September 8, 2024 • 29 mins
Robin talks with Tiffany Schultz, Southwest Wisconsin Regional Director for the Better Business Bureau, about how to protect your personal information online and what to do if a business with you information gets hacked.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. I'm Robin Colbert and this is Madison Forum.
I guess this morning is Tiffany Schultz. She is the
regional director for the Better Business Bureau. Tiffany, always a
pleasure to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thanks for having me this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Absolutely, but unfortunately the reason I'm having you is not
pleasurable whatsoever. There is just no shortage of different scams
going on, data breaches, security breaches, and a real biggie
here that caught a lot of people's attention as of
light was the Social Security number breach. Now, so this
(00:34):
was kind of weird because it just it involved North
America and the UK.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Correct, it was out there. Details are sparing, but we're
going to give you some tips on how you can
protect yourself.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, And they had like we're holding it for ransom
or at first they were going to demand ransom ransom,
but then they went and posted it online. So it
makes no sense to me.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Scammers all the news, and they want to play on
your emotions because when your emotions are up, you're not
thinking logically, and they want you to make rash decisions.
They want you to make quick decisions and they don't
want you to have time to think about things. They
want you to act when they tell you to.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Act, Yeah, well, so what should we do. I mean,
it's everybody that would be impacted by this, we all
have Social Security numbers.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
What do we do? The first thing you want to
do is just stay calm because your information may have
been compromised out there. But there's things that you can
do to be proactive to make sure that information isn't
out there and credit cards and other things aren't being
opened in your name. That's what's really important. When you
(01:46):
have a data breach, you may get notified. You've probably
been notified in the past that your information has been compromised.
Maybe it's been a credit card, maybe it's been your
healthcare information. This time it was supposedly social Security numbers,
but day car counts.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And I took one of those steps. My husband did
as well. That was freezing credit. Unfortunately, it's not a
hard thing to do. It's time consuming and because you've
got to go to each their three credit companies, right.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
There's three different credit bureaus. Yes, and that's one of
the things that you can do. You can freeze your
credit and it protects you as a consumer because nobody
can open credit in your name, including yourself. But let's
say that you're at a retail store and you want
to open a credit card because you get a good discount,
or you're applying for a home loan, or you're looking
at a new vehicle. You have to take the steps
(02:36):
to call each credit bureau and unfreeze your credit. So
it is an inconvenience, but it protects you as well.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, would you say that's like the best protection and
will albeit an inconvenience to unfreeze, but probably your best
protection is doing that.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
That's a great way to protect yourself, especially if you're
not really monitoring. You should monitor your credit. You should
pull your in credit report. You can actually pull an
annual credit report. Now since it's post COVID, they allow
you to pull that weekly. It used to be only
once a year. There's different sites that are out there
(03:12):
to pull your credit. The only one that's approved by
the Federal Trade Commission is Annualcreditreport dot com. I'm going
to say that again to make sure that the listeners
have that down. Annual Creditreport dot com. You can pull
that at least once a week. If you're not pulling
it weekly, that's okay. You should pull it regularly, at
least once a year. Review what's on that credit report,
(03:35):
and if there's anything that shouldn't be on there, make
sure that you clean it up because a scammer could
have opened credit in your name and be using your
credit and you won't find out about it until it's
too late. Otherwise.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, so okay, so that's kind of the fail safe there,
But again it doesn't fit for everyone. Especially Let's say
you're in the process of looking at homes and you
know you're going to be, you know, needing to get
a home loan. You don't want to freeze up your credits,
So what are some other steps?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Probably not pull that weekly credit report if that, you know,
if you're in the process of getting a loan, you
want to pull it. It's not going to affect how
many people have looked at your credit It's an annual
credit report. It tells you what you have open, what
your average balances are, just everything kind of what you've
had and what's open. Monitor your credit as well, so
(04:26):
look at those statements. How many people get their bank statements,
their credit card statements in the mail and they just
pay the balance. They never look at it. Scammers like
to take your credit card numbers and charge little charges
to your account. You may not notice it. A dollar here,
ten dollars here, fifty dollars here, Okay, you know, didn't
(04:46):
even notice it. Make sure you're reviewing what's on your
statements every month. That's really important. If you find anything fraudulent,
contact your card issue or your bank to take care
of that. Keep in mind that credit cards work differently
then debit cards. That's really important to know. With a
credit card, you are not responsible for a fraudulent charge.
(05:08):
With a debit card, it's going to work differently. You
can dispute that charge, but your money may be held
up for up to twelve weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, I know it. That's why just always use a
credit card, even though none of us like to rack
up a credit card bill. But you're safer online these days.
You probably need one. If you don't have one to use.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That you're much safer. And if you're a person who
doesn't like to carry much of a balance, get a
credit card with a five hundred or one thousand dollars balance.
You know you can't go over it. It's a great
way to build credit. And there are those cards out
there that offer rewards, travel rewards, cash back rewards, different rewards.
So there's something in it for you too.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And you know, going back to the with the freezing,
with the three credit bureaus that we first of all,
do we have three?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I can't answer that question. Only there's three out there.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, And if I'm a hacker, I mean, should we
worry that they're going to get hacked? I mean, if
I'm a hacker, going to go right to the because
they've got a gold mine, right.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
You know, anything is possible. And when you call it
to freeze your credit, there's going to be security steps
that you have to answer. I don't know what those
steps are, but they're going to go through a series
of security questions to make sure I.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Just went through it. So yeah, you know, like give
answer one of the following questions. That's something that only
you would know, whether it's you know, a mother's maiden
name or the street you grew up on, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Right, And it's going to be a series of questions too,
It's not just going to be one. So yes, there
is those steps and you're going to have to take those.
But those scammers that are out there, they follow the news.
