Living in the technology age is somewhat nerve racking when it comes to personal information and the internet. The best defense against fraud begins with you, and one of the ways to not become a victim is to be familiar with what fraud is and how fraudsters work.
Types of fraud
Elder Fraud and Financial Exploitation
Elder financial
exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an older adult's funds or
property.
This type of fraud is
an act directed at older adults in which efforts are made to mislead with promises
of goods, services, or financial benefits that don't exist, were not planned
on being provided, or were distorted.
Health/Medicare Fraud
Health/Medical Fraud is
purposely billing Medicare for services that were never received.
Identity Theft/Privacy Issues
Identity theft is the
use of another’s personal information without permission — such as their name,
Social Security number, and/or credit card number with the intention to commit
fraud.
Mass Marketing, Mail, Wire, Telephone and Internet Fraud
Mass Marketing Frauds
target individuals of all ages. Victims are lured in with false promises of cash prizes, goods, or services in exchange for up-front fees, taxes or
donations.
Mail, phone, and
internet can be used by criminals to commit many different types of fraud,
including sweepstakes and lottery frauds, loan fraud, phishing scams, buying
club memberships, credit card scams, identity theft, and more. All of these
types of fraud are under this category.
Wire Transfer Fraud entails
of using wire communications in a scheme to defraud the following: wire
transfers of monies to or from a financial institution; electronic mail communications; Fax transmissions; and radio or television
communications.
Mortgage, Loan, Lending and Related Fraud
Mortgage scams and
frauds include traditional mortgage fraud, foreclosure rescue scams, loan
modification scams, and reverse mortgage scams.
Securities and Commodities Fraud
Securities Fraud covers
a wide range of illegal activities, all of which involve the schemes of
investors or the handling of financial markets.
Tax Fraud
Any misrepresentation
of the tax laws or effort to undermine the integrity of the tax system to the
gain of a person or business at the expense of the federal government.
Other Types of Fraud
Charity Fraud: Scammers representing themselves as a charitable organization and using similar
techniques to request donations as telemarketing, direct mail, email and online
ads.
Job Scams: Scammers who promise employment, access to special employment listings, interviews, or a way to make a big income working from home for a fee
or for credit or debit card information.
- Protect your personal information
- Know who you are dealing with
- Make sure your systems are set up properly and protected
- choose a secure password- at least 8 characters long and a combination of letters &number
