How to spot imposter fraud, what you can do to protect yourself

When Yonah Klem noticed a charge from “Amazon Prime” on her credit-card statement, she called the number listed with the charge right away.

The 75-year-old Naperville woman doesn’t have Amazon’s paid subscription service and wanted to make sure she wasn’t billed for it.

But she got some bad news: The man who answered told Klem he thought hackers must have attacked her computer. He asked the retired psychotherapist to let him gain remote access to her computer to have a look.

Sure enough, he told her, her computer was compromised — but he knew a tech-support company that could fix it.

“Of course, we don’t know what the heck he’s talking about, but it sounds very scary,” Klem says of the experience last year. “We were really frightened that people had hacked into our retirement fund, had hacked into our credit cards and the whole nine yards.”

Panicked, Klem worked with the technicians, who spent four hours on repairs — and stuck her with a $1,000 bill. Then, they had Klem and her husband scan a check for them so they could access the payment right away.

“It was a series of really poor decisions on our part, fueled by more and more concern that we didn’t know who we were dealing with,” Klem says.

It turned out no one had hacked into her computer. As she later discovered when she contacted the real Amazon customer service, the charge on her credit-card statement was bogus — part of an elaborate scam that included a fake customer-service number and a phony tech-support company.

The sophisticated con is a classic example of imposter fraud, in which fraudsters pretend to be anything from a tech-support helper to a government agent, in some instances even claiming to be a family member in trouble.

“Scammers are very good,” says Carol Kando-Pineda, counsel for the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Consumer and Business Education. “They know how to create that sense of urgency and to be just plausible enough that they knock you off balance for just a little while.”

The FTC sued the scammers and helped Klem recover about $300 of her losses.

Other examples of imposter fraud

• Another common imposter scam involves calls from someone pretending to be an IRS agent. The caller threatens arrest if the victim doesn’t immediately send a payment for supposed back taxes. “They base those scams on that fear factor that you’re going to get arrested, get deported, your license will be taken away,” says Steve Bernas, president of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois. “You’ll lose your job, or your son or grandson will be put in jail for the rest of his life if they don’t pay this fine.”
• In another take on this type of scam, someone will call older people early in the morning, pretending to be a grandchild who has been arrested or hurt and needs money right away.
• Other cons include someone posing as a romantic partner on an online dating site — and eventually asking for money — or pretending to be selling purebred puppies online that don’t actually exist.

Guard your privacy

Justin Brookman, director of consumer privacy and technology for the nonprofit Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, says people need to safeguard personal data as much as possible.

“Limiting sharing your personal information makes you less vulnerable to those sorts of attacks,” Brookman says. “You’re never going to eliminate it entirely, and you’re always going to be at risk. So it’s good to be thoughtful when you see messages.”

Klem says she learned her lesson.

“If you have a funny feeling in your tummy that this isn’t right, it probably isn’t,” she says. “And never, ever, ever let somebody into your computer if you’re not 1,000 percent sure you know who they are.”

More tips to avoid being ripped off

• Never wire money to someone you don’t know.
• If someone asks you to send gift cards, the same advice holds.
• If you’re pressured to act quickly, odds are it’s a scam. Says Bernas: “The only thing you should have to do in 30 minutes is order a pizza and pick it up.”
• Search businesses’ records and reviews online to make sure they’re legit.
• If you’re concerned about owing money for a ticket or taxes, go directly to the agency and ask.
• Don’t open email attachments or click on links unless you’re certain they come from legitimate sources.
• Report fraud to the Federal Trade Commission by calling (877) FTC-HELP — (877) 382-4357 — toll-free or going online to FTC.gov.

This is the third story in the series “Be On Guard,” reported by the Chicago Sun-Times and made possible through the support of AARP Illinois. The AARP Fraud Watch Network can help protect you from frauds and scams. Call this free helpline (877) 908-3360 to speak with volunteers trained in fraud counseling.

• PART ONE: How to avoid identify theft and keep your data safe

• PART TWO: How military veterans can protect themselves from scammers who target them