[00:00:20] Absolutely.
What a surprise that will be for them.
(MUSIC SEGUE)
[00:00:44] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
Im your host, Bob Sullivan.
And where volunteers there do amazing work taking phone calls almost every day from victims of crimes.
And so that makes Amy the perfect person to listen in on the front line of what’s happening.
First of all, Amy, happy holidays.
[00:01:32] Amy Nofziger: Happy Holidays, Bob.
Thanks for having me.
[00:01:34] Bob: Of course.
[00:01:44] Amy Nofziger: Calm down.
I mean let’s just put it out there.
Where you’re going to buy them?
What’s the best deal?
[00:02:56] Amy Nofziger: Oh absolutely.
That’s where they’ll sneak in with this opportunity.
I have to act on it now.
[00:03:58] Bob: And some of these messages are very well disguised.
It might say, you know, “Did you order this from Amazon?”
And of course, right away you’re going to think, no!
Click here to see, you know, see its progress, to track your progress.
And while a lot of those are legitimate, some of them are criminal, right?
Because we’re not really remembering what we’re ordering.
Is it being shipped by USPS?
Is it being shipped by a, you know, private shipping company?
Remember who you’re ordering from.
Remember the price of it.
That’s a great idea.
[00:06:26] Bob: Ah, that makes a ton of sense.
So a list like that is helpful, even just not for scams, just in life.
So I think that’s a great idea.
[00:06:42] Amy Nofziger: Yeah, absolutely.
Tell me about those.
Just know that most of these ads are not fully vetted.
The ad looks like it is from Louis Vuitton, but it is not, right.
We’ve heard they’ve shipped little harmonicas, little whistles, toys, things like that.
It was delivered on this date.
And you’re unable to contest those credit card charges.
So just be very, very careful with any social media ads.
[00:08:48] Bob: Wow, so that seems like a big deal to me.
That sounds like a real problem.
Um, there’s nothing more exciting than waking up on Christmas morning with a puppy, right?
But we really need to watch out for these pet scammers.
They’ll get you emotionally attached to this animal.
They’ll have the animal even baby talk to you over text message.
“Hi, Mommy, I miss you, I can’t wait to meet you.”
And you fall in love with this animal.
We have had a few instances where they are asking for crypto as well for payment for this animal.
We need more money from the shipping company,” whatever it is.
[00:12:16] Amy Nofziger: Absolutely.
What a surprise that will be for them.
So let’s move on before I start showing how angry I am about that kind of crime.
Tell us about it.
Right, they’re just going to chalk it up and be like, oh well that stinks.
So this is one of those, those crimes that oftentimes goes unreported.
Get a copy of the little, tiny receipt that comes out on the register.
Give that with the gift card to the recipient.
Say it to the recipient, “Let me know if there’s any problems with this.
kindly, let me know if it’s possible for you to’t use it.”
Also, check that that the card has not been tampered with.
Is that a good idea?
Or better yet, use it right away.
You know don’t let it sit around for a while.
It doesn’t always happen in the store.
At 12 p.m., the money was offloaded on the card.
I wasn’t even out of the store yet," right.
That is a fraud that is happening behind the scenes that I had nothing to do with.
Is that how it works?
[00:17:06] Amy Nofziger: Yes, exactly.
And I know this because this, this actually happened to me.
There was, money was never loaded on the card.
Now do I think my mother-in-law did it because she doesn’t like me?
Would that make any sense?
But go ahead and do it, or just buy it and give it to them right away.
[00:18:46] Bob: I like that idea too.
So tell me what those are.
We have this emotional tie to being to whatever location we’re trying to go.
And it’s cold.
Have you seen that?
So just be very careful.
Go directly to the website.
They’ll price match.
[00:22:21] Bob: I think that’s good advice too.
You know how much mom has been looking forward to me coming home.
Can you like Venmo me you know this money.
Can you just go buy that gift card?
Can you hey go to a crypto ATM machine," whatever it is.
She’s already so stressed out.
You know how this time of year stresses her out.
She’s got to make those 15 pounds of cookies, right?"
I know that there’s this really popular scam going on right now called the Grandparent Scam.
Hang up that phone and call me at the number that you have in your phone for me.
I personally, I have a college student, I’ve had this conversation with, with my mom.
Hang up the phone, call me.
I’ll call him.
You call him, right, because that’s just not how it works.
Um, you’re not stuck at the airport needing gift cards to pay for your flight.
Denver International might take the cake right now.
But yeah, but it is.
And again, you don’t want them.
One of them is charity fraud.
Tell me what people should do about that?
I mean it’s, it’s what we do, and they need our help.
But do your research, that’s the bottom line with any charities.
Do your research, don’t act under pressure.
You don’t have a further relationship with them.
Be more active about how you pick them, right?
Well what kind of things, uh raise alarm bells for you there?
[00:29:56] Amy Nofziger: Just listen to what people are asking for, right.
Are they asking you for personal information?
Are they asking you for a gift card?
Are they asking you for cryptocurrency or to visit an ATM machine at a local store?
Are they asking you for your Social Security number?
You don’t need to add any more stress to yourself by losing money in one of these scams.
[00:30:47] Bob: Amy, that is so helpful.
[00:30:57] Amy Nofziger: I certainly will.
They would love to hear that.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch web connection Helpline at 877-908-3360.
Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next.
That address again is: theperfectscampodcast@aarp.org.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
