WEBVTT - Sneakier Scams Targeting Younger Folks #485 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.559 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:26.239 and today we're discussing sneaky er scams targeting younger folks. So, Joel, 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:28.560 are you saying that even I even you, that we 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.080 could fall prey to some of these different scams? Maybe me, 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:33.479 but you're you're pushing forties. I don't know if you 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:35.199 qualify anymore. I'm a couple of years older than you. 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.280 It's true, that is what we're talking about today. We 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.600 are talking about scams and specifically how they're targeting younger 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:43.320 generation because because oftentimes I feel like they're viewed as 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:45.839 this thing. They're like, oh, I would never fall for that, 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:47.720 or that that's something that I heard my dad talk 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:49.960 about one time, or my mom. You know, my nana 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.319 she talked about this guy that she talked to one 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:54.040 time and he ended up swindling her out of a 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:56.040 couple hundred bucks, that sort of thing. But no, these 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.600 are scams that are that needs to be on our radar, 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:02.160 which scams from the new generations. That's what we should 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:06.000 have titled this episode. But it maybe wonder have you 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.920 ever been scammed so I fell for that? You're aware 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:11.440 of a very very informal scam. One time when I 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.400 was I guess early twenties a girlfriend up in Canada. 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.440 I had like three girlfriends of in Canada. Now, so 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:20.800 is this young and I was broke. Young fella came 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:22.640 up to my door when I was still living at 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:24.160 my parents house. I don't know, I was probably like 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:27.199 nineteen and twenty, and he was selling stuff to raise 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.199 money for for school. And he was selling Blockbuster gift cards. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:31.880 This is how old that scam was. This is when 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:35.600 Blockbuster was. To our gen Z listeners, Blockbuster was the 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:39.959 real life equivalent of Netflix. And so the combination of 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.600 Netflix and the library mashed together, right, and my my 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.040 penchant to get a deal he you know, he was. 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:47.640 They were discounted, and so I got something like, I 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.040 don't even remember twenty five dollars worth of Blockbuster gift 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:53.240 cards for the low low price of fifteen dollars, and 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:55.360 I got to feel good that I was supporting this. 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.440 This his school fundraising efforts at the same time. But 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.320 alas I law stout on all the money I gave 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:05.400 to him because it was a fake gift card, and 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:07.840 I think just enterprising young scam artist had he printed 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:09.920 them out himself, or like, what was the deal. I know, 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.040 it's so long ago, I barely remember, but my family 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.520 joke about it. No, maybe they were expired and they 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.040 were legitimate, and maybe it could have been in the 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.320 best case scenario, give it, give him the benefit of 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.120 the doubt. Maybe he didn't even know that they were 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:25.200 expired and was just trying to to make a buck, 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.240 because that's that's the only time I can remember where 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.200 I got scammed. And but it's still just like a 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.600 humorous story to tell when we're hanging out as a family. 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:34.120 Nice man, I don't think you've ever told me that 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.079 or or even shared that here on the show. But scams, dude, 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:38.760 they're not going anywhere. And so I am glad that 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.840 we're going to dedicate an entire episode to the subject today. 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:43.760 But I can ask you a frugal or cheat before 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.720 we get to it. Okay, So we are getting rid 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:49.040 of a lot of old paint at our house, all right. 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:51.560 I think everybody out there probably does kind of switched 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.040 up the interior color of your of the house during 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.280 the renovations, and so we have, you know, a few 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:58.120 extra cants that we want to keep on hand. But 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:00.079 there's just a bunch of old paint and owning multipl 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.560 rental houses over the years, I've just had old old 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.360 paint cans stacked up for use of different properties, and 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.160 so trying to consolidate my colors to where we're using 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.519 one color when I paint anywhere. That's how you do it. Yes, 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:12.960 And secondly, you keep the paint at the houses, keep 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:14.680 them in like a little tupperware, like either in a 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:16.760 closet or down in the basement. Man, that's all right, 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:18.120 that's a good call. Maybe I should do that from 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:20.600 now on. But for anybody who has old paint hands 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:21.720 that they need to get rid of, you can't just 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.240 toss them in the trash. That is toxic material that 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.640 you can't just uh toss in with with all your 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:28.560 other trash items. So well, you can throw it away 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:32.200 as long as it's dried, yes, if there's not much left. 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.079 But lots of times there's a lot of paint left 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.000 in some of those here you switch color, so you 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:38.120 have a lot, you probably have like half gallons left. 