Riverhead seniors heard advice on protecting themselves against identity theft Wednesday from Suffolk County Financial Crimes Unit Detective Tom Gabriele.
Gabriele provided residents with information on how to recognize scenarios of fraud and scams that can lead to identity theft, and how to monitor and protect their credit in the case of a breach.
Cases of identity theft reported by the Riverhead Town Police Department rose sharply over the past three years. There were 174 cases in 2021, up from 73 in 2020 and 58 cases in 2019. Reported incidents of fraud were also on the rise, from 29 in 2019 to 59 in 2020 to 68 in 2021.
The event was organized by the Greater Jamesport Civic Association at the Riverhead Senior Center on Shade Tree Lane in Aquebogue.
FTC-Fraud-fact-sheet-1Gabriele gave the audience a FTC fact sheet that lists “10 things you can do to avoid fraud.”
“If you follow what’s in this… you will never be a victim of a scam. That’s my guarantee,” he said.
The first item on the fact sheet is “spot imposters.” Scammers often pretend to be people they are not, or somebody the victim trusts, like a family member, a charity, a government official or a police officer, according to the fact sheet. Gabriele said never send money or give out personal information in response to an unexpected request, like a call saying you’ve won a free trip to the Bahamas, but need to send money for processing fees.
“Nobody’s giving you anything for nothing, right? If it sounds too crazy, or too good to be true,” Gabriele warned, “it is.” He urged people to remember “especially today, nobody’s giving you anything, but everybody’s looking to take.”
Gabriele urged residents to do online searches on phone numbers of unfamiliar callers, and organizations that send letters, to check whether they are scammers or legitimate.
“So when one of these things pops up, a simple, quick internet search is going to alleviate many of the problems,” the detective said.
Caller ID information can be manipulated to make it appear that a call is coming from your town or a place of government operation, like Washington D.C., Gabrielle said, when the call is really coming from halfway across the world. “So when something comes up on your caller ID, do not believe it,” he said.
He said to consider not using methods of paying money that don’t have effective fraud protections, like wiring money, using reloadable cards and using gift cards. In some cases, scammers ask to send large amounts of money to unknown addresses through packages in the mail, which is a clear red flag, Gabriele said.
“The IRS, government agencies, police departments, will not solicit you to send cash or gift cards. We don’t do that,” Gabriele said.
“Banking institutions, credit card companies will not solicit your personal information over the internet or over the phone. So if you have somebody calling up, saying ‘your bank account was frozen because we detected fraud in it, give me all your information, your social security number, everything else,’ they’re not going to ask you that, they already have your information,” Gabriele said. “[If you] get that call from the bank saying ‘listen, we detected fraud on your account, did you make this purchase?’ That’s legitimate.”
Talking to someone you trust or consulting an expert before you give up any money or personal information is also important, according to the FTC fact sheet.
The longer you are on the phone, the more the scammer can pull information from you and craft a narrative that you can believe, one which they can use to extort you, Gabriele said.
“The thing that we tell everybody to watch for, is stay off the phone with these guys, because what they are is master manipulators,” Gabriele said. “The longer you stay on the phone with one of these fraudsters, the greater the chances you’re going to become a victim.”
He said to also avoid engaging with suspicious emails.
“Do not let curiosity get the best of you. Don’t engage these guys on the phone. Do not, do not, do not click on their emails,” he said.
New York State law allows consumers to initiate a security freeze on their credit bureau information, which prevents creditors and others from accessing credit reports, to help prevent bad actors from taking out loans in their names. Gabriele said this is a good tool for people who are not actively applying for new loans or credit cards to protect their information against bad actors. Security freezes can be obtained by contacting each of the three major credit reporting agencies.
See guide to security freezes below.
“If you’re in that position where you don’t really need to go get new credit, this is a no brainer,” Gabriele said. “Putting the security freeze on can prevent any of these guys from getting any new credit in your name.”
Gabriele also recommends that you actively monitor your bank accounts and credit cards, and alert the banks when you see a purchase you haven’t made as soon as possible..
He also recommends checking your credit report throughout the year. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit bureaus every 12 months. He recommends looking at one every three months.
Riverhead Police Detective Ed Carey also spoke to the group. Carey said, on a local level, nobody from the Police Benevolent Association or volunteer fire departments will try to solicit donations from community members over the phone.
“You’ll get a letter in the mail, a letterhead with the return address to the firehouse, or the police station, to the PBA, whatever, then it’s legit,” he said. “But the police, the fire, will not you call on the phone and say ‘would you please make a donation to our fundraising efforts to help us? Would you like to help us?’ That will not happen. The government will not call and solicit money on the telephone, they just will not,” Carey said.
He added that it is a myth that if community members do not make donations to emergency services they will not respond to their emergency.
NYS Security Freeze Law by RiverheadLOCAL on Scribd
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