Beware of These Recent Scams

To protect yourself, 熟悉流行骗局是很重要的——继续阅读以了解最新情况.

Never share your online banking User ID or password. Patelco永远不会联系你并向你要它——其他人也没有理由需要它，从来没有.”

Tax season scams

现在是纳税季节——你的会计师和国税局并不是唯一关注你纳税的人. Scammers are on the lookout too! 这听起来很可怕，但你可以通过了解常见的税务季节骗局来保护自己. Here’s what to look for:

Phishing

骗子假装是税务专业人士(或美国国税局)，发送带有链接的电子邮件或短信. Don’t click on links sent by people you don’t know.

If you get a tax email you believe is fraudulent, forward it to phishing@irs.gov.

Gift card scams

礼品卡仍然是骗子偷窃的热门方式，因为它们就像现金一样:一旦有人有了礼品卡的信息, it’s nearly impossible to get back. 诈骗者声称自己是美国国税局(IRS)，试图收取补缴税款或罚款. 他们会让你买礼品卡，然后把卡上的信息据为己有.

Hang up and report the scam — the IRS will never ask for payment via gift card.

Refund bait and switch

If criminals have your sensitive personal information, such as Social Security number or tax forms they stole from the mail, they may file a fraudulent return on your behalf. Once the funds hit your account, 骗子会冒充国税局的人打电话给你，要求退还这笔钱. 他们会要求你把钱存入另一个账户，或者把支票寄到一个地址.

If you receive an unexpected tax bill or refund, file a complaint with the FTC, contact the IRS at 800.908.4490 and ask the major credit bureaus to put a “fraud alert” on your file.

Dishonest tax preparers

Unfortunately, there are scam artists posing as tax professionals. They offer to do your taxes, collect a fee upfront, and then ghost you. Only hire professionals with a valid license – check online here.

还有一些不诚实的报税员夸大你的纳税申报单，将部分退税收入囊中. 为了获得更高的退款，刑事税务编制人员会不准确地提交您的税收. They will pocket some of the refund for themselves. If you’re using a tax preparer, always double check their work and the amount they received from your tax filing.

Student loan scams

Americans lost an astounding $5 billion to student loan fraud in 2022.¹ 随着学生们高中毕业并在秋季进入大学，骗子们比以往任何时候都要忙. And if you’re one of the millions of Americans with existing student loans, 注意，骗子也在寻找针对你的救济和再融资.

许多诈骗——无论是新贷款还是减免或合并现有贷款——都涉及预先支付费用. Other scammers pose as organizations simply to steal your personal information.

Here’s four ways to protect yourself from student loan scams:

• Watch out for fees. While borrowing fees exist, they are included in the principal of legitimate loans, and will come up when you take the loan out. If someone is asking you to pay fees now, out of pocket, in order to refinance your loan, make a new loan, service an existing loan, apply for debt relief, or fill out a FAFSA form, it’s probably a scammer.


• Don’t give out your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID or password. No one should be asking you for your FSA ID and password. You will use it to log in to legitimate government websites (like http://studentaid.gov/), but if someone is asking you for it on the phone, via text, via email, or in person, you’re dealing with a scammer. Be cautious when revealing other private information.


• Resist pressure to act immediately. 大多数学生贷款骗局——以及一般的许多骗局——都有一个共同点:立即采取行动的压力.


• Do your research. Speaking of being pressured to act immediately, 其中一个原因是骗子不希望你花时间去研究他们的公司或组织的名称. 许多骗子建立了复杂的、看起来很专业的网站和社交媒体档案. But don’t trust a website or social media profile by itself.


• Instead, research any person or business who contacts you. 在一个简单的搜索引擎上搜索他们的名字加上“评论”或“骗局”，就可以知道你是否在和一个合法的组织打交道. Additionally, 不要把任何听起来像“教育部合作伙伴”或“流行病补助金”这样的官方语言当作准确的说法.”

The bottom line: if someone reaches out to you about a student loan, or if you see an advertisement on social media, 在提供个人信息或金钱之前，你做过调查和仔细考虑吗.