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:40.320 But if it's an older can and you've used maybe 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:41.960 most of it, you can just like pop that lid off, 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:43.760 let it dry out. If that's the case, I know, 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.440 at least here in Atlanta, you can throw those away, okay, alright, Well, 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.080 but if you don't, and you've got tons of paint 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:50.800 like Joels paint, as I have, you have to go 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.240 to a place for specifically hard to recycle items. And 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:57.040 there's a place here in South Atlanta called Charm, and 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:59.440 that's where you can drop your stuff off. They Here's 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:01.560 the thing, though, They they accept up to twenty five 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.240 pounds worth of paint every visit for free, but then 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.680 you have to pay per per pounds above that pound limit. 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:09.440 And so I think anywhere this is going and my 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:12.240 frugal or cheap for making multiple Charm runs in order 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.320 to avoid paying. And I did pay a little bit 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:16.080 the first time because I was at something like forty 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.520 forty pounds, but I'm not like weighing it by hand 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:21.480 at home to make sure I don't go above the 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.040 twenty pound limit. But I'm also not taking it all 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:25.640 in one fell swoop so that I can at least 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.120 take advantage of that that free threshold a few times. Well, 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:30.920 Charm isn't too far not only from where we live, 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:32.560 but some of the other spots that we like to 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:34.320 hit up and so as long as you're not going 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.120 out of your way to have to swing by there, 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:37.600 which I don't think you are, because I know why 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.600 you're hitting down there that I don't think it's that 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:42.840 cheap of a move. If it was across town, uh say, 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.680 it was like, you know, miles away with cash prices 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:47.400 these days, so yeah, like it would I don't even 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.120 know if it'd be worth it now actually the time 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:51.480 now that I think about how much gas costs. But 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:53.200 one of the other things I was gonna mention maybe 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:55.600 that's worth checking out is just like listening it on Facebook, 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:57.960 either the you know, like like one of the buy 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.280 nothing groups or just listening it locally, uh, you know, 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:03.440 for free. Remember any of the paint that's still in 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:05.760 good conditions. If it's in good shape and you buy 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:08.120 good paint. We both like that Sherwin Williams stuff. And 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.440 I feel like getting decent paint is something that we 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:12.400 learned over the years too. If you go with the 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.840 cheaper stuff, it doesn't really stick to the walls all 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:16.960 that well, I thinks as well as like super Paint, 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:18.920 the top rating Consumer Reports paint is like the bare 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.880 Premium plus and it's still pretty cheap, something like twenty 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:23.680 bucks a gallon, and I don't know with inflation, it's 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:25.280 probably a hundred dollars a gallon out. But so you 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:27.920 don't have to get the really nice menchment more. Yeah, no, 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:29.520 I don't think you do. I think, yeah, just just 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:31.880 read those consumer reports. Trainings still help leading in the 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:33.640 right direction. But okay, good to know. I am doing 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:35.600 the multiple runs to get rid of some of those 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:37.560 pain But did I'll post some of the nicer gallons 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:39.760 on by Nothing group. So the reason I mentioned that 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.280 is because one time when we were flipping renovating a 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.839 home like this is maybe five six years ago. Did 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:46.840 ever tell you about the time that I sold a 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.960 five gallon, you know, one of those big drums, like 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:51.480 one of those big buckets of paint. It was a 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.320 custom color that we already had mixed, and you can't 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:54.800 return those. It was It's not like it was a 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.200 base and uh kit and I we didn't like the color. 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:00.800 They started putting it up in side. We're like, oh no, 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:03.760 we there's a chance we're gonna live there ourselves. And 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:05.600 so we wanted to make sure that we really like 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.120 the paint color. And so obviously we couldn't return it, 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:10.920 but I listed it, and somebody was glad to show 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:12.920 up and pay a discounted rate for all of that 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:14.920 pain because it was a popular color. It just wasn't 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:16.640 right for us. So I wanted to mention that because 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.040 there is hope for some bring a new paint that 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:20.920 you just can't take back. Okay, good to know. I'll 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:22.800 put that on my list of things to consider. This 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.800 isn't a paint episode, though, No, let's move on. Let's 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:27.960 get onto the actual topic in hand. But first, the 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.760 beer we're having on this episode is called Electric Venom. 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.760 It's by a brewery called Little Cottage, just like like 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:35.839 fifteen minutes away from where we live here in Atlanta. 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:37.800 But it's worth a drive, one of my favorite breweries. 