Don't be Scammed!

As a Service Desk Clerk, I am to go to a class every year for titled "Anti Money Laundering." Believe it or not, it wasn't that boring of a meeting, it was actually fun. Some of it was just review from my training, but something really concerned me. Scams.

There are all different kinds of scams, some most people can see coming. Others though not so much.With Facebook a big part of our lives, we don't really realize how much of ourselves we put on there. If you looked at my profile you would see my picture, my birth date, Where I was born, where I live now where I work and what college I go to. That is all without even scrolling down or clicking on a new tab. Just imagine what you could get on me if you spent a little time trying to get my information. It is scary.

So here is a scenario for you.

You get a call from a man saying that your family member is in Jail and that they are too embarrassed to tell you. You obviously want them out of jail (Unless you are my mother and would just let me sit there and think about what I have done.) You ask them where to send the money and they give you the name, the state and the amount of bail money which goes into the thousands. You quickly find a Western Union or Money Gram supporting business (i.e. Walmart, Kroger, Trader Joes, Costco). You send the money. You think everything will be okay.

Later that night you call your family member. Turns out that they were NEVER even in jail they had the flu and stayed home all day long in there bed.

Congrats you are now a victim of a scam.

Here is another scenario for you.

You receive a letter in the mail after you have come back from a foreign country. You open it to see that you have won a Lottery Prize in that country. However there is a catch, you have to send them money to get your winnings. You call the number on the letter and they tell you how much you need to send, they don't want you to go to a Money Transfer Service and they want a "Green Dot Money Pack" and for you to send them that instead. You agree and send them it. Weeks go on, and yet no prize.

Congrats you have been scammed. You are out the money and the 49 cents that you had to pay for the stamp.

So remember if anything seems suspicious call your family member, if it is a lottery rip the paper up, if you are contacted by the "Police" of "Hospital staff" do some digging around. DO NOT JUST ASSUME EVERYTHING YOU ARE BEING TOLD IS TRUE!!!

Alright So as we think about this, let's just grab a sweet tea, sit back and relax.