THE CRIMINALS ARE HERE! (And they are calling/texting & emailing you)

 

When was the last time you talked to or communicated with a criminal person or enterprise?

 

You might answer “never” or “maybe I did, but was not aware”

 

That said, within every 24-hour period, most Americans are contacted by a criminal.

 

Huh?

 

 

Did you get a call, with no one on the other end. Or was there a delay, then a beep, and lots of talking in the background? And someone (not your best friend) asks for you and mispronounces your name(s).

 

That’s a criminal.

 

 

Did you get an email stating that your documents are ready and need your signature? An offer on your listing? Probably not, those are “phishing” emails, waiting for you to click on a link.

 

That’s a criminal.

 

 

Did you get an email from your bank telling you that you need to update your profile on their site? Of course, you bank with them, so why not click on the link?

 

That’s a criminal.

 

 

That email from IRS or Social Security wanting updated income information. You just submitted your tax return, or are receiving social security benefits, so you feel they are asking for additional information

 

That’s a criminal

 

 

 

I will address each issue above.

 

The phone call. If you have some form of SPAM filter on your phone, then you might see the notice when the phone rings “Possible SPAM”. Reject the call, it will go to voicemail. If your phone service allows you to stop calls going to your voicemail, set that up. If your voicemail answers, the criminal’s computer determines that it is a live phone number. If you answer it, same thing.

 

Once the call is done, and after few calls, go to your phones settings and review recent calls. Any that says SPAM or numbers you do not recognize (with no corresponding voicemail from a client) your SPAM filter should allow you to block that number. Sadly, criminals use computers to send calls from a different number each time. It is a game of whack-a-mole.

 

We might wish to answer the call and waste that person’s time, yet there is more than a 70% chance that you are talking to bot, or AI. You cannot offend them or anger them. It is getting more difficult these days to determine who or what you are talking to.

 

Are you on the Do Not Call/Text list? While it will not stop anyone from calling you (unless you block their number) it will tell legitimate businesses not to call you. Sadly, that is hit and miss, but clearly, since most legitimate businesses want to do the right thing, most of the unrecognizable calls and texts are probably from a criminal or criminal enterprise.

 

An individual criminal might “spoof” someone else’s phone number, thus hiding their real phone number, yet making it look like a local call in your area. What damage could that person do when they call you. Convince you to meet them at a house they saw and wanted to see it, for $1,945,000. What could possibly go wrong?

 

They could act as your credit card company, HOA Manager, car dealership, all claiming you have an overdue amount and will have services cut be days end if you don’t pay. Of course, they can take the payment over the phone, or have you send it via Zelle, or Apple Pay or any other means of payment.

 

Text messages from random companies, buyers wanting your home, offers of referrals, car detailing, free roof evaluation and so on. Yes, some of them are legitimate companies that buy lists from companies that collect your information. It is difficult to sort through the criminals and the legitimate business.

 

 

Criminal enterprises, possibly world-wide, use robo-dialers to call numbers around the world, and once someone answers, based on the language most possible in that area, they use the same tactic. That’s the one when you answer, there is a 2-3 second delay, for the call to be routed to a call center person, or bot or AI, then the beep when the call is connected.

 

Most phone services offer some form of call filter, and it is best to select one, (not the free one), and pay for it. Most are only a few dollars a month, yet well worth it.

Here is the link to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission site where you can sign up your phone numbers on the Do Not Call list and check if a number is on the list.

 

 

https://consumer.ftc.gov/national-do-not-call-registry-faqs

 

 

The Documents Are Ready email. Criminals know that real estate agents are always looking out for an offer on their listing, and that is why they target us. At any given time, real estate or not, out of 100 random people, at least 30 of them are working on paperwork with some entity, or joining a group, or new at a doctor’s office, all where we might anticipate the need to sign documents. Most medical portals will send you an email that documents are ready in your portal.

 

DO NOT click the link in the email. Open your browser and go directly to that medical portal and log in. Criminals know that as Americans age, a huge part of the population, we are accessing medical portals.

 

The email from your financial institution. Most national financial institutions (your bank) will NEVER email you asking you to click a link to update your information. They will wait for you to log in to their site, and then have a pop-up, drop down or a blinking light on the message icon to ask you to update, or verify or whatever.

 

And if you get an email from your financial institution with a new program, offer to upgrade services, or a new benefit, they typically will provide a link to check it out. If you see such an email, look at the “FROM” email address. If it looks fishy, do not click on anything.

 

For example, I received an email from Bank of America (or so it said it was from them) that just looked a little odd. It was for an offer for a 0% interest balance transfer, with “click here” to get started.

 

The email was from suzyjb7-x@walkersite.eu

 

Would Bank of America send me an offer email from that email address? NEVER!

 

An email from IRS or Social Security. I can say with 99.999999999% certainty, that IRS or Social Security will NEVER send you an unsolicited email about anything. They will both use snail-mail to ask you something or tell you something.

 

We find ourselves playing a never-ending game of avoiding these criminals, but it takes vigilance and determination, that the vast number of Americans are not willing to do.

 

Or do not believe it is a problem. They do so at their risk yet could often put their clients at risk.