NSS Weekly: How to Protect Yourself When Scammers Call

Transcript

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INTRO: You are listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a weekly newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota, produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations.

VICTOR PALOMINO: According to the state attorney general's office, people living in the United States received approximately 29.6 billion scam robocalls and text messages last year, with losses linked to those scams in the billions of dollars.

BRITT AAMODT: This week, we explore how scams work, how to recognize the warning signs, and what protections are available. We also look at how families can help safeguard the financial security of loved ones who may be especially vulnerable to fraud. I'm Britt Aamodt.

VICTOR PALOMINO: And I'm Victor Palomino.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: But first, North Star Stories reporter Xan Holston with the news that made the headlines around the state.

ALEX PRETTI'S MOTHER: We want our son's killers brought to justice once and for all.

XAN HOLSTON: Alex Pretti's parents held a press conference for the first time, demanding answers and accountability for the killing of their son in January during Operation Metro Surge. They say it's been nine months and they still have no answers from the Justice Department. Now they're asking elected officials and the public to pressure the government to share evidence and hold the agents who killed him accountable. Their appeal follows a recent court filing by the Hennepin County Attorney that says in July, federal authorities stopped sharing evidence in the killings of both Pretti and Renee Good. Pretti's parents say they are tired of waiting.

ALEX PRETTI'S FATHER: Share the evidence now, so prosecutors can follow the facts and hold these men accountable. Do your job and stop shielding Alex's killers.

ALEX PRETTI'S MOTHER: We want to clear our son's name. We want the world to understand who Alex really was.

XAN HOLSTON: State investigators are now asking a judge to order the remaining evidence released.

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XAN HOLSTON: As education costs rise and state and federal funding falls, many Minnesota schools are forced to cut programs and teaching positions. An upcoming change in state school funding would reduce special education programming for every district. All Minnesota schools must provide required services for students with disabilities. But a law passed last year also mandates a $250 million cut in special education spending statewide starting next year, spread over two years. In the West Metro, Minnetonka is already trying to rework its next budget to account for a projected loss of more than $3 million. Minnetonka's financial director explains the trade-off all school districts will face.

MINNETONKA'S FINANCIAL DIRECTOR: We have by law are required to provide whatever it takes, pretty much. So the reduction in special education funding just means that all those services would have to be paid for by pulling money out of the basic formula revenue, which goes primarily for regular instruction.

XAN HOLSTON: That regular instruction money is used for classes like math, science, and music. Minnetonka officials want lawmakers to repeal the law, a change they say could benefit every Minnesota school district.

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XAN HOLSTON: More shipbuilding jobs could be coming to the twin ports. Wildcat Defense plans a $350 million expansion at Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin, across the harbor from Duluth. The company agreed to buy the shipyard's parent company, Fraser Industries. The companies expect the sale to close in about three months.

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XAN HOLSTON: And in Central Minnesota, another program is built around the idea that stability comes first. After nearly four years of work, Avivo Village Central Minnesota has opened in Saint Cloud with 48 private locking rooms for people experiencing homelessness. The shelter is pet friendly, does not require sobriety, and has staff on site around the clock. Residents can get help with healthcare, counseling, addiction treatment, and finding permanent housing.

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XAN HOLSTON: North of Rochester, the town of Zumbrota is working to prevent opioid overdoses by making the drug naloxone available around the clock. Naloxone is the drug that can stop or reverse an overdose. The city is partnering with RIP-ple - Drug Awareness and Education to install a distribution box outside City Hall. Police say the city needs this resource after people who tried to stop a recent fatal overdose searched for the medication but couldn't find any.

And finally, Minnesota bear hunters just recorded one of the state's biggest harvests on record. Preliminary numbers show hunters killed more than 4,000 bears this year. That's about 1300 more than last year, making it the third largest season. Officials estimate Minnesota has between 13 to 18,000 black bears. For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

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BRITT AAMODT: Scams have become part of everyday life, with suspicious texts and emails reaching our phones and inboxes. The Minnesota Department of Commerce says it's seeing an increase in scam complaints. The department also recently warned that scammers are using its name and logo to impersonate the agency and demand money.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Reporter Jules Yaeger looks at how to recognize the warning signs and protect yourself and your loved ones from fraud.