They know what people are doing. Never say never. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Well, and also with these fun quizzes that will pop
up on like Facebook or social media. You know, I
was just reminded again I never do them. It's not
that I'm not a fun person or I'm too good
to you know, play along like the first concerts you
went to, or because some of the questions that credit
bureau or places will ask you know, things that these
(07:17):
quizzes ask you about. And if anybody a professional scammer,
they got to do some homework on you, and you're
giving it to them, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Those quizzes are a lot of fun, they really are,
and they bring back a lot of memories. But at
the same time, you are sharing your personal information. And
just because your Facebook page is private doesn't mean it's private.
Anybody can screenshot it and send it out on social
media sites. So keep your personal information private, just like
you would keep your money private and any other personal information.
(07:50):
Don't share that.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And how about with like your Facebook And I don't
quite understand when your Facebook account gets hacked, what's the
purpose of that. Are these scammers? Are they just looking
to scam your potential friends or what are they hoping
to do because most of us, I think a majority
(08:15):
all of us would not have our private information on
our Facebook, you know, like our social security numbers or
checking account, that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
All of the above. They want to get into your
Facebook page. What can they find? What piece of the
puzzle are they missing with all the other information that
they have on you already? Scammers by lists, they do
their homework, they put the puzzle together. If they need
to hack your Facebook page, they will. Maybe they're hacking
your Facebook page in order to get into your friend's
(08:45):
Facebook page. You never know the reason. Why have you
ever gotten a Facebook message from somebody who you thought
you knew and it was really a scammer? So there's
all different ways and all different tactics that they're trying
to fish for personal information.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And now back to a data breaches over the past,
I mean, I guess it's just been this year. It
just seems like a ton of them that we've seen
was a quick trip earlier in the year, or was
that last year I forget.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I think it was the very beginning of this year.
We saw some major data breaches right in a row,
starting with quick trip and then moving into insurance companies
and healthcare organizations, and you know, we're all vulnerable, whether
we're an individual or if we are a business, and
(09:36):
we need to keep our information private as well as
the customer's information that we deal with private as well.
And unfortunately, scammers are finding ways into large companies to
get personal information from their customers.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And then the point of that I can see, you know,
they put the thread out there. They want the ransom.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
They do, and they know that large companies have insurance
for cybersecurity. They get paid out and once you get hit,
you're apt to get hit again.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And so you would think there would be a bigger
pushback from these insurance companies that are footing the bill
for this. I know the banking industry frustrated. Beyond it,
there have been some improvements over the years as far
as liability, because they're the ones holding the bag. Right,
if let's say my bank gets hacked, my card gets hacked,
(10:29):
they have to reimburse me.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
This is costing billions of dollars to pay ransom. So
you know, we may see insurance premiums go up to
cover it. But as a consumer and as a business owner,
what can we do? What are the red flags that
we can recognize in order to be smarter than the scammer.
We need to outsmart the scammer because scams aren't going away,
(10:53):
They're just going to become more sophisticated, especially with AI
becoming a big thing. So what are those red flag
that we can recognize in order to protect ourselves and
protect others.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
A big one of course via email the scams, and
there's a sure fire tell with a scammer with the
URL right it can be that's one way to have
They found a way around that.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Now, sometimes they develop fake websites that look identical to
the real website, so you really need to make sure
that you are on the official site. The first thing
you can do is look at the web address. Does
it start with an HTTP or an HTTPS that S
is going to stand for secure. Sometimes scammers like to
change up letters, so they like to change ease to
(11:40):
threes and s's disease, So you really overlook them when
you're looking at that website. So you can also look
for spelling and grammatical errors on a website. A lot
of times these scammers are located over the c's English
is not their native language. There are telltale signs that
you are on a fake website. It's usually more than one,
(12:02):
so they are just hoping that you overlook that. Maybe
it's a great deal you're looking for. Maybe they're looking
to capture your personal information. Logging credentials is another big
one that they're fishing for. They are asking you to
enter possibly your Netflix password because you need to update
your account specifics, or any type of log in that
(12:24):
you have. Maybe you need to reset your Gmail account.
So the list just goes on and on and on. Yeah,
we just need to be smarter. Well, and I was
a dummy. I had ordered something from Walmarts and I
hadn't been seeing it, and I was like, what's up
with that?
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And so I just googled, I don't know Walmart's number,
googled Walmart and what I thought was and I called
and I was smart enough to catch that about a
couple of minutes into it. Just the person on the
other end, Yeah, something was really off. And they kept
trying to get me from Hanks. I'm like, I'm going
(13:01):
to hang up and contact my own bank. They were
claiming that somebody had hacked my card and it was
not the case, and so and I felt like such
a dummy, because.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
That's what you know.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I always tell people, ah, and here I did it.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Scammers purchase ads on Google. They want their websites and
their customer service phone numbers to be found first, so
they are spending money to get your attention. Again, you
really need to be careful. And we're all consumers, every
single one of us. I'm vulnerable. You're vulnerable, our friends
are vulnerable. What can we do to spark the scammers? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, because you know what, I glanced at the HTTPS
and when you just had mentioned Sometimes they'll do a
Z or three that could have been because it was
the top of page. That's the one I went to.
So I hook line and sinker, well not sinker because
I didn't give them any personal information.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Be very careful when you click on those sponsored ads,
because they may or may not be legitimate. It's always
good to scroll down and you know, find that official page.
That official page is not going to be sponsored. If
it is sponsored, you're going to see the sponsored one
at the top, and you're going to see the legitimate
one that's not sponsored a little bit below the folds.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Sometimes you preach this day in day out. Have you
ever had a MISSEDEP or.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, working here for the BBB, I'm really vigilant
about the information that I share. And even when places
ask me for personal information, legitimate places, they ask me
to provide it over email. I'll call them up and
I'm saying that's not the most, you know, the safest
way to provide my information. And sometimes there's always a oh, yeah,
(14:43):
you're right type thing. But my husband always asks me, now, hey,
is this legitimate? Can you check into it?
