New Year’s Resolutions to Combat Scams
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: December 28, 2023
Next year, resolve to protect yourself from scams that can damage your finances and reputation. Ring in 2024 with some smart resolutions to protect your personal information!
Stay informed of the latest scam trends
Fraudsters continue to change their tactics. Stay informed by:
- Following reliable news sources.
- Subscribing to scam alert newsletters.
- Staying connected with your local law enforcement agencies.
The more you know, the better prepared you’ll be to identify and avoid scams.
Think carefully before sharing personal information
Phishing is one of the main ways that scammers attempt to trick people into providing personal information. Pay close attention to emails or messages asking for your username, password, or other personal information.
Scammers pretend to be from familiar organizations to gain your trust. Stay alert when receiving unsolicited calls that claim to be from banks, government agencies, or other well-known companies.
When in doubt, contact the organization directly through official channels to verify that the request is real before sharing any personal information or making payment.
Use strong passwords
Create strong, unique passwords that use upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Don’t use passwords that are easy to guess like birthdays or names.
Consider using a password manager to generate unique passwords and securely store them for each of your online accounts.
Be savvy with QR codes
QR codes are increasingly popular in restaurants, on parking meters, in emails, and on social media.
Scammers have noticed! They are physically placing fake QR codes on top of official ones or creating fake QR codes on social media advertisements to get access to your personal information.
Never scan random QR codes. If the QR code looks odd or altered, do not scan it.
Protect your social media profiles
Take a moment to review the privacy settings on your social media platforms and limit the amount of personal information you share publicly.
Fraudsters may use your social media posts to personalize scams or get access to your accounts without your permission. Regularly check your friends list and remove any unfamiliar or suspicious accounts.
As we welcome the new year, let’s make protecting ourselves against scams a top priority. We can significantly reduce the risk of being scammed by staying informed, being alert and careful, and safeguarding our accounts. We wish you a safe and secure year ahead!
Watch our video below to learn how to identify important red flags. Please share this information with those who may need it – and post it on social media.
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Tags: fraud, General Information, scams, social security, telephone scams
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Susan D.
Overpayments are being pursued by Individuals claiming to be with the social security administration and are threatening individuals, companies, employers not to hire or do business with the Individuals the social security administration is pursuing with the alleged secretive debt they’re not suppose to know exists. The social security administration debt collectors tell neighbors, family, acquaintances and anyone their targeted Individual comes across, that they’re intentionally causing poverty because the individual is in a POVERTY PROGRAM which belongs to the SSA. They laugh and smile about the oppression and despair they are causing. They tell people that the Individual has “debt” that they are “not suppose to know about” and the community tells them, then why are y’all after them? If they are not allowed to work or know that a debt exist? And they simply smile and mention all the money theyre making while the government is WASTING money.
TerryJ
I and others received email title “Slam the Scam” that is purportedly from the SSA. A quick look at the SSA website shows no mention of it. I’m assuming it is itself a scam.
C.B.
Hi, Terry. Thanks for reading our blog and for your comment. You can stay up to date with our Slam the Scam activities by visiting our Scam webpage. We hope this information is helpful.
Holly M.
When are you CLEARING and REMOVING those 2020 Overpayment Payment Center Cases. The social security administration, the Courts and Congress AGREED TO remove and clear the erroneous alleged 2020 Overpayment Payment Center Cases. Please start by removing and CLEARING those non recipients FIRST please.