Latah Credit Union takes your financial wellbeing seriously. This webpage is a guide to assist in determining and preventing suspected fraud.
Fraud can happen in many different ways, but each method follows a general pattern. With this in mind there are ways you can identify potential fraud and protect yourself from it.
Elder financial or material exploitation is defined as illegal or improper use of an elder’s funds, property, or assets. Examples include, but are not limited to, cashing an elderly person’s check without authorization or permission; forging an older person’s signature; misusing or stealing an older person’s money or possessions; coercing or deceiving an older person into signing any document (e.g., contracts or will); and the improper use of conservatorship, guardianship, or power of attorney.
Many of these scams are carried out by perpetrators claiming to be a police officer, detective, financial institution examiner, official, or FBI agent. These perpetrators can be very direct and authoritative in nature, or may be very friendly in their approach, but are trying to take advantage of others using manipulation.
Your Credit Union does not conduct investigations or verification of accounts by telephone, nor will local, state, or federal law enforcement authorities, financial institutions regulatory authorities or officials conduct investigations by asking you to withdraw cash from your account for any reason.
Always report elder abuse to Adult Protective Services (APS): This website provides information for all U.S. States and territories: https://www.napsa-now.org/help-in-your-area
Local Law Enforcement:
Moscow Police: 208-882-2677
Latah County Sheriff: 208-882-2216
Benewah County Sheriff: 208-245-2555
CDA Tribal Police: 208-686-2099
Community Action:
Moscow: 208-882-3535
Lewiston: 208-743-5580
Kootenai County: 208-664-8757
AARP:
National Elder Fraud Hotline: 833-372-8311
FTC: 1-877-382-4357
FTC Website: Ftc.gov
FTC’s Identity Theft Website: www. consumer.gov/idtheft
With the advancement of technology and rise of social media platforms, getting scammed has never been easier. Financial crimes such as identity theft can take weeks, months or years to fully recover from – not to mention the overwhelming levels of stress they cause. Learning to protect your personal information is crucial and can help you avoid potential disaster.
Phishing is one of the most common types of scams, and it can happen in a multitude of ways. Phishing can range from emails, texts, or even social media messages containing a link for you to click on. Typically the scammer is impersonating a business, financial institution, person, or government agency. When the victim clicks on the link, their personal information is compromised.
Sometimes the messages will claim the victims “password expired” or that their “personal information needs verified”. These are both ways to get the victim to input their information directly to the scammer. To help protect yourself against phishing attempts, do the following:
A Romance Scam is when a scammer creates a romantic connection with the victim in order to gain their trust and money. Typically a Romance Scam will start on social media or dating websites/apps, with the scammer creating a profile with fake pictures, pretending to be someone they are not. The pictures are usually of a conventionally attractive individual, meant to entice the victim and create interest. The information that the victim posts on their profile will be used against them in order to form a close relationship. Since the profile is actually fake, the scammer will come up with all sorts of excuses of why they cannot meet in person or video chat.
Once the scammer creates a relationship, they soon fall on “hard times” and begin to ask the victim for help. Often times victims are happy to help their new partner, and feel as though it strengthens their relationship. This will continue until the victim either runs out of money or starts getting suspicious – then all of a sudden their partner’s profile disappears. Here are some tips on how to protect yourself from a romance scam:
According to the Federal Trade Commission, from January 2021 through June 2023 Americans have reportedly lost 2.7 billion dollars from social media scams. This amount is substantially higher than any other method of contact such as email, text, print/mail or other websites/apps. In recent years social media has expanded beyond just a social network with the addition of local marketplaces, online shopping within the platform, and even dating! Having all these options means that scammers have many different angles to target you from.
Your profile on social media also contains a lot of personal information, and essentially is an accumulation of years of your personal details. Scammers love to learn about their victims because it helps improve their process. If you’re looking to buy a computer, the scammer has one to “sell” you. If you love a specific sports team, so do they. This especially comes into play in Romance Scams as the scammer can learn about their victim and use it against them to form a close relationship.
Sometimes the messages will claim the victims “password expired” or that their “personal information needs verified”. These are both ways to get the victim to input their information directly to the scammer. To help protect yourself against phishing attempts, do the following:
Popular online marketplaces and delivery services such as Amazon, UPS, FedEx, USPS and more have dealt with an influx of scammers impersonating them. Scammers get potential victims phone number or email and send you an “urgent message” about your “delivery” from a popular company or delivery service. This is a form of phishing, and clicking the link will compromise the victims personal information in a matter of seconds before they even realize it’s a scam. The image on the left shows an example of a real USPS text scam, here is how you can tell it’s fake:
There is often a culture of oversharing on social media when it comes to people’s personal lives. A great example of social media oversharing is the Facebook status trend that’s often called “20 Facts About Me” or something similar. It is a copy/paste list of around 20 “unique” questions about yourself, which you answer and post as your status. The questions are similar to the following:
While these may seem like fun random questions to share with your Facebook friends, they are actually a collection of the most popular security questions used for online accounts. Scammers can easily look at your profile and find your answers to use when trying to access your account.
To apply, please submit your resume to info@latahcu.coop
