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AVOIDING CORONAVIRUS FINANCIAL SCAMS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

The coronavirus pandemic has found a way to affect our lives in almost every
imaginable way. But one often overlooked area is in the realm of financial
scams. Unfortunately, some fraudsters have taken advantage of vulnerable people
during these times in order to benefit themselves financially.

So in response to these threats, we decided to put together a well-researched
and comprehensive resource that sheds light on all of the major types of
coronavirus financial scams facing the public. 

The infographic below will explain the different forms that the scams occur in
and offer you practical advice on how to avoid such scams. And in the unlucky
event you find yourself a victim of one of the scams, we’ve provided all of the
relevant authorities that you can reach out to in order to get assistance.




COVID-19 FDIC AND Bank Scams

 The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has received reports of
fraudulent communications that have the appearance of being from this agency.
Fraudsters know that people trust the FDIC name, so scammers use the FDIC’s name
and logo, and even the names of actual employees, in perpetrating fraudulent
schemes. 

These scams may involve a variety of communication channels, including emails,
phone calls, letters, text messages, faxes, and social media. The messages might
ask you to “confirm” or “update” confidential personal financial information,
such as bank account numbers. In other cases, the communication might be an
offer to help victims of current or previous frauds with an investigation to
recover losses.

Prevention Tips Against FDIC COVID-19 Scams

 Tip – The FDIC Does not send unsolicited correspondence asking for money or
sensitive personal information, and will never threaten you.

Tip – No government agency will ever demand that you pay by gift card, wiring
money or digital currency.

Tip – The FDIC would never contact you asking for personal details, such as bank
account information, credit and debit card numbers, social security numbers or
passwords.

COVID-19 Stimulus Check & Economic Payment Scams

 The IRS recommends financial institutions to remind their customers about the
importance of practicing sound personal cybersecurity, to remain vigilant to
illicit account use and creation, and to report potential crimes to either
federal, state or local law enforcement officials. Scammers are using stimulus
payments to try to rip people off. They might try to get you to pay a fee to get
your stimulus payment. Or they might try to convince you to give them your
Social Security number, bank account, or government benefits debit card account
number.

IRS Prevention Tips for avoiding COVID-19 Stimulus Payment Scams

Tip – Only use irs.gov/coronavirus to submit information to the IRS – and never
in response to a call, text or email.

Tip – The IRS won’t contact you by phone, email, text message or social media
with information about your stimulus payment.

Tip – The IRS won’t tell you to deposit your stimulus check then send them money
back because they paid you more than they owed you. That’s a fake check scam.

Tip – Regarding Website Scams – If you find a website that claims to be the IRS
and suspect it is fraudulent, send the URL of the suspicious site to
phishing@irs.gov with he subject line “Suspicious Website”.

Tip – Watch for any unexplainable charges to your financial accounts. If you
believe your accounts may be compromised, contact your financial institution
immediately and close those accounts.

Tip – Regarding Email Scams – If you read an email claiming to be from the IRS,
do not reply or click on the attachments and / or links. Forward the email as-is
to phishing@irs.gov and delete the original email.

Tip – To keep up-to-date on the latest scams go to
consumer.ftc.gov/features/scam-alerts and click on the “get email updates” link.

COVID-19 Gift Card Scams

Gift card scams are one of the most common types of money stealing scams.
Criminals will impersonate a person of authority, government official, or
charity service and use social engineering techniques to persuade their victim
into buying a gift card and providing the codes on the back in order to steal
its value. It is important to never supply any person or agency the gift card
numbers on the back of the physical card, or the electronic claim code that
comes along with an online gift card purchase. Government officials and law
enforcement will never ask for a gift card code to cover any expenses. If a
supervisor or colleague requests a gift card purchase, don’t respond to the
email. Instead, contact the individual through a known good email address or
phone number.

Tip – According to the FTC, if you paid a scammer with a gift card, report it as
soon as possible. Call the card company and tell them the gift card was used in
a scam. Then tell the FTC about it – or any other scam – at FTC.GOV/COMPLAINT
Your reports may help law enforcement agencies launch investigations that could
stop imposters and other fraudsters in their tracks.

COVID-19 Financial Scam Reporting and Assistance Contacts

FBI – Internet Crime Complaint Center

URL: ic3.gov

Description: The IC3 provides the public with a reporting mechanism to submit
internet-facilitated COVID-19 financial scams to the FBI. Submitted information
is analyzed and disseminated for investigative and intelligence purposes to law
enforcement and for public awareness.

FTC Complaint Assistant

URL: FTCcomplaintassistant.gov

Description: Report COVID-19 financial scams through the FTC complaint
assistant. There, you will be asked to choose a category and sub-category for
your complaint.

FBI – Field Office Locator

URL: FBI.gov/contact-us/field-offices

Description: The FBI has field offices located in metro areas across the U.S.
and Puerto Rico. Each office is overseen by a special agent, except for offices
in LA, NYC and D.C., which are headed by an assistant director in charge.



U.S. Secret Service Domestic Field Offices

URL: secretservice.gov/contact/field-offices

Description: Secret Service agents, professionals and specialists work in field
offices around the world to fight financial crimes. The Secret Service
investigates credit card fraud, wire and bank fraud, computer network breaches,
ransomware, and other cyber-enabled financial crimes.



Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

URL: treasury.gov/tigta/coronavirus.shtml

Description: The TIGTA provides quality, professional audit, investigative and
inspection and evaluation services that promote integrity, economy, and
efficiency in the administration of the Nation’s tax system.



National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF)

URL: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud

Description: the mission of the NCDF is to improve and further the dection,
prevention, investigation, and prosecution of fraud related to natural and
man-made disasters, and to advocate for the victims of such fraud.



The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General

URL: https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud/

Description: OIG accepts complaints from all sources about potential financial
fraud.

Daniel Gillaspia

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and creator of the credit
card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned full-time credit card
rewards/travel expert and has earned and redeemed millions of miles to travel
the globe. Since 2014, his content has been featured in major publications such
as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, US News, and
Business Insider. Find his full bio here. 





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