Tips for Dealing with Bank Scams
Protect Your Money Not only has there been door-to-door scams (in which your home video surveillance system can identify the individual) and many different kinds of telephone scams, one of the most recent scams that have come about is the bank scam. These bank scams happen in many different ways such as telephone calls and emails or letters similar to the ones the bank may send you. One important source of information to remember is that banks will never ask you for confidential information over the phone, so they are most likely not the ones calling you. This newest bank scam has many individuals super careful about the way they gave out their personal information. The person that calls will inform you that there is a safety or security problem with your account or your bank account card. They will also tell you that you can fix the problem right over the phone. Normally, when there is a problem associated with your account, you, as the account holder, are the one that contacts the bank, not the other way around. While keeping your bank accounts secure, don’t forget your home by contacting SPS Fire & Security. Consequences of Bank Scam Calls If this ever happens to you, one fast rule of thumb is wait at least five minutes and then contact your bank at the number on the back of your bank card. The reason for waiting five minutes is for security proposes due to the fact that the person calling you is not your bank and therefore they have not terminated the call. They are waiting for you to start dialing right away. What will happen is your think that you have dialed your bank when really the fake bank caller is still on the phone? It could be very bad. There are many things that could happen if you do not be careful about protecting your bank account and your bank account cards. Your account will become empty. The bank account card that has certain limit on it will be used to the max. You will and could become a victim of identity theft. Chances of other accounts you are associated with being hacked increases. What Can You Do to Avoid Bank Fraud? Your bank will never call you when your bank account is having issues. Normally you are the one that is calling the bank. So keep that in mind. Your bank will never call to ask you to transfer any amounts of money from one account to another. Like stated above, you are the one that is calling the bank or going online to transfer your own money. If for any reason someone calls you and claims to be your bank, wait five minutes before calling your bank. Let your bank know what has happened and they can put a freeze (put a stop to having access to your account for a period of time) on your account. That way the scammer can have no access to your account and you don’t loss money or become a victim of identify theft Never provide ANYONE that calls and claims to be your bank with information such as: name, address, telephone number (they should already have that one since they are the ones that called you), security questions, account numbers, social security number and more. If you have younger children in the house that might know any information associated with your bank account and they are old enough to be answering the telephone, make them aware of this bank scam and any other scam that is going on. Some children don’t know any better and might slip, telling the scammer personal information. Contact Your Rochester Security Alarm Company It is important to keep all elements of your life secure. Not only do you need to protect your bank accounts, but you need to protect your home and everything that you have worked for. Home security systems are a way to do that. If someone knocks on your door, trying to sell you something that isn’t legit or they want information from you, you can capture their face on a home surveillance system. If someone tries to enter your home, whether you are there or not, you and the central monitoring center will know so that the matter can be addressed promptly. If you have become a victim in any bank scams contact your bank you are associated with for help. If you have any questions associated home and phone security contact SPS Fire & Security at 585-770-0348.
Protect Yourself Against Phone Scams
Identifying the Most Common Phone Scams What is this world coming to? Not only do we have door-to-door scammers, email scammers, and internet scammers but now scam artist have come up with new ways to scam the people that they are calling – through phone scams. And it should be noted that some types of phone scams can lead to a robbery. They might be putting out feelers to identify who is in the home, if there is a security system in place, and much more. Despite technological advances, telephone scams are getting more and more popular as a way to steal someone’s identity. Scam artist find it easier to do this type of scam and on their end a little safer because it is harder to catch the scammer doing it. There’s no paper trail like there can be on the internet. Plus, they are able to manipulate caller ID systems to make them look like something they’re not. Recently, there has been a new phone scam called “Can You Hear Me Now?” This scam is a way for the scam artist to access the sound of your voice that is recorded on the scam artist’s end. After the question “Can you hear me now?” is asked and you say “yes,” the scam artist will then say that you have agreed to something. During all the small talk back and forth, the scam artist is gaining access to your personal information or anything else that might be on your phone. Scam artists may use many other questions to gain access to your information. Some other questions they might ask are: Are you the lady of the house? Are you a homeowner? Do you pay the household telephone bill? Scams like this are being more and more popular and there are many ways that you can protect yourself from them. Protecting Yourself From Theft Through Phone Scams Don’t Recognize Phone Number: If there is ever a time that you don’t know the number calling or it says restricted, chances are it is someone you don’t know. If that ever happens, just let the call go to voicemail. Scam artists don’t ever leave messages and if it is someone other then a scam artist, they will leave a message. Act Slowly: Don’t always rush to answer your phone. Chances are if you are rushing thinking it is someone you might know and answer the call, you could end up being a victim of a targeted scam. Look carefully at all calls before answering and leaving the unknown numbers to go straight to voicemail. Don’t Answer Any Questions Over The Phone: Answering questions over the phone lead to information in many ways being leaked to the scam artist. Even the littlest details can help a scam artist gain access to your personal information. Never Give Out Information: No matter what, unless you initiate the call when buying anything over the phone, don’t give out your information. If a company ever calls you about an item that you have purchased, there are questions you can ask to verify the caller is really from the company you have purchased your item from. Don’t Pay: If you are ever ordering anything over the phone, the company that you order from normally doesn’t call you to initiate a payment. You as the customer always call the company to pay for your purchases. Never give out your payment information or social security number to an unknown number. One favorite tool of scam artists is asking for wire money transfers. If you ever hear the word wire transfer, you can be sure that it is a scam. Contact Your Rochester Security Company and Protect Yourself More! Take action now to be safer when answering the phone. You never know what scam artist is going to be calling next. If you have any questions on how to stay safe contact SPS Fire & Security at 585-770-0348.