Jan 17, 2020 3 min read

This week, we are going to talk about a no-cost way to improve your financial life.

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country. Often, criminals try to trick you into giving them your private information. I recently heard of someone getting a call saying that his/her Social Security checks were going to be stopped because the individual was a known money launderer. To stop this, you had to stay on the line and provide personal information.

If someone was a known money launderer, do you think the government would give you a warning call? No, they would probably freeze all of your bank accounts and send agents to your house. Social Security probably would not be involved. But the reason these scams work is they cause fear because most seniors receive SS and the thought of losing it causes you to let your guard down. You think, “I will just answer a couple of questions to clear my name.”

Now they have your info.

As we approach tax season, the number of calls – supposedly from the IRS – increase. Callers say if you do not send a money order or prepaid card to some address, they will send the police. Many people get such calls every year. The IRS does not call or send e-mails. They send a series of letters through the postal mail.

Police do not arrest anyone for the IRS, yet fear causes some people let down their defenses.

Never give your SS number to anyone who calls. The government, banks and insurance companies already know it. If you make the call, you may have to give it, to prove it is you. Warning, you cannot win the Irish lottery if you did not enter it.

Often, people are told they won a prize, but must pay some fee before collecting the prize. That is not the way legitimate contests work.

No king in Africa is going to randomly pick your name out of the telephone book and ask you to hold his multi-million dollars and let you keep a little for helping out. Yet all of these scams pull people in. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

One of the best ways to protect yourself is to have good passwords and do not use the same ones for everything. Sure, it is harder to remember, but it is much safer. Use a combination of capital letters and special characters. Longer passwords are harder to crack. Shred garbage with sensitive data such as account numbers.

Do not carry your Social Security card in your wallet or purse. If they are lost, your sensitive data is exposed. The new Medicare cards have finally been issued with new non-SS numbers. Don’t let your guard down. Talk to elderly parents and friends to warn them of these dangers. Use common sense. If you are not engaged in illegal activities, authorities cannot just make it up.

Do not be the next person caught in these scams.

Gary Boatman is a Monessen-based certified financial planner and the author of “Your Financial Compass: Safe passage through the turbulent waters of taxes, income planning and market volatility.”

To submit columns on financial planning or investing, email Rick Shrum at rshrum@observer-reporter.com.