Scammers are using fear and urgency to steal your money. From fake texts to impersonators, here\u2019s how the latest schemes work\u2014and how to protect yourself.<\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Financial scams are getting more sophisticated \u2014 and more personal \u2014 costing Americans billions each year.<\/p>\n
From fake texts about unpaid tolls to callers posing as your bank<\/a> or even law enforcement, fraudsters are finding new ways to create panic and pressure people into handing over sensitive information.<\/p>\n The Ask Anthony<\/a> team sat down with a fraud expert to break down what\u2019s happening right now \u2014 and how you can protect yourself.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of what we\u2019re seeing is people are clicking on links and they\u2019re not paying attention,\u201d said Chuck Meredith, who leads the fraud department at VyStar Credit Union.<\/p>\n In today\u2019s digital world, scams aren\u2019t just suspicious emails anymore. They\u2019re showing up as text messages, phone calls \u2014 even in-person visits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe panic or the fear gets them first,\u201d Meredith said.<\/p>\n That fear is exactly what scammers are counting on.<\/p>\n One of the most common schemes starts with a message claiming you missed jury duty or have a warrant out for your arrest \u2014 and can fix it quickly by paying a fine.<\/p>\n \u201cThey read this text that there’s a possible warrant\u2026 panic sets in immediately\u2026 and it says click this link and you can pay your fine. They go right to it,\u201d Meredith said.<\/p>\n Others are even simpler: messages about unpaid tolls or small charges \u2014 often just a few dollars \u2014 designed to look harmless.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s usually a small dollar amount\u2026 but you just gave your credit card information to a live site that’s going be a lot bigger down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Then come the phone calls \u2014 someone claiming to be from your bank, warning your account is at risk.<\/p>\n \u201cYou start giving your information to an unknown person over the phone\u2026 it\u2019s like walking up to a stranger and saying, \u2018Hey, do you know my social?\u2019\u201d Meredith said.<\/p>\n In some cases, victims are told to move their money into cryptocurrency accounts, where it\u2019s nearly impossible to recover. In a newer twist known as a \u201cconcierge scam,\u201d someone offers to help resolve the issue for you \u2014 even sending someone to your home.<\/p>\n \u201cThey tell you to put your debit card outside\u2026 for someone to come pick it up. No legitimate institution is ever going to do that,\u201d Meredith said.<\/p>\n No matter the tactic, it all comes back to one thing: panic.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t panic when that call hits you. Just stop, think, take notes\u2026 and call the number on the back of your card,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If something does happen, speaking up quickly can make a difference.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the members are helping, trying to stay vigilant and telling us when they see things\u2026 that whole partnership is going to save a lot of heartache on both sides of the coin,\u201d Meredith said.<\/p>\n You can watch Anthony Austin’s full conversation with VyStar Credit Union’s<\/a> fraud expert on\u00a0First Coast News+<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scammers are using fear and urgency to steal your money. From fake texts to impersonators, here\u2019s how the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-235062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-jacksonville","9":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","10":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}