REPORT ALL SUSPICIOUS OR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY TO 911

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

IRS TAX SCAMS- Watching Out for IRS Impersonators

We are hot in the tax filing season. Here are some last-minute tips to ensure that you can avoid a scammer and that your personal information remains secure while you file your income taxes.

 

·         File early. OK, it might be too late for this tip during this tax season, but you can think about filing early for next year. The idea is to file your return before cybercriminals have the time to file a fake return in your name and collect any refunds that should belong to you.

·         Use an IP PIN. An Identity Protection PIN is a unique six-digit number that the IRS issues to taxpayers that ask for one. The IP PIN acts as a second method to verify you as you. If your Social Security number has been involved in a data breach, the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) recommends that you apply for an IP PIN. The pin is a number that only you and the IRS know. You should not share it with anyone, and you should guard it like you do for your other sensitive personal information.

·         Enable MFA. This is being repeated by cybersecurity professionals (for some it might be ad nauseum) but it is important to enable Multifactor Authentication for each of your online accounts. The purpose is to deter cybercriminals, who may have harvested your ID and password to any of your accounts, from gaining access to your accounts with only your password. If you did not initiate a login to one of your accounts and you receive a code through a text message or your authenticator app then you should not approve the login. Be aware that there have been cases where hackers have attempted to login to accounts multiple times within a short period of time until the legitimate account holder gives up and approves the login. Also, some scammers try to convince their victims to respond to a code. Never give anyone an MFA code!

·         Watch out for scammers. Scammers frequently impersonate IRS agents or employees. They will contact you via email, text, or phone. Sometimes scammers will also send a letter via mail claiming to be from the IRS. The IRS says that it will not initiate contact via email, text, or phone. It initially contacts taxpayers via the U.S, Mail. In instances where it contacts a taxpayer by phone or a visit at a home or business, the IRS has sent multiple notices via the mail. Also, the IRS will not demand immediate payment to be paid to any other entity than the U.S. Treasury.

 

Red flags to look out for include,

 

·         Requests for data such as bank account information, Social Security numbers, login credentials, or mailing addresses.

·         Communications that try to impose a sense of urgency by scaring you or coercing you into acting right away.

·         Attachments included in any message. Opening an attachment can endanger your computer to malware or viruses.

·         Impersonating tax preparers. Scammers also impersonate employees from TurboTax and H&R Block.  Tax preparers will not initiate contact with you through phone, email, or text message asking for your login information.

 

The danger of scammers impersonating the IRS is throughout the year, not just during the income tax filing season. Keep these tips in mind if you receive an unexpected email, text message, or phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS.

 

 

National Cybersecurity Alliance:

https://staysafeonline.org/resources/tax-time/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=294494209&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8BDIU5Vp2-NZRrQmJAQPwkxZzpaP_qI5FsNzQPaxpeZ7QdlQMFT5nyCMNshIwd7dZrXVF3cybm-pea2ssBoR5xlKng8g&utm_content=294494209&utm_source=hs_email

 

NBC News:

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/s-need-know-tax-season-scams-rcna139839

 

IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scamsconsumer-alerts?s=09

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/tax-scams-how-to-report-them

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 7, 2024

SNOHOMISH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE- Protecting Your Home While You Are Away on Vacation

The latest issue of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office’s crime prevention newsletter, “Partners in Crime Prevention,” is posted. This issue provides tips on how you can protect your home while you are away on vacation.

You can check it out at the following link,


Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office:

https://www.snohomishcountywa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7128

 

 

 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

SCAMS- Knowing How Government Agencies Will Communicate with You

Government agencies have specific ways that they communicate with the public. Often, however, scammers will send emails, text messages, social media messages, or phone calls in mass and see who responds. As part of National Consumer Protection Week (March 3 through March 9) and Slam the Scam Day (March 7) the Social Security Administration is conducting an education campaign about imposter scams that pretend to be from the Social Security Administration. This includes what the Social Security will do and will not do.

Social Security says that it will never:

 

·         Threaten you with arrest or legal action because you don’t agree to pay money immediately.

·         Suspend your Social Security number.

·         Claim to need personal information or payment to activate a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) or other benefit increase.

·         Pressure you to take immediate action, including sharing personal information.

·         Ask you to pay with gift cards, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or by mailing cash.