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:41.600 All right. So but let's get to scams and scams, Matt, 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.080 I say they're kind of like zombies. Did you ever 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.920 watch the TV show The Walking Dead? I watched a 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:49.679 couple of episodes, Okay, never remember really get into it. Basically, 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:51.200 I only got into the first season. I thought the 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.040 first season was really good. But I think they're in 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:54.880 season like ten or eleven or something like that. I'm 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:57.680 still surprised they have that much zombie content that they 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:01.200 can cover. But but basically the reason I'm acquainting it 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.080 to two zombies, it's in that show there are just 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.080 a few remaining humans and there there are hordes of 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.400 zombies that are coming after them, and they've got to 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.400 protect themselves, right, They've got to figure out a way 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.240 to not get bit because then they too will turn 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.560 into a zombie. And basically, you know, there's a never 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:19.600 ending litany of scams out there, just like there's a 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.560 never ending amount of zombies coming after you, which is 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:24.720 why they can create double digit seasons out of such 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.360 a basic premise for a show. But you can never 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.800 really get rid of all the scammers. And if these 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:32.000 scammers spot you, they're gonna come at you. And and 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.240 that means that you have to be prepared in order 0:07:34.320 --> 0:07:37.640 to avoid the most clever ones, because there's always a 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:39.720 new scam, there's always a new tactic, and the only 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.160 way that you can outrun them yourself is is really 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.040 through personal preparation. That's rights. Yeah, I feel like I mean, 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:47.280 zombies they're always there, right because like when you're watching 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.600 those shows, you know that at any moment, like one 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:51.360 could just kind of like you know, pocus out through 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:53.520 the window, come out of the shadows. It's it's sort 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:56.200 of like this low grade stress where it's just kind 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.320 of constant. And I think that's true of these different scams. 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.800 I think they're always to be there, and there's there's 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.119 always gonna be these bad players, right Like there's always 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:06.320 gonna be criminals who are looking to take advantage of us. 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:07.800 And so I think this is why we wanted to 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:10.320 talk about this today. And I did say criminals as well, 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.000 because it's not just folks who are oh, you know, 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.240 they're they're they're not making the best decisions. It's like, no, 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:17.960 like they're actually law breaking criminals who are trying to 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:19.720 steal your money. We're not trying to gold with ne 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.880 ferious intent. Yeah, we're not gonna sugarcoat it here. But 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.280 another problem here is that these scams they're they're seemingly 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.760 everywhere these days as well. They've they've gotten so good 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:31.000 at targeting folks wherever they hang out. Um, these scams 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:32.680 they're in your dating app, they're on Twitter, they're they're 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:36.160 on TikTok, and it certainly feels like scams are you know, 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.320 like they used to be easier to spot. But they've 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:40.679 just gotten so much more sophisticated over the years, and 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:42.800 by the numbers. You know, it used to be the 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.480 elderly who were most commonly susceptible, you know, for these 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.559 scams and who have their money stolen, but that is 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:51.920 not the case these days. People ages twenty nine, they 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:54.959 reported losing money to fraud more often the folks who 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.200 are ages A D and over, And so we're talking 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.720 about young professionals. They're the ones now who are getting 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:03.960 more often than their grandparents. Although it's worth mentioning when 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:05.960 when older folks do fall prey to a scammer, they 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:09.199 tend to lose more money with each scam attempt that 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.160 they succumbed to. But either way, that's quite the reversal 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.400 that's happened in a short time span. So yeah, not 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:18.280 only are they more ubiquitous, they are going after all 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.559 the different generations. Now, Yeah, that's right. And part of 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.480 our reason really for creating this episode is because the FTC, 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.040 the Federal Trade Commission, they just released their list of 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:30.360 top scams for one for last year. The heavy hitters 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.160 were identity theft, imposter scams and credit bureau scams. And 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:38.680 the FTC received five point seven million reports in total. 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:41.880 And let's be honest, when when someone gets scammed, they're 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:45.839 not always reporting um to to the authorities, whether it 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:47.960 was successful or not, you know, whether they got taken 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:50.160 advantage of, whether they ended up giving money to the 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.560 scammer or they didn't. Either way, they're often not filing 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.520 a report. And so yeah, reported losses totaled five point 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:58.959 nine billion dollars and the average person lost something like 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.960 five dollar. But again, since a lot of these scams 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.200 don't get reported, the numbers are likely a whole lot 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.000 higher than what the FTC is actually relaying than what 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:09.360 they have in their reports. So yeah, on that note, 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.880 if you ever are the victim of a fraud or 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:14.120 a scam, we would say let the FTC no by 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:17.280 heading to report fraud dot FTC dot gov. That's just 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:18.920 a good way for us all to kind of know 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:21.760 what scams are most prevalent, how much money they're taking 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:24.640 from people. It's just good knowledge that should be made public. 