Outside Looking In

Scammers have infiltrated social media to a point that some people receive as many as five scam attempts in one day via text messages, phone calls or email.
A well-known elderly Minneota man recently received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the U.S. Social Security Administration and requested his social security number and other personal information.
Some elderly people do not use social media often and not as familiar with these types of scam attempts as the younger generation. That's why the elderly is preyed upon more often.
Another attempted scam locally occurred with members of St. Edward's Catholic Church last October and again last week.
Scammers obtained church member's phone numbers from the church bulletin posted on the website and texted those numbers posing as Father Todd Petersen.
"(The scammer) said that I need a favor from them," Father Todd told the Mascot. "They were told that someone I knew was in Hospice care and I needed them to get gift cards for me. They also would text that I am pretty busy so don't call me back."
In other words, the scammers wanted these people to purchase cash cards and then relay the numbers from those cards to them so they could get the money off them. By telling them not to call Father Todd, they figured they had a better chance of not being discovered as frauds.
"I'm pretty sure they got the numbers from the website because two of the three people that received texts had their numbers posted for the first time on the bulletin," said Father Todd. "I tell the members of our church that I will never request money from them. I might ask for money for the church, but never for myself. I also told them that if something seems fishy, it probably is fishy."
The elderly man from Minneota that received a call from someone claiming to working for the Social Security Administration admittedly was initially unaware that the call was from a scammer.
"I misunderstood what number the caller wanted me to give her because she also requested medical information. I'm not sure why, but she wanted to know my doctor's name and how to spell it and things like that."
The man mistakenly, and fortunately, gave the female scammer his BlueCross BlueShield number instead of his social security number.
"When the caller started acting weird on the phone after I had given her the wrong card number, I just hung up on her," said the local man. "She never called me back."
It was just luck that the mistake happened. Others are not so fortunate.
Social Security numbers are the skeleton key to identity theft. And what better way to get someone's Social Security number than by pretending to be from Social Security?
One way the scammers attempt to make you believe the call is legitimate is by presenting you with good news, such as a cost-of-living increase in your benefits. The caller may also give you a fake badge number in order to make the call sound more legitimate. In order to obtain the extra money, you are asked to verify your name, address, date of birth and Social Security number. Armed with those identifiers, scammers can effectively gain access to your account, asking SSA to change the address, phone number and direct deposit information on your record, thus diverting your benefits.
While I was typing this column, I received a text message that read: "Scott, Your Sam's Club Rewards worth $955.27 must be used within 48 hours" and then gave out an address for me to respond to. I've never even been in a Sam's Club store. This is a type of scam in which an unsuspecting recipient would actually be assisting the scammer in gaining access to your personal information if they responded.
The elderly local man also relayed another story about a call he received one time from someone claiming to be his granddaughter and that she needed him to send her money.
"When I answered the phone, she said 'Grandpa, I was in an accident and my friend that was driving is going to jail because they found drugs in the car," the man told me. "She wanted me to send her some money. I hung up on her, too."
I receive several emails a week from "scammers" telling me things like a UPS driver could not deliver a package to me and that I need to call a number and give them some information so it can be delivered. I have a friend that works at the UPS plant in the town where I live, and he said UPS never informs people that way.
Some scams claim to be from the IRS, which recently warned the public about am IRS phone scam whereby criminals fake calls from the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS.
In this scam, thieves make unsolicited calls to their intended victims fraudulently claiming to be from the IRS. Callers "spoof" the phone number of a certain TAS office. Some of these calls are "robo-calls" requesting a call back. Once you call them back, they request personal information from you.
The best thing to do is to hang up on these types of callers. You can call Social Security's customer service line at 800-772-1213, or the IRS at 800-829-1040 to confirm the call you just received.