小心这些 最近的诈骗

保护自己, it’s important to be familiar with trending 诈骗 — keep reading to learn about the latest.

永远不要分享你的网上银行用户名或密码. Patelco will NEVER contact you 和 ask for it — 和 there’s no reason anyone else needs it, ever.”

报税季节 诈骗

It’s tax season — 和 your accountant 和 the IRS aren’t the only ones with an eye on your taxes. 骗子也在伺机而动! This sounds scary, but you can protect yourself by learning about common tax season 诈骗. 以下是你要寻找的:

网络钓鱼

Scammers pretend to be tax professionals (or the IRS) 和 send emails or text messages with links. 不要点击你不认识的人发送的链接.

如果你收到一封你认为是欺诈性的税务邮件，把它转发到 phishing@irs.政府.

礼品卡诈骗

Gift cards remain a popular way for scammers to steal because they’re like cash: once someone has the gift card information, 几乎不可能再回去了. Scammers are calling claiming to be the IRS, reaching out to collect back taxes or fines. They’ll ask you to buy gift cards 和 then take the card information for themselves.

挂断电话 举报诈骗 -国税局永远不会要求通过礼品卡付款.

退换诱饵

如果犯罪分子有你敏感的个人信息, 比如他们从邮件中偷来的社会安全号码或税单, 他们可能会以你的名义提交欺诈性申报表. 一旦资金打到你的账户, the scammers will impersonate someone from the IRS 和 call you dem和ing the return of the money. They will ask you to deposit it into a different account or send a check to an address.

如果你收到一份意外的税单或退款，请提交一份 向联邦贸易委员会投诉，与国税局联系 800.908.4490 和 询问主要的信用机构 在你的档案上加个"诈骗警报.

不诚实的报税人

不幸的是，有些骗子冒充税务专家. 他们主动提出帮你纳税，先收一笔钱，然后再跟你鬼混. 只雇用有有效执照的专业人员 点击这里上网查询.

There’re also dishonest tax preparers inflating your tax return to pocket some of the refund. Criminal tax preparers will inaccurately file your taxes in order to receive a higher refund. 他们将把部分退款归自己所有. 如果你正在使用报税员, always double check their work 和 the amount they received from your tax filing.

学生贷款诈骗

美国人在2022年因学生贷款欺诈而损失了惊人的50亿美元.¹ As students graduate high school 和 look to college in the fall, scammers are busier than ever. 如果你是数百万有学生贷款的美国人之一, beware that scammers are also looking to target you regarding relief 和 refinancing.

Many of the 诈骗 – for both new loans 和 for relief or consolidation of existing loans – involve payment of fees up front. 其他骗子冒充组织只是为了窃取你的个人信息.

以下是保护自己免受学生贷款诈骗的四种方法:

• 注意收费. 虽然借款费用存在, 它们包含在合法贷款的本金中, 当你贷款的时候就会出现. 如果有人要求你现在支付费用, 自掏腰包, 为了给你的贷款再融资, 进行新的贷款, 偿还现有贷款, 申请债务减免, 或填写FAFSA表格, 可能是个骗子.


• 不要给出你的联邦学生援助(FSA)的ID或密码. 没有人应该问你的FSA ID和密码. 您将使用它登录合法的政府网站(如 http://studentaid.gov/), 但是如果有人在电话里问你要, 通过文本, 通过电子邮件, 或者亲自去, 你在和一个骗子打交道. 在透露其他私人信息时要谨慎.


• 抵制立即采取行动的压力. Most student loan 诈骗 – 和 many 诈骗 in general – have something in common: pressure to act immediately.


• 做好调查. 说到立即采取行动的压力, one reason for this is that scammers don’t want you to take the time to research the name of their company or organization. Many scammers have created sophisticated, professional-looking websites 和 social media profiles. 但不要只相信网站或社交媒体的个人资料.


• 相反，调查任何与你联系的人或企业. A simple search engine search of their name plus “reviews” or “scam” may reveal whether you’re dealing with a legitimate organization or not. 另外, don’t accept as accurate any official-sounding language like “partner of the Department of 教育” or “p和emic grant.”

底线是:如果有人找你要助学贷款, 或者你在社交媒体上看到广告, do your research 和 think carefully before providing personal information or money.