Speaker 1 (14:51):
We're a good resource to have.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, thank you very much, And I'm researching companies more
often than I have in the past. I'm not taking
for what it's worth on paper. I'm digging a little
bit deeper so I can't encounter getting stuck in a scam.
For the last five years that I've been working here,
but we're all vulnerable, and you know it's around the
(15:17):
next corner. What are they going to come up next?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, because they can you know whether it's spoofying, fishing.
Is there any new fun terminology that has surfaced as
of late.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Smishing smishing cell phone? Yes, SMS, and we're going to
be seeing it as we enter the holiday shopping month
starting in October, you're going to be getting text messages
saying that your delivery needs to be rescheduled or you
need to update your shipping preferences. Scammers. No, we're shopping
online and it's a big thing post COVID. So what
(15:50):
do we do. We get a text we're excited for
our package to arrive on our front porch, and we
just go ahead and follow the text. If you get
one of those, be careful. When you've ordered something, you'll
always receive an email confirmation and it'll likely have a
tracking number, and go directly to that email, go to
the tracking link and see if it's still on its way.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, I know, I was getting inundated and friends of
mine as well. With a package delivered at the postal service,
it cannot be sent out. We need your Yeah. Oh
that was just coming over all the time. And what's
really frustrating too, is that what because are they sending it?
So you get it on your text but you can't
(16:32):
ban you know, you think, well, the next step to
take is to ban that number, but it's coming from
an email, so you can't or block number, you know
what I mean. So it's how do you block it?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
You really can't. Scammers are getting smarter. If you get
one of those, don't open it, because then the scammer
gets the open rate and they know that they've reached
a working phone number.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
If you can block it, that's that's the best thing
to do. If you can't block it, go ahead and
delete it, don't respond to it. The scammer will move
on to somebody else eventually. But we will see those
shipping scams pick up again and within the next few months, and.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
They're still because sometimes it's like, well, who doesn't know
about the auto warranty scam by now? But I tell
you what, they just keep on giving that one the
good old college try, even though I thought everybody knew
not to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That one actually dropped at the beginning of the year.
It was only like seventeen percent of old all scams.
Oh really, yeah, So keep in mind, what's old is
new again, so they may come back with something bigger
and better relating to an auto warranty scam.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So do you have like the top ten of what
type of scams? Top ten scams?
Speaker 2 (17:45):
We do have the top ten scams. So investment scams
were the number one scam in twenty twenty three paired
with cryptocurrency scams. Sure, scammers really reach out to people
who have retirement accounts or investment accounts and they encourage
them to give me some cryptocurrency and I can make
(18:07):
you a half a million dollars or whatever their scheme is.
So really pay attention. Scammers are banking on that we
know nothing about cryptocurrency. It's an unregulated currency. There's no
way to get your money back. And hey, somebody has
reached out to you to do business with you and
make you a lot of money right on this unregulated
(18:28):
currency that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
You still don't kind of get it to you. Well
you must, but I mean I just don't I.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Know the basics of it, and even I'm very shaky
on it. But that's what scammers want. Scammers want you
to know that they are the experts. Well, once you
turn that cryptocurrency over to them, you're never seeing it again. Nope,
they are long gone. So that was number one scam
in twenty twenty three, not because of the number of reports,
but because of the amount of money lost. In twenty
(18:57):
twenty one, consumers were losing about a thousand dollars to
a cryptocurrency scam on a median average in twenty twenty
three that peaked the six thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Jeez, yes, scammers making profits.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Huh, you know it's a billion dollar business.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
What's another top scam? Over the past year.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
We saw employment scams peak to the number two spot.
And are those.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Because these have got to be scams. I always just
I forward it, report it, and try to delete it
out of my email. Where you get this, Hey, I'm
in the so and so industry and your profile looks
like it would be a good fit for whatever sort
of business.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Be careful with those. It very well could be a
legitimate headhunter. Sometimes those or.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Geez I threw away off or not. I'm kidding.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
There was a few I was getting.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
For, like lawn care, and I mean, really, what in
my bio leads you to lawn care? So I know
it's a scam.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Yeahby you really need to weed through those. Some of
them are based off of those third party job sites
that are out there, like indeed and simp recruiter. They
could be finding your information out there and it very
well could be a legitimate company. You need to do
your homework on that. But the big thing with job
scams is we're seeing the age group of eighteen to
thirty four lose money to job scams because they're right
(20:17):
out of college, they're inexperience, they're entering their adult lives,
and everything they know is basically online. So during the pandemic,
employers pivoted to virtual interviews. So what scammers do is
they will contact you with a job that pays a
lot of money for an entry level position, think an
(20:38):
admin position, and they offer you eighty thousand dollars a year.
It's too good to be true, right, And they will
conduct a virtual interview with you, so it's really you
and somebody else that's having an interview, and they'll hire
you and send you the forms to fill out for
new higher paperwork. Think about what's on there, your social
Security number, your bank statement number, your banking account number.
(21:00):
You'll begin to work for them and they don't end
up paying you, or maybe they even send you a
check to go buy some computer equipment to set up
your home office. You deposit that check, you go buy
the materials the equipment that you need, and that check bounces,
the company vanishes, They're gone. You've just been duped.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Oh boy, that just gives you a sick feeling, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Very much?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
So?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
And it's happening over and over again, especially to our
younger group of kids, our younger adults who are just
entering the workforce, And how do.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
You feel about are they? I guess technically they're not scams,
but it's kind of like the latest sort of amway gimmick,
the hair care products or be your own boss, And
it's a pyramid scheme, right, you've seen those. Somebody's not
all but you know, for more often than not, I
had a few friends and family caught up in this
(21:58):
haircare and they want you to become a business would
they call them like business partners? And then you get
people under you and.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
It's like what that is a pyramid schame? And there
are legitimate companies out there and it is a business
opportunity and some people do very well with it. But again,
just as you're hiring a contractor to do work in
your home, you really need to do your homework on
the company that you are applying for. You know, there's small,
medium in large companies that post jobs on third party
(22:27):
job sites, including scammers. Scammers post fake jobs on those websites.
