If you suspect you shared information with a scammer or notice fraudulent charges on an account, it’s important to take action as soon as possible.
In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission received 2.8 million fraud reports, with more than $5.8 billion reported lost. The most commonly reported category were imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams.
We often get questions from viewers about these different kinds of scams, a topic we cover a lot at VERIFY to help people avoid falling victim to one. But sometimes viewers reach out to us for guidance after fearing that they may have fallen for a scam.
Here are three things you can do to protect yourself after giving a scammer personal information or noticing suspicious activity on a device or account.
THE SOURCES
As soon as you realize your information may be compromised, it’s important to take action. Here are steps you can take:
1. Report the scam to police, your banking institutions and credit bureaus
If your personal information, like your Social Security number, was compromised – or if you were scammed out of money – you should contact the police, your bank and the…
