All the scammers out there have their eye on your nest egg.
Did you hear about the grandmother who received a call (and was sworn to secrecy) from a purported grandchild who needed bail money? How about a caller impersonating a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer telling a potential victim that they had intercepted packages that contain illegal substances shipped from Mexico or Colombia addressed to them?
And who can avoid the scam emails? The most recent one I got claimed to be from a former co-worker who was robbed while traveling in Germany and needed emergency funds. Imposter scams often begin with a call, a text message, or an email. Scammers often pretend to be someone we trust or care about to persuade us to send them money or share our personal information.
Scammers may pretend to be calling from Social Security saying that your benefit will be suspended unless you act right away. They may claim to be the IRS calling about back taxes that you need to pay right away or you’ll be arrested. Scammers may claim to be calling from your bank requiring personal information that needs to be verified or from Microsoft purporting to know serious problems with your computer. These are just some of the most common scams out there.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), people reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, which represents a 25% increase over the previous year. The reported loss was $2.5 billion more than 2024.
In Washington State, our elderly residents were defrauded of some $88 million in 2023 alone according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. The FTC says that the total fraud losses reported for our state in 2024 was $297 million. In 2024 Washington State was ranked 25th for reported fraud and 30th for identify theft.
Over all, imposter scams rank number one on the FTC’s Top 10 fraud categories. The top two contact methods are email and phone call.
The latest data indicates that younger people reported losing money to fraud more often than older people. However, when older people experience a loss, people aged 70 and older report much higher median losses than any other age group.
Here are some do’s and don’ts based on FTC’s advice on how to avoid impersonator scams:
• Don’t give your personal or financial information to anyone who contacts you out of the blue. Government agencies like Health and Human Service (HHS), the IRS or the FTC will not call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for personal information, like your Social Security number or bank account number. Medicare won’t contact you on social media to sell you “free or low-cost” knee braces or other medical equipment.
• Don’t trust your caller ID. Your caller ID may show an actual government agency or company’s name or phone number. But just about anything can be faked these days, including caller IDs. In reality, this could be anyone calling from anywhere in the world. Scammers also use neighbor spoofing so you see an incoming call coming from what appears to be a local number that you may already know and trust. If you do answer the call and don’t recognize the caller, hang up.
• Don’t click on links or open any attachments in unexpected emails or text messages. If you have concerns, or you think the message might not be legitimate, contact the company directly using a link you already use or a phone number you already know is correct. Do not use the contact information or the links provided in the unexpected email or text. Also, never give remote access to your computer to anyone who contacts you unexpectedly, even if it’s somebody who says they’ll help with a virus.
• Do know that only scammers demand you pay in a specific way. Never pay anyone who insists you pay with cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union, a gift card, or using a payment app.
• Do talk to someone you trust. Scammers often use pressure and urgency to get you to respond before you have time to think. Say “no” to anyone who tries to rush you into any decision. Consider it a red flag if the caller insists on secrecy. If you’re being pressured to do anything, hang up. It may be useful to tell someone first — whether it’s a friend, a family member, or a neighbor — about what’s going on before you do anything. Talking about it could help you think things through.
If targeted, residents should cease contact and call the non-emergency numbers for Clallam County Law Enforcement at 360-417-2459 or City of Sequim Police at 360- 683-7227.
If you’re not able to use ReportFraud.ftc.gov to file a report, you may call the FTC’s Consumer Response Center at 877-382-4357.
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Ruby E. Carlino is a published writer with over a decade of blogging experience and a background as a technology analyst. She has lived in Sequim since 2018, after spending years in Asia, Central America, Europe, and the Washington, D.C. area during her husband’s diplomatic assignments. She can be reached at nextchaptercolumn@proton.me.