STUART BLOOM: My sister tells me one day, "Stu, I've been I've been talking with Keanu Reeves." I'm like, really? Why would Keanu Reeves want to talk? I mean, no offense, Sharon. You know, he's, you know, a very famous person.

JULES YAEGER: This is Stuart. He's a special ed teacher in North Minneapolis. His sister Sharon was targeted by scammers two years ago, and it changed both of their lives.

STUART BLOOM: There were a lot of warning signs. There were multiple people calling her or texting her, trying to get her to send these gift cards. They were trying to get her to take loans out against her condo, eventually, and that broke my heart. I had to sell her place because she would have lost it otherwise.

JULES YAEGER: Sharon was particularly vulnerable to scams. He says for a couple reasons.

STUART BLOOM: My sister was diagnosed with Alzheimer's dementia. You know, Keanu was going to pay her back. She truly believed this until the very end.

JULES YAEGER: All told, Sharon spent her way through her retirement savings, around $110,000. She also maxed out multiple credit cards. Debt collectors are still hounding her and Stuart.

STUART BLOOM: There's no way of tracking it or tracing it. She's never going to get it back. You know, there's everybody we've talked to. There's, it's so slim to none to getting it back.

JULES YAEGER: Stories like Stuart's show just how damaging scams can be to people's lives financially and emotionally, and it seems like they're more prevalent than ever. But it can be unclear how these scams work and who's working to protect Minnesotans from them. One of those people is Sara Payne.

SARA PAYNE: My title is Assistant Commissioner for Enforcement at the Minnesota Department of Commerce. We regulate over 40 different industries in the state of Minnesota. Certainly, over the last number of years we have seen increases in scams that are being perpetuated on Minnesotans. When we get information that someone may be violating a law, our enforcement division can look into that. We can help implement legal protections against scams.

JULES YAEGER: Assistant Commissioner Payne says that scammers rely on similar tactics, even when the scams themselves are different.

SARA PAYNE: Anyone pressuring you to act immediately, to keep a conversation secret or to move money, particularly requests for cryptocurrency, gift cards, wire transfers. A scammer may impersonate a government agency, a financial institution, a family member. Scammers may also know personal information about you in ways that they didn't 10 or 20 years ago because of data breaches or other sources. Scammers continue to rely on the same basic tactics: fear, urgency, secrecy, and trust.

JULES YAEGER: Sara's talking about things like this voicemail.

VOICEMAIL: This is an important notification regarding a pre-authorized purchase made through your Walmart account. A PlayStation 5 Special Edition bundle has been ordered using your name and phone number for a total amount of $1,537.35. If you did not authorize this transaction, please take immediate action to cancel the order or to speak with a customer support representation.

JULES YAEGER: The speaker claims there's just a large purchase under your name and asks you to take immediate action. But upon investigation, the phone number they provide has no connection to the company they say they're calling from. One of the ways the state government can help protect people from scams is by implementing new laws and regulations that make it harder for scammers to target Minnesotans.

SARA PAYNE: The crypto kiosk ban is a really strong example. Scammers use kiosks to move victims' money quickly through transactions that were impossible to trace and impossible to recover after seeing criminals increasingly target senior citizens in financial scams, theft, and abuse. Minnesota enacted the Safe Seniors Financial Protection Act.

JULES YAEGER: The Safe Seniors Financial Protection Act authorizes banks and other financial institutions to hold or slow down transactions by seniors if they believe there might have been fraud. It also allows them to report suspected scams to the Department of Commerce. There are a couple of pathways for Minnesotans who have been the victim of a scam to recover their money, but they're not perfect. Payne says--

SARA PAYNE: The Consumer Restitution Fund is a fund that is actually administered by the Minnesota Attorney General's Office. The Department of Commerce. We can sometimes negotiate the type of settlement agreement, but it is very difficult to recover money once it is lost through a scam.

JULES YAEGER: Assistant Commissioner Payne points out that applicants for the Attorney General's Consumer Restitution Protection Account must attend a hearing with a judge, and that it can be hard to qualify for. She says the rise of artificial intelligence is generating more convincing scams, but not necessarily more complicated ones.