·         Threaten to seize your bank account.

·         Offer to move your money to a “protected” bank account.

·         Demand secrecy.

·         Direct message you on social media.

 

Social Security also points out that scammers are known to:

 

·         Use legitimate names of Office of Inspector General or Social Security Administration employees.

·         “Spoof” official government phone numbers, or even numbers for local police departments.

·         Send official-looking documents by U.S. mail or attachments through email, text, or social media message.

 

Most governmental agencies will not make initial contact with you through email, text, social media, or with a phone call. And they will not ask for money or your personal information. No matter how dire the person claims your situation is, don’t click on links or return an email, text, or social media message and if they call you hang up. If you want to talk to the agency look up their contact information with a web search.

  

For more information on Social Security imposter scams check out this link,

Social Security Administration:

https://www.ssa.gov/scam/

 

Here is more information about government impersonation scams,

Federal Trade Commission:

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-government-impersonation-scam

 

Here is some general information about National Consumer Protection Week from the Better Business Bureau,

Better Business Bureau:

https://www.bbb.org/all/national-consumer-protection-week-partnership

 

 

 

 

Friday, March 1, 2024

UTILITY SCAMS- Beware of Ads

Most scams that we hear about warn of scammers pushing messages to us through email, text messages, and phone calls where the scammers are actively searching for someone to victimize. Malwarebytes Labs, a company that provides products that secure business and personal computer systems from intrusion, says that it has found a trend of fraudsters using online ads to scam people who are looking for help with their utility bills.

The assumption is that the fraudsters will have an easier time of tricking a potential victim if the victim is searching for help instead of receiving a call out of the blue.

The fraudsters will buy ads that show up on search engines such as Google. So far, the ads are only showing up on mobile phone searches. Malwarebytes found ads taken out by fraudsters masquerading as companies providing a legitimate service and ads by legitimate US entities that have been hacked. When someone clicks on a link in the ads, instead of sending them to a website it prompts them to call a phone number.

By calling the number, the scammer has a chance to control the interaction in their favor. Often, they will threaten the caller and try to scare them into making poor decisions, especially if the scammer is offering help with paying an overdue bill. They can also offer a deal that is too good to be true in paying your utility bill. But to get out of trouble, or receive your deal, you need to act right away.

Malwarebytes lists several domains that appear to be promoting utility scam ads (see the Malwarebytes article below).

Malwarebytes recommends,

 

·         Avoiding any ad that you see in your search results. Most ads are marked as “Sponsored” or “Ad” or similar marking. Malwarebytes claims that malicious ads outnumber legitimate ads.

·         Watch out for ads or people you are talking to on the phone, etc. who try to give you a sense of urgency, such as threatening to cut off your power in a few days or a few hours.

·         Never disclose personal details over the phone.

·         Beware of requests for payment by money transfers or prepaid cards.

·         Contact your bank immediately if you realize that you paid a scammer by wire transfer to see if you can stop the payment.

·         Report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/.

 

If you have been victimized by a utility scam, the AARP also recommends that in addition to notifying your bank and the FTC, that you,

 

·         Contact the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection Office at https://www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint.

·         Contact that Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission at https://www.utc.wa.gov/consumers/consumer-complaints.

 

 

 

Malwarebytes:

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/threat-intelligence/2024/02/massive-utility-scam-campaign-spreads-via-online-ads

  

The following article from AARP lists several ploys that utility scammers use to steal your money,

AARP:

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/utility.html?intcmp=AE-FWN-LIB4-POS13

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

LYNNWOOD POLICE DEPARTMENT- Concerns About Carjackings

In a video released on Facebook and YouTube, Lynnwood Police Chief Cole Langdon has encouraged community members to be aware of their surroundings to curb carjackings. He noted that the police department has received messages of concern from the public about carjackings in the city. He also noted that the department has seen an uptick in carjackings lately.

Chief Cole recommended that as you go about our day, when you are driving, that you remain aware of your surroundings and be on the lookout for any activity that appears unusual. One activity that you can look for is if someone is intentionally following you. He recommended that if someone appears to be following you, to turn down a different street to see if they continue to be behind you.