They may take legitimate postings and make them their own.
So if you're looking at applying for a company, go
to their website to see if the job is also
posted on their website. Go through their website and apply,
don't apply through the third party site. And if you
don't see the job posted on their website, give the
(22:49):
company a call and see if that job is really open.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
And you know, giving the endless scamming opportunities, it seems
like these that we're talking about, they're much more involved
were scammers actually have to do quite a bit of
work rather than the scammers that just lift your you know,
credit card number, what have you. But they're just as
just as many in numbers in that area of scamming.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Scams are very sophisticated, and they're becoming more and more
sophisticated with the technology that we have available at our fingertips.
So they are investing time, and if we think about
romance scams, we think about investment scams, things that may
go over time, eight months, ten months, a year. The
scammer is gaining your trust. They want your trust, that's important,
(23:39):
and they make you feel good, and when you feel good,
you're going to trust them. To give the money.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, pig butchering kind of like the romance, but it
doesn't have to be romance. Pig butchering, which if anybody
has wondered why they call it that, well, like you know,
you feed your pig and you get them all nights
and fattened up, and then you butcher it.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Scammers have a job, well, why don't they get a
real one? Darn it, they're doing you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I mean you've heard it time set, time and again
if they put much as much effort into actually a job.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
A lot of these scams originate from overseas and they're
not domestic, although there are some domestic scammers, but the
majority of them are in Nigeria or somewhere in Asia.
And you know they're scamming people here in the United States.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, and always. I'm sure another recommendation you would give
here is consistently changing your passwords, which that's a little
you know, time, it's a lot time consuming, but you
don't want to put yourself at risk. But how do
you go about can we trust those are now services
(24:50):
that can store your pass codes and all that kind
of stuff, because I mean, on any given day, you
got to remember how many anymore, and it's it's pretty difficult.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
First rule of don't use the same password across all platforms. Yeah,
that's hard because how do you remember twenty different passwords?
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Right?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
And passwords should be long and strong, include a passphrase
on top of it. So, for example, my computer in
the office fouled with upper and lower case letters and
special symbols. That's tough.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
So you can manage through a password manager, whether it's
a little booklet that's a password manager. We highly recommend
not to use to post it notes around your screen.
Don't do that. Not a good idea about little pieces
of paper in your wallet. You want to keep them
in a safe place. So if you are looking to
(25:44):
use an electronic password wallet, make sure that you're using
a legitimate one. Yeah, there are apps out there, and
not every app is legitimate. Do your homework.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yeah. I also wanted to touch on to educational scams
or those still pretty I'd imagine with the pandemic and
downtime and people deciding, know I'm going to further my educator,
are those still pretty popular?
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Or we see college scams this time of year. A
big one is rental scams. Apartment rental scams students looking
for an apartment on campus, maybe in a new city.
Scammers lift legitimate ads on platforms that are out there
like Facebook, Marketplace or Craigslist or any of those places
that you would find apartments for rent, and they list
(26:30):
them as their own with great amenities at a low price.
If you are a college student and heading back to
college or looking for apartment, it's just not college students,
I mean it affects anybody who's renting. Make sure that
you know what the average rent is in the market.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
(26:51):
Really do your homework, find out who leases that place,
does it really exist? Have somebody do a drive by.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
And I've heard the horror stories of people think they've
rented something it doesn't even exist. Right as they go
to the spot and it's like a parking lot or something.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Right google the address. Does it go to an empty
field or does it go to a property? And property
records are readily available online too. You can see who
owns that property? Does it really exist? So that's one
big one in the college space. Another one is scammers
call up and this usually happens around graduation time, and
(27:27):
they'll talk to the parents and they'll say that your
student has an outstanding debt, you owe x amount of
money for tuition. Otherwise your student is not able to graduate.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Oh sure, and yeah, that's right again playing on the fear. Right,
it's the same thing with an warrant or a jury
summons or you didn't fulfill it and they're going to
issue a warrant. Right.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Those are just a few around the educational space. There
are several more, but you know some of the highlights
that scammers take advantage of college students.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I also wanted to get this in before we have
to wrap it up. I have been talking with the
Tiffany Schultz. She is the regional director of the Better
Business Bureau. And two factor often authentication. There you go,
that's a biggie, that's important, something everybody should do, right right.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I can't say that word either, Well, you.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Want to say authentic and it's authentication, okay.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
For anybody who doesn't know what that is. That is
when you log onto your computer and then once you
log on, it sends a code to your cell phone
that you have to log in if you don't have
it on your email and your other log in sites
places that you shop. I think maybe you can even
turn it on on Amazon. Sure, you know all those
sites that are out there that you log into if
(28:47):
you can turn it on, turn it on, because it's
an extra protection for you. And yes, it sounds like
Fort Knox to get in, but it's designed to protect you.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
It's worth I've gotten used to it because I used
to be one of those that would just grump about
because I had to have it for my work email
and then other things. And once I did actually get
an account taken over once they went in and changed
the email information, so it was like, oh boy, I
am so doing that going forward. And yeah, it's just
an extra text, you know, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
And we all carry our cell phones on us these days.
It's an extra step, but it's designed to protect you.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Well. Thank you so much for joining me this morning, Tiffany.
Hopefully we got some good information out there and people
can protect themselves or they have some idea what to
do if they fear that maybe they've fallen victim to
some sort of scam or breach or what have you.
