Vigilance is Key in Avoiding Consumer Fraud

As the internet and computer-based technologies become more and more advanced, the strategies used by criminals evolve to keep up. Where once a criminal had to actively confront their victims to steal money or personal property, many criminals now use the internet to enable them to steal money and personal information from the comfort of their own home. However, it's a common misconception that cybercriminals are highly-skilled hackers who can crack your bank's encryption and empty your account. It's much more common for a criminal to attack through misleading or illegitimate emails that trick the target into giving up personal information.

Consumer fraud is commonly defined as "any instance in which an individual suffers a financial or personal loss because of unfair, deceptive, false, illegitimate or misleading business practices." In recent years, consumer fraud has tended to be focused on identity theft, Social Security fraud, and credit card fraud. Additionally, the targets of such scams tend to be individuals with little financial and life experience, like college students, or those who are not very technically-savvy, like the elderly. However, all demographics of the population have been successfully targeted by fraudsters.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the main agency that works to protect Americans from being defrauded by these criminals, and in recent years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has also joined the fight, especially regarding mortgage scams, banking/wire fraud, and student loan scams. Their goal is to educate the more vulnerable consumers, to try to prevent the fraud from happening to begin with, but they also step in to help get things back on track for people who have unfortunately been targeted successfully.

There are several common methods of consumer fraud that you should learn to quickly recognize so that you can more easily avoid being defrauded in the future. One strategy is referred to as phishing. Basically, the cybercriminal sends you an email that appears to come from your bank or credit card company. The email will say something about your account being compromised or terms of service being updated, then will provide a link that seems to take you to the website where you can sign into your account. This webpage is actually a clever copy that just looks like the real webpage, so when you input your username and password, the cybercriminal records that information for later uses.

In other situations, the criminal gets ahold of your Social Security number (often through phishing attacks, but they sometimes use other methods), and they open up credit cards using your identity. Millions of Americans every year experience this kind of identity theft, and for the inexperienced or elderly, who don't know enough to keep track online, this attack can leave their credit score trashed for many years to come. Targets of identity theft often don't even find out that it has happened until much later, at which point their banks or credit card companies make them jump through all kinds of hoops to try to clear things up. One thing to note: no matter how careful you are with your cyber security and keeping your personal information private, you could be the target of a cyber attack. Being vigilant and suspicious in your online financial life can save you months of stress and frustration down the road.

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Find out more about us at www.sepulvedaescrow.net. Any Questions? Contact our Escrow Expert! Sepulveda Escrow Corporation (818) 838-1831. Follow our company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

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BEWARE - You and Your Clients Are a Target For This Real Estate Scam

Cyber-criminals are finding new methods every day to steal personal and financial information. Their techniques range from phishing scams to buffer overflow techniques and brute-force password hacking. Banking institutions have found themselves under attack far more than usual in recent years, and have in turn begun to incorporate stronger security measures in an attempt to block hackers. As a result, many scammers/hackers have moved on to what they believe are "easier targets." focusing on normal people rather than financial institutions, Just last week, the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Realtors issued a warning to consumers that they must be hyper-vigilant in order to avoid recent phishing schemes that have been targeting closing costs on real estate transactions.

The National Association of Realtors, along with the Federal Trade Commission, issued their statement warning people to be on the look-out for a specific scheme targeting those involved in a real estate transaction. First, the hackers gain access to the email account of a customer, real estate agent, or escrow officer, and use the information to keep up-to-date on the transaction and determine the closing date. When they have figured out the closing date, the scammer sends an email that has been masked in such a way that they are able to impersonate the escrow company, title company, or real estate agent, telling the customer that the wiring instructions had a last-minute change. If the customer takes the bait, they send their funds to the scammer's account, which can be emptied in minutes.

Sepulveda Escrow utilizes encrypted and secure email when sending documents with sensitive and confidential information. In addition, documents can be returned via email through this secure portal. Sepulveda Escrow has also instituted new procedures to contact Clients directly to confirm details, rather than relying on email or contact through a third party. (Please see end of this blog for some helpful tips.)

