Coronavirus Scams Target Unemployment Benefits

By Donna Parent in Breach and Scam News 0 Comment
Unemployment Scams During COVID19

Unemployment scams have become more lucrative during COVID-19, as states are providing unemployed workers with an additional $600 a week in unemployment insurance benefits as part of the CARES Act through at least July 2020. The Identity Theft Resource Center has received more complaints of unemployment identity theft in the first two weeks of May, 2020 as they did in all of 2019. Certain states, such as Washington, Massachusetts, Florida, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island, have seen a particularly heightened increase of fraudulent unemployment claims, catching hundreds of thousands of individuals off-guard, and bilking millions of dollars from the system with false claims. Continue reading

Social Security Scams on the Rise

By John Burcham in Breach and Scam News 0 Comment

You may think that Social Security number (SSN) phone scams are a thing of the past, and that fraudsters have moved on to more creative ways to con individuals out of their money or steal their personal information. In fact, some scams remain more common than others because they continuously return results, and the phone call remains one of the favorite vehicles for identity thieves. It’s an inexpensive way for criminals to reach out and snag someone unaware, getting them to hand over their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) without realizing who is actually on the other end of the line. Continue reading

Three Back to School Scams Targeting College Students

By John Burcham in Breach and Scam News 0 Comment

Children of every age are susceptible to identity theft — they make highly desirable targets with untapped credit histories and no debt, especially kids under eight years old. But as children grow older, begin to establish their own credit, and head off to college, they increasingly fall for scams that can lead to loss of money and their identity. This is a crash-course in adulting that no parent wants to see their child experience. Continue reading

Three Financial Scams Targeting Your Identity

By John Burcham in Breach and Scam News 0 Comment

There’s more than money at stake when it comes to a financial scam; consumers’ identities are also under attack. Opportunities that offer a large amount of money for minimal participation or investment are typically red flags, and there’s likely a criminal working to steal your money or personal information. Fraudsters pulling off imposter scams — attempting to earn your trust so you will send them money or personal information — can commit synthetic identity theft with just two pieces of your Personally Identifiable Information (PII), the kind of details often required to participate in “fast cash” or easy “work from home” jobs. Continue reading