Watch Out For These 5 Summer Scams
Podcast Transcription
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Welcome to this episode of PFCU’s Money Talk, I’m your host Maddy. Summer is not officially here yet but it’s getting closer and I am so ready for it. I love summertime. It’s the time for summer vacations, swimming in the pool, warm nights and walks in the park. I think we can all agree that summer definitely has it’s perks but there’s also a need to be more aware of scammers and their less than fun plans for this time of year. I thought it would be the perfect time to dive in to some common summer scams and what you can do to not fall victim. Here are 5 scams to keep an eye out for this summer.
Number one are door to door scams. During the summer months door-to-door scams really ramp up. These scams typically involve yard work, paving, roof replacement or repair and other outdoor maintenance. The scammers will offer to do these tasks for you and ask for payment or partial payment upfront for things like supplies or labor. They might pressure you or could take it a step further and say that they’re even with a company that you currently are actually using. Remember that although there are legitimate companies that might run on one or two people, they still shouldn’t be pressuring you to commit in the moment at your door. And I say this a lot but don’t be afraid to send them away so you can do your own research. Also, just be really cautious of handing over money to someone at your door that you didn’t expect. Chances are high that you’re either going to be left with shoddy work or no work at all, the scammer or your money never to be seen again
Scam number 2 is a big one and that’s vacation and travel scams. If you’ve seen ads or gotten emails, texts or calls for free vacations that you did not enter for, be very careful. Once you sign up they typically will ask you to pay taxes or fees first so your free vacation suddenly isn’t really free. And not only that but likely there’s not a vacation at all. You’ll pay the fees and the money is just gone with no carefree days by the pool to show for it.
Sites like Air BnB are great for finding vacation rentals but scammers could hijack real rental listings so if you book through them and show up to the property, you could find someone else is already staying there and you’ve lost your money. Scammers could also create fake listings that don’t even exist.
If an offer for a vacation is super vague and doesn’t give the name of the resort or the cruise line, be wary. If they do give a name, don’t be afraid to give the front desk a call directly, look it up online and make sure that there is a refund and cancellation policy before booking. Again, always do all of your homework. Vacations are expensive and we work hard to save up for them, don’t let a scammer take all of that hard-earned money from you. And this goes for really any scams, not just vacation or travel scams but don’t pay for a vacation if the only ways to pay are by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency. Once scammers have that money, it will be impossible to get back.
Scammers love to make you feel pressured so if you’re feeling pressured to make a quick decision, don’t be afraid to say no. They want you to feel rushed and like you’re going to miss this awesome opportunity by not jumping on board right away. The moral of the story is to just research, look online, make a phone call and talk to people you know. And remember that scammers can make emails and logos and websites look very real pretty easily. Check and double check.
Okay, scam number 3 is going to be diving a little deeper into the summer rental scam that I had just mentioned. So, a lot of people love to find home rentals for their vacations. It can be a lot more cost effective but like I mentioned earlier, scammers can hijack real rental listings or completely make up ones that don’t exist. So, if you can visit the property before renting, it’s your safest option to make sure that it actually exists but I do know that’s not always possible. Especially if you’re going on vacation, chances are, you can’t just hop over to the rental and check it out, it’s going to be far away from where you live, I’m sure. But you can look up the address online to see if it’s real, check references, check reviews and fully vet out the person or site that you’re working with.
Be careful, again, common signs of a scam are those weird payment types so wiring money, asking for to be paid in gift cards, things like that, asking for a security deposit or the first month’s rent before signing a lease or even meeting or if they say they are out of the country but will have someone get you the keys on their behalf. These are all common red flags.
Scam number 4, the summer job scam. Summertime is the time where people, young people especially, are looking for summer work. Although many jobs do require a background check, keep your eyes open for anything that doesn’t feel quite right or they ask for an excessive amount of personal information before you’ve barely gotten the process started. Handing over your Social security number for a “job” that you found online can leave you not only jobless but with a stolen identity too.
Make some phone calls and look the place up before providing any information. I see a lot of scams online that are work from home, easy jobs that make really awesome money, super easy to apply, these are usually a scam so beware of those.
The last one, scam number 5 is front desk and fake menu scams. I find that these next hotel scams are really clever. So, you get checked in after a long day of traveling, you collapse on the bed of your hotel room and your room phone rings. When you answer, someone on the other line says there is a problem with your card number at the front desk and you need to confirm. The person calling is not the front desk and is a scammer trying to get your credit card information. If you are unsure if this is a scammer on the phone all you have to do is hang up, call the front desk directly or just walk down and talk to them and you’ll probably find out that everything is fine. The second scam to look out for is the menu scam. Scammers produce fake menus with a number connecting you to the scammer directly and you pay over the phone with your credit card when you place your order and now the scammer has your card information and you have no food. Honestly, if I were being safe I wouldn’t call any numbers on any menus in the room, just look it up on your phone.
Thank you so much for taking a listen to these 5 common summer scams. I want you to enjoy these warmer months without falling victim to these. See you next time!
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