Canton Co-operative Bank Customer Service Representative Jill Corwin saw on a local news program that apparently a Boston University student had received a call from someone claiming to be from a foreign government. The caller – a scammer – accused the student of taking part in a crime and demanded a large amount of money.
The student had video conference calls supposedly with government officials in uniform and received phone calls that seemed to be coming from the official embassy phone number. Shaken and frightened, the student wired the money in installments as directed.
Realizing later that things seemed off, the student contacted Boston University police. By that time, the money was gone and all the police could really do was record the incident.
Right now, we are seeing that young people are targeted for scams as much as older people are. Some say it’s more. They tend to be different varieties of scams – including online purchase scams, job scams and student loan forgiveness scams, according to The New York Times.
In an internet-era twist on the Ponzi scheme, The Wall Street Journal reported on a young woman who received a direct message from a stranger through Instagram. The stranger said if the young woman would send $150, she would get $1500 back.
Feeling “vulnerable” at that moment, the young woman sent the $150. Needless to say, she never got that $1500 and her $150 was gone too.
Families, friends, store clerks, police, bankers and many more have done a great job alerting older people to the dangers of falling for scams. It looks like it’s time to start alerting young people too.
All the same good advice applies to help young people avoid being scammed. Look for ways to get independent confirmation of any claims a stranger makes. Any deal that seems too good to be true probably is. Take your time and talk to trusted individuals before you send or “invest” money.
When in doubt, call the police first. If we here at Canton Co-operative Bank can be of any assistance to you or a young person you know, please call us at 781-828-8811 x5.
Canton Co-operative – a bank customers like, a bank you can trust – since 1891.
Canton Co-operative Bank is located in downtown Canton at 671 Washington Street, Canton, MA 02021 – next to the Post Office.
The main phone number is 781-828-8811.
NMLS #721437