电子支付 欺诈

我们的Patelco会员告诉我们，他们有多喜欢数字支付(比如Venmo), 贝宝, 和 other popular platforms) for being an easy 和 secure way to send money to people they know 和 trust. 而是因为骗子可能冒充你认识的人或企业, 保护你自己和你的钱是很重要的.

无论你以前使用过数字支付还是第一次使用, 遵循这些提示来帮助你安全付款.

• 只使用数字支付向你认识和信任的人汇款
• 永远不要分享你的网上银行用户名或密码. Patelco will NEVER contact you 和 ask for it — 和 there’s no reason anyone else needs it, ever.
• 不要使用任何第三方支付服务进行“测试”转账. Recent 欺诈 uses someone pretending to be from Patelco asking you to do a “test” transaction or transfer. 帕特尔科永远不会要求你做测试转移，永远不会.
• 不要使用数字支付来支付水电费或信用卡. A scammer may pretend to be a utility company or wireless carrier asking you to send a payment with a digital platform. Most digital payment platforms cannot currently be used to pay utility or credit card bills.
• Don’t send money back to someone who “accidentally” sent you money via digital payment. Scammers will send money from stolen accounts 和 then ask the recipient to send the money back — but the money sent back is your real money, 而你“不小心”收到的钱被偷了.

如果有人找到你，说他们不小心给你寄了钱, 告诉他们联系银行或信用合作社来解决这个问题. 永远不要把钱还给他们.

社交媒体艺术家 诈骗

欺诈者在社交媒体上越来越活跃. If someone you don’t know contacts you on Instagram or another platform 和 offers to pay you, 这笔钱很可能来自一个被盗的金融账户, especially if they ask you to transfer part of the payment back to them (or to another person). 如果被盗帐户的真正所有者报失, 你可能要为存入你账户的资金买单, 再加上你寄给骗子的钱, 哪些是不可恢复的. 要警惕Instagram和社交媒体上的这些骗局:

• 艺术家骗局: A so-called artist will DM you to say one of your photos inspired them 和 they want permission to create art based on your photo. The scammer will claim to work for a wealthy client whose assistant will use a payment app like Venmo to pay you. 问题? 他们会让你从客户的报酬中抽成给他们. The funds you receive will be stolen – but the money you send will be deducted from your own account.
• 网红骗局: 在Instagram上有很多粉丝和赞, some influencer accounts may seem incredibly popular — but they’re only there to deceive you. If an account features an eye-catching profile picture 和 promotes investment opportunities or financial services, 可能是假的或者被骗子劫持了.
• 赞助骗局: 而不是假装成一个有影响力的人, 有些骗子会模仿正牌，希望骗过你. 注意假冒品牌账号的信息, 向你支付广告费用, or the chance to sign up as an ambassador — it’s just another attempt at stealing your personal information or money.

假收债人 诈骗

In this scam, 欺诈sters threaten legal action to pressure you to pay a fake debt. 2022年末, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) returned more than $1 million to victims of just such 诈骗.

为了保护自己免受类似的骗局:

• 了解你的财务状况. 记录过去和现在的债务，这样你就不会被虚假的债务所欺骗.
• 申请“债务确认信”.” This requires the debt collection agency to prove they’re legally collecting a debt you owe.
• 常规的ly review your credit report so you stay aware of the status of all your accounts.
• 了解你的权利，包括在 公平债务催收惯例法.

浪漫 诈骗

人们很容易落入约会软件或社交媒体上设置的浪漫骗局. The 欺诈ster creates a fake profile to start sending sweet messages 和 big proclamations to their target. 一旦他们得到了你的信任和喜爱，请求就开始了. 他们会要钱来见你(但实际上不会来), 应付意外开支, 或者家里有急事. 你会得到什么回报? 较低的账户余额.

Here’s how to protect yourself if you think you’re dealing with a romance scammer:

• 立即停止通讯.
• 不要给没有见过面的人送钱或礼物.
• 使用搜索引擎对他们的个人资料图像进行反向图像搜索. 是库存图片还是从其他地方偷来的照片?
• 永远不要发送自己暴露的照片——这些照片可能被用来勒索.
• 和你信任的朋友或家人谈谈你的新欢. 他们有顾虑吗??

Want to learn more about the different types of romance 诈骗, 和 how to identify 和 avoid them? 观看下面我们的Patelco专家的视频!