Don’t Click That Link: 4 Common Text Scams to Watch Out For Text message scams, also known as “phishing” or “smishing,” are fraudulent texts designed to trick victims into sharing personal information or clicking dangerous links. Scammers often pose as trusted brands or official companies and use urgency to prompt you to act quickly. These scams can result in identity theft, financial loss, and malware infections. Fraudulent… Read More
Elder Financial Abuse: Know the Signs, Help Stop the Crimes Did you know elder financial abuse causes an estimated $28.3 billion in losses each year? This staggering dollar amount highlights a growing crisis affecting some of society’s most vulnerable individuals. Understanding the impact of elder financial abuse is the first step toward prevention and protection. Here’s what you need to know about elder financial abuse… Read More
AI Imposter Scams Are on the Rise Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a fraudster’s best friend. Thanks to advances in voice cloning technology, fraudsters can now replicate the voices of loved ones or trusted individuals to deceive victims into giving up money or personal information. In fact, these scams have become incredibly widespread; recent studies show that AI voice scams have impacted… Read More
Beware of Text Messages or Calls Appearing from Your Bank The scam. Over the years, there have been a growing number of “spoofing” attempts being made in the financial industry, including on FirstBank customers. Fraudsters are using falsified caller ID numbers — or what appears to be legitimate text messages — to trick FirstBank customers into providing sensitive information. These scammers act as bank representatives… Read More
Money Mule Scams Are on the Rise: Here’s What You Need to Know Did you know social media has become a major playground for money mule scams resulting in a $1.4 billion loss? Money mule scams are a way for criminals to conceal the source of their funds, typically garnered through illegal activities like fraud, identity theft, drug trafficking, and more. One common tactic is recruiting people to… Read More
6 Things You Can Do to Protect Your Business from Check Fraud Did you know 63% of organizations experience check fraud? According to an AFP® Payments Fraud and Control Report, checks are considered the most vulnerable payment methods susceptible to fraud. That’s because checks contain significant sensitive personal information like bank account and routing numbers, physical addresses, and signatures. While checks are clearly the most susceptible to… Read More
6 Ways to Protect Yourself from Check Washing Have you ever lost a check in the mail or sent one that was never received? It’s possible the check was stolen and used for check washing. Check washing is when fraudsters use chemicals to wash the ink off a check and alter the payee’s name or dollar amount. The United States Postal Service reported postal inspectors recover… Read More
4 Tax Scams Targeting Your Refund and How You Can Avoid Them In 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported nearly 300,000 identity theft cases, resulting in an estimated $5.5 billion in tax fraud. Through several sneaky scams, fraudsters will target taxpayers during tax season to steal their data, personal information, and refunds. Four common tax scams to watch out for. With fraudsters becoming savvier, it’s important… Read More
Contacted by the IRS? Here’s How You Can Tell It’s a Scam Have you been contacted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) via email or text? Well, it may be a scam. With tax season ramping up, IRS impersonators are pulling out all the stops to trick you into clicking on insecure links to steal your information. According to the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit, there were more… Read More
Bitcoin Scams Are on the Rise: Here’s What You Need to Know The number of consumers who reported stolen cryptocurrency has increased substantially, with reported losses of over $110 million in 2023 and $66 million in just the first half of 2024. As online fraudsters continue to become more savvy and cryptocurrency grows in popularity, knowing what to look out for to protect yourself and your funds… Read More