Fraudsters are growing more sophisticated and perfecting their skills with each passing day. And now that shopping, dining out and travel are dramatically rising, they’re also ramping up their game. Anyone can become a victim. However, if you just practice a few basic “smart habits,” you can protect yourself, reduce your potential for fraud losses and keep fraudsters away.
Charity and Travel Scams
- If someone is pressuring you into making a donation “now” – don’t do it! It’s a fraudster. Never send donations in the form of gift cards or wire transfers.
- Beware of travel deals that are too good to be true. Be sure it’s a legitimate travel business.
Two-Factor Authentication Scams
- Never reveal these codes to someone over the phone. Fraudsters use automated phone calls to steal authentication codes, then hack into your banking, merchant, and third-party payment accounts.
- These scams can be damaging if a fraudster already has several details about you collected from breaches and hacks or given out by cardholders themselves.
Phishing/Smishing Attacks
Phishing (scams by email) and smishing (phishing by SMS texts) are attempts to trick you into providing sensitive confidential information in order to perpetrate fraud.
- Avoid clicking on links in random emails and instant messages. Go directly to the source rather than clicking on a potentially dangerous link.
Who To Contact
- If you receive a suspicious phone call, email or SMS text message seeking personal or account information, you should immediately notify your financial institution.
- If you note fraudulent activity using your personal or account information, immediately notify the appropriate financial institution and one of the three credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion or Equifax. A temporary freeze can be placed on any account openings.