By Rosemary Lewallen and Monica Kovach
The attendees at the May 22nd Benefits Trafficking and Financial Abuse workshop at St. Irenaeus Parish Hall were eager to hear how to protect themselves from financial abuse scams, benefits trafficking, and human trafficking. Two Federal Bureau of Investigation experts, a Special Agent and Victim Specialist, gave valuable information on how to spot these scams and not become a victim. We were also honored to have Cypress Mayor Anne Hertz-Mallari and Cypress Police Captain Chris Revere in attendance to offer remarks.
The best form of prevention for telephone or online scams is DON’T ANSWER and DON’T CLICK. If you answer a robocall, it only encourages more calls, further harassment and intimidation. Screen all calls. DON’T ANSWER a call unless you recognize the phone number. Let it go to voicemail. If no message is left, block that number. If you want to stop robocalls, contact your phone carrier as well as the Federal Trade Commission (1-888-382-1222 or www.ftc.gov). If you don’t recognize an email address or website, DON’T CLICK on the address OR the link within the email, simply delete. A secure website has an “s” in the “https” portion of the address (i.e. https://sticypress.org).
Most healthcare fraud is the result of over-billing for medical services, or billing for procedures or supplies not actually provided. As a prevention, always review monthly your EOB’s (Explanation of Benefits) statements and report any discrepancies or questions.
Common financial fraud schemes include investment fraud, romance or imposter scams, advanced fee scams, tech support, elder fraud, grandparent scams, identity theft, as well as benefits trafficking of Veterans, Medicare or Social Security benefits. Protect your personal identification by never providing personally identifiable information, such as your name, address, Social Security number, Medicare number, account numbers, date of birth, etc., unless you know the recipient, verify the number or website. Shred all documents with such personally identifiable information. Be cautious what information is posted on online social media sites because this personal information is easily accessible, possibly including answers to identity questions used for authentication (i.e., name of high school attended). Run a yearly credit report through one of the big three credit bureaus to review details of your credit report. Report any items that are incorrect to the credit bureau. IRS scams are also prevalent. The federal government will NEVER call to ask for money.
Don’t use phones as computers. Phones contain a huge amount of personal information. To prevent fraud, use computers rather than phones for placing online orders to verifiable companies, use strong passwords that are not shared with others, and NEVER provide remote access to your computer. If you realize that a scammer has remote control of your computer, log off the Internet/Wi-Fi, severing the access.
Older adults, especially the recently widowed, may become targets of a romance scam. A red flag is when the scammer rushes a person into believing they’re in a relationship, then asks for money, personal information or other valuables. If the scammer requests money, NEVER transfer funds online, withdraw cash from a bank or investment account, or purchase gift cards for the scammer.
Talk with your grandchildren about grandparent scams. This is when a scammer calls to say that the grandchild is hurt or was in a car accident and needs money which the grandparent is asked to send.
If, despite your best efforts, fraudulent activity occurs, report it to the FBI so they can investigate if a crime has been committed and then assign a Special Agent criminal investigator as well as an FBI Victim Specialist once a victim is identified. Cypress Police Captain Chris Revere also noted that it is important to contact the local police department for assistance, resources and to establish if a trend is occurring.
Here are some valuable resource numbers:
National Elder Fraud Hotline 1-800-372-8311 (1-800-FRAUD-11) – a great reporting resource
National Credit Reporting Agencies:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 (www.equifax.com
Experian:1-888-397-3743 (www.experian.com))
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289 (www.transunion.com)
Annualcreditreport.com (to request annual credit report)
National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-3737-888
Identity Theft Resource Center: 1-888-400-5530 (www.idtheftcenter.org)
Adult Protective Services (APS) 1800-451-5155 (to report elder and dependent adult abuse)
FBI: file a complaint at https://www.ic3.gov/
