Knowledge is Power

The best way to protect yourself from becoming a romance scam victim is knowing what could happen. We saw no shortage of fraud and scams in 2023. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow, so undoubtedly we will see more in 2024. 

Today is Valentine’s Day, a day for love and romance! In keeping with that theme, today’s topic is romance scams. These scammers target individuals who use social media and dating apps. Read on!

PS, don’t forget, you have a chance to win one $20 Visa gift card for every blog posted with the topics of fraud and scams this year! Take the one-question quiz at the end of each blog post about fraud and scams (like this one!). If you answer correctly, you’ll be entered for a chance to win!

Is it love?

Romance scams can be either be quick or take time. Scammers use new, but fake, relationships to steal money from people after spending days, weeks, or even months, talking to their victim online. They gain trust from their victim over time via various online conversations. Then, they ask for money or personal information. There may give a variety of reasons for needing money or your personal information:

• They claim they want to travel to meet you, their “love interest” in person, but need money for gas, plane tickets, etc.
• They say a relative or loved one is sick, hurt, or in jail.
• They ask you to do them a favor and in return they will send you money if you send your account information.

Scammers typically ask for you to pay them in ways that are harder to trace and impossible to reverse, like gift cards or apps like Venmo or Cash App. If someone you have never met ask for money in these ways, be very suspicious and proceed with caution (phone conversations and FaceTime do not count as meeting, remember that AI can be used to trick you).

Lastly, another common lie from an online “love interest”, is an offer to help you invest in cryptocurrency. While many victims of romance scams send money with a gift cards or peer to peer services, the most substantial losses — more than one-third of losses to romance scams in 2022 — were in cryptocurrency, according to the FTC.

Send a simple e-card to your online sweetie for Valentine’s Day instead of money. If you decide to meet in person, do so at a public place and make sure you tell someone where you are going and when they should expect to hear from you afterwards. Have a safe and LOVEly Valentine’s Day!

Quiz and Contest Rules

There will be a two-week timeframe from when this blog is posted to read it and take the quiz. Those with the correct answers will be entered into the drawing for that post. Winners will be contacted via the information they entered when taking the quiz. One entry per person. NorthRidge employees and their immediate family (spouses, parents, children, live-in partners), and board members, are not eligible to win. Additional giveaway rules are located here.

A new year could bring new scams.

Scammers and fraudsters are constantly looking for new ways to get money from you. It is up to you to protect yourself from falling victim to a scam. Oftentimes scammers are so sophisticated that they can trick you into willingly giving them cash or worse, your account information. If this happens, it’s usually impossible to get your money back.

This year, we are going to take some extra time to chat about scams, and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim. Because these topics are so important, we are including a chance to win one $20 Visa gift card for every blog posted with the topics of fraud and scams. Take the one-question quiz at the end of each blog post about fraud and scams, answer correctly, and you’ll be entered for a chance to win!

Scams in 2024: Artificial Intelligence

Scammers might use new technology, like AI, to add new twists to scams that have worked in the past.

Today, we’re going to talk about AI powered scams. Artificial intelligence can easily create videos, photos, and voices that look and sound like celebrities, your employer, or even your relatives. You are tricked to believe that you are speaking to someone you know and trust, but you are not.

These impersonation scams or deepfake scams are on the rise and can be extremely realistic.

Grandparent Scam

A common AI scam is when a scammer calls someone pretending to be a grandchild (or other type of relative). AI can collect audio data (from social media or other sources) to clone your relative’s voice and sound like them when they speak to you. They will mention a stressful or urgent situation they are in and request money. They may also request you keep it a secret from the family so they will not be embarrassed (affecting your emotions by making you feel special that this “relative” reached out to you, but to also avoid getting caught in their scam). Then, they request a wire transfer of money or that you buy gift cards and give them the information.

To avoid scams like this, confirm the identity of this person. Ask them questions that only your relative would know. Stop the conversation and reach out to that relative by the contact information you have for them. You could also reach out to another relative that would know the situation if it was real.

Typical Scam Elements

Learn to recognize a scam right away by remembering these scam hallmarks:

• Urgency and pressure to act fast.
• Requests to keep it a secret or keep it between the two of you.
• Using scare tactics.
• Requests for money, commonly in cash, wire transfers, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other means that is difficult to track or recover.
• Specific instructions on how to complete the transaction.
• Offers that sound too good to be true.

Stay Vigilant

It is unfortunate that this is the world we live in, but you must remain constantly vigilant and alert when it comes to protecting your money, your accounts, and your identity.

NorthRidge will never ask you for your login information. Do not give your online banking login information to anyone, not even someone claiming to be from your financial institution.

When in doubt, hang up, do not text back, and/or delete suspicious emails.