This is a classic scam variant. Consumers receive a legitimate-looking check for an amount greater than expected to pay a third party before this payment method has been approved (clearing) by the entity in which it is deposited. Although the amount is reflected in the check balance, it takes a couple of days to process. When the bank verifies that it is false, the victim has already advanced the payment to that third party.
FTC data shows that 2.6 million frauds were reported last year. The majority remained tentative like Rennis’s, but 27% of them were completed. That is, approximately one in five attempts works. It is a problem that resulted in losses of 10.3 billion dollars in 2023, 14% more than the previous year.
Email is already the favorite medium to set a bait. Until 2022, contacts were initiated through text messages and phone calls. According to Truecaller, the call identification and blocking application, Hispanics in the United States are twice as vulnerable as the rest of the population to losing money through telephone scams. They also receive twice as many insistent calls from people claiming to be calling on behalf of a government authority or a service company.
A report requested by HACER and Better Bureau Business in 2022 on the Hispanic population in two states, Minnesota and North Dakota, revealed that language problems, not being prepared in fraud prevention, being undocumented in the country, being trusting by nature and “the need for Latinos to provide,” makes Latinos more vulnerable, especially those who are older or those who have been in the country for less than five years.
If has been in the United States since he was 15 and says he knows what he has to do because he also confesses that 11 years ago he was on the verge of falling into the trap of fraud. It was due to a fraudulent email from PayPal in which they asked him to change the account password. “They didn’t take a cent from me because the page was frozen, but I had to report, including cards, and I monitored my credit report for a year,” he explains.
The FTC regrets that Latinos who fall for these scams report that they have paid with money, crypto, credit cards or bank transfer, because they are methods that have no protection for consumers or a way to recover the money.
The frauds that grow the most and cost the most money are investment frauds. More than $4.6 billion was lost last year, 21% more than any other category of deception. Imposters, both from companies and the Government, and online purchases are also a major source of loss for victims. The FTC asks that calls claiming to be from the IRS, Social Security or any agency or company be hung up without further ado. All of them will contact citizens by letter, never by call and they will never threaten you.
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