A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

BBB Trends: Scammers continue to be a problem — here’s a summary of what to watch for in 2017


By Sandra Guile
Better Business Bureau

As 2016 ends, now is the time to look back and to look forward to the year ahead. BBB has been busy; we handled numerous scam inquiries, advising consumers and businesses alike to monitor and report suspicious activity they encountered.

Unfortunately, a new year does not bring a new perspective to scammers; they’ll continue to find creative ways to steal personal or financial information. In order to help consumers deter them, BBB has compiled our findings from 2016 to give people an idea of what to watch for in 2017.

The three scams reported the most to BBB’s Scam Tracker in 2016 were the IRS tax collection scam, the sweepstakes scam, and the debt collection scam. In all three of these schemes, a scammer would call someone and notify them that they owed back taxes, won a prize, or was required to settle a debt. Then, the caller commonly demanded immediate payment – either to pay off the reported debt or to put down collateral for the supposed prize – using a prepaid debit card or gift card. The Federal Trade Commission banned telemarketers from requesting payment using prepaid means, like a prepaid debit card or a gift card when making solicitation call. In the future, any mention of payment using these methods should indicate to consumers that it is a scam.

Several stories appeared on the news this year, focusing on credit card skimmers inserted into gas pumps. Law enforcement officials urged motorists to check the pumps before prepaying with their cards in an effort to cut down on the remote theft of their information. Skimmers will continue to be a threat next year since the transition process to the EMV chip card readers is taking longer than originally planned. An extension was just announced for gas station owners, moving the mandatory conversion of all pumps’ credit card readers to EMV chip readers from 2017 to 2020.

Though some scammers may try to recycle their tactics in the new year, many fraudsters will work to update their plans. Industry experts are currently predicting an increase in tech-based fraud for 2017.

Nowadays, mobile devices are an integral part of our lives and are often directly connected to our personal and financial information; because of that, they’re expected to become heavily-targeted items for scams. Depending on the information the owner has saved on the device, a thief can register stolen credit cards, access mobile wallets, disable SIM cards, and divert passwords by text – all without the owner’s knowledge.

As you look back on your 2016 and think about resolutions for New Year’s, BBB recommends making it a goal to protect your personal information and step up your online security. Listen carefully to calls that request money of you, and update the software on all of your mobile and electronic devices. Watch out for pop-up ads, emails, and text messages from unfamiliar sources and research any apps before downloading them.

Keep up with the latest scams affecting your community and learn about methods to keep yourself safe by visiting bbb.org in 2017.

Sandra Guile is the Community Outreach Specialist for BBB. She promotes BBB’s message of marketplace ethics through public speaking engagements, presentations, media relations, press releases, web content, and other written materials. Contact Sandra at (513) 639-9126 or sguile@cincinnati.bbb.org. Your BBB is located at 1 East 4th Street Suite 600 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 – to reach the office, call (513) 421-3015.


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