Beware of scammers posing as government officials trying to steal your money

Fraudsters often use scams to steal your hard-earned money, and their latest trick is to pose as government officials. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a warning that scammers are trying to impersonate its officials and ask people to wire money, send money, use cryptocurrencies or buy gift cards.

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In a notice on its website, CISA warned Americans that telephone scammers have begun impersonating the agency online. CISA is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It is responsible for maintaining the security, resilience and reliability of the country’s cyber and physical infrastructure.

“Identity theft scams are on the rise and often use the names and titles of government employees. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is aware of recent impersonation scams claiming to represent the agency,” CISA said in the notice.

“As a reminder, although CISA staff occasionally contact organizations with important notifications, CISA staff will never contact you to ask you to wire money, cash, cryptocurrencies, or use cards -gifts and will never ask you to keep the discussion secret,” he added. agency added.

Scammers often pretend to represent a company or organization when trying to scam you on a call – remember those infamous Microsoft customer support calls? However, this becomes more effective when they claim to represent a government.

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CISA advises you to hang up immediately when scammers ask for money and write down their number. You can validate the contact by calling CISA at 844-SAY-CISA (844-729-2472) or report it to law enforcement.

CISA is not the only agency impersonating fraudsters. Government agencies like the CIA and The FTC is also frequently targeted. A recent example involves Charlotte Cowles, a financial advice columnist, who was scammed out of $50,000 by people posing as government officials. She shared her experience to help others avoid getting scammed.

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Identity theft scams have resulted in huge monetary losses. Americans lost more than a billion dollars to scammers posing as businesses or government agencies in 2023, the Federal Trade Commission said in April.

FBI IC3 reports suggest these scammers primarily targeted older Americansstealing $589.8 million from people over 60 in tech support scams and $179.6 million by impersonating the government.

You can avoid identity theft scams by being careful and following some of the tips listed below.

1) Stay up to date: The first step to protecting yourself from government identity theft fraud is simply to educate yourself about it. Keep up to date with these and other scams – by reading the news and subscribing to sites like CyberGuy and my free CyberGuy Report newsletter here.

2) Never send money: Government agencies will never ask you to wire money or use gift cards, cryptocurrencies, or payment apps for payment. Scammers insist on these methods because the money is hard to track and even harder to recover.

3) Remove your personal information from the web: Your personal information is available on the web and fraudsters use it to scam you. If you want to make your personal information inaccessible, you may want to look into data deletion services. While no service promises to remove all of your data from the Internet, having a removal service is ideal if you want to continuously monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time. long. Check out my top picks for data deletion services here.

4) Don’t trust your caller ID: Your caller ID may display the real phone number or the name of the government agency, such as “Social Security Administration.” But caller ID can be spoofed. It could be anyone calling from anywhere in the world.

5) Invest in Identity Theft Monitoring Services: Identity theft companies can monitor personal information like your Social Security number, phone number, and email address and alert you if it is sold on the dark web or used to open an account. They can also help you freeze your bank and credit card accounts to prevent unauthorized use by criminals. Check out my tips and top picks for protecting yourself against identity theft..

6) Avoid Unknown Links and Downloads: Do not click on links or download attachments from unknown sources as they may contain malware. The best way to protect yourself from malicious links that install malware that can access your private information is to install strong antivirus protection on all your devices. This can also alert you to any phishing emails or ransomware scams. Protect your personal information and digital assets. Get my picks for the best 2024 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS devices.

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Scammers claiming to be from government agencies are very worrying because it is easy to believe them and end up giving away your money. If you receive a call like this, stay calm and do not transfer money. Hang up, check to see if the number is real, and if you’re not sure, report it to law enforcement. The government should also better inform the public about these phishing scams and what to do and what not to do.

Have you ever received a call from someone claiming to be a government official? How did you manage this? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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Original article source: Beware of scammers posing as government officials trying to steal your money