I've been talking with again, Tiffany Schultz, original director of
The Better Business Bureau. You've been listening to Madison form
Good morning. I'm Robin Colbert and this is Madison Forum.
I guess this morning is Tiffany Schultz. She is the
regional director for the Better Business Bureau. Tiffany, always a
pleasure to have you.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Thanks for having me this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Absolutely, but unfortunately the reason I'm having you is not
pleasurable whatsoever. There is just no shortage of different scams
going on, data breaches, security breaches, and a real biggie
here that caught a lot of people's attention as of
light was the Social Security number breach. Now, so this
(00:34):
was kind of weird because it just it involved North
America and the UK.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Correct, it was out there. Details are sparing, but we're
going to give you some tips on how you can
protect yourself.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, And they had like we're holding it for ransom
or at first they were going to demand ransom ransom,
but then they went and posted it online. So it
makes no sense to me.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Scammers all the news, and they want to play on
your emotions because when your emotions are up, you're not
thinking logically, and they want you to make rash decisions.
They want you to make quick decisions and they don't
want you to have time to think about things. They
want you to act when they tell you to.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Act, Yeah, well, so what should we do. I mean,
it's everybody that would be impacted by this, we all
have Social Security numbers.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
What do we do? The first thing you want to
do is just stay calm because your information may have
been compromised out there. But there's things that you can
do to be proactive to make sure that information isn't
out there and credit cards and other things aren't being
opened in your name. That's what's really important. When you
(01:46):
have a data breach, you may get notified. You've probably
been notified in the past that your information has been compromised.
Maybe it's been a credit card, maybe it's been your
healthcare information. This time it was supposedly social Security numbers,
but day car counts.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And I took one of those steps. My husband did
as well. That was freezing credit. Unfortunately, it's not a
hard thing to do. It's time consuming and because you've
got to go to each their three credit companies, right.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
There's three different credit bureaus. Yes, and that's one of
the things that you can do. You can freeze your
credit and it protects you as a consumer because nobody
can open credit in your name, including yourself. But let's
say that you're at a retail store and you want
to open a credit card because you get a good discount,
or you're applying for a home loan, or you're looking
at a new vehicle. You have to take the steps
(02:36):
to call each credit bureau and unfreeze your credit. So
it is an inconvenience, but it protects you as well.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, would you say that's like the best protection and
will albeit an inconvenience to unfreeze, but probably your best
protection is doing that.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
That's a great way to protect yourself, especially if you're
not really monitoring. You should monitor your credit. You should
pull your in credit report. You can actually pull an
annual credit report. Now since it's post COVID, they allow
you to pull that weekly. It used to be only
once a year. There's different sites that are out there
(03:12):
to pull your credit. The only one that's approved by
the Federal Trade Commission is Annualcreditreport dot com. I'm going
to say that again to make sure that the listeners
have that down. Annual Creditreport dot com. You can pull
that at least once a week. If you're not pulling
it weekly, that's okay. You should pull it regularly, at
least once a year. Review what's on that credit report,
(03:35):
and if there's anything that shouldn't be on there, make
sure that you clean it up because a scammer could
have opened credit in your name and be using your
credit and you won't find out about it until it's
too late. Otherwise.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, so okay, so that's kind of the fail safe there,
But again it doesn't fit for everyone. Especially Let's say
you're in the process of looking at homes and you
know you're going to be, you know, needing to get
a home loan. You don't want to freeze up your credits,
So what are some other steps?
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Probably not pull that weekly credit report if that, you know,
if you're in the process of getting a loan, you
want to pull it. It's not going to affect how
many people have looked at your credit It's an annual
credit report. It tells you what you have open, what
your average balances are, just everything kind of what you've
had and what's open. Monitor your credit as well, so
(04:26):
look at those statements. How many people get their bank statements,
their credit card statements in the mail and they just
pay the balance. They never look at it. Scammers like
to take your credit card numbers and charge little charges
to your account. You may not notice it. A dollar here,
ten dollars here, fifty dollars here, Okay, you know, didn't
(04:46):
even notice it. Make sure you're reviewing what's on your
statements every month. That's really important. If you find anything fraudulent,
contact your card issue or your bank to take care
of that. Keep in mind that credit cards work differently
then debit cards. That's really important to know. With a
credit card, you are not responsible for a fraudulent charge.
(05:08):
With a debit card, it's going to work differently. You
can dispute that charge, but your money may be held
up for up to twelve weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, I know it. That's why just always use a
credit card, even though none of us like to rack
up a credit card bill. But you're safer online these days.
You probably need one. If you don't have one to use.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That you're much safer. And if you're a person who
doesn't like to carry much of a balance, get a
credit card with a five hundred or one thousand dollars balance.
You know you can't go over it. It's a great
way to build credit. And there are those cards out
there that offer rewards, travel rewards, cash back rewards, different rewards.
So there's something in it for you too.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And you know, going back to the with the freezing,
with the three credit bureaus that we first of all,
do we have three?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
I can't answer that question. Only there's three out there.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yeah, And if I'm a hacker, I mean, should we
worry that they're going to get hacked? I mean, if
I'm a hacker, going to go right to the because
they've got a gold mine, right.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
You know, anything is possible. And when you call it
to freeze your credit, there's going to be security steps
that you have to answer. I don't know what those
steps are, but they're going to go through a series
of security questions to make sure I.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Just went through it. So yeah, you know, like give
answer one of the following questions. That's something that only
you would know, whether it's you know, a mother's maiden
name or the street you grew up on, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Right, And it's going to be a series of questions too,
It's not just going to be one. So yes, there
is those steps and you're going to have to take those.
But those scammers that are out there, they follow the news.
