Financial scams have increased significantly over the years. Scammers have developed and refined their strategies through the use of technology, personal information, and emotional manipulation to scare people into acting quickly and irrationally. Calls, texts, emails, ad pop-ups, and letters are a few ways fraudsters try to gain your trust and steal your financial information.
5 Common Scam Tactics
- Imposter Scams: Scammers often claim to be from the IRS, your bank, or a distant family member who is in urgent need of help. They demand money and need you to share your personal information immediately before it is too late. They do this to instill fear and force you into a rash decision.
- Romance or Relationship Scams: Some fraudsters use online platforms to create and foster relationships with people in order to gain their trust. Once they feel trust is established, they will use emotional manipulation by requesting money for travel or emergency expenses.
- Sweepstakes or Prize Scams: Win a big prize that you did not even apply for? Are they asking you to pay taxes up front? Did they ask you to pay in gift cards? Does it sound too good to be true? Trust your gut, because it probably is. A genuine grand prize from a legitimate organization would never require those things.
- Technology and Support Scams: Scammers attempt to intimidate people by sending pop-ups or emails claiming that their computer has been compromised, and the only way to fix it is by providing your personal financial information.
- Investment Scams: Online investment schemes promising high returns on cryptocurrency with little to no risk have been on the rise. Scammers use this tactic to manipulate their victims with false promises, encouraging them to make impulsive decisions.
Have You Been Targeted?
Even the wariest individuals can fall prey to scams. Accidents happen. If you’re afraid that you may have fallen victim to a scam, here is what you should do:
- Call your Greenwood Capital Advisor Immediately
- Report the fraud to your bank and local law enforcement
- Change your password and set up two-step authentication
The faster you act, the less damage that can be done. You are never alone, so do not be afraid to reach out to those who can help.
How Greenwood Capital Protects You
- Account Monitoring: We can set an alert on your account to flag any suspicious activity, transfers, or requests. This way, we can stop the scam before it can impact your hard-earned savings
- Trusted Contact: It is important that you designate someone you trust whom we can contact in case we are unable to reach you during suspicious activity.
- Ongoing Education: We work to stay informed on the rapid evolution of financial exploitation and the best ways to prevent yourself from falling victim. Our entire team regularly completes training on how to spot and prevent scams and fraud.
At Greenwood Capital, we value fostering our relationships with our clients through trust, transparency, and protection. If you are ever concerned about your financial safety, receive a suspicious message, or fall victim to a scam, call us right away. It is our job to help ensure your financial security.
Excerpts from or links to this article on the Greenwood Capital Insights page have been included in Greenwood Capital social media pages and distributed Greenwood Capital newsletter. As is the nature of social media, the general public is able to post comments and/or “likes” in response to these excerpts and/or links. These comments are unsolicited and are posted by either clients or non-clients, which could be interpreted as client testimonials or public endorsements, respectively, and no cash or non-cash compensation is provided. A conflict of interest could exist related to unsolicited posts as Greenwood Capital and its investment adviser representatives could indirectly benefit from these posts.
