Author: Fundamental Advisory and Consulting, LLC
The time for presents is near, each delivered by St. Nick, but this poem for you is a tale of a trick.
A trick, a scam, a horrible flimflam. A bunch of criminals posing as your dear Uncle Sam.
Or perhaps tech support, with bad news to report. They’ll solve your problems with some financial support.
Oh they’ll try again and again – they might target you, or a senior citizen.
The victim matters not, for them will they spare nary a thought, laughing as they spend the ill-gotten gains that they’ve got.
They’ll try to convince you that your money is in danger, and for once that is true – especially if you follow what they tell you to do.
Often they’ll tell you to gather your gold or perhaps your cash, or to order precious metals – but please do not get them delivered to your house in a flash.
But how do they make off with your treasures so dear? Have they enlisted the help of evil reindeer?
No, the part of their method that is entirely new is to send a courier to pick it all up from you!
See, a courier makes it all seem so safe and legit – and makes it harder for others to put a stop to it.
Once they have your money or metals so dear, the clock has struck the time for them to disappear.
But fear not! This doesn’t have to happen to you. Just follow this advice to know what to do:
- Neither the Bank, the government nor legitimate businesses will attempt to get you to give them large sums of cash, precious metals or virtual currency (such as Bitcoin) – this is a sure sign of a scam.
- Keep your personal information private.
- Do not agree to meet up to deliver a large sum of money or precious metals.
- Don’t click on unexpected links in emails or texts from people you don’t know, or from people who are posing as someone you know. Also, never click on unsolicited pop-ups.
- If you don’t recognize a phone number you see in a text, email, or pop-up ad, don’t call it.
- Don’t let strangers convince you to download software.
- Keep your computer and devices secure and don’t let strangers use them.
If you become a victim of some nefarious guy, it’s time to contact the F-B-I (and Mechanics Bank)!
- Contact us immediately by calling 800.797.6324
- Visit www.ic3.gov to file your report.
- Include the name of the person or company contacting you and method of communication used.
- Provide any back account numbers to which you wired funds as well as the name and location of any metal dealer that you sent money to.