If you feel you are being followed by a suspicious vehicle, go to a public place, and call 911. Tell the call taker where you are, what your concern is, and ask for an officer to meet you. The officer can check out the area. Chief Cole also emphasized not to feel embarrassed in calling 911. It’s better to ask for help and find out it is a false alarm than to be a carjacking victim.

A final bit of advice from the chief is not to confront the other vehicle but to extricate yourself from the situation.

Note: Carjackings have made the press in the Puget Sound region lately indicating that they are a growing problem in the area. While Chief Cole’s remarks are targeted at the citizens of Lynnwood, his advice is relevant to all of Snohomish County.

  

 

Lynnwood Police Department:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KngZjmed10w

 

Lynnwood Times:

https://lynnwoodtimes.com/2024/02/18/lynnwood-violent-crime-2024/?s=09

Monday, February 19, 2024

SCAMS- Taking Care of Your Mental Health

Being victimized by any crime is not great for a person’s mental health. There often is a feeling of violation and loss when you are victimized by any crime. This is also true with fraud or a scam. But there has not been attention made to the mental negative effects of fraud until recently.

More organizations have been focusing on the mental health effects of scams on victims and have been voicing concerns that society needs to pay attention to scam victims to help them in their recovery from the crime. For example, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) in its 2023 Consumer Impact Report noted that respondents who said that they have contemplated committing suicide as a result of a fraud/scam has doubled between 2020 and 2022 from 8% in 2020 to 16% in 2022. The ITRC notes that as a national average, U.S. citizens who say that have contemplated taking their own lives for any reason is 5%.

AARP through its Fraud Watch Network program has published articles and podcasts that have emphasized the mental health aspects of fraud, their effects on individuals and how to cope.

Part of the problem comes from how society often regards victims of scams. We refer to victimhood as “falling for a scam,” people might say that someone was “duped” by a scammer, or someone might claim that they would not fall victim to a scam. This puts the victim down as not being as smart or intelligent to avoid “falling for” a scam. When in reality, very bright, well-educated people are victimized by scammers.

This thinking does not consider that scammers are in their own way psychologists who use their understanding of human nature to manipulate a victim to give over their money or their identity. The scammer usually plays on the emotions, both positive and negative, of the potential victim to get them to act without thinking. Evidence is mounting that most modern scammers are not individuals pursuing their criminal trade but are part of organizations, some fairly large, that can hand off victims amongst several people playing roles in a sometimes-complicated script.

A 2015 survey conducted by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) found that nearly 2/3 of fraud victims experience at least one non-financial serious cost to a fraud that included either severe stress, anxiety, difficulty sleeping or depression.

The difference with scams is that victims often blame themselves with thoughts that they don’t have good judgment, are too trusting, are embarrassed, and self-blame, and shame themselves. And that is without prompting from the scammer, family, or friends. If their family or friends are not supportive, then the victim can continue a downward spiral, potentially concluding that suicide is the only out. A supportive family can at least help the victim regain confidence and respect. No wonder scammers frequently try to isolate the victim from family in some scams.

A way to recover is to simply let someone know what happened to you if you have been scammed. You can have a sense of relief in letting a close friend or family member know that you were victimized. Also, your story can act as a warning that the scam is being perpetrated in your community. And, that includes reporting to your local police department or sheriff's office, and to federal agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at  https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/ and the FBI at https://www.ic3.gov/.

You may need help getting back to normal life, or something close to it. Even if you have stopped communication with the scammer, some of the repercussions of the scammer’s actions can cause difficulty in getting loans, jobs, or bring bill collectors calling on you to pay for purchases that you did not make. Dealing with these issues puts stress on your life.

Places where you can get help include,

 

·         FTC- for basic online help at https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/ for a basic recovery plan that you can follow.

·         Identity Theft Resource Center- ITRC provides the public with information on how to prevent identity theft, and issues reports on data breaches and identity theft trends. It also has a free help line, (888) 400-5530, where you can call to ask a question about identity theft or receive assistance if you are a victim of identity theft. For more information you can go to https://www.idtheftcenter.org/help-center/.

·         AARP Fraud Watch Network- AARP in addition to offering information about current scams, has a hotline, 877-908-3360, that can assist you if you are caught up in a scam. The hotline is open to people of all ages. For information on preventing a scam go to https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/.