They know what people are doing. Never say never. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Well, and also with these fun quizzes that will pop
up on like Facebook or social media. You know, I
was just reminded again I never do them. It's not
that I'm not a fun person or I'm too good
to you know, play along like the first concerts you
went to, or because some of the questions that credit
bureau or places will ask you know, things that these
(07:17):
quizzes ask you about. And if anybody a professional scammer,
they got to do some homework on you, and you're
giving it to them, aren't you.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Those quizzes are a lot of fun, they really are,
and they bring back a lot of memories. But at
the same time, you are sharing your personal information. And
just because your Facebook page is private doesn't mean it's private.
Anybody can screenshot it and send it out on social
media sites. So keep your personal information private, just like
you would keep your money private and any other personal information.
(07:50):
Don't share that.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And how about with like your Facebook And I don't
quite understand when your Facebook account gets hacked, what's the
purpose of that. Are these scammers? Are they just looking
to scam your potential friends or what are they hoping
to do because most of us, I think a majority
(08:15):
all of us would not have our private information on
our Facebook, you know, like our social security numbers or
checking account, that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
All of the above. They want to get into your
Facebook page. What can they find? What piece of the
puzzle are they missing with all the other information that
they have on you already? Scammers by lists, they do
their homework, they put the puzzle together. If they need
to hack your Facebook page, they will. Maybe they're hacking
your Facebook page in order to get into your friend's
(08:45):
Facebook page. You never know the reason. Why have you
ever gotten a Facebook message from somebody who you thought
you knew and it was really a scammer? So there's
all different ways and all different tactics that they're trying
to fish for personal information.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
And now back to a data breaches over the past,
I mean, I guess it's just been this year. It
just seems like a ton of them that we've seen
was a quick trip earlier in the year, or was
that last year I forget.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I think it was the very beginning of this year.
We saw some major data breaches right in a row,
starting with quick trip and then moving into insurance companies
and healthcare organizations, and you know, we're all vulnerable, whether
we're an individual or if we are a business, and
(09:36):
we need to keep our information private as well as
the customer's information that we deal with private as well.
And unfortunately, scammers are finding ways into large companies to
get personal information from their customers.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And then the point of that I can see, you know,
they put the thread out there. They want the ransom.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
They do, and they know that large companies have insurance
for cybersecurity. They get paid out and once you get hit,
you're apt to get hit again.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
And so you would think there would be a bigger
pushback from these insurance companies that are footing the bill
for this. I know the banking industry frustrated. Beyond it,
there have been some improvements over the years as far
as liability, because they're the ones holding the bag. Right,
if let's say my bank gets hacked, my card gets hacked,
(10:29):
they have to reimburse me.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
This is costing billions of dollars to pay ransom. So
you know, we may see insurance premiums go up to
cover it. But as a consumer and as a business owner,
what can we do? What are the red flags that
we can recognize in order to be smarter than the scammer.
We need to outsmart the scammer because scams aren't going away,
(10:53):
They're just going to become more sophisticated, especially with AI
becoming a big thing. So what are those red flag
that we can recognize in order to protect ourselves and
protect others.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
A big one of course via email the scams, and
there's a sure fire tell with a scammer with the
URL right it can be that's one way to have
They found a way around that.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Now, sometimes they develop fake websites that look identical to
the real website, so you really need to make sure
that you are on the official site. The first thing
you can do is look at the web address. Does
it start with an HTTP or an HTTPS that S
is going to stand for secure. Sometimes scammers like to
change up letters, so they like to change ease to
(11:40):
threes and s's disease, So you really overlook them when
you're looking at that website. So you can also look
for spelling and grammatical errors on a website. A lot
of times these scammers are located over the c's English
is not their native language. There are telltale signs that
you are on a fake website. It's usually more than one,
(12:02):
so they are just hoping that you overlook that. Maybe
it's a great deal you're looking for. Maybe they're looking
to capture your personal information. Logging credentials is another big
one that they're fishing for. They are asking you to
enter possibly your Netflix password because you need to update
your account specifics, or any type of log in that
(12:24):
you have. Maybe you need to reset your Gmail account.
So the list just goes on and on and on. Yeah,
we just need to be smarter. Well, and I was
a dummy. I had ordered something from Walmarts and I
hadn't been seeing it, and I was like, what's up
with that?
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And so I just googled, I don't know Walmart's number,
googled Walmart and what I thought was and I called
and I was smart enough to catch that about a
couple of minutes into it. Just the person on the
other end, Yeah, something was really off. And they kept
trying to get me from Hanks. I'm like, I'm going
(13:01):
to hang up and contact my own bank. They were
claiming that somebody had hacked my card and it was
not the case, and so and I felt like such
a dummy, because.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
That's what you know.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
I always tell people, ah, and here I did it.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Scammers purchase ads on Google. They want their websites and
their customer service phone numbers to be found first, so
they are spending money to get your attention. Again, you
really need to be careful. And we're all consumers, every
single one of us. I'm vulnerable. You're vulnerable, our friends
are vulnerable. What can we do to spark the scammers? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, because you know what, I glanced at the HTTPS
and when you just had mentioned Sometimes they'll do a
Z or three that could have been because it was
the top of page. That's the one I went to.
So I hook line and sinker, well not sinker because
I didn't give them any personal information.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Be very careful when you click on those sponsored ads,
because they may or may not be legitimate. It's always
good to scroll down and you know, find that official page.
That official page is not going to be sponsored. If
it is sponsored, you're going to see the sponsored one
at the top, and you're going to see the legitimate
one that's not sponsored a little bit below the folds.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Sometimes you preach this day in day out. Have you
ever had a MISSEDEP or.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
You know, working here for the BBB, I'm really vigilant
about the information that I share. And even when places
ask me for personal information, legitimate places, they ask me
to provide it over email. I'll call them up and
I'm saying that's not the most, you know, the safest
way to provide my information. And sometimes there's always a oh, yeah,
(14:43):
you're right type thing. But my husband always asks me, now, hey,
is this legitimate? Can you check into it?
