Avoid falling victim to scammers this new year

Aiming for a better you in 2017? Last year’s top consumers scams are unlikely to disappear. However, making it a New Year’s resolution to better protect yourself from the tricks that scammers use to hook consumers should be your No. 1 priority.

The Better Business Bureau encourages consumers to take charge of their finances, shop and buy wisely and stay away from marketplace scams.

Samantha Gillihan the BBB’s Smart Place manager for Southeast Idaho and Western Wyoming said the top scam during 2016 that will continue into 2017 will be IRS scam phone calls.

“Nationwide and Idaho specifically, the scams we saw the most were ones that played on people’s emotions. For example, the IRS scam where you think you owe money to the government. Or debt collection scams those were really the top two nationwide and especially in Eastern Idaho,” Gillihan said.

She said more often than not people will just pay off the scammers. “They work so well because it’s scary to think you are in trouble but it’s also a relief to think by handing over cash you are in the clear.”

Gillihan also said the IRS will not call you. Instead, it will contact the person through certified mail.

Another scam Idahoans are falling victim to are false charities. “We are a community of givers. We trust really easily so people are giving to false organizations,” Gillihan said.

Another popular crime, said Gillihan, was tech scams. “Many people report if they allowed the caller remote access to their computers, whether they had paid for the virus to be removed or not, they had difficulties with their computers afterward,” she said. “Some said their computer would not turn on or that certain programs or files were inaccessible.”

Retired people tend to be the prime targets for scammers. “Scammers really enjoy taking advantage of elderly,” she said.

Another target are millennials. “They love putting everything out there on social media. That opens them up to victims of email phishing,” she said.

“We project millennials will be the primary target for 2017,” Gillihan said.

She advises people take action to avoid falling victim of scams. Checking bank accounts, getting credit reports regularly, verifying payments by having a paper trail, and protecting your identity are ways to protect yourself.

She said the top scam crimes are so hard to detect and bust because police don’t really know how to handle them. “It’s so easy for someone really far away to get into your wallet,” she said. “They just sit in front of their computers and scam people.”

Gillihan said reporting scams to the Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker website. “We get information from you on scams that are there to help people know what to look out for. We like having information on new scams or new versions of them that maybe we weren’t aware of.”

Gillihan said by making resolutions to protect yourself, you can become a more informed consumer and therefore save time, money and embarrassment by not falling for some of these common scams.

Watch Monday’s news coverage at Local News 8 and KIDK Eyewitness News 3 on how to avoid scams this new year.