By: Charlestien Harris
The year has barely started and already there are scammers trying to take your hard earned money out of your wallet! Scammers target vulnerable and unsuspecting victims by getting them to fall for a dishonest scheme with the intent to defraud or be miss lead. According to CNBC, in 2021, almost 2.8 million consumers filed a fraud report to the Federal Trade Commission. Although, the true number of victims may never be known because many consumers don’t bother to report some incidents for various reasons.
It is important for everyone to know how to recognize a scam and how to avoid becoming a victim of a scam. Here are a few examples of scams that are happening right now, as well as some tips on how to avoid being victimized.
- Tampered Gift Cards
I know many of you probably received gift cards over the holidays, and maybe just now decided to use them. Thieves are tampering with legitimate gift cards by printing their own barcodes and placing them over the real barcode on the original card. Once you activate the card, the scammer can access the funds loaded on the card and it usually transfers into their own account.
You can avoid this scam by:
- Checking for damaged packaging or distorted barcodes
- Get a gift card from the back of the pile
- Asking for a gift receipt
- Student Loan Debt Relief
With all the confusion about the Student Loan Forgiveness Program, many people just don’t know how to move…
