Taking Back the ID

Fraudsters find novel ways to steal money and PII

Joe Johnson spent hours on websites trying to set an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Then he received a text saying that the county health department was offering shots for a small fee. Johnson clicked on the message, was redirected to a website, set a date and entered his credit card number. He waited several days for a confirmation that never came. Johnson contacted the health department, where officials told him they didn’t have a record of his appointment and that they didn’t charge for vaccines. He then found the fraudsters had billed his online credit card statement. Johnson was conned. And he still wasn’t vaccinated.

This case is fictional, but it represents a typical COVID-19 vaccine scam.

Scamming shots in the arm

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reminding the public that COVID-19 vaccines are free. Fraudsters are often loading malware onto victims’ computers and stealing personally identifiable information (PII) by selling supposed shots online. (See Covid Vaccines are FREE! by Colleen Tressler, FTC, April 20, 2021.)

“Ignore online ads, social media posts, or phone calls from people offering to sell you the COVID-19 vaccine,” Tressler writes. “You can’t buy it [in the U.S.] — anywhere. The vaccine is only available at federal- and state-approved locations.”

The FTC recommends:

  • Don’t pay to sign up for the vaccine. Anyone who asks for a payment to put you on a list, make an appointment for you or reserve a spot in line is a scammer.
  • Don’t pay out of pocket for a vaccine — not before, during or after your appointment. If you’re insured, the vaccination site might bill your insurance company for an administration fee. If you’re not insured, there’s a fund set up with the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA, part of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) where sites can recover their administrative costs. Either way, it’s not supposed to bill you or charge a copayment.
  • Never share your personal, financial or health information with people you don’t know. No vaccine distribution site, health care provider’s office, pharmacy or health care payer — such as a private insurance company or Medicare — will call, text or email you asking for your credit card or bank account number to sign you up to get the vaccine. You’re not required to give your Social Security number to a vaccination site.
  • Don’t post your vaccination card on social media. Your vaccination card contains your full name, date of birth, and where and when you got vaccinated. When you post it to Facebook or other social media platforms, you might be handing PII to someone who could use it for identity theft.

 

Fraudsters are stealing money, often loading malware onto victims’ computers and stealing personally identifiable information by selling supposed shots online.

 

Grandparent scam with a new twist

Grandparent scams have been around for years. Fraudsters continually come up with new versions to promote their revenue streams. The FTC is reporting a new twist. (See Don’t open your door to grandparent scams, by Emily Wu, FTC, April 13, 2021.)

In the common grandparent scam, a fraudster — who masquerades as a grandson or granddaughter in distress — calls a grandparent for help in resolving a problem. For example, the “grandkid” might say that he or she is in a different country on vacation, has been arrested for some minor crime and needs money for bail. The fraudster avoids parents’ involvement by telling the grandparent to keep the conversation a secret.

The fraudster normally asks the grandparent to buy gift cards or to wire money to resolve the problem. But in this new version, the fraudster asks for cash and then tells the grandparent that someone will pick it up.

But wait a minute. The scam might not be over yet. Sometimes, the fraudster — pretending to be a lawyer — will call the victim grandparent a second time to demand wired money to represent the “grandkid” in court. Success breeds success!

Fraudsters frequently grab information about families from grandparents’ oversharing on social media websites.

To avoid these scams and protect your PII, the FTC advises:

  • Take a breath and resist the pressure to pay. Get off the phone, and call or text the person who (supposedly) called. If you can’t reach them, check with a family member to get the real story.
  • Don’t give your address or other PII, cash, gift cards or money transfers to the caller.
  • Check your social media privacy settings to limit what you share publicly. Even if your settings are on private mode, be careful about what personal identifiers you put out on social media.
  • File a report with local law enforcement if you lost money to this kind of scam and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to local media.

Job scammers busy during the pandemic

The pandemic has left many Americans unemployed. Of course, fraudsters are posting online ads for work-at-home jobs and other fake positions. Sometimes, they trick victims into thinking jobs are associated with government agencies and well-known companies. (See Don’t let job scams block your path forward, by Lisa Lake, FTC, April 9,2021.)

The FTC offers advice to help protect consumers:

  • Never respond to ads that guarantee you’ll get a job, or you’ll make big money working at home.
  • Never pay to get a job. Scammers might say they have a job waiting if you just pay a fee for certification, training, equipment or supplies. But, after you pay, you’ll find the job is fake, and you won’t get your money back.
  • Don’t bank on a “cleared” check. No legitimate company will ever send you a check and then tell you to send back part of that money, or gift cards. That check is fake, and you’ll lose your money.
  • Don’t believe ads for “previously undisclosed” federal government jobs. Information about federal jobs is publicly available at usajobs.gov.
  • Research potential employers. Search online for a company’s name, email address and phone number. If you’ve heard of the company, visit its website, call or email.
  • Find legitimate job listings. Try visiting sites like your state’s Career One Stop.

Spread the word to help others

Include these scams in your outreach programs and with your family, friends, business associates and ACFE chapter meetings. Please contact me if you have any questions or identity theft or cyber-related issues that you would like me to research and possibly include in future columns or as feature articles. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll do my best to help. I might not get back to you immediately, but I’ll reply. Stay tuned!

Robert E. Holtfreter, Ph.D., CFE, is a distinguished professor of accounting and research at a university in the Pacific Northwest. He’s a member of the Accounting Council for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a research consulting organization, and is a member of the White-Collar Crime Research Consortium Advisory Council. He’s also on the ACFE Advisory Council and the Editorial Advisory Committee. Holtfreter was the recipient of the Hubbard Award for the best Fraud Magazine feature article in 2016. Contact him at doctorh007@gmail.com.

 

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