Don’t fall for these bank scams that are on the rise in NJ

💲 Financial scams are exploding
💲 Here’s how to hang on to your money
💲 Rethink your social media presence

Scams of all different types are becoming increasingly common but New Jersey residents can take a few simple steps to protect themselves.

That’s according to Michael Affuso, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Bankers Association.

He said many scams currently involve emails supposedly from your bank asking for specific information, while others will request verification of passwords, or tell you they are confirming a change in your address and offering you a link to click on to review the information.

Take a breath

He said when it comes to any financial transactions, whether they’re online, over the phone or even in snail mail, “don’t rush into anything, and when you see things that seem to be too good to be true, they are.”

“Think before you act is what I would say when you’re online," he said. "I would be very, very suspicious if I were you responding to an email like that.”

He said other scams can involve fraudsters who reach out and announce you have relatives in trouble or ones in other countries who you didn’t even know exist, who need just a little money for a great return on some great new product or service.

“The chances of these being real are extremely remote,” he said.

Forget about paper receipts

He also said paper receipts for credit cards should be shredded.

You should also consider going paperless because people go through the trash.

Affuso said scammers are constantly gathering bits and pieces of personal information and looking for a way “to generate almost a clone of a person by taking one element (of information) and then another element and kind of piecing together different elements to create a person.”

He said when enough of those elements are gathered, it can and does result in identity theft.

Rethink all of those social media posts

He also said “you should consider how much of a social media presence you have, and that you may wish to make your social media profile a little less public.”

He also recommends checking bank and credit cards on a regular basis to make sure balances and charges are accurate.

David Matthau is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at david.matthau@townsquaremedia.com

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