Fraud is growing even more common in 2023 and comes in many new forms. Criminals are becoming even more persistent in trying to steal your money. You need to be educated about the latest scams, tricks, lies, and tactics targeting you right now in order to stay safe. 
 

Complex Cryptocurrencies and Scammers
 

Since Bitcoin made it big, cryptocurrencies have been a popular “get rich quick” gamble in the world of finance. Currently, there are around 21,000 different types of cryptocurrencies, each competing to be the next digital money titan in the world. It’s reached a point of complexity that rivals the stock market for earning money.

Scammers know the common person doesn’t understand how cryptocurrency works, but they also know people love the idea of getting rich quick and easily. Criminals prey on that desire and use cryptocurrency to their advantage.

Scammers might pose as a financial guru with a lead on the next big cryptocurrency that you can buy into, encouraging you to buy up XYZ Coin quickly. This could in turn raise the value of the currency, and then the scammer sells their own holdings of it for much higher than it’s worth, leaving you with something worth next to nothing just hours later after the value spiked and dropped.

Another method scammers might target you with is posing as someone who can buy and sell crypto on your behalf. These are looking for your financial information, like banking login or account numbers and pin. They are never going to buy crypto for you, but instead just steal your money.
 

Selling NFTs as Investments
 

You might have heard the term NFT floating around the news as the latest investment trend. Not only is it something real that is happening in the world, but scammers and fraudsters love it and are using it to get your money.

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token and is a form of cryptocurrency. It’s similar to how people buy and sell artwork in the physical space, but with digital media. A person takes a piece of media, puts code into it saying they own it, and then can sell that art, marked as an original.

Just like other forms of cryptocurrencies, NFTs have many of the same scams. People trying to sell you on the concept to try and get your financial information, or claiming a certain piece will become more valuable after you purchase it. 

A very common NFT scam involves plagiarism. Because there are no regulations in the world of NFT, people can claim to have an original NFT piece of media, but it turns out just to be a copy. If you fall for this scam, you might have paid a lot of money for something worthless and likely sold many times over to other people.
 

One-Time Password Scams
 

A secure and useful tool, One-Time Passwords (OTP) can help keep your accounts safe when you forget or need to reset your password. It can also be used to warn you if something unauthorized is trying to access your online account by using the forgot password option.

Sadly, fraudsters are adapting and trying to use OTPs to their advantage. They’ll call you, posing as your financial institution or other organization you have an online account with, and discuss some potential issues with your account. During this time, they will try and login to your account and then ask you to tell them over the phone what the OTP is. If you give it to them, they then can access your account, change your password, and take control. Before you can respond, or maybe even before you get off the phone, they are transferring money out of your account.

If someone calls you claiming to be from Pioneer and asks for any personal or account login info, including your OTP, hang up and call us back directly at (208) 587-3304. We will never ask for login or account information, like your OTP.
 

Fake QR Code Scams
 

QR codes have become ever common in the world, especially in a post-Covid world. Many restaurants don't provide physical menus, but instead have a QR code take you to an online menu. Buses and trains use them for schedules rather than complex maps and out of data papers. You can provide feedback to a business rather than filling out a physical form. These are all varied and public ways the world is adopting QR codes.

Scammers are utilizing public QR codes too. They replace a QR code put up for a purpose with one of their own, leading to a malicious or phishing site. You’re at a restaurant with a QR code for the menu, but a scammer has replaced the code with one of their own. You get a prompt to download the “menu” to your smartphone, but alongside getting the PDF, you’re also getting a malicious virus. Another example: you want to provide feedback after visiting a store and scan the review QR code that a scammer replaced last week. You’re taken to a site that looks legitimate, and asks for your email, full name, and date of birth as part of the survey. You just provided a scammer with very valuable information they can use to start attacking you.
 

What to Do If You Get Scammed
 

The moment you suspect you’ve been scammed in some way, you need to put everything on lockdown. At the beginning, you have no idea how much you’ve given away and the extent of the damage. Inform your bank, pause your debit and credit cards, and change your passwords for everything. Often, you might have given the scammer more to work with than you think.

For example, let’s say initially just your email got hacked. They got your password and username and logged in. How many accounts and subscriptions do you have connected to that email? Does your bank send your OTP or two factor authentication to that email? Have you ever emailed your social security or credit card number through it? All of that is at your hacker’s fingertips.

If you are a Pioneer member, you also have Fraud Protection, which can help if your identity is stolen as part of the scam. Scammers might try to open a credit card in your name, take out a loan, or write checks as you. Fraud Protection Protection can help minimize the damage and get you back in control of your identity. 

Learn More About Fraud Protection