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Rossen Reports: New scam spreading, look for these red flags

Rossen Reports: New scam spreading, look for these red flags
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Rossen Reports: New scam spreading, look for these red flags
As part of the Federal Trade Commission’s National Consumer Protection Week, today is National Slam the Scam Day. It’s all about creating awareness about social security and government imposter-related scams and protecting you from falling victim to them. Because it’s tax season, scammers are trying to get you, saying they’re from the IRS or Social Security.Here are some red flags to watch out for: If they threaten to arrest you or take legal action against you unless you send money, that’s a scam. Government officials will never promise to increase your tax refund or solve a problem if you pay a fee. Scammers will require payment with gift cards, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, Internet currency, or by mailing cash.Scammers will also try to gain your trust by providing fake “documentation,” false “evidence,” or the name of a real government official.Here are a couple of tips:If someone calls you out of the blue, say “Okay, I need to investigate this.” THEN HANG UP THE PHONE. Talk to someone you trust about the phone call to ask if they think it was suspicious. You can also just go online and type out what the caller said into a search engine. You may find the search engine pulls up similar calls and suggestions that it’s a scam. The Social Security Administration says, that if someone sends you a link about social security and it doesn’t have SSA.gov in the URL link, it’s a fake. Click here for more information from the Social Security Administration. **Have a question for Jeff Rossen? He’s answering your consumer questions every Friday in the new segment “Rossen Responds”. Email your questions to him at RossenResponds@hearst.com.**

As part of the Federal Trade Commission’s National Consumer Protection Week, today is National Slam the Scam Day. It’s all about creating awareness about social security and government imposter-related scams and protecting you from falling victim to them. Because it’s tax season, scammers are trying to get you, saying they’re from the IRS or Social Security.

Here are some red flags to watch out for:

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  • If they threaten to arrest you or take legal action against you unless you send money, that’s a scam.
  • Government officials will never promise to increase your tax refund or solve a problem if you pay a fee.
  • Scammers will require payment with gift cards, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, Internet currency, or by mailing cash.
  • Scammers will also try to gain your trust by providing fake “documentation,” false “evidence,” or the name of a real government official.

Here are a couple of tips:

  • If someone calls you out of the blue, say “Okay, I need to investigate this.” THEN HANG UP THE PHONE. Talk to someone you trust about the phone call to ask if they think it was suspicious. You can also just go online and type out what the caller said into a search engine. You may find the search engine pulls up similar calls and suggestions that it’s a scam.
  • The Social Security Administration says, that if someone sends you a link about social security and it doesn’t have SSA.gov in the URL link, it’s a fake.

Click here for more information from the Social Security Administration.

**Have a question for Jeff Rossen? He’s answering your consumer questions every Friday in the new segment “Rossen Responds”. Email your questions to him at RossenResponds@hearst.com.**