Save Money by Avoiding these New Scams in 2014
Unfortunately, some people will always end up resorting to scams in order to try to trick people out of their hard-earned money. That means you’ll have to be incredibly diligent to avoid getting fooled and losing money in the process. One of the best ways to do this is by being aware of common scams.
Here are a few scams that are pretty popular this year.
“Police” Asking You to Call Your Bank
In this scam, a person calls and claims to be from the police department or, in some cases, your financial institution. The person tells you that your bank account or credit card has been compromised and advises you to call your bank for more information.
In this scam, the person stays on the line with you while you call the bank and listens to all of your financial information.
To avoid this scam, hang up and call the bank on a new call. Never allow anyone to stay on the phone with you when you’re providing financial details, no matter who they say they are.
Online Dating Scams
Criminals often create fake profiles on online dating sites in order to scam innocent victims. A common scam is to connect with someone on a dating site and then ask to chat outside the site (by email, for example.)
The criminal then spends some time “bonding” the victim and, when they feel that the person has begun to trust them, they say that they are in a tough situation and that they need some money.
Never give anyone money that you haven’t met in person (or at least through a video chat service) or someone you have just met.
Offering Free Vacations
In this scam, you receive a phone call, email or letter informing you that you’ve won a free vacation or cruise. However, in order to claim the prize you’ll be asked to pay money to join a travel club. You’ll also likely wind up being asked to pay several other expensive fees associated with the “free” vacation.
At the end, you’ll find that you’ve paid more for the “free” vacation than you would have for a standard vacation, if you ever actually receive the vacation at all. Avoid this scam. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Tampering with ATM Machines
Criminals have been tampering with ATM machines for many years in a number of different ways.
One of the latest scams is to place adhesive onto certain buttons on the keypad of the ATM machine. When one of these buttons is pressed during a transaction, it will get stuck, leaving you unable to complete your transaction.
The criminal then waits for you to go into the bank to discuss the issue, unsticks the keys in question and accesses your account.
To keep yourself from becoming a victim of this scam, use ATM machines inside banks whenever possible.
Watch Video: How to avoid identity theft in Canada? (Part 1)
Calling and Hanging Up
In this scam, a person calls and hangs up before you answer. This scammer is hoping that you see that someone called you and that you call the number back.
If you do, the number will connect to a long distance line in another country, which will cost you a lot of money.
If you see a missed call from a number you don’t recognize, check to see if you have a new voicemail message. If you don’t, the person will either call back later or it’s not a call you need to concern yourself with.
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