There are all kinds of scams floating around. Phishing scams on the Internet, scams on your cell phone, both texting and phishing phone calls. Even people going door to door claiming that they can save you money on a new roof or driveway coating. But there are many things that all of these scams have in common.
Ways to spot a scam.
Are they in a hurry?
Telling you that you have to act now or you’re going to lose out.
Is the deal too good to be true?
Offering you a product or service that is so cheap you feel like you can’t pass it up?
Do they require personal information that you would not normally give to a stranger?
They start the conversation by asking who you are and asking you to verify that with personal information. If they’re impersonating an official at your bank and asking you for your birthday or your Social Security number.
Do they tell you the only way they can help you begins by you giving them access to your bank account or giving them money.
Do they direct you to a special e-mail or website address, or ask you to download an app to find out more about the issue they’re talking to you about.
There is nowhere in the United States that is immune from scammers.
According to seattletimes.com,
‘In the past year alone, people in King County have been scammed out of at least $12 million in fraud schemes, many of them attacking older adults, said King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall at a news conference Thursday. Gold bar schemes alone accounted for $4.6 million.’
And that’s just in King County. I would be curious to find out what the numbers are for the entire state of Washington.
Just the other day I received a ridiculous scamming e-mail supposedly from Elon Musk.
One of the things that makes these cameras. So insidious. Is the people that they are targeting.
According to the FBI.In 2025 5,400 Washingtonians were scammed out of approximately $79 million. One popular scam being used on people 65 and older is what’s called a gold bar scam. Across the United States, nearly $312 million has been lost due to the gold bar scam.
How does it work?
Individuals posing as government officials inform you that your accounts have been hacked. They provide you with legal documents that look legitimate. Over a couple of months, they convince you that the only way to protect yourself is to take the assets in your bank account, convert them to gold and then turn them over so that they can be placed in the federal reserve. You hand over your gold to an official looking person, in a random parking lot, and you are told never to tell anybody about what has happened.
Scammers have posed as Walmart security people, employees at Apple, calling your phone and saying that they’re from Publishers Clearing House, but before you can receive your prize, you need to give them money.
A few weeeks ago I received not one but two calls from individuals whose first language was obviously not English, who told me they were working for Verizon and had a special offer to reduce my bill by 40%. Then they started asking for personal information and I said goodbye. Just for fun I called my local Verizon representative and told them the story and they said yep, they were scammers for sure.
People that are 65 and older are not necessarily as tech savvy as their children or grandchildren.
You need to protect yourself, and you need to look out for your parents and grandparents.
The scammers are out there; they are getting better at what they do, and they’re not going to stop.
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