In times of economic weakness like these, losing money in a scam is likely to be much more damaging than in better days. Worse, financial insecurity makes people more vulnerable to fraud efforts. This blog has discussed mortgage scams, credit rehabilitation scams, and others. Most of these scams have been around for many years, but thanks to digital technology new versions are proliferating that New Yorkers should be aware of. Here are four examples:
- “Phishing” – Okay, this is technically a late 20th century scam, but it’s definitely more common in the 21st century than it was in the 1990s, and it’s the parent of similar cons. The term is a deliberate corruption of the word “fishing,” the idea being that the scammer is baiting people with an official-looking e-mail from a known bank. The message contains a link to a copy of the bank’s Web site and asks users to submit personal financial information, like Social Security numbers. Then they use that information to access the victims’ accounts or to obtain credit fraudulently.
- “Vishing” – Phishing done by voice, i.e. the telephone. These are a little harder to pull off because they require having someone actually talk to the targets. Vishing comes in two forms. The first is just a phishing e-mail that asks the recipient to call a number instead of go to a Web page. This can be a little more effective because people are more likely to trust a voice on the opposite end of a phone line than an impersonal, official-looking Web site. In its other form, the visher calls people, poses as a creditor, and then tells them that they owe the visher money. One way to tell whether someone is an actual debt collector as opposed to a visher is that debt collectors will give a specific dollar figure for the amount the debtor actually owes. Vishers will use vague numbers because it’s harder to call them on it.
- “Smishing” – It’s the same concept as phishing or vishing, except the scammers are using text messages to mobile devices. The text will encourage the victim to go to a Web site or call a number to trick them into providing the smisher with financial information.
- “Postal phishing” – New technologies inspire people to commit the same crime with older ones. As it sounds, postal phishing involves using the postal system to entice people into giving personal financial information to a party posing as a legitimate financial institution. It’s less common than phishing, vishing, or smishing as it’s costlier to execute, but it can work because banks often use the post to communicate with their depositors, giving it an added air of legitimacy.
Regardless of the type of technology used, there are a few things to look out for when it comes to banking scams: not directly addressing recipients by name, using bad spelling, grammar, or syntax, using links to Web sites that are spelled slightly differently from the bank’s actual domain name, and using scare tactics to get recipients to click on the link or call the number, e.g. claiming they will suspend recipients’ accounts if they don’t comply.
If a new technology scam has caused you financial problems, talk to an experienced New York bankruptcy lawyer to explore your options.
For answers to more questions about scams, bankruptcy, the automatic stay, effective strategies for dealing with foreclosure, and protecting your assets in bankruptcy please feel free to contact experienced bankruptcy lawyer Brooklyn Bruce Weiner for a free initial consultation.
