By Bonnie Brown
Columnist

How many of you know of a friend or acquaintance who has had some experience with a scammer? A scammer is someone who commits fraud. For instance, you might purchase concert tickets and later find out that there are no concert tickets, and you are out a pocket full of money.

According to a report in The American Genius, an on-line publication proclaimed to be a strong news voice in the entrepreneur and tech world, the FBI says internet scams cost Americans $27 billion in the last 5 years. That’s a staggering amount of money to have been lost because we tend to trust people.

A type of online scam that targets consumers by sending them an e-mail that appears to be from a well-known source tricks internet users into revealing confidential information such as bank account information. You’ve probably had these appear on your computer, phone, or iPad stating that you had a package that couldn’t be delivered or incorrect billing information that required you to confirm your information. All the while, you are opening your confidential information to them to defraud you.

These scammers are professionals. It’s a form of employment. According to Tech Business News, the top 5 scamming countries in the world are Nigeria, India, China, Brazil, and Pakistan.

We’ve all likely had the email from a foreign country, likely a “widow” who has a massive amount of money left to her by her now-deceased husband and she has no children, and she has been told by her doctors that she has little time left. Mine was from “Rose Mohamed” who would transfer the funds to me as soon as I provided her with the necessary information. Her email was so sincere.

Older adults are scammed because fraudsters believe this population has the most money. Tom and I are so tired of all the robocalls. You know, the ones we signed up not to receive.

There are romance scams, investment scams, Covid 19 scams, and more.

The best advice on how to avoid these scams is to trust no one – not even when they tell you they are the police, a doctor, bank official, or a government agent. We recently received a letter telling us that our car warranty was out of date, and they would reinstate it. This came by mail! It was a “fishing” expedition to try to sell us back our warranty, which by the way is not out of date by a long shot.

It makes me so angry to know there are people out there whose business it is to take advantage of people. They are bullies. Again, my advice to protect yourselves from scammers: Don’t trust anyone!

Write to Bonnie Brown at bspbrown@icloud.com.