Many of my readers are at the age where we should know better, and still, sometimes let down our guard.
Way, way too many people are out to scam you and line their pockets with your money. In my Wealth On Any Income book I covered several ways to avoid being scammed. Unfortunately, they were written before things like ransomware became popular.
Here are some of the ways you can protect yourself from similar scams:
- Avoid any text message that asks you to click on a link unless you positively, absolutely trust the sender. It could even look like it is from your bank, but it will download malicious software onto your phone.
- Do not fall for the phone calls that there was suspicious activity in your social security account and your payments will be suspended. If you are not old enough to get social security, it could be that your bank account has suspicious activity and will be frozen unless you call.
- It could be someone who claims to be from the IRS saying you owe income taxes, will go to jail if you don’t pay, and to buy gift cards to pay what you owe. The IRS and Social Security Administration will NEVER make phone calls to you.
- NEVER, EVER, EVER, give anyone who CALLS YOU your date of birth, social security number, mother’s maiden name, credit card number, expiration date, or 3-digit security code.
- Never buy gift cards and give those numbers to someone who calls you or if you want to buy something from someone on Facebook. My wife and I lost $100 this way when buying tickets to an event. If they do not have a PayPal account, do not buy from them.
- If you get a call that appears to be from your bank, call your bank using the phone number on the back of your credit card to verify if it is legitimate.
That’s all for now, and I may write about more scams later.
To Your Prosperity,
Rennie