SARA PAYNE: The evolution of technology of AI really highlights the evergreen warnings that haven't changed in terms of the best tools that people can use to protect themselves. But consumers' best tools are always going to be to stop verify report.

JULES YAEGER: Payne said that beyond just restitution, finding real justice for people who have been scammed is quite difficult.

SARA PAYNE: Scammers are usually anonymous actors. They prey on people's vulnerabilities. It's what makes it so devastating. A lot of victims of scams tend to feel some sort of shame, which is really unfortunate, because no one falls for a scam. They're the victim of a crime.

JULES YAEGER: Stuart knows something about that.

STUART BLOOM: They're just preying on people who have, you know, dementia or lonely people. I was very very close with my sister. I mean, you know, she's 10 years older than me. She kind of raised, you know, raised me. I lost my mother when I was 12, so she was kind of like a mother figure to me. So it's just it's so tough to see somebody who's worked so hard their whole life get their whole life savings taken away.

JULES YAEGER: If you or someone you know has been the victim of a scam, contact the Minnesota Department of Commerce or the Minnesota Attorney General's Office to report your experience. For North Star Stories, I'm Jules Yaeger.

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BRITT AAMODT: Next, we'll look deeper into the different types of scams and how you can start the conversation with your loved ones about financial security.

VICTOR PALOMINO: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's Community Radio Stations, with support from the State of Minnesota. We'll be back after the break.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: You are listening to North Star Stories. I'm Victor Palomino.

BRITT AAMODT: And I'm Britt Aamodt. Phone scams are just one of the many ways criminals target people for money. From sextortion to property fraud, law enforcement agencies are working to keep pace with evolving schemes and the technology scammers use to make them more convincing.

VICTOR PALOMINO: To learn more about these tactics, we're joined by Leah Greaves, assistant special agent in charge at FBI Minneapolis. Thank you for joining us.

LEAH GREAVES: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Can you explain to our listeners what are the most common types of scams that the FBI is seeing these days?

LEAH GREAVES: We see so many scams and fraud. It's something Minnesotans are hearing a lot about. But across Minnesota, including our most rural communities, we're seeing a rise in cyber-enabled scams. Criminals are using new technologies, including artificial intelligence, which you're going to hear that termed more and more as superintelligence, to impersonate people and institutions with frankly very alarming realism. Cyber-enabled scams would be scams on your phone, your text, your email, and your social media. But even as the methods evolve, the warning signs remain the same. There's a lot of pressure, a lot of secrecy, a lot of urgency, and unusual payment demands. And some of the high impact scams that we're seeing are things like vacant land and parcel owner impersonation. Also, seeing cryptocurrency investment scams with often with courier pickups, gold purchase scams where the victims are told to convert savings into gold bars. Also, law enforcement or government impersonation. We're also seeing business email compromises affecting schools and small businesses, and then recovery scams targeting previous victims. Those are just a few of the examples.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Some people like to play with scammers, and they will just get a phone call or something like that, and they'll respond, and they will say like, "Well, I have time. I'm just I know this person is a scammer. I'm just gonna keep it on the phone for I don't know 20 minutes." Is this something people should do?

LEAH GREAVES: It's a huge risk. You need to protect yourself, and the best defense is frankly a strong offense and having a plan, which means slow down. Number one, slow down. You've got to stop communicating and hang up the phone. Pressure is really going to be that primary warning sign. Number two, you need to independently verify using official phone numbers and websites, and if you're unsure, ask for help. And number three, you need to report that. No legitimate agency will ever ask you to convert your savings into gold, cryptocurrency, or hand anything to a courier. And more importantly, law enforcement also will never demand payment or ask for cryptocurrency or gift cards or cash or gold. They're not going to send someone to your home to pick up money. And for land or parcel transactions, you also need to verify identity with county records and official documentation. Just do not click unfamiliar links and don't approve authorization requests from unknown apps. So again, stop, slow down, verify, and report.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Another type of scam or extortion that we're seeing right now is sextortion, and this is something that the victims might be just younger people that are getting into this type of scams. So, can you explain what sex extortion is and how it works?

