The Banking Fraud Scam
You may have already received an email or text message (probably both) from your banking institution regarding this scam. Someone calls you on the phone saying they are your bank to talk about irregularities on your account. They have the last few digits of your account number so you think it is legit. You then verify your account number and they go drain your account. They will spoof the Caller ID so it shows your actual bank name.How to protect yourself:
- Give them ZERO information.
- HANG UP IMMEDIATELY.
- Then phone your bank from the number already in your contact list for them and verify your account is OK.
Jury Duty Scam
This same approach as above goes for someone calling from a Caller ID that says Dallas Sheriff, Dallas PD or other law enforcement entity telling you they have a warrant for your arrest. They will say you were supposed to show up for jury duty and did not. They will want you to go to WalMart and buy a wad of prepaid gift cards, then read them the numbers to pay your fine and stay out of jail.How to protect yourself:
- HANG UP IMMEDIATELY
- NO legitimate entity will ask for gift card payment.
- Ever.
Fake Roofing / Landscaping Scam
This scam is not new, but a crew was recently apprehended after stealing from numerous homes in the Dallas area. It works like this: Someone knocks on your door, usually while there are other workers already at your home. They pick you out based on the vehicles parked in front of your home. The person at your door tells you they need to get into your back yard to evaluate something that desperately needs to be attended to. You take them through the house to the backyard. An accomplice enters your home as soon as you are distracted outside, ransacks the place, taking as many valuables as possible and trots right back out the front door before you even know anything has happened.How to protect yourself:
First of all, NEVER allow unsolicited tradespeople into your home. Always keep all exterior doors locked when at home. Second, if you do allow someone in, make sure the front door securely closes and locks behind you.The Deepfake Phone Call Scam
AI has made it very easy to impersonate anyone. The way this works is you get a phone call from a relative – Son, daughter, niece, nephew, etc. The person sounds exactly like them, because the bad guys have harvested TikTok recordings and synthesized their voice. They tell you their wallet or purse has been stolen and they are in another country. Or they have been arrested and need bail money. All of this sounds very real. It’s NOT.How to protect yourself:
HANG UP IMMEDIATELY. Call the relative directly from your contact list to make sure they are OK.General advice to stay safe.
- Enable 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on ALL accounts. This goes for financial, utilities, social media. Everything.
- Never give out personal information to someone who calls YOU.
- Never buy gift cards to pay someone with.
- Never allow an unknown person to remotely access your computer. This is how they steal your identity.
- NEVER CALL BACK ONE OF THESE SCAM PHONE CALL NUMBERS.
- EVER
Advice for women:
WRITTEN BY A COP:
Everyone should take 5 minutes to read this. It may save your life or a loved one’s life. In daylight hours, refresh yourself of these things to do in an emergency situation… This is for you, and for you to share with your wife, your children, & everyone you know. After reading these 9 crucial tips, forward them to someone you care about. It never hurts to be careful in this crazy world we live in.
1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do :The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. Learned this from a tourist guide. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse,……. DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM.
Toss it away from you… Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse.
AND RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.. The driver won’t see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.)… DON’T DO THIS!
The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your HEAD and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE..
If someone is in the car with a gun to your head
DO NOT DRIVE OFF……. Repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF!!!!
Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it.
As soon as the car crashes……BAIL OUT AND RUN!!!!
It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
A.) BE AWARE… look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor and in the back seat.
B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door.
Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
C.) Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side.. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.
IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY.
(And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot.
This is especially true at NIGHT!)
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN!
The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then,
it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!!!!
Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP!!!
It may get you raped or killed.
(Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked ‘for help’ into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next VICTIM).
9. Another Safety Point:
Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last and because it was late and she thought it was weird..She called the police.
The police told her ‘Whatever you do, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR!
The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a windrow and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, ‘We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, do not open the door.’ He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby’s cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby.. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby’s cries outside their doors when they’re home alone at night.
10. Water scam!
If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe…..
DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE!
These people turn on all your outside taps full blast so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.
Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors!
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