Don’t Become a Victim of Fraud

There’s been a recent increase in the amount of fraudulent activity occurring worldwide. The only way to avoid falling victim to these scams is to BE VIGILANT! Here are a handful of simple actionable things you can do to protect yourself and your family.

• Don’t believe your caller ID. Scammers have found a way to fake caller ID so it appears to be a legitimate call or text.
• Hang up on robocalls. Don’t press any buttons on your phone or ask to speak to a live person.
• Register for the national Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov. While it may not block calls, it can help reduce the volume of unwanted calls.
• Never give your personal information out to anyone without verifying the source first.
• Don’t respond to texts, calls, or emails about checks from the government.
• Double-check the actual email address of all senders. Scammers can pose as a friend, relative, or client of yours by changing one digit in the e-mail address.
• Delete any e-mail that seems suspicious or too good to be true.
• Update your passwords frequently, don’t use the same password for multiple websites and use a combination of Upper Case and Lower Case letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Check your credit card activity frequently (and/or sign up for credit card purchase alerts)
• Monitor your credit score.
• Use a credit card over a debit card whenever possible. Reversing fraudulent charges on a credit card is much easier than it is for a debit card.
• Do your homework when it comes to giving donations. Make sure it’s a credible organization.
• Avoid paper statements for credit cards, banking, etc.
• Keep a shredder handy for important documents.

While this is not a comprehensive list, we feel that it’s a good start in protecting your finances and your identity. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!