Every week the Press Police Log includes reports of identity theft and other types of fraud, many aimed at bilking Harvard’s older residents. Last Tuesday, Detective Daniele Fortunato of the Harvard Police Department held a talk, “Scam Alert,” through the Council on Aging (COA), discussing different tips to protect one’s identity and avoid being scammed. The recording of the event can be found on the Harvard Cable TV website, harvardcabletv.com.
Credit fraud
Fortunato first recommended finding out if you have been a victim of a scam through your credit card. This can be done by running a credit report at least once a year; she suggested doing so through TransUnion, Equifax, or Experian, three large credit bureaus. “If you pull your credit report and you start looking through it, this is where you will find if things … look consistent to what you have been using your credit for, or if red flags start going off,” she said.
“Red flags” in a credit report could include a card being opened that you did not open yourself, or a company that you have not done business with trying to get you to use your credit card, often for something expensive. “That would be a red flag, as somebody is trying to get credit fraudulently,” Fortunato said, “and that would be something that we would want to document and something you would want to report to the credit agency, letting them know.”
Fortunato also raised the issue of “skimmers,” a device that can be inserted inside a machine where a card would be swiped. This device collects all of the information from your card, to the extent that a duplicate can be made. This is a common occurrence at gas stations, she explained, and she recommended using gas pumps by security cameras to try to avoid this.
When fraud is suspected, it should be reported to the police department, so the police can document the occurrence and track subsequent issues if necessary, Fortunato explained. If someone does experience credit card fraud, she added, they should either freeze or flag the card through a credit agency, so that future fraud can be stopped. Flagging a card means its owner will be notified whenever it is used, and freezing a card stops it from being used at all, until the owner unfreezes it.
Phone scams
Fortunato said that many attempted scams are done over the phone. She explained that IRS scams and “grandparent scams” are two common scams that occur over the phone. Often, she said, hackers breach the security of a site and then sell personal and detailed information on the dark web, so callers can find information on the black market and use that to make their phone calls more convincing. “People feel very vulnerable that they’re going to be in trouble, or that they’re over their head in something, and they want to pay to get out of it,” Foruntato said, explaining that the goal of such fraudulent calls is often to get the person to wire large amounts of money that likely cannot be later returned. “Nobody,” she added, “is going to be looking for money in a true situation by phone.”
Fortunato also warned against tech support scams, where someone might appear to be offering a service, but instead is hacking emails and then scamming your family or workplace. Investment fraud is common as well, she said, cautioning people against investing money in unknown products.
“I want to empower you a little bit, that if you do get phone calls where people are trying to hustle you, or trying to bully you into … giving out your information, you can just hang up the phone,” she said. “You don’t owe anybody any information, and you don’t owe anybody that phone call.” Fortunato then explained that scammers often call with a local caller ID in an attempt to convince someone to pick up their phone. Even picking the phone up without speaking, she said, shows a caller (whether a real person or a “robo-call”) that your phone number is active, which can increase the number of scam calls you receive. She also cautioned against being argumentative with a scam caller because they may make a “retaliation call,” and continue to call you.
Mail scams
Sometimes attempted scams are sent through the mail, such as bills or requests for medical payments that look like they come from real businesses. Fortunato noted that mail scams have not been common recently, but she recommended calling one’s insurance agency when unsure about the legitimacy of requests for payment. Similarly, if you are receiving multiple medical bills that come from different sources, such as both the hospital and the insurance company, she recommended calling to confirm which payments should be made.
Fortunato also cautioned that mail can be stolen: “You just want to be mindful of when you’re getting the mail. Don’t let it sit there for a few days.” To be extra safe, she said, a post office box is the best option.
COVID-related scams
A number of scams are now taking advantage of COVID-19-related issues. For instance, Fortunato explained, people statewide have received letters saying they have applied for unemployment or someone has done so for them, and the letter asks them to set up a bank account with the sender of the letter, expecting them to deposit the money there.
She added that notices about receiving a stimulus check from the government are also likely fraudulent, and she specified that information about bank accounts, Social Security numbers, and government benefits should not be shared. As for COVID-19 testing, Fortunato cautioned against at-home testing kits and recommended going to a “reputable site” to be tested instead. She noted that reputable websites are also important for COVID-related information, such as coronavirus.gov.
Contact tracing scams are also an issue, Fortunato said, adding that your name and phone number are all that you should be asked for in order to be traced. “They shouldn’t be asking for your address … [or] your credit card. There shouldn’t be any other personal information associated with that,” she said.
With so many organizations accepting donations during the pandemic, donations are another way people are being scammed recently. While donating to a good cause may feel like the right thing to do, Fortunato warned, “Be careful where you’re donating your money to … just do some research.”
“Trying to keep your identity, not a secret, but hidden as best as you can in today’s society, is so hard because there’s all kinds of breaches that can happen,” Fortunato said. “Everybody’s trying to get our information and do bad stuff with it, so you are your best advocate in trying to protect it from going anywhere it should not be going, outside your hands.”
