card information out over the phone or through emails either.
Be wise.
Report any questionable phone calls or emails to the police immediately. There are scammers waiting everywhere you turn.
Always be cautious.
Your life and wellbeing depends upon it!
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Author Kathleen Morris
Kathleen Morris is a successful published author, blogger, and Youtuber. She enjoys writing about things she’s passionate about and making a difference in the world.