Digital payments fraud

我们的Patelco会员告诉我们，他们有多喜欢数字支付(比如Venmo), PayPal, 以及其他流行的平台)，因为这是一种简单而安全的方式，可以向他们认识和信任的人汇款. But because scammers may pose as people or businesses you know, it’s important to protect yourself — and your money.

Whether you’ve used digital payments before or are new to it, follow these tips to help you pay it safe.

• Only use digital payments to send money to people you know and trust
• Never share your online banking User ID or password. Patelco永远不会联系你并向你要它——其他人也没有理由需要它，从来没有.
• Never do a “test” transfer with any third-party payment service. 最近的诈骗是有人假装来自帕特尔科，要求你进行“测试”交易或转账. Patelco will NEVER ask you to do a test transfer, ever.
• Never use digital payment to make utility bill or credit card payments. 骗子可能会伪装成公用事业公司或无线运营商，要求你用数字平台付款. 大多数数字支付平台目前还不能用于支付公用事业或信用卡账单.
• 不要把钱退回给那些“不小心”通过数字支付给你钱的人. 骗子会从被盗的账户中汇款，然后要求收件人把钱寄回来——但寄回来的钱是你的真金白银, while the money that you “accidentally” received is stolen.

If someone reaches out to you and says that they sent you money accidentally, tell them to reach out to their bank or credit union to resolve it. Never send the money back to them.

Social media artist scams

Fraudsters are increasingly active on social media. 如果你不认识的人在Instagram或其他平台上联系你，并提出付钱给你, the money is probably coming from a stolen financial account, 尤其是当他们要求你将部分付款转回给他们(或另一个人)时。. If the true owner of the stolen account reports the loss, you may be on the hook for the funds deposited into your account, plus whatever amount you send to the scammer, which may not be recoverable. Be wary of Instagram and social media scams like these:

• The artist scam: 一个所谓的艺术家会给你发邮件，说你的一张照片给了他们灵感，他们想要根据你的照片创作艺术. 骗子会声称自己为一位富有的客户工作，他的助手会使用Venmo等支付应用向你付款. The catch? They’ll want you to send them a cut from the client’s payment. 您收到的资金将被窃取-但您发送的钱将从您自己的账户中扣除.
• The influencer scam: With lots of Instagram followers and likes, 一些网红账号可能看起来非常受欢迎，但它们只是为了欺骗你. 如果一个账户有引人注目的头像，并推广投资机会或金融服务, it’s probably fake or hijacked by scammers.
• The sponsorship scam: Instead of pretending to be an influencer, some fraudsters will imitate legitimate brands in hopes of scamming you. Watch for DMs from fake brand accounts, offers to pay you for advertisements, 或者报名成为大使的机会——这只是另一种窃取你个人信息或金钱的企图.

Fake debt collector scams

在这种骗局中，骗子威胁采取法律行动，迫使你偿还虚假债务. In late 2022, 联邦贸易委员会(FTC)向这类骗局的受害者返还了100多万美元.

To protect yourself from similar scams:

• Understand your finances. Keep records of past and current debts, so you won’t get fooled by a fake debt.
• Request a “debt validation letter.“这就要求讨债公司证明他们是在合法地讨债.
• 定期检查你的信用报告，这样你就能了解你所有账户的状态.
• Know your rights, including those covered under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Romance scams

It’s easy to fall for a romance scam set up on a dating app or social media. 欺诈者创建一个虚假的个人资料，开始向他们的目标发送甜蜜的信息和大宣言. Once they have your trust and affection, the asks begin. They’ll ask for money to come see you (but won’t actually come), for unexpected expenses, or for a family emergency. What will you get in return? A lower account balance.

如果你认为自己遇到了一个浪漫骗子，下面是保护自己的方法:

• Stop communication immediately.
• Don’t send money or gifts to anyone you haven’t met in person.
• Do a reverse image search of their profile image using a search engine. Is it a stock image or a photo stolen from somewhere else?
• Never send revealing photos of yourself — these can be used for blackmail.
• Talk to your trusted friends or family about your new love interest. Do they have concerns?

想了解更多关于不同类型的爱情骗局，以及如何识别和避免它们吗? Watch a video with one of our Patelco experts below!