BBB Warns Consumers About Scam Calls from Fake Banks and Loan Companies

By Source Staff

Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning consumers to be cautious of phishing scams involving fake banks and loan processing companies. These calls often come from individuals posing as representatives from legitimate financial institutions, claiming to need personal information to finalize a loan or verify account details.

In many cases, victims report receiving multiple calls per day from different numbers, with nearly identical voicemail messages. The callers claim they’ve been trying to reach you about your loan application or offer a low-interest loan that needs “final approval.” They often provide a callback number and an application ID to appear more convincing.

The goal? To trick you into sharing sensitive information like your Social Security number, bank account details, or income information, which can then be used for identity theft or fraudulent financial activity.

How the Scam Works

Scammers use spoofed numbers and professional-sounding scripts to appear legitimate. They may mention a “loan application,” “account verification,” or “payment processing” issue that needs immediate attention. While the message sounds urgent, it’s all designed to pressure you into responding quickly without verifying the source.

Once engaged, the scammer may ask for personal or financial information or direct you to a fraudulent website that looks like a real banking portal.

Tips to Avoid Loan and Banking Phishing Scams

• Verify before you respond: If you receive an unexpected call about a loan or banking issue, hang up and contact your financial institution directly using verified contact information from their website or official documents.
• Don’t share personal details: Never provide your Social Security number, bank information, or other sensitive data over the phone unless you initiated the call.
• Be skeptical of urgency: Scammers rely on pressure tactics. Real banks and lenders will not demand immediate action or threaten consequences.
• Avoid calling back unknown numbers: Returning a suspicious call can connect you directly to scammers or result in unexpected fees.
• Check for scam reports: Search for the phone number or company name online before engaging.
• Report it: If you’ve been contacted by a possible scammer, report the incident to BBB.org/ScamTracker to help protect others.

Stay Alert and Informed

“Scammers often use the names of legitimate-sounding institutions to gain your trust,” said Robyn Householder, President & CEO of BBB serving Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. “Before you share personal information or return a suspicious call, take a moment to verify. It could save you from financial loss or identity theft.”

 

Remember — if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

 

If you believe you’ve been targeted by an emergency scam, report it immediately to local law enforcement, the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and BBB’s Scam Tracker at BBB.org/ScamTracker.

Full Article & Source:
BBB Warns Consumers About Scam Calls from Fake Banks and Loan Companies 

Man arrested on suspicion of scamming elder adult in Stanislaus out of $30k. How it happened

By Dominique Williams

The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man on suspicion of elder abuse after he allegedly scammed an older adult out of $30,000. 

Zhongqiang Chen, a 35-year-old male from Oakland, was booked Nov. 14 on additional charges including false or fraudulent representation, using a forged access card to obtain more than $400 and grand theft of more than $400 dollars.

On Nov. 12, an elderly female received a scam email of someone posing as McAfee Customer Service, telling her that her antivirus program had expired. 

The victim responded to the email and connected with a scammer, who took control of her computer, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The scammer transferred $60,000 from her money market account into her checking account. He then convinced the victim she owed him $60,000. 

The victim gave him an initial payment of $30,000.

On Nov. 13, the scammer called the victim and demanded the remaining $30,000. He told her he would arrange to pick up the money the following day. 

The victim told her son about the pickup, and her son contacted law enforcement. The Stanislaus Sheriff’s Office General Crimes Unit immediately began investigating the case, according to a news release. 

An undercover operation was conducted Nov. 14. Undercover detectives waited for the scammer to pick up the money at the victim’s residence. 

Around 12:30 p.m. that day, Chen was arrested when he arrived at the victim’s home as . He is being held on a $110,000 bail.

The case is still under investigation, and it is unknown if there are any additional victims or suspects.

Common scams targeting older adults in Stanislaus County 

The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said scammers are “good at pretending to be from an organization” and that they will often tell you there is a problem, for example: that you owe money to the government, that someone in your family had an emergency, there is a problem with your bank account or a virus on your computer. Others will say you won a lottery or sweepstakes, but you must first pay a fee. 

Scammers will pressure you to act immediately, according to the Sheriff’s Office. If not, there will be consequences, like arrest or suspension of privileges. They will ask you to pay using a specific method, such as an app or money order.

