采取八项简单的措施来保护自己免遭诈骗

诈骗可能发生在任何人身上，甚至发生在研究诈骗的人身上。

德保罗大学法务会计教授凯莉·里士满-波普 (Kelly Richmond-Pope) 在 2017 年就被骗了。在寻找布鲁诺·马尔斯 (Bruno Mars) 音乐会的门票时，她发现了一个以低价提供前排座位的网站。 当她付了钱后，她发现……都是假的！

回顾这起事件，研究欺诈和白领犯罪的里士满-波普表示，“门票的网站看起来确实与Ticketmaster 不同。”

为了减少被骗的机会，请采取额外的预防措施来保护你的数据和财务。 诈骗者可能会想要你的社会安全号码等个人信息，以便开立银行账户或窃取你的社会福利，或者你的银行帐号。 

美国退休人员协会 (AARP) 欺诈受害者支持部门主任艾米·诺夫齐格 (Amy Nofziger) 表示：“犯罪分子会偷窃任何人的财产，无论你有 5 美元、500 美元还是 50 万美元。”该组织主要关注影响 50 岁以上人群的问题。她负责监督他们的欺诈热线，他们接到来自以下机构的电话： 各个年龄段的人。

欺诈是一门大生意。 根据美国联邦贸易委员会 2022 年的一份报告，美国人因欺诈损失近 88 亿美元，2021 年增加了 30% 以上。最常见的诈骗是冒名顶替诈骗，其次是网购诈骗和涉及奖品的诈骗。

Richmond-Pope 和 Nofziger 分享了八项简单的措施，你可以采取这些来保护自己免受欺骗。

1.定期检查你的银行账户是否存在欺诈行为

每两周检查一次你的帐户，尤其是支票和信用卡帐户。 “花一个小时进行深入研究。查看所有交易并确保其中的所有内容都是有效且合法的，”里士满-波普说。

2. 每四个月检查一次你的信用报告

诺夫齐格说，每四个月查看一次你的信用报告，看看是否有人以你的名义收费或开设账户。 你每年都可以从三大信用机构 Equifax、Experian 和 TransUnion 获得免费报告。

3.冻结你的信用（然后在需要时“解冻”）

这可以确保没有人可以以你的名义开立信用卡或贷款。如果要冻结你的信用，请访问每个主要信用机构的网站，开设帐户并请求冻结。

“如果我需要再融资或获得贷款，我只需去‘解冻’它——公司是这样称呼它的——10天。我的债权人可以检查我的信用，然后它会自动再次冻结，”诺夫齐格说 。

4. 尽可能使用信用卡

里士满-波普说，使用信用卡而不是借记卡。 “你们的信用卡公司有一定程度的保护，而银行似乎没有提供这种保护。所以我总是尽可能多地使用我的信用卡，然后在月底还清信用卡余额 ”。

根据 FTC 的规定，如果有人对您的信用卡进行欺诈性收费，你最多需要承担 50 美元的责任。 但是，如果有人拿到了你的借记卡，他们就可以直接从你的支票账户中提取资金，这样你在与银行解决问题时就无法使用这些现金。 你还可能需要承担更多损失，具体取决于你报告欺诈行为的时间。

5.拨打银行卡背面的号码

如果你怀疑有人对你的银行卡进行了欺诈性收费，请不要在互联网上搜索你银行的电话号码。 诺夫齐格说，请拨打银行卡背面或账户对账单上的号码。 “犯罪分子在网上放置虚假的客户服务电话号码。你以为你正在与真正的银行通话”，但这是一个假号码。

6. 使用完 Venmo 应用程序后，退出该应用程序

如果你认为只有在浏览互联网时才会面临风险，那你就错了。 想象一下这个，诺夫齐格说。 假设你正走在街上，一个青少年走到你面前说：“天哪，我的手机丢了。我需要打电话给我妈妈来接我。我可以借用你的手机吗？” “嗯，当然，”你说，“这是我的手机。” 你看到他们拨打了一个电话号码。但实际上他们所做的是进入你的 Venmo 应用程序”，并将钱转给自己。

因此，Nofziger 建议您在使用完点对点支付应用程序后退出这些应用程序。

7. 设置你的手机以拒绝陌生人的来电

为了减少接听诈骗者电话的机会，请进入手机设置并选择将未知来电者发送到语音信箱的选项。 “这意味着不在你的通讯录中的任何人给你打电话时都会直接转到语音信箱，”Nozfiger 说。 “如果很重要，[来电者]会留下语音邮件。”

8. 小心你在网上发布的内容

里士满-波普说，人们可以从你的社交媒体帐户中收集大量信息。 如果你分享一张你实际生日的生日照片，并在标题中注明你的年龄，人们就可以找到你的出生日期。他们可以通过查看你的关注者列表和标记的照片来了解你的朋友和家人是谁。

他们还可以了解你何时出城。 她补充道，你在 Instagram 上发布的度假照片向全世界宣告你不在家。 “大多数人都不会（度假）回来两周后才发布照片。他们会在度假时发布照片。”

诺夫齐格说，如果你确实被骗了，请务必举报。 并给自己恩典。 “你是犯罪的受害者。就这么简单。你需要帮助、善意、同情、和指导。”

8 simple things you can do to protect yourself from getting scammed

https://www.npr.org/2023/11/07/1196978201/protect-yourself-from-scams

Scams can happen to anyone — even to people who study them. 

