Scamming people is one of the lowest forms of behavior, but this doesn’t stop conmen! On the show today, we cover the most common swindles and how to avoid them. Both Kelly and Megan have either been the victim of scams themselves or have had a close family member fall prey to one. We kick off the show hearing some of these horror stories, one of which involved Kelly’s gran having her bank account drained (twice!). From there, we speak about the proliferation of fraudulent schemes that piggyback off of COVID-19, while also trying to provide a few facts that can help you spot one. We also look at other big examples of scams that people often fall prey to such as phishing, identity fraud, fake romances, and shady online shopping funnels. In these examples, we try to hand out some helpful facts to increase weariness and security. It is a great pity that there are so many criminals out there because inevitably it just leads to innocent people developing a huge sense of distrust in humanity. However, it is a reality that exists and the best we can do is prepare ourselves, so be sure to tune in for today’s show.

Key Points From This Episode:

• A time where Megan fell prey to a scam involving a phony job offer.
• How Kelly’s gran with dementia had her bank account drained twice by scammers.
• The types of people that get scammed and how older folks are often targeted.
• How important it is to warn vulnerable groups about scams that target them.
• The scams that Kelly’s husband often falls prey to while shopping online.
• Safer ways to shop online using trusted apps and service providers. 
• A valuable lesson that Kelly’s son learned after getting his iPad stolen.
• How to tell that a potential buyer on an online marketplace is not trustworthy.
• Tips for differentiating junk mail from legitimate post.
• How scams have proliferated since COVID and the most common methods used.
• Information about vaccine certificates and COVID tests to help avoid scams surrounding them.
• Common identity theft and imposter scams and how Kelly avoided falling for one.
• Things to know about social security numbers to avoid scams surrounding them.
• How much money has been lost by people who fell prey to romance scams.
• Phishing scams that steal your information using links posted on job offers.
• General tips for avoiding scams involving passwords, trusted sites, and more.
• The value of reporting your experience of being scammed as far as catching the scammer.

Tweetables:

“They wiped out a 90-year-old woman’s bank account twice. The kind of people who feed on seniors like that with cognitive impairment are the lowest form of life.” — Kelly Castillo [0:03:19]

“You need to not automatically trust anyone, especially someone you meet online. There’s a lot of ways to fool people.” — Kelly Castillo [0:30:39]

“Don’t give out pieces of yourself, your money, your personal information, to people that you barely know.” — Megan Block [0:34:34]

“If you have been a victim of any of these scams, don’t be embarrassed. You have to report it because this is the only way they are going to catch these people.” — Kelly Castillo [0:52:08]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kelly Castillo

Megan Block

She's A Full On Monet

She's A Full On Monet on Twitter

She’s A Full On Monet on Instagram 

She's A Full On Monet on Facebook 

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