Fraud Prevention Awareness: Know How to Spot an Imposter Scam

Imagine this scenario: You receive a phone call that, according to your caller ID, appears to be from the Internal Revenue Service. Anxious, you answer the call and are told by a representative that there’s a problem with your taxes and that you must pay immediately to avoid costly penalties or even arrest or deportation. The representative says you can clear the debt by paying with cash, a prepaid debit card, wire transfer, or cashier’s check.

If you send a payment, you’d be falling victim to one of the fastest-growing fraud techniques known as an imposter scam. According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data, in 2023, consumers lost $76 million in money paid to scammers pretending to be from government agencies. That’s up from $40 million in 2022—a 90% increase!

What is an imposter scam?

As the name implies, an imposter scam occurs when a fraudster pretends to be a representative of a company or organization you trust to get you to send money or provide sensitive personal information. Scammers can be convincing and may even have some of your personal information, such as your address or the names of your family members.

How imposter scams work

Imposter scammers play on your fears and may contact you by phone, text, email, or social media. Often, they pretend to be:

• The IRS or another government agency. These can include the FBI, Social Security Administration (SSA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Medicare, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and even immigration authorities.
• Law enforcement or legal agencies, warning you that you may be arrested if you don’t pay a fine immediately.
• A family member in trouble. An imposter may pretend to be a loved one in trouble, like a grandchild who needs money immediately because of an accident.
• Tech support companies. Fraudsters may falsely inform you that your computer has a virus and will ask you to grant them remote access to it or pay money to get it fixed.
• Your bank or credit card company, notifying you about a supposed problem with your account.
• Sweepstakes organizations that tell you that you’ve won a prize.

Signs of an imposter scam

Beware of communications that:

• Tell you to act urgently. None of these organizations should ever ask you to act or send money immediately.
• Ask for personal or financial information.
• Instruct you to send cash, prepaid debit cards, gift cards, or other unusual forms of payment.
• Tell you about an offer or situation that seems too good to be true.
• Contain typos or poor grammar in their communications.

How to protect yourself

• Confirm the identity of the organization the scammer is pretending to represent by visiting their verified website or calling their official published phone number.
• Do not provide personal data (Social Security number, date of birth, etc.) or financial information (account numbers or passwords) via email, phone, text, or social media.
• Do not click on links or download attachments from unsolicited emails or texts.
• Don’t provide remote access to your computer or other devices.

What to do if you’ve fallen victim to an imposter scam

Take the following steps:

• Contact the financial institution (bank or credit card company) you used to send the money and let them know what happened.
• Report the fraud to the FTC at ftc.gov.

bankHometown is looking out for you.

We’re committed to keeping you informed about the latest scams and ways to protect your money and personal information. For more information about valuable tools to help you monitor your account activity, stop by your nearest office or call Customer Care at 888.307.5887.