FORT MADISON – Two Rivers Bank brought in an expert from the Iowa Attorney General’s office Wednesday night to speak to customers around the state about predominant scams that are underway.
Iowa AG Investigator Al Perales was livestreamed from the bank’s Burlington office to about five other cities including Fort Madison. Perales shared heartbreaking stories about Iowans who have been scammed this year, some for more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Perales rolled out about 10 tips to help Iowans safeguard their savings from predators who are using all kinds of tricks and ploys to get people to send them money, some as unbelievable as talking people into putting cash in boxes to trigger clearinghouse wins that obviously never come. He said people are taking their own lives after being taken advantage of it.
The top five scams that are currently being undertaken in Iowa right now are Amazon scams, Romance or “Pig-Butchering”, Virus Tech, Google Search Scams, and crypto-Bitcoin scams.
“We don’t live in the world of Andy Griffith anymore. We live in a more evil world, unfortunately,” Perales said. “There are people who wake up every single day to lie, cheat, and steal, and they are focused on you.
“We live in a scam culture and people are targeting you. They know where the money is. They know if they can create a situation that seems real, they can get you to act.”
Amazon scams are indicating an email where it looks like you were charged for something you didn’t order. Perales said there’s usually a number to call and the scammers want you to call and then they try to convince you you’re to blame and say there is a fee to correct the situation.
Pig-butchering is a combination of romance and investment scams. Perales said he helped a man from Ottumwa who was scammed through a Facebook friend request. He said it started with conversations around family and hobbies and then brought up cryptocurrency and how to make money. The man started with a small investment, that scammers showed his investment had grown. When he went to get the money, scammers said fees on the money were high, about $160,000. He got loans and sold property and paid the money and wasn’t able to get it back.
Romance scams are simply scammers getting your trust over a promise of a relationship together. Perales, a 20-year veteran of the AG’s office, showed a video where an Iowa woman was taken advantage of by a man for more than a year until she called the AG’s office and was told she was being scammed.
The virus tech scam creates fear through your computer that you need to act to save your documents with a number to call.
He said people should never click on a link on their computer when someone presents that with a sense of urgency.
He said scams used to be easier to detect and stop and used to be centered around stealing mail or going through garbage. He said that is now coming back and people need to be aware.
“They are magicians, illusionists, but it’s nothing but smoke and mirrors,” he said. “But when you go through it, it seems so real.”
Perales gave 10 tips for Iowans to protect themselves.
• No. 1 – If you don’t recognize a phone number, do not answer it.
• No. 2 – Never give out personal or financial information.
• No. 3 – Never pay for anything with a gift card if you’re not in the store. Charities or governmental agencies will never ask for those.
• No. 4 – Resist pressures to act quickly or secretly.
• No. 5 – Don’t rely on caller ID or believe the official names or titles.
• No. 6 – Never ever pay for a prize.
• No. 7 – Deal locally, face-to-face.
• No. 8 – Take time each month to review bank and credit statements.
• No. 9 – Double check, Double check.
• No. 10 – Remember if someone raises your emotions, create a sense of urgency and asks for money in any form, it’s a scam.
Perales said all consumers should freeze their credit and have debit and credit cards blocked from overseas spending, until and unless they go overseas.
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