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:26.240 Even though I know for a lot of people it 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:28.439 feels like a shame inducing thing that you got caught 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.040 up in a scam. But we we don't think that 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.400 should be the case either because they can really get 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:35.880 anybody these days, that's right. Yeah, and specifically via social media, 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:39.120 because that's one of the main avenues for scamming these days, 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:43.160 accounting for seven hundred and seventy million dollars in just 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:46.280 last year alone. Fake accounts, they're a dime a dozen. 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.240 They're getting harder to spot. Actually, Morning brew the they 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.920 had this really interesting article about fake accounts pretending to 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:55.319 be real advertisers on TikTok. You know, you think you're 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.120 buying a flannel shirt from l L Bean, or maybe 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.840 you're buying a new side table from Wayfair, but in reality, 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.640 it's actually a scammer offering you a deal that's too 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.319 good to be true. You don't actually get anything, but 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.600 then you still end up losing that money and due 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:10.199 to be honest, like, I have real questions about the 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.640 viability of the metaverse, given that you know, meta can't 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:17.199 even curb scam artists and spam comments on Instagram. Just 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.920 imagine an alternative reality where spam artists continue to run 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:24.199 amuck in the virtual world. Yeah, you know, and we're 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:26.520 just talking about ads that they can't even ring. Every 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:28.280 time we make an Instagram post, and look at all 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.319 the scam spam comments that happened to get posted on 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:33.719 pretty much every post we create. Sometimes it's in the 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.520 double digits, and Instagram can't seem to figure that out. 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:37.920 I don't think it's a good sign. And yeah, I 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.640 think for me, I'm not terribly bullish on the metaverse too, 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.360 although I think it has some interesting sounding features. But yeah, 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:46.680 if if spam continues to be a major issue, people 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:48.400 aren't gonna want to hang out there. But it's also 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:51.680 important to mention how scammers ask for money. That's changed 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.120 a lot too in recent years. You know, there's Venmo, 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.719 cash app, Zel, PayPal, all of those apps have made 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.559 it just so much easier to steal your mind. And 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.360 so yeah, Medium love Exchange has become something that's as 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.760 easy to send as like a text message, instead of 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:07.920 like physically having to lift your wallet out of your 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.280 back pocket. There are much easier ways now to check, yeah, 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.760 access those funds, and so it's it's become a lot 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.440 harder to track that criminal down. In the modern day 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:20.320 of digital payments and then different cryptocurrencies, they're quickly becoming 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.480 a common way to these scammers asked to receive money too, 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.120 and because the way we send and receive money has 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:29.199 changed just so much in recent years, it means that 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:31.360 you've got to be on your toes even more before 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.920 you send someone money, before you transfer any funds to 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:36.719 somebody that you don't know. That's right. Yeah, So let's 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:38.440 talk about some of the most common scams and how 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:42.160 they work. Scams in the realm of finding love online, 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:44.240 they've kind of dated back almost, you know, like as 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.839 far as the Internet, but the FTC stats show that 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.000 romance scams rose nearly seventy percent last year. A lot 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.720 of times you're already in a particularly vulnerable position already, 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:57.160 you know, like if you've created an online profile, you're 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:01.040 entering into these sensitive conversations with strangers. Well, scammers there, 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.400 you know, they continue to flock to every iteration of 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:05.880 dating apps to try to take advantage of folks there. 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.000 The New York Times they just read the story about 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.560 crypto scams on apps like Hinge. As more people seek 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.440 to find love online, the possibility to get taking advantage 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.400 of his grown exponentially. One telltale sign that you might 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:19.400 be getting scammed, as if the person you're talking to 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:23.199 tries to move the conversation to what's app, which encrypts 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.800 every message that gets sent. And another sign is if 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.800 you get asked for money in any way, any form, 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:32.640 any fashion. But oftentimes these folks are looking for cryptocurrencies. Uh. 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.560 The scammer will often make it sound like they're they're 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.400 trying to help you to invest your money, but in 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.080 reality they are they're really just taking your money. Let 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.360 me teach you how to invest in bitcoin, and then 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.040 you send some over and then they show you a 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.400 website where it looks like, look, look at your money 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:48.280 going up in value. This is incredible, You should send more. 