Speaker 1 (14:51):
We're a good resource to have.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, thank you very much, And I'm researching companies more
often than I have in the past. I'm not taking
for what it's worth on paper. I'm digging a little
bit deeper so I can't encounter getting stuck in a scam.
For the last five years that I've been working here,
but we're all vulnerable, and you know it's around the
(15:17):
next corner. What are they going to come up next?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, because they can you know whether it's spoofying, fishing.
Is there any new fun terminology that has surfaced as
of late.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Smishing smishing cell phone? Yes, SMS, and we're going to
be seeing it as we enter the holiday shopping month
starting in October, you're going to be getting text messages
saying that your delivery needs to be rescheduled or you
need to update your shipping preferences. Scammers. No, we're shopping
online and it's a big thing post COVID. So what
(15:50):
do we do. We get a text we're excited for
our package to arrive on our front porch, and we
just go ahead and follow the text. If you get
one of those, be careful. When you've ordered something, you'll
always receive an email confirmation and it'll likely have a
tracking number, and go directly to that email, go to
the tracking link and see if it's still on its way.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah, I know, I was getting inundated and friends of
mine as well. With a package delivered at the postal service,
it cannot be sent out. We need your Yeah. Oh
that was just coming over all the time. And what's
really frustrating too, is that what because are they sending it?
So you get it on your text but you can't
(16:32):
ban you know, you think, well, the next step to
take is to ban that number, but it's coming from
an email, so you can't or block number, you know
what I mean. So it's how do you block it?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
You really can't. Scammers are getting smarter. If you get
one of those, don't open it, because then the scammer
gets the open rate and they know that they've reached
a working phone number.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Ah.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
If you can block it, that's that's the best thing
to do. If you can't block it, go ahead and
delete it, don't respond to it. The scammer will move
on to somebody else eventually. But we will see those
shipping scams pick up again and within the next few months, and.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
They're still because sometimes it's like, well, who doesn't know
about the auto warranty scam by now? But I tell
you what, they just keep on giving that one the
good old college try, even though I thought everybody knew
not to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
That one actually dropped at the beginning of the year.
It was only like seventeen percent of old all scams.
Oh really, yeah, So keep in mind, what's old is
new again, so they may come back with something bigger
and better relating to an auto warranty scam.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
So do you have like the top ten of what
type of scams? Top ten scams?
Speaker 2 (17:45):
We do have the top ten scams. So investment scams
were the number one scam in twenty twenty three paired
with cryptocurrency scams. Sure, scammers really reach out to people
who have retirement accounts or investment accounts and they encourage
them to give me some cryptocurrency and I can make
(18:07):
you a half a million dollars or whatever their scheme is.
So really pay attention. Scammers are banking on that we
know nothing about cryptocurrency. It's an unregulated currency. There's no
way to get your money back. And hey, somebody has
reached out to you to do business with you and
make you a lot of money right on this unregulated
(18:28):
currency that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
You still don't kind of get it to you. Well
you must, but I mean I just don't I.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Know the basics of it, and even I'm very shaky
on it. But that's what scammers want. Scammers want you
to know that they are the experts. Well, once you
turn that cryptocurrency over to them, you're never seeing it again. Nope,
they are long gone. So that was number one scam
in twenty twenty three, not because of the number of reports,
but because of the amount of money lost. In twenty
(18:57):
twenty one, consumers were losing about a thousand dollars to
a cryptocurrency scam on a median average in twenty twenty
three that peaked the six thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Jeez, yes, scammers making profits.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Huh, you know it's a billion dollar business.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
What's another top scam? Over the past year.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
We saw employment scams peak to the number two spot.
And are those.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Because these have got to be scams. I always just
I forward it, report it, and try to delete it
out of my email. Where you get this, Hey, I'm
in the so and so industry and your profile looks
like it would be a good fit for whatever sort
of business.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Be careful with those. It very well could be a
legitimate headhunter. Sometimes those or.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Geez I threw away off or not. I'm kidding.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
There was a few I was getting.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
For, like lawn care, and I mean, really, what in
my bio leads you to lawn care? So I know
it's a scam.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Yeahby you really need to weed through those. Some of
them are based off of those third party job sites
that are out there, like indeed and simp recruiter. They
could be finding your information out there and it very
well could be a legitimate company. You need to do
your homework on that. But the big thing with job
scams is we're seeing the age group of eighteen to
thirty four lose money to job scams because they're right
(20:17):
out of college, they're inexperience, they're entering their adult lives,
and everything they know is basically online. So during the pandemic,
employers pivoted to virtual interviews. So what scammers do is
they will contact you with a job that pays a
lot of money for an entry level position, think an
(20:38):
admin position, and they offer you eighty thousand dollars a year.
It's too good to be true, right, And they will
conduct a virtual interview with you, so it's really you
and somebody else that's having an interview, and they'll hire
you and send you the forms to fill out for
new higher paperwork. Think about what's on there, your social
Security number, your bank statement number, your banking account number.
(21:00):
You'll begin to work for them and they don't end
up paying you, or maybe they even send you a
check to go buy some computer equipment to set up
your home office. You deposit that check, you go buy
the materials the equipment that you need, and that check bounces,
the company vanishes, They're gone. You've just been duped.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Oh boy, that just gives you a sick feeling, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Very much?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
So?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
And it's happening over and over again, especially to our
younger group of kids, our younger adults who are just
entering the workforce, And how do.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
You feel about are they? I guess technically they're not scams,
but it's kind of like the latest sort of amway gimmick,
the hair care products or be your own boss, And
it's a pyramid scheme, right, you've seen those. Somebody's not
all but you know, for more often than not, I
had a few friends and family caught up in this
(21:58):
haircare and they want you to become a business would
they call them like business partners? And then you get
people under you and.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
It's like what that is a pyramid schame? And there
are legitimate companies out there and it is a business
opportunity and some people do very well with it. But again,
just as you're hiring a contractor to do work in
your home, you really need to do your homework on
the company that you are applying for. You know, there's small,
medium in large companies that post jobs on third party
(22:27):
job sites, including scammers. Scammers post fake jobs on those websites.
