Greg's Corner

Scam Round Up: Why we keep receiving scam messages and more

By Greg Collier

This week on the Round Up, we’re going to discuss two familiar scams in new clothes, and a look into the scam process itself.

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Our first scam is a good old phishing scam. If you’re not familiar with the term phishing, it’s when scammers send out messages hoping to get personal information from their victims. It’s like the scammers are on a fishing expedition for victims.

Bank information is a big target for scammers, and the latest scam is going after the banking login information of its victims. In Virginia, it’s being reported that residents there are receiving emails that appear to be coming from their bank with official logos and everything.

The emails claim that the bank has a new security procedure in place and provides a link for their users to log in. The link will actually take the victim to a page that looks like the bank’s official login page, but will instead steal the user’s login information.

Never click on any links in an email or text message from someone you don’t know personally. And always check the URL of any page you’re on to make sure it’s legitimate before logging in.

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There’s a new scam circulating on social media where a victim can be promised as much as $1 million. This scam happens when you receive a direct message from a friend who says they saw your name on a list of people who are owed unclaimed workers’ compensation. Except, the friend is actually a scammer who has hijacked your friend’s account. The scammer then tells you to call an ‘agent’ at a certain phone number who can help you. If someone calls the number, not only will they be asked for their personal information, but they’ll be told there will be a payment for the process. This is very similar to the government grant scam, where victims are promised free money. This also known as the advance fee scam. When it comes to things like grants and compensation, you should never have to pay money to get money.

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Lastly, have you ever wondered why you might be receiving scam messages even though you’re careful with your contact information? For example, you may not give your phone number or email address to too many people outside of those in your inner circle. Yet, you still get scam texts, calls, and emails. So, how does that happen?

Scammers always cast a wide net in order to lure in a handful of victims. They cast the widest net by sending their messages at random to any combination of email addresses and phone numbers. If a scammer gets a reply from any one of these millions of guesses, they know there’s a real person at that email address or phone number.