The average amount of money scammed from victims under age 19 is $250, Byron Nelson, an attorney at Stanislaus County’s Senior Advocacy Network-Senior Law Project, told The Modesto Bee in May 2023. The average amount scammed from victims age 80 and over is $1,500. 

“Some of it is opportunity,” Nelson said at the time. “Older adults are in their home and a lot of them are retired and they are the ones that will open the door, they are the ones that will answer the phone.”

Some common scams that have targeted local senior citizens in the county, according to Senior Law Project, include:

• Romance scams
  
• Banking scams
  
• Solar scams 
• Medicare scams 
• Investment scams 
• Sweepstakes and lottery scams 
• Grandparent scams 
• Tech support scams 
• Refund scams 
• Account verification scams 
• Financial scams 
• Health care scams 
• Identity theft 
• Home repair/improvement scams 
• Telephone and internet scams 
• Phishing scams 
• Online shopping scams 
• Charity scams 
• Government stimulus/grant scams 

The Office of the Attorney General has detailed some of these scams on its website.

How to prevent being scammed 

To avoid scams, do not provide personal or financial information in response to a request you did not make, the Sheriff’s Office says. Honest organizations will not call, email, or text to ask for personal information, according to police. 

“Please resist the pressure to act immediately,” the news release read. “An honest business will give you time to make a decision. Please stop and talk to someone you trust before you do anything else.” 

The Senior Law Project recommends these tips to avoid becoming a victim of a scam: 

• If you don’t recognize the phone number, you don’t have to answer the phone 
• If a company calls and requests money or information, hang up and call the number listed online 
• If your child or grandchild calls to ask for money, hang up and call to see if there really is trouble
• Before signing an electric contract, request a paper copy in your native language and review it 
• You can’t win something if you haven’t entered 
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Full Article & Source:
Man arrested on suspicion of scamming elder adult in Stanislaus out of $30k. How it happened

Trenton Police warn residents of scam calls from impostors posing as utility staff

The Trenton Police Department is alerting residents to an increase in scam calls involving utility impostors. These callers pose as utility representatives and inform residents that their utility bills are unpaid, warning them of imminent service disconnection.

Residents are strongly advised to safeguard their personal and financial information. The department emphasizes that individuals should not disclose sensitive details over the phone unless they first verify the legitimacy of the call by contacting their utility company directly. This precaution helps prevent fraud and potential financial exploitation.

Full Article & Source:
Trenton Police warn residents of scam calls from impostors posing as utility staff

GA CPD warns of COVID-19 scams directed at the elderly

Release:

CONSUMER ALERT: Attorney General Carr Issues Warning Against Financial Exploitation of Older Adults during Covid-19

May 29, 2020

ATLANTA, GA – Attorney General Chris Carr is warning older Georgians, their families and their caretakers to be on the lookout for signs of financial exploitation, especially with regard to the recent issuance of federal stimulus checks.  

“Georgia has a robust Elder Abuse Law that covers financial exploitation,” says Attorney General Carr. “The law also contains unique protections for individuals residing in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. We are on the lookout for individuals and organizations that are taking advantage of older adults with regard to their stimulus checks. Our Consumer Protection Division, Prosecution Division and Medicaid Fraud Division will work together with other law enforcement partners to see that bad actors are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Exploitation of Older Adults is generally defined as taking away property or money or otherwise misusing the financial resources of an older adult or disabled person for another’s gain. This can include taking a Social Security or Economic Stimulus check without consent or having a Power of Attorney document or other documents signed without the victim knowing what he/she is signing, or forging his/her signature.

If citizens suspect abuse, neglect, and exploitation of this population, the resources below can assist in reporting the matter:

• To report abuse, neglect, and exploitation of an older adult or disabled adult who lives in a private residence, contact your local police and Adult Protective Services at 1-866-552-4464 – Press “3” or www.aging.ga.gov then click the Report Elder Abuse tab.
• To report abuse, neglect, and exploitation of an older adult, disabled adult or resident in a facility, contact Healthcare Facility Regulation: 1-800-878-6442.
• To access information on long-term supports and services, services in the home and community, or support for individuals and family members who are aging or living with a disability, contact Georgia’s Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) to locate an office in your area: www.georgiaadrc.com.

