Be Safe and Vigilant
We all know we need to be safe and stay at home as much as we can. What is not being reported as much is being vigilant with our personal information. We should always be doing this but when there are epidemics or tragedies, criminals try to take advantage in many different ways. I wanted to provide a few I have heard on the news so we can all be careful during this time.
Any phone call, text or email supposedly received by the IRS are scams. They will NEVER do this. Since most people will be receiving a stimulus check, scammers are using this as an opportunity to try and get your social security number, birthday, account number, etc. If you are receiving money and you have set up direct deposit when you filed your return, the IRS will use this information.
Don’t ever click on a link from an email or call the number from an email. Go directly to your normal company website to verify any information.
Fake COVID-19 tests. The latest scam is where you receive a text or email claiming to be from a government agency like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The BBB says the message tells you that you must take a “mandatory online COVID-19 test” and has a link to a website. There are NO online test for the coronavirus.
In Denver, there has been an increase of police imposters pulling people over. Here are a few tips if you suspect that is the case.
Drive slowly with your emergency blinkers on and pull over in an area that is well lit if at night and around other people. Possibly at a gas station or where there is some traffic.
Crack your window low enough where you can talk but not all the way down.
Call 911 and give them your location and say you think a fake officer stopped you.
Ignore texts that say to respond with STOP or NO to prevent future texts. This is a common ploy by scammers to confirm they have a real, active phone number.
These are just a few going around right now. The main point is to be aware or your surroundings and personal information. If you found this helpful, please forward this to any of your contacts.
Please be safe.