Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Speaks on Consumer Protections
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel educated the Chaldean community about phone and internet scams at the Chaldean Community Foundation.
By Cal Abbo
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel spoke on Thursday to the Chaldean community about online scams and offered advice and official avenues to solve these issues.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, when time spent in isolation and online skyrocketed, scams have become more frequent, profitable, and creative. Her speech at the Chaldean Community Foundation highlighted ways to stay safe and protected from scammers.
In general, scammers tend to target two groups: the elderly and immigrants. Older people tend to have more time, more money, and less experience with internet safety. Immigrant communities are targeted because they are perceived as less intelligent and experience a language barrier that makes them easier to scam.
Nessel said a scam typically has two or three of the following features: urgent or secret requests, believable stories and connections, financial requests, and unusual payment types. A common tactic scammers use to establish credibility is called spoofing, in which the scammer can appear on your caller ID as any phone number.
The Office of the Attorney General has seen a dramatic increase in unsolicited text messages as well as calls. This type of scam, called “smishing,” occurs when a scammer sends a text pretending to be from a trusted source and tries to get personal information from the target. The goal is to get passwords, credit card information, or even install malware. Nessel mentioned that her own mother nearly fell for one of these scams recently and asked the audience to forward their texts to 7726 so they can be documented.
Americans are losing more money to scammers. As of late, 31% of Americans have become victims of phone scams because of their high frequency; from June 2020 to June 2021, nearly $30 billion was lost to phone scams.
The “family emergency” scam is a complex strategy that con artists use to take advantage of well-meaning people. Now, with the prevalence of public social media, scammers can learn a lot of information about you and your family. In just a few minutes, they can learn enough information about a family member to convince you that they have been taken to jail, hospitalized, or something even worse.
At this point, the scammer wants to receive money in an untraceable form. Often, they ask for the target to go out and buy gift cards or cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Nessel noted that no reputable company or government agency would ever accept payment in gift cards.
Medicare open enrollment scams happen year-round, Nessel said, but they are especially active during the enrollment period at the end of the year. They will often try to get information such as your Medicare card or social security numbers. Other times, they try to sell fake, low-cost medical devices like back or knee braces.
IRS phone scams have become very common and ramp up significantly during tax season. Scammers will try to scare the target into thinking they have a warrant or owe thousands in unpaid taxes. Nessel stressed that the IRS will never call you, and they will instead contact you by mail. If someone calls you claiming to be from the IRS, she suggests you should hang up and call the IRS directly.
A sweepstake scam starts with an outrageous message that you have won some money, a phone, a computer, or other another expensive item. Scammers use this tactic and then ask for a small payment to cover a processing fee or shipping and handling, which is how they make their money.
Utility imposter scams happen especially in the cold weather. A scammer calls you claiming to be the power company, telling you that you’re overdue and they’ll shut your electricity off. Utility companies are required to give many weeks of advance notice before they cut off service to your home.
Nessel’s office has set up a website to report illegal robocalls. You can also call the office at (877)-765-8388.
Watch the full event on Facebook.