Scam Alert: Crooks are using new methods to separate you from your cash

Your cell phone rings.  You don’t recognize the number, but you answer it anyway.  Someone says, “Can you hear me?”

If you get that call, do not answer yes.  That simple ‘yes’ could mean a crook is about to go on a shopping spree with your cash.

Matt Ritter, senior vice president and chief information officer at Clear Lake Bank & Trust Company, explains the “say yes” scam is the latest to hit the phone lines and sadly the public is falling for it.

“Phone scams have been going on for a while, but we are seeing it more and more and want to do everything we can to educate people about the dangers out there,” said Ritter.  “The old saying holds true— if it’s sounds too good to be true, or if they are telling you that you have won a lottery or contest you never entered, it’s a scam.”

In the “say yes” scam, the caller will record the person saying yes and then splice the yes onto a sales pitch to prove a purchase was authorized.

Ritter said even he has received suspicious phone calls.

“I have stopped answering phone numbers I don’t know.  If the caller leaves a message, I’ll call back.  But chances are that a person working a scam won’t leave a message.”

At this time of year Ritter said it is common for phone scammers to claim to be from the Internal Revenue Service.

“They say you owe, and if you don’t pay you will be arrested,” he explained.  “They may ask you to buy gift cards and they will count

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as payment.  The IRS uses the U.S. Postal System first and they don’t ask for gift cards as payment,” he said.

Other common scam tactics include receiving more than you asked for when selling something on the Internet.  The buyer will then ask the seller to wire back the difference in funds.  Meanwhile, the check the seller received is bogus.

The “Tech Support Scam” is another popular fraud.  This could occur by phone, email, or even pop-ups on your computer.  Someone claiming to be from Microsoft or Apple will inform the user that they have detected their computer is running slow, or has a serious virus, and they need to access it to clear it.

“They may ask to connect to your computer and you don’t know what they are doing once they have that,” said Ritter.

Those who spend time online may also be tempted by two-week trial offers for products.  Those often require credit or debit card numbers and can be fraudulent.

“We have red flags we watch for at the bank,” said Ritter.  “The sad part is that people sometimes fall prey to these scammers and are reluctant to admit what has happened.  People should never give out debit, credit or bank information.

A 2015 survey conducted by Microsoft revealed that 3.3 million people have been the victim of the Tech Support Scam resulting in the loss of $1.5 billion dollars.  Those who believe they have been  victim of identity theft or fraud should contact the police department.

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