Medicaid recipients who reside in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, along with their family members, should make sure that the economic stimulus payments of these residents are not utilized by the facility or individuals working in the facility. Although Medicaid recipients may sometimes be required to sign over certain resources to the facility where they reside, this does not apply to the economic stimulus payments. Congress, under the CARES Act, has designated these payments as “tax credits,” which means the monies lawfully belong to the recipients and cannot be taken by a nursing home or assisted living facility.

If you believe that the stimulus payment of a Medicaid recipient who resides in a nursing home or assisted living facility was improperly taken by the facility, you can contact the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division by calling (404) 656-5400 or by emailing report_medicaid_fraud@law.ga.gov.

Full Article & Source:

GA CPD warns of COVID-19 scams directed at the elderly

Breaking News - New Scam Alert

NEW SCAM ALERT

In the Check Floating Scam, a scammer will purchase an item that has been offered for sale, frequently by a senior citizen, in an internet auction or in a classified or on-line advertisement. The scammer then sends a check to the seller that is for more than the sale price. He then contacts the seller referencing the mistake and asks the seller to wire back the money.

This is all done during what is referred to as “the floating period”, the time after the check is deposited but before it clears. The seller returns the money and, too late, learns the check is invalid or has bounced. By that time, the scammer has happily disappeared with the money.

REMEMBER:

• Never assume a deposited money is there until the bank says it is.
• If you have something to sell do not release the item until the purchaser’s check has cleared.
• Never wire funds to someone you don’t know.

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If you are considering placing a family member in a nursing home make sure you do a lot of homework before you choose which nursing home and once chosen visit often and make sure those visits are not made on any kind of regular schedule - if nursing home employees know that you come often but have no idea of what time you will be coming through their door, they will be kept on their toes and be more attentive to your loved ones comfort.

Finding a good nursing home is not easy. Thanks to lobbyists who work to prevent adequate regulations and politicians who refuse to pass these regulations, the quality of treatment of patients, in way too many states, is, at best, inadequate and frequently dangerous. Much of this is because nursing home lobbyists place the emphasis on the bottom line of the nursing home rather than the well-being of the patient. Many states do nothing about nursing homes that have multiple failing inspection reports (see this month breaking news - Florida).

In Minnesota alone, Care Providers of Minnesota and Leading Age Minnesota, spent nearly $1 million on lobbying in 2016 and 2017, an increase of 56 percent from the previous two years and the largest outlay by the groups on record, according to new data from the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.

The groups, which together have nearly two dozen registered lobbyists, have also increased their presence at the Capitol, blitzing lawmakers with information as debate intensifies over how to fix the state's deeply flawed system for protecting seniors from maltreatment (see this month breaking news - Minnesota)

You can be sure that this is going on in your state as well.

But, lobbyists do not pay legislators salaries and they do not have the power to remove them from office - you do. Form a citizens’ lobby.

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THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY announced that Tony Rosen, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Attending Emergency Physician at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, will receive this year's Jeffrey H. Silverstein Memorial Award for a comprehensive review of programs to address the abuse of older individuals that he and colleagues conducted.

"Dr. Rosen has spent nearly a decade researching elder abuse and injury prevention for older adults, with a particular focus on improving healthcare provider engagement in identifying, preventing, and intervening to address mistreatment.

Dr. Rosen and colleagues evaluated more than 100 programs designed to identify, address, or prevent the mistreatment of older individuals. According to Dr. Rosen's evaluation, most programs focus on raising awareness and public education, as well as developing inter-professional healthcare teams equipped to confront the challenges of physical, social, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse.

Dr. Rosen, who earned his medical degree in 2010, said that a Geriatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Weill Cornell Medicine “…was invaluable in improving my understanding of the unique challenges in providing acute care to older adults and developing a career in emergency department-based elder abuse research."

It is gratifying to see a young doctor entering this field of medicine.

