Four Trending Scams to Stay Ahead of
Transcript of Podcast Episode 335
Hello this is Bill Rainaldi, with another edition of Security Mutual’s SML Planning Minute. In today’s episode, four trending scams to stay ahead of.
Financial criminals are a crafty bunch. Just when you figure out what they are doing, they change tactics. The security measures that companies and individuals took a few years ago are of little value today. There are a bunch of very smart crooks out there who adapt just as soon as they’re figured out.
Education may be the best defense. A recent series of articles by Bank of America and others highlight the evolution of scams in four areas: impostor scams, credit card fraud, “smishing” and “wrong number” scams. Let’s take a look.
1. Impostor Scams. Imposter scams are on the rise.[1] The most common type of imposter scam is where swindlers impersonate bank or other financial representatives.
Bank of America suggests that if you get an unexpected text message, phone call, or email from someone claiming to be a person of authority, you should always verify the source by calling a known phone number, using the financial institution’s app, or by logging into their legitimate website to make sure it’s real.
It can be difficult to be sure whether a website is fraudulent or not, but they can sometimes be identified by errors in grammar, misspellings, requests that are marked as urgent, and by bad design quality.
2. Credit Card Fraud. Bank of America says there are three leading new trends when it comes to credit card fraud. The first and most significant is called “card-not-present.” [2] Nowadays, it’s easy to order almost anything online. All a scamster needs is a card number, Card Verification Value or CVV, an expiration date, and an address. When you have this, you generally don’t need to show your actual card to anybody.
The second leading credit card trend is account takeover. In this case, the criminals will find a way to get your personal information to create new accounts. The use of mobile wallets has helped facilitate an increase in this type of crime.[3]
The third credit card trend is simple theft. The return of business travel after COVID has made it easier to physically steal credit cards, although the use of chip and PIN technology has limited its effectiveness. But some terminals are set up without these security measures, so criminals can sometimes start using a stolen card immediately.[4]
Bank of America suggests that one way to deal with all of this is to avoid using the same passwords for multiple accounts. They also recommend the use of virtual payments, which they say are safer because they generate a unique number for each transaction.[5]
3. “Smishing” Scams. A phish is an electronic communication commonly via email, that tries to steal your personal information for fraudulent purposes.[6] Smishing combines the elements of phishing and texting, often by sending a text message from some group posing as a legitimate organization. Smishing uses text messages to trick people into revealing personal information or downloading malicious software.
This type of scam often involves an attempt to exploit your emotions—such as sympathy, curiosity, fear or greed—to trick you into giving away sensitive information. The mechanics are pretty simple. The criminal will send a bogus text claiming to be from your bank, financial institution or other trusted source such as Amazon or your utility company. Often the text message includes a link to a website designed to capture personal information. The reader disturbed by the message hastily clicks the link and proceeds to the malicious site and bad things happen.
Perhaps the best defense against smishing is to never respond to texts from unknown numbers.[7] Never click on any links. Simply delete the message. Of course, you need to be especially wary if you’re being asked for a payment or any sort of sensitive information.
4. Wrong Number Scams. Wrong number scams have some similarities to smishing. They start with what appears to be a harmless and random text message. What they’re trying to do in this first phase is to confirm that your phone number is active.[8]
Phase two begins when they try to build some sort of relationship with you, be it personal or otherwise. Their long-term objective, of course, is to make money, either from you directly or by selling your information to someone else on the dark web.
As you might expect, when it comes to online scamming, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made matters worse. Scammers can use Al to gather data from your social media and tailor customized messages to you.
People used to think that technology would make our lives simpler. Maybe in some ways it has. But few could have anticipated that as technology evolves, in other ways, life has become more complicated. When it comes to identifying new scams, you simply have to be vigilant. Stay on the lookout all the time.
[1] Bank of America Center for Business Empowerment. “Imposter scams are on the rise: Here’s how to manage the risks.” Business.bankofamerica.com. https://business.bankofamerica.com/en/resources/protecting-against-imposter-scams (accessed May 12, 2025.
[2] Bank of America Center for Business Empowerment. “How to protect your card program from fraud.” Business.bankofamerica.com. https://business.bankofamerica.com/en/resources/latest-credit-card-frauds-prevention (accessed May 12, 2025.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Bank of America Center for Business Empowerment. “Five tips to help avoid smishing scams.” Business.bankofamerica.com. https://business.bankofamerica.com/en/resources/what-is-smishing-how-to-prevent-it (accessed May 13, 2025)
[7] Id.
[8] Long, Emily. “‘Wrong Phone Number’ Scams Are on the Rise.” Lifehacker.com. https://lifehacker.com/money/wrong-phone-number-scams-are-on-the-rise?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us (accessed May 13, 2025)
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