·         AARP ReST- AARP in conjunction with the Volunteers of America have a Rest (Resilience, Strength and Time) program that can give emotional support for victims of a scam. For more information about ReST go to https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/voa-rest-program/?cmp=RDRCT-62f39e08-20210528.

·         988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline- 988 provides 24-hour, 7 day a week support for people in distress and prevention and crisis resources for anyone having a mental crisis or their families. For more information go to https://988lifeline.org/.

 

Not all encounters with a scammer will cause extreme mental distress. Most will probably elicit disgust or annoyance. But you can get into a situation deep enough where you have been manipulated well enough or the signs of a scam are masked well enough that you do not realize you are scammed until you have lost a lot of money. That is the time to seek help from family or friends you trust or one of the above organizations. Your well-being will be better for it in the long run.

 

 

Identity Theft Resource Center- Consumer Impact Report:

The ITRC will send you a free copy via email-

https://www.idtheftcenter.org/publication/2023-consumer-impact-report/

 

The Record:

https://therecord.media/small-business-ransomware-attacks-mental-health-rusi-study

 

AARP:

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2022/mental-health-impact.html

 

AARP: The Perfect Scam Podcast:

The following episodes tell stories of scam victims, the effects of the scams on their mental health, and how they coped with their situations.

 

One Woman’s Story of Attempted Suicide and Survival After a Scam Part 1-

https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/the-perfect-scam/info-2023/words-with-friends-scammer.html

One Woman’s Story of Attempted Suicide and Survival After a Scam Part 2-

https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/the-perfect-scam/info-2023/words-with-friends-scammer-part-2.html

Scam Victim Turns Movie Star:

https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/the-perfect-scam/info-2023/jerry-hsu-scam-victim-movie.html

A Veteran Rebuilds His Life After a Scam Takes Everything:

https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/the-perfect-scam/info-2023/veteran-targeted-on-dating-app.html

 

Psychology Today:

This article from 2021 places an emphasis on scams affecting the elderly. However, scams affect people of all ages and economic levels, and the impacts discussed in this article should be applicable to any scam victim.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fraud-crisis/202101/how-does-fraud-impact-emotional-well-being

 

The Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/13/scam-fraud-fatigue/

 

 

Friday, February 9, 2024

VALENTINES DAY- Romance Scams

With Valentines Day coming, we think of love, roses, and candy. But other people think about how to use your emotions to steal your money with a romance scam.

Romance scammers lurk in dating apps and social media ready to quickly profess affection for you. After a while they may come up with a reason to ask for some financial help with a situation or emergency. Or, lately, might offer to help you make a killing in cryptocurrency. Romance scammers have been so successful that in 2022 Americans lost $1.3 billion to romance scams according to the Federal Trade Commission. The median amount lost was $4,400 in 2022.

Romance scammers are not individuals causing havoc in people’s lives. They are organized, sophisticated crime rings that know how to manipulate their prey and rake in millions of dollars a year.

There are red flags that you can be on the lookout for that can give you a warning as you search for companionship,

 

·         The other person tries to move the relationship along quickly, professing their love in short order.

·         The other person wants to move communications quickly away to another messaging platform.

·         The other person claims to live overseas in an isolated area.

·         The other person asks for monetary help for an urgent matter such as medical expenses.

·         They want payment in a hard-to-track form such as gift cards, or cryptocurrency. Should you encounter this red flag, DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO ANYONE THAT YOU HAVE NOT MET IN PERSON!!!

·         They pull out or do not show for a planned meeting in person.

 

If you run across any of these red flags, CUT OFF COMMUNICATIONS IMMEDIATELY!!!!!

Also, report this person,

 

·         To your local police department.

·         To the FBI at www.ic3.gov

·         To the FTC at www.reportfraud.ftc.gov

 

 

 

 

 

National Cybersecurity Alliance:

https://staysafeonline.org/online-safety-privacy-basics/romance-scams/?utm_campaign=Online%20Romance%20Scams&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=292192456&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_Ai6iDKjETd3aH3Ap9ahL5h_FqFtuylsg8PthUnHAFSIIx19leImGe2_lVcAeOzDG4pwUlz8JYzefSxYeLrQ-gWKB9PJwGghe8c0uhj-d7kVkdqws&utm_content=292192456&utm_source=hs_automation

 

 

Federal Trade Commission:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/02/romance-scammers-favorite-lies-exposed