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Researchers at Temple University, studying the cognitive effects of the vegetable-based fat canola, split lab mice into two groups: Group A was fed a normal daily diet and group B had about two tablespoons of canola oil added to their meal. After six months, they test the animal’s cognitive skills by having them run through a maze.

Observing their ability to negotiate this challenge, the researchers noted that the mice in group B demonstrated a sharp reduction in their ability to remember.

The researchers believe the canola oil lowered levels of a dementia fighting protein (amyloid beta 1-40) in the mices’ brains. This would lead to amyloid plaque surrounding their brains’ neurons, decreasing and damaging the neural connections, and result in memory loss.

Though this research was done on mice not humans, Domenico Praticò, MD, a senior investigator on the study which was published in Scientific Reports, said “Based on the evidence from this study, canola oil should not be thought of as being equivalent to oils with proven health benefits

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Full Article & Source:
From The Silver Standard’s Elder Abuse Reform Now Project: Breaking News - New Scam Alert

JOIN The EARN Project

Beware of scams: The grandkids scam is among several that could be costly to seniors

Tulsa Police developed the Senior Services Unit in 2002 to combat crimes against seniors.

In 2017 alone, Tulsa County received over 2,200 referrals and reports of crimes against seniors. To combat such offenses, two detectives, a supervisor, and a full-time volunteer share the caseload of reports filed with the Tulsa Police Department.

Working hand-in-hand with local agencies, the goal is to protect the vulnerable adult population as well as the seniors in the Tulsa community. This protection is often found in educating seniors.

The Senior Services Unit combats crimes such as financial exploitation, elder neglect, physical abuse, caretaker neglect, identity theft, credit card fraud, and all types of scams targeting the senior population.

Grandkids scam, IRS scam, jury duty scam, and the love scam are some of the top choices the bad guys will use to get money from seniors.

Grandkids scam

The victim, usually a senior, receives a phone call from someone pretending to be their grandchild.

Once you answer the phone and say hello, the suspect will say, “Grandma,” then the senior may answer, “Is that you John?” And the suspect immediately answers, “Yes, Grandma, it’s John.”

Then the caller, or suspect, will continue the conversation and tell the senior that he’s in jail or recently got in a car wreck and needs money to either bail out of jail or receive medical treatment. They may even hand the phone over to a cohort who pretends to be an attorney or doctor.

Often, these suspects ask for money through an Apple iTunes gift card or some other type of gift card.

The easiest thing for seniors to do is to hang up. Your grandchildren should never request you send them money via a gift card over the phone. You can send your grandchildren gift cards through the mail, but never give gift card information over the phone.

You must verify where your grandchild is and verify their location with their parents. Often times, the suspect on the phone will ask you not to call their parents, because they are too scared to let them know. But remember, this is your money you will lose.

Never give someone a gift card over the phone. This is a scam.

IRS scam

The IRS will never contact you about warrants because of missed payments or discuss your past due taxes over the phone.

In rare cases, an agent will contact you if you are part of an identity theft investigation you initiate — but they always start the investigation by mail.

Never give money over the phone to the IRS.

Jury duty

The Tulsa County Court Clerk will never call you and say you have a warrant because you missed jury duty. A letter is often sent by mail to the juror, but a phone call will never occur.

Did you know most seniors are excused from jury duty due to their age or mobility? If you receive a notice for jury duty, follow the directions on the information card.

If you receive a phone call stating you missed jury duty and there’s a warrant for your arrest, hang up. This is a scam.

You will be notified by mail if a warrant for your arrest exists; you will never be asked to pay for a warrant using a gift card.

Love scam

Some seniors seek companionship on the internet or to find true love. In some rare cases, this type of matchmaking works.

Seniors are preyed upon hard when finding the right one online. The suspect uses your vulnerability to their advantage. Many of these suspects start communication by email, then text messages, and sometimes will talk to you for hours over the phone.

They may be in foreign countries or other states and will start to ask you for money to help them buy a plane ticket or gas money so they can come and see you.

Never give money to someone you have never met. This scam often goes unreported, because people are embarrassed and will never tell someone.

If you have never met your true love in person and only online; never send them money of any type. This is a scam.

Full Article & Source:
Beware of scams: The grandkids scam is among several that could be costly to seniors