Scams are becoming more and more prevalent in the world today and it is vital to know how to identify them.
Technology has made it easier for the scammers to access people’s information and more difficult for innocent individuals to recognize when they are being scammed. Students may get emails or phone calls from random people but it can be difficult to know what is a scam and what is not.
Random phone calls are all too common these days. According to an article titled “10 Signs You’re Talking to a Scammer,” if students receive a phone call with an area code of “473” that would be the first red flag as this area code is associated with Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. If the next three numbers have “0” or “1” it is probably not associated with a real person or company.
The article also states that delayed response may be another sign of a scammer as they might not expect someone to answer right away, and it takes a moment for them to respond.
Another scam includes someone posing as an employee of a credit card company or Social Security calling to say there is a problem with one’s account, there is a warrant out for an arrest, a person owes taxes, etc. Most of the time the company, especially the government, will not call but will communicate in other ways.
The second way to identify them is if the individual calling needs personal information, then it is usually a sure sign that they are a scammer. Students should never disclose their social security number to someone over the phone.
There are many times the individual on the other end of the phone will say, “If you don’t act now, you will miss out.” The article advises that if a caller does not provide time for a person to think it through then it is usually a scam.
All scammers need is a little bit of information to get in and hack accounts. Be wary of Facebook quizzes and random links sent through email, text messages or social media.
Always be on guard for what could potentially be a scam.
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