They may take legitimate postings and make them their own.
So if you're looking at applying for a company, go
to their website to see if the job is also
posted on their website. Go through their website and apply,
don't apply through the third party site. And if you
don't see the job posted on their website, give the
(22:49):
company a call and see if that job is really open.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
And you know, giving the endless scamming opportunities, it seems
like these that we're talking about, they're much more involved
were scammers actually have to do quite a bit of
work rather than the scammers that just lift your you know,
credit card number, what have you. But they're just as
just as many in numbers in that area of scamming.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Scams are very sophisticated, and they're becoming more and more
sophisticated with the technology that we have available at our fingertips.
So they are investing time, and if we think about
romance scams, we think about investment scams, things that may
go over time, eight months, ten months, a year. The
scammer is gaining your trust. They want your trust, that's important,
(23:39):
and they make you feel good, and when you feel good,
you're going to trust them. To give the money.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Yeah, pig butchering kind of like the romance, but it
doesn't have to be romance. Pig butchering, which if anybody
has wondered why they call it that, well, like you know,
you feed your pig and you get them all nights
and fattened up, and then you butcher it.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Scammers have a job, well, why don't they get a
real one? Darn it, they're doing you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
I mean you've heard it time set, time and again
if they put much as much effort into actually a job.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
A lot of these scams originate from overseas and they're
not domestic, although there are some domestic scammers, but the
majority of them are in Nigeria or somewhere in Asia.
And you know they're scamming people here in the United States.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, and always. I'm sure another recommendation you would give
here is consistently changing your passwords, which that's a little
you know, time, it's a lot time consuming, but you
don't want to put yourself at risk. But how do
you go about can we trust those are now services
(24:50):
that can store your pass codes and all that kind
of stuff, because I mean, on any given day, you
got to remember how many anymore, and it's it's pretty difficult.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
First rule of don't use the same password across all platforms. Yeah,
that's hard because how do you remember twenty different passwords?
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Right?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
And passwords should be long and strong, include a passphrase
on top of it. So, for example, my computer in
the office fouled with upper and lower case letters and
special symbols. That's tough.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
So you can manage through a password manager, whether it's
a little booklet that's a password manager. We highly recommend
not to use to post it notes around your screen.
Don't do that. Not a good idea about little pieces
of paper in your wallet. You want to keep them
in a safe place. So if you are looking to
(25:44):
use an electronic password wallet, make sure that you're using
a legitimate one. Yeah, there are apps out there, and
not every app is legitimate. Do your homework.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yeah. I also wanted to touch on to educational scams
or those still pretty I'd imagine with the pandemic and
downtime and people deciding, know I'm going to further my educator,
are those still pretty popular?
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Or we see college scams this time of year. A
big one is rental scams. Apartment rental scams students looking
for an apartment on campus, maybe in a new city.
Scammers lift legitimate ads on platforms that are out there
like Facebook, Marketplace or Craigslist or any of those places
that you would find apartments for rent, and they list
(26:30):
them as their own with great amenities at a low price.
If you are a college student and heading back to
college or looking for apartment, it's just not college students,
I mean it affects anybody who's renting. Make sure that
you know what the average rent is in the market.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
(26:51):
Really do your homework, find out who leases that place,
does it really exist? Have somebody do a drive by.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
And I've heard the horror stories of people think they've
rented something it doesn't even exist. Right as they go
to the spot and it's like a parking lot or something.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Right google the address. Does it go to an empty
field or does it go to a property? And property
records are readily available online too. You can see who
owns that property? Does it really exist? So that's one
big one in the college space. Another one is scammers
call up and this usually happens around graduation time, and
(27:27):
they'll talk to the parents and they'll say that your
student has an outstanding debt, you owe x amount of
money for tuition. Otherwise your student is not able to graduate.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
Oh sure, and yeah, that's right again playing on the fear. Right,
it's the same thing with an warrant or a jury
summons or you didn't fulfill it and they're going to
issue a warrant. Right.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
Those are just a few around the educational space. There
are several more, but you know some of the highlights
that scammers take advantage of college students.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I also wanted to get this in before we have
to wrap it up. I have been talking with the
Tiffany Schultz. She is the regional director of the Better
Business Bureau. And two factor often authentication. There you go,
that's a biggie, that's important, something everybody should do, right right.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I can't say that word either, Well, you.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Want to say authentic and it's authentication, okay.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
For anybody who doesn't know what that is. That is
when you log onto your computer and then once you
log on, it sends a code to your cell phone
that you have to log in if you don't have
it on your email and your other log in sites
places that you shop. I think maybe you can even
turn it on on Amazon. Sure, you know all those
sites that are out there that you log into if
(28:47):
you can turn it on, turn it on, because it's
an extra protection for you. And yes, it sounds like
Fort Knox to get in, but it's designed to protect you.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
It's worth I've gotten used to it because I used
to be one of those that would just grump about
because I had to have it for my work email
and then other things. And once I did actually get
an account taken over once they went in and changed
the email information, so it was like, oh boy, I
am so doing that going forward. And yeah, it's just
an extra text, you know, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
And we all carry our cell phones on us these days.
It's an extra step, but it's designed to protect you.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Well. Thank you so much for joining me this morning, Tiffany.
Hopefully we got some good information out there and people
can protect themselves or they have some idea what to
do if they fear that maybe they've fallen victim to
some sort of scam or breach or what have you.
I've been talking with again, Tiffany Schultz, original director of
The Better Business Bureau. You've been listening to Madison form
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