LEAH GREAVES: Absolutely. We've seen an enormous number of financially motivated sextortion complaints over the past few years. It's very unfortunate and it's scary for the victims when it happens. Sextortion is when someone uses sexually explicit content to extort a victim, and financially motivated sextortion is a variant that overwhelmingly targets teenage boys. Here's what happens: the scammer poses as a similarly aged, attractive person online and engages the potential victim in chats. Now, the vast majority of these scammers target victims on widely used social media like Instagram or TikTok, where they can access a victim's friend list. They capture that information and then they lure the victim into a chat or texting platform where the victims can attach images or video. Then the scammer convinces the boys to send sexually explicit images, then turn those images back at a victim, demanding payment, threatening that they'll send the compromising image to the friends and family and school of the victim. Victims who pay, frankly, will be targeted further, and no amount of money is going to cause a scammer to go away. The payment, frankly, only encourages scammers. And if you are a victim, we want you to note the user IDs, the phone numbers, and contact law enforcement at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You can Google it, or you can go specifically to report.cybertip.org. And I think we really want people to know that if you're chatting with someone online you've never met in real life, you should assume that they may not be who they say they are.

VICTOR PALOMINO: As we heard in the story, there is a level of shame when this happens, and I think, like for sextortion, it had to be higher level of shame. For parents, is there a tool or anything they can do to make sure that their kids are not targeted by this, or is there any conversation or anything they can do to make sure that their kids are protected, they know about these scams?

LEAH GREAVES: First and foremost, parents need to make sure they're having these conversations, and it's not a one and done type of thing. They should have an ongoing, regular conversation with their children. We also want schools to reassure children that if they get into a precarious situation, they have resources to which the student can go, such as school resource officers and counselors. We want the victims to know they're not alone. They're not to blame. These are very convincing scams, and so often with that shame, kids are scared to speak up because they're fearful they're going to get in trouble. But that is not going to help us stop the sextortion. So if parents can make sure the child knows they're in a safe place, have that conversation, make sure they're in communication regularly, and then maybe also talk about depending on the age, monitoring social media, looking at privacy selections in some of those apps on the phones and computers that the that the kids are using as well.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Is there anything else you want to add to the conversation before we end?

LEAH GREAVES: If you're a victim, number one, remember you're not alone, and these are very convincing scams. And there's really four steps you should take. The first is to stop communication with the scammer immediately. Number two, save the messages, save the numbers, screenshot things. There's generally a thought to get these things off your phone or computer because you perceive them as dirty or bad, but we really need them for the investigation. Number three, report the incident at www.ic3.gov, and number four, contact your local law enforcement or FBI Minneapolis. If you're a victim age 60 plus who needs help filing an IC3 report. You can call the Department of Justice Elder Justice Hotline, which is 1-833-FRAUD11.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Thanks again for sharing this information with our listeners, and I hope and I'm sure this is going to help them to think twice before answering one of these calls or one of these letters. Thanks again for coming to North Star Stories.

LEAH GREAVES: Thanks so much for having us.

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BRITT AAMODT: Part of the American dream is the opportunity to build financial security and enjoy the fruits of your labor. But scammers can put that security at risk, especially for people who may need additional support managing their finances.

VICTOR PALOMINO: To explore how families can help protect loved ones from scams and how to start a respectful conversation about financial concerns, we're joined now by
L. Kelly LaVigne, Vice President and Head of Annuity Advanced Markets at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. Thank you for coming to North Star Stories.

L KELLY LAVIGNE, JD: Thank you, Victor. It is a pleasure to be here.

VICTOR PALOMINO: When changes happen on a person's health, what are some of the habits or some of the signs that you can identify in a family member about their decision making when it comes to financials?

L KELLY LAVIGNE, JD: This is a very touchy one because there's a difference between simple aging and someone who's exhibiting the signs of Alzheimer's, and actually Alzheimer's.org is really more of an authority on showing many of those different signs. But the irregularities, especially with Alzheimer's, because Alzheimer's is unfortunately one of the most common forms of dementia, and one of the first factors that's affected by Alzheimer's, is the ability to understand complex financial transactions. So when you combine those two, it makes an Alzheimer's patient that much more vulnerable to being abused. So those things being erratic writing, suddenly having a new friend who is you're donating money to or helping out because they're in a tight spot, or suddenly having these organ these charities that someone is very involved in that were never involved in anything of the sort their previous lives, is really a sign that there could be something else going on besides them changing their minds about how they want to deal with their money.

