Do You Know How To Keep Your Money Safe? Answer These Questions To Find Out
Written by
John Csiszar
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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Managing your finances electronically has never been easier. While this can make banking and investing much easier, it also opens up the potential for fraud. Financial scams have always existed, but the very technology that now makes banking much more convenient also makes it easier to get duped or to make an online choice that is irrevocable.
Do you know how to keep your money safe? Take our quiz and find out.
Wire transfers are a prime example. When used properly, a wire transfer is a great way to get verified funds delivered quickly to a recipient — such as a mortgage lender or title company when you are buying a home. But when you send a wire transfer, your money is gone. In nearly all cases, you can never get that back. For this reason, if you are tricked into sending a wire transfer to the wrong person, you might very well be out of luck.
Social Security scams are also quite common. Criminals prey on the elderly because many of them are not as aware of the dangers of email and phone scams and it can be easier for them to fall victim to official-looking documents. For example, a scammer might send an email — or even a physical piece of mail — looking as if it came from the Social Security Administration or other government agency, demanding payment or “confirmation” of a Social Security number. With advances in computer technology — and the techniques of phone scammers themselves — these requests can seem entirely legitimate.
This is why it’s so important to be aware that these scams exist. Whereas it used to be relatively uncommon for a criminal to target a senior’s life savings, or to hack someone’s identity and completely ruin their financial lives, scammers these days seem to be indiscriminate, targeting any money they think they can access. While the odds that you become a victim are still quite low in the aggregate, making yourself a harder target is a great way to tilt the odds in your favor. Unsure if you really know how to keep your money safe?
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