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:50.439 And then it turns out that that money is in 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.400 their hands in the website they're pointing you to is 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.040 actually fake. And it just makes me think of the 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:57.160 old saying Matt Love is blind, and in the case 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.599 some of these, like romance scams, love is blind, and 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:03.240 it just causes you to not see what's actually in 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:05.400 front of your face. When people are asking you for 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.079 in particular for for you to transfer money their way, 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:09.880 you start thinking the best of this person because you've 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:13.080 been chatting back and forth for weeks or months on end, 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.480 and you trust them, But the reality is you've never 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:18.959 seen their face and you have to continue to proceed 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:20.840 with more caution. Yeah, well I do. I think this 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:22.400 is like, first of all, this is just such a 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:24.440 sad thing, right, because first of all, not only are 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:27.280 you not having your money grow in ways that you 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.280 think it should be growing, but you're actually having your 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.880 money taken away. Right. The second strike is the fact 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.200 that not only are you uh not finding someone who 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.240 is like your soul mate, like you found somebody that 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.400 who's trying to like damage you, you know, like they're 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:41.720 trying to harm you in in a financial way at 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.760 the very least, it's like this double wiming. And because 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.560 of the pandemic, it's like this perfect storm. Because obviously 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.440 cryptocurrencies have been crazy hot over the past few years, 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:52.320 there's been a lot of interest in those. It's hard 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:54.440 to meet somebody I r L and exactly. And then 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:56.400 on top of that, folks are dealing with just huge 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:58.520 amounts of loneliness, and so you combine those two things 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:01.040 together and you have a very vulnerab population. Yeah no, 0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.920 that's exactly right. And and because it's someone that you've 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.960 gotten to know and trust over over that period of time, 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.520 you're susceptible to lose even more money in these scamps. 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:11.400 I think some of the people who fall baketot to 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:14.440 a romance scam can lose, you know, up to their 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.600 entire fortune something sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:19.840 all because they've developed this relationship built on trust that 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:21.880 the stakes are high. So be warned. We would say, 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.800 don't send money to someone you truly don't know. This is, 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.240 of course, one of the massive downsides to online dating. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:29.560 But yeah, after the break, we're going to get to 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:32.640 a really common scam that almost anyone with a kind 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.800 heart could fall prey to. It's basically digital pickpocketing, and 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:47.880 we'll discuss that and more right after this break, we're back. 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.880 We were talking about the proliferation of scams, and Jil, 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:52.800 let's get to the one that you just mentioned before 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.200 the break, digital pickpocketing. Let's do it. Let's do it, man. 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:57.840 This one's been around for a minute here listener, Gary, 0:15:57.840 --> 0:15:59.960 he actually sent us this article from his local TV 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:04.040 station in Savannah, and this one involves the different digital 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.480 payment apps. Basically, someone comes up to you. This one 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.040 uh takes place in real life. They come up to you, 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:11.560 they ask you to borrow your phone, maybe to make 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.320 an important phone call, maybe their phone has died, or 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:16.400 maybe they don't have their phone at all. Sometimes. Uh, 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.920 In this this specific story, it was a kid, which 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:20.560 is something you can identify with. We've all had our 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:22.880 phone right out of battery exactly, and you, being a 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:24.800 nice person, you hand them your phone to make that 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.160 quick call. I think a lot of decent human beings 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.720 would probably do that. But then, you know, what do 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.280 they do while your phone is in their brief possession? 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.760 Will they open your PayPal or like venmo zel cash app. 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:37.800 That's another one too, where they make a quick transfer 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.440 to their own account. They hange your phone right back 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:42.480 to you, They say thanks and walk away, and it's 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:44.640 not until later that you find out, you know, like 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:47.040 via email or when you check your statements, that you 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.160 have lost money. The lady that they had interviewed for 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.480 the story was standing right there. She was talking about 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:54.680 how she was just feet away and the kid even 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.840 had it on speaker phone, and she she was watching him. 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:58.520 But then he had asked her if he could pull 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:00.080 up maps, and so he was kind of mess one 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.000 with the phone. She saw him actually messing with it 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:03.880 and with some quick fingers he got away with a 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.040 few thousand dollars. Yeah, yeah, I mean I think what 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:09.879 the lady in that article lost right in just a 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.000 minute or two to this to this young kid, and 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:14.040 then she didn't find out till later when checking her 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.359 bank statement. And so yeah, if this happens to you, 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:17.920 if someone comes up to you and ask to borrow 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.000 your phone, we would say, uh, it sounds unkind, but 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.320