Jul 14, 2017
Summertime in Scam City
Scammers don’t take summers off. In fact, some scams ramp up during the summer, particularly those geared toward vacations or travel. Don’t let your family fun be ruined by these summertime scams.
Hotel Stays– You’re awakened at night by a call from the front desk saying there’s a problem with your credit card, so please reread the number. The scammers hope you’ll do something half-asleep that you’d never do wide-awake: give out card info to a caller.
Taxi/Car Services– Drivers will unload your bags at the airport in a rush, then speeds away – with the last bag. Sergeant Jerry MacDonald of the Las Vegas Police Department has seen plenty of this: “They’ll snatch your luggage faster than you can blink.”
Text Phishing– This is incredibly common year-round, but bears revisiting. Scammers send a text message, supposedly from your bank, asking you to visit a website that requests personal details to “unlock” or “verify” your account. Never follow a link you’re not sure about.
Mobile Wallets-David Dewey, research director at Pindrop Security, says scammers thwarted by chip-embedded cards have turned to mobile wallets, tapping into accounts through Apple, Samsung and Android Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, and others. With new technologies come newer scams. Check your credit card statements carefully.
Whatever your circumstances, if you get a call or email asking for money or personal information – stop. Just hang up. You’ll remember your summer much more fondly.