Scammers are increasingly resorting to demanding payments through cryptocurrency, but they also continue to require you to pay them through gift cards, bank transfers, and using apps like Venmo, Zelle, and others, as they are the fastest way to get money without leaving a trace.
“No one legitimate will ask you to pay with gift cards, cryptocurrency or money transfers,” said Sophia Siddiqui, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Marketing Practices.
During the video conference, “Telltale Signs of a Scam: How They Ask You to Pay,” hosted by Ethnic Media Services, Federal Trade Commission officials discussed the latest trends in scams, and how payment methods are telltale signs of a scam. fraud.
Lois Greisman, deputy director of the Division of Marketing Practices at the Federal Trade Commission, said that in the first six months of 2023, they have received more than one million reports of fraud, and losses have amounted to almost $4.5 billion.
He stressed that the main point of contact for scammers is social networks, followed by unwanted or fraudulent phone calls.
“The phone has been very effective for scammers,” Greisman said.
He emphasized that there are certain types of payments that scammers like because they can quickly get the money and run without leaving a trace.
“It is virtually impossible for the consumer to get their money back.”
Greisman gave the example of a call in which he tells you that his grandson was in a car accident in Canada, he needs surgery immediately and the only way to get it done is for you to send them $7,895 in a wire transfer.
“Of course bank transfers, Money Gram, Western Union, Google and Apple tend to be the most used forms of payment along with gift cards, Venmo and Zelle,” he said.
The expert recommended paying with credit cards for everything we buy, especially when we do it online.
“Credit cards have the best protections under federal law.”
He recalled that impostors often pose as IRS agents who tell you that you owe taxes; But there are also those who claim to be sheriff’s deputies and claim to have an arrest warrant and ask you for a gift card of $100, $200 or $300, a not very large amount compared to other types of fraud.
There are also phone or email scams, in which they tell you that you won $50,000 in the lottery and all you have to do is send them a gift card of $100, $200 and $500 to pay taxes.
“Then there are investment scams that promise to teach you how to get rich in online trading.”
One of the new things with scammers is that they ask you to pay them with cryptocurrencies, and they are happy to teach you step by step so that you can send them $10,000, $20,000 and they will help you be an online entrepreneur who sells on your own website or through Amazon or Ebay.
Greisman emphasized that the government will never ask you to pay with gift cards or bank transfers.
“Many of these scammers can be very pushy and persuasive. So when you hear about a gift card, hang up, delete the email and disconnect.”
He noted that there are huge efforts underway to block those calls, but they ask people to never trust the number that appears on their caller ID, even if it says it’s from the US government. “Unfortunately, they may not be the United States government.”
How to spot a scammer
Siddiqui, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Marketing Practices, said the main advice regarding gift cards is that they are for gifts, not payments.
“Only scammers will ask you to buy a gift card and pay them with these.”
So if you get a call apparently from the government asking you to pay with a gift card, it’s a scam.
“If you paid a scammer with a gift card, immediately contact the issuing company, whether it’s Apple, iTunes, or Amazon.”
And you must also report to report fraud.ftc.gov
He added that cryptocurrencies are another payment method that scammers like to use and have become fashionable in recent years.
“The scammer will try to gain your trust and once they have it, they will offer you cryptocurrency investment advice and help. For example, an acquaintance contacts you on Instagram and tells you that they are making millions of dollars in cryptocurrency trading and they have a limited time offer for only a few people and you must join within 24 hours, for which you must pay a fee of $10,000. .
They immediately send you a link to buy cryptocurrencies and put them in a digital wallet.
“The next thing that happens is that the scammer never contacts you again and your money is gone. “It is very unlikely that you will get your money back because cryptocurrencies are not regulated like credit cards.”
In short, he noted that if a company or person promises you a big profit, it is a scam.
“Even if they have celebrity endorsement or testimonials from happy investors. Those can easily be fake and be people who have been paid. So be careful with that.”
He further said that it is very difficult to get the money back once you send the money through apps like Venmo.
“Bank transfers are widely used by romance scammers. When you meet someone on a dating app, you chat with them for a couple of months, and once they gain your trust, they come out saying they have an emergency, and ask you to transfer funds to them. Do not do it! “It is definitely a scam.”