Kelly Richmond-Pope, a forensic accounting professor at DePaul University, fell for one in 2017. While searching for tickets to a Bruno Mars concert, she found a website that was offering front-row seats for a low price. After she paid for the tickets, she realized ... they were fake! 

Looking back on the incident, Richmond-Pope, who also researches fraud and white-collar crime, says "the website I got the tickets off of did look different from Ticketmaster." 

To reduce your chances of getting swindled, take extra precautions to safeguard your data and finances. Scammers may want personal information like your social security number to say, open a bank account or steal your benefits, or your bank account numbers.

"Criminals will steal from anyone, whether you have $5 or $500 or $500,000," says Amy Nofziger, the director of fraud victim support for AARP, which focuses on issues affecting people over 50. She oversees their fraud hotline, where they get calls from people of all ages. 

Fraud is a big business. According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Americans reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud, an increase of more than 30% in 2021. The most common schemes were impostor scams, followed by online shopping scams and those that involved prizes. 

Richmond-Pope and Nofziger share eight simple things you can take to protect yourself from getting conned. 

1. Regularly check your bank accounts for fraud 

Look through your accounts, especially your checking and credit card accounts, every two weeks. "Take an hour and do a deep dive. Look at all the transactions and make sure everything there is valid and legitimate," says Richmond-Pope. 

2. Check your credit report every four months 

Look at your credit report every four months to see if anyone has made charges or opened accounts in your name, says Nofziger. You can get a free report from each of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, every year. 

3. Freeze your credit (then 'thaw' it when you need it) 

This ensures that no one can open up a credit card or take out a loan in your name. To freeze your credit, go to the websites of each of the major credit bureaus, make an account and request a freeze.

"If I need to refinance or get a loan, I just go and 'thaw' it — that's what the companies call it — for ten days. My creditor can check my credit and then it'll automatically be frozen again," says Nofziger. 

4. Use your credit card whenever possible

Use your credit card rather than your debit card, says Richmond-Pope. "Your credit card company has a level of protection that the banks don't seem to give. So I've always used my credit card for as much as I can, then just pay that credit card balance off at the end of the month." 

If someone makes a fraudulent charge on your credit card, the most you'll be liable for is $50, according to the FTC. But if someone gets a hold of your debit card, they can take money straight out of your checking account, leaving you without access to that cash while you sort things out with your bank. You also may be liable for much more of the losses, depending on when you report the fraud. 

5. Call the number on the back of your bank card 

If you suspect that someone has made a fraudulent charge on your bank card, don't search for your bank's phone number on the internet. Call the number on the back of your bank card or on your account statement, says Nofziger. "Criminals are placing fake customer service phone numbers [online]. You call it thinking you're talking to your actual bank" but it's a fake number.

6. Sign out of your Venmo app when you're done using it 

If you thought you were only at risk while browsing the internet, you are wrong. Picture this, says Nofziger. Say you're walking down the street and a teenager comes up to you and says " 'Oh my gosh, I lost my phone. I need to call my mom to pick me up. Can I borrow your phone?' 'Well, of course,' you say. 'Here's my phone.' You see them dialing a phone number. But actually what they've done is they've gone into your Venmo app" and they've transferred money to themselves.

For this reason, Nofziger recommends signing out of your peer-to-peer payment apps when you're done using them. 

7. Set up your phone to decline calls from people you don't know 

To reduce your chances of answering phone calls from scammers, go into your phone settings and select the option to send unknown callers to voicemail. "That means that anybody that is not in your contacts that calls you will go directly to voicemail," says Nozfiger. "If it's important, [the caller] will leave a voicemail." 

8. Be careful about what you post online

People can gather a lot of information from your social media accounts, says Richmond-Pope. If you share a birthday photo on your actual birthday with your age in the caption, people can find out your birth date. They can find out who your friends and family are by looking at your followers list and your tagged photos. 

They can also find out when you're out of town. Your vacation photos on Instagram announce to the world that you are not home, she adds. "Most people are not posting their pictures two weeks after they come back. They're posting their pictures while they're on vacation." 

If you do get scammed, make sure to report it, says Nofziger. And give yourself grace. "You were a victim of crime. End of story. You need help, kindness, empathy and guidance." 

The audio was produced by Clare Marie Schneider. The digital story was edited by Malaka Gharib. The visual producer is Kaz Fantone.

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