MORGANTOWN, W.Va – As West Virginia Money Smart Week® wraps up, state leaders are warning residents old scams are resurfacing and new scams are making the rounds to snag money from victims.
About 200 people were expected at a Morgantown event Thursday called “Operation Scam Jam: Consumer University”.
“We’re focusing on ways that West Virginian’s can protect their hard earned money that they’ve earned over a lifetime,” explained Gaylene Miller, WV AARP.
Miller, along with state leaders including the state treasurer, secretary of state, attorney general and US attorney, has promoted the awareness campaign for the last six years.
The AARP, for example, is pushing residents to check out their Fraud Watch Network. It’s free alert system that sends scam warnings and tips to avoid becoming a victim to a person’s email.
“Information is powerful. And, the best consumer is a well informed consumer,” Miller said.
Common scams occur over the phone. Miller advises consumers to not be strong-armed into giving away private information to unknown callers.
“Take a deep breath. Ask for a phone number that you can call them back and verify. And, don’t just necessarily look at your cell phone and hit redial,” she said.
Skilled scammers continue to target online users through email too. Miller said a recent scam is using Microsoft’s name to get to banking information and personal information and trick consumers into paying for something they not only don’t need, but something that doesn’t exist.
“Low and behold, 100% of the time you’ve got that virus. But, there’s an easy fix. Just give us $99 and we’ll download that fix on your computer,” Miller said. “What they’ve really done is put the virus on your computer.”
Operation Scam Jam was held at the WVU Erickson Alumni Center.