Don’t Be Deceived: Your Guide to Staying Vigilant Against Imposters
What You Need to Know to Protect Yourself From Imposter Scams
Did You Know? The Federal Trade Commission reported that American consumers lost over $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024.
What was one of the most common reasons for those losses? Imposter Scams.
Scammers can easily assume a new identity and pose as someone you would normally trust to obtain your personal information or convince you to send them money. They may impersonate a government official, a representative of a Bank, an employee from a charity or business you know, or even a trusted family member or friend.
They even have a variety of tricks to get you to believe they are actually someone you know and trust. Scammers can spoof their phone numbers to match your area code or use AI technology to adjust their voices so they can appear legitimate and trick you into trusting them.
Learn the red flags you should watch for and what you can do to guard your wallet and personal data from scammers!
Warning Signs of an Imposter Scam
- You receive an unexpected phone call, email, or text message from someone who claims to be reaching out on behalf of a reputable organization, such as your bank or a government office, that makes an unsolicited request for payment or your personal information.
- The person or business claims they need you to make a payment or send them your personal information immediately.
- The scammer ramps up the pressure and says that you need to act immediately or else you will face consequences such as having your accounts closed. Their messages will include a sense of urgency with the intention of getting you to respond without having time to think.
- The message contains spelling and grammatical errors, odd phrasing, and/or low-quality images.
What Can You Do to Avoid Falling for an Imposter’s Schemes?
- If you receive a strange or unexpected phone call or message from a person or business you know that demands a payment or requests your sensitive information, call them at the phone number you have for them or the number on their official website to verify if it is legitimate. Do not rely on caller ID. Scammers have the ability to “spoof” numbers and appear as if they are calling from a number you would assume is accurate. Be sure to call from your contact list or dial the number directly to confirm the outreach.
- Never transfer or send money to anyone in response to an urgent message until you call them and confirm their request is valid.
- Resist any pressure to send money or your personal, financial, or account information to anyone you do not know or trust. Legitimate organizations that you know and trust will most likely never apply pressure to convince you to respond to their requests quickly.
- Don’t click on links or open attachments in suspicious emails or text messages, especially messages that demand you make a payment or share your personal information.
Remember to trust your own judgement and take measures to verify any phone call, email, or text that feels just the slightest bit off. It’s best practice to take a moment to confirm if it is legitimate before taking the risk of engaging with a suspicious message.
Scammers are getting smarter, but you can too! By taking steps to review unexpected requests for payment or personal information and calling to confirm such requests, you will mark yourself safe from their attempts to deceive you.
Please know that Royal Banks of Missouri will never call, email, or text you and ask you to provide your personal or account information, such as your login credentials, card numbers, or security questions. Please call (314) 212-1500 immediately if you receive unexpected calls or messages claiming to be from Royal Banks.
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