30 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 18, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Thousands of Americans fall victim
to various fraudulent scams every year.
New communications technologies have
sparked a proliferation of telephone
impersonation scams, malware
computer hijacking, email scams,
identity theft, and lone-ly-hearts cons.
These scams have one thing in
common: the use of fear, confusion
and desperation to separate vulnerable
people from their money. A new class
of international cybercriminal, adept
at exploiting security flaws and legal
loopholes, is finding creative ways to
pilfer and launder money.
Technology’s expanded reach
widens the potential victim pool,
allowing criminals to steal a little bit
from a lot of people.
If you think about how many
people this is touching, those $3,000
or $4,000 are perfect amounts
because very quickly they add up.
Incremental scams often fail to
trigger law enforcement’s investigative
thresholds, and the crimes can often
go uninvestigated.
That often leaves it to caretakers
and accountants to be watchful for
victimization, but these smaller
amounts may be harder tosspot from
an accounting standpoint as well.
However, these are subtle signs of
fraud victimization to watch out for,
experts say, including the following:
Sudden Secrecy
Scam victims often feel considerable
shame and embarrassment for falling
prey to criminals, according to a
recent study by Barclays, and victims
will hide that from others, said Amy
Nofziger, regional director with the
AARP Fraud Watch Network.
“Are they secretive with their
phone or are they on their phone
a lot?” she said. One of the things
we know about scammers is that the
scammers will continuously have
the victim on the phone.
Abrupt Changes
in Financial Behavior
Pay attention to a client’s suddenly
needing more money for fixed
expenses, asking to move significant
amounts of money around, or
expressing new financial worries.
Listen for signs like saying “I am
a little short this month; when you
know that their expenses are usually
pretty constant”.
Isolation
Be aware of a client’s social
interactions. There is a higher
chance of falling prey to a scammer
if a client is isolated physically or
socially. The scammers always say
that they have the best luck with
people who are alone.
John Savignano is a partner with
Savignano Accountants & Advisors
located at 47-46 Vernon Blvd., Second
Floor, in Long Island City. If you have
any questions or require additional
information, please call John at
718707-0955.
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