VICTOR PALOMINO: And how do you think family members should approach these conversations?

L KELLY LAVIGNE, JD: This is the hardest part because, unfortunately, I've gone through this with too many family members, and also something at least I've personally experienced is the individual gets very protective, especially about their money or any of their finances. They believe that everybody's trying to steal from them, unfortunately, except for the people who are actually pulling these scams on them. So it is not an easy thing to do when you already have someone who is exhibiting the signs of Alzheimer's. So the best thing to do is to have these conversations well before there are any signs that are showing. To have family meetings and say, "Hey, listen, there's a possibility that any one of us could be victims of this disease, and some of the factors that are going to happen is that we could become taken advantage of by either other individuals that we know or people that we don't know. So we all need to talk about it. We all need to set up safeguards," which is what my family is now doing. It has to be more of a, and this is tougher if you're in a small family, but it has to be more of group conversation. I realize one-on-one conversations can happen in confidence, but that one person could be turned against. So having it kind of out in the open with a number of different relatives or people that you trust is a much more less aggressive way of addressing these issues.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Thinking about legal matters, like what legal steps should family consider when planning for this financial support?

L KELLY LAVIGNE, JD: Right, and this is where it does get a little bit tougher because part of it is appointing a power of attorney, and when you do this, it gives the other person that you are appointing the same powers that you have as an individual over your finances, depending on how that power of attorney is drafted. In other words, they can sign checks for you. They can look into your different accounts. They may be able to make investment decisions for you. So it's not something to be done lightly. Also, depending on how much we're talking about as far as assets go, put assets in a trust, and in that way, the trustee has much more authority as well to help protect finances. However, all of these things do require you talking to an attorney about it. For the average family, it certainly is something that should be discussed. Just so major things like the home and major accounts can be protected. You could have these things called springing Powers of Attorney, which only come about when the person exhibits signs of dementia, for instance, or lack of judgment, that's tougher because you still have to go to a court to have them recognize this. The most important thing that doesn't cost any money, however, that can save some of your investments, for instance, that you have a trusted contact person named on your accounts. What this does, I believe, many banks do this as well, is you can have someone appointed as a contact that doesn't have any power over how your finances are spent. But it does give them the ability, the bank or the financial institution, to get in touch with this contact person if they notice some unusual financial activity. You do this before there are any signs of Alzheimer's as well. So it's another thing the family can discuss.

VICTOR PALOMINO: I think this is a good layer of protection there because families have to have that balance between protecting a loved one and also keeping their financial independence. You know, it's going to be hard for a person that is going through this and just feeling like now I'm going to depend on somebody else.

L KELLY LAVIGNE, JD: Yes, and none of us wants to do that. We never want to give up our autonomy. It's never that easy, especially when you're talking about people's finances. People talk about their finances less than they talk about their health. They might tell you their latest health issue, but they don't want to tell you how much they have saved or invested or anything like that. So these are, understandably, invasions of privacy in many cases that not everybody is really comfortable with giving. The Alzheimer's Association at Alzheimers.org/ND they have a lot of points on their website. So the Minnesota Alzheimer's Association have points on having these types of conversations and ways of getting about it. They even have counselors that can help with it as well, or point you to counselors. So it's a good way to get to some help from people who are familiar with dealing with these types of issues. Their phone number it's 800-272-3900. That's certainly a way, another way to get involved with "How do I do this?" Because I know how difficult these things can be.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Well, Kelly, thank you so much for all this information, and for coming to North Star Stories.

L KELLY LAVIGNE, JD: You bet, my pleasure. It's nice talking to you, Victor.

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BRITT AAMODT: This is it for today's program. If you missed any part of today's newscast, you can find this and past episodes at AMPERS dot org or listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also get North Star Stories Daily on our website or check your favorite station's schedule.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with more stories and voices from the North Star State.

OUTRO: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations with support from the state of Minnesota. Online at ampers.org.