It is imperative to know that cyber criminals don't always need to be able to break through firewalls or use high-tech software to get your personal information or access your computer's data. Quite often, hackers use more subtle tricks to gain access. Phishing schemes are one of the most common ways by which they trick potential targets. One example of phishing is when a hacker sends a mass email to a group of people, and makes it look like the email comes from a bank or other online payment platform. The email requests that the recipient verify their login information by following a link. The link leads to a page that closely resembles the actual login page for the financial institution, but when the user inputs their login information, the hacker records the username and password, thereby enabling them to access the account and steal their money.

Another example of phishing is when a hacker contacts a target or a group of targets under the guise of an Official informing them that they have been the victim of a scam. They then tell the recipient that they can help them fix the damage, but first ask for certain sensitive information like Social Security number or bank information, to "verify" what data had been "stolen."  While you may look at this and think that the scheme is too obvious to be effective, statistics show that approximately 0.4% of recipients fall prey to such attacks. In other words, if a mass email is sent to 10,000 people, about 40 of them will have their information successfully stolen.

While phishing is historically the easiest and most effective method by which hackers are able to steal personal or financial information, there are several other methods. A buffer overflow attack, used by more sophisticated hackers, involves inputting many lines of code into an online form in order to overload the system and allow the hacker to steal data inputted by previous customers. A brute-force password hack involves a computer program that inputs all kinds of combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols, until the correct password has been found and the hacker has gained access to an email or other kind of online account.

Finally, hackers often package viruses or worms into free online software or as attachments to mass emails. Such viruses can enable the hacker to record keystrokes, thus giving them access to many of your passwords, or enable them to access built-in microphones or webcams on laptops. Simply opening such an email or downloading an infected attachment can lead to a virus being installed on your computer or mobile device. Fortunately, anti-virus software can often help to detect and remove these viruses, but hackers are constantly finding new ways to avoid detection by your anti-virus program. The best way to avoid getting such viruses is to be careful when downloading anything, and to avoid opening any emails that seem suspicious or come from unknown or unreliable sources.

Here are some tips to help you avoid being affected by similar scams. First and foremost, if something doesn't look right or feels even a little bit suspicious, don't hesitate to double-check it. Don't rely too much on emails. Instead, pick up the phone and call your escrow officer or realtor to make sure that everything you have received is correct. Don't open email attachments you aren't expecting. Additionally, you shouldn't trust financial information that has been sent via email, nor should you send any of your own financial information via email, because it usually isn't secure. In general, wiring instructions are sent by fax or encrypted email message. When inputting personal information on a website, check the address for "https," of which the "s" stands for secure, meaning that your information will be better protected.

Be very careful when opening attachments or downloading anything from an email, no matter who sent it to you. Just because you recognize the email address, doesn't mean that the message actually came from the person you associate with that email address. It's possible that a scammer could have hacked a friend's email, or could have disguised their email to appear as if the message came from a friend's email address. Proceed with caution. Being aware and cautious can save you a lot of hassle in the long run. 

Biggest Tip: Following up on the phone after sending an email may seem burdensome, but we at Sepulveda Escrow find that it is always worthwhile to go the extra mile to avoid financial losses and potential lawsuits.

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Find out more about us at www.sepulvedaescrow.net. Any Questions? Contact our Escrow Expert! Sepulveda Escrow Corporation (818) 838-1831. Follow our company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

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Changes to FCC Regulations May Help Reduce Robocalls

The National Do Not Call Registry, run jointly by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, was designed to be a way for consumers to avoid sales calls. Unfortunately, due to new technologies, so-called telemarketers have found ways to go around As Jim Puzzanghera discusses in his L.A. Times article, most people dislike receiving annoying and commonly fraudulent phone calls on a daily basis, which is why the FCC has proposed new regulations that could help consumers only receive the calls that they want.

The agencies receive about 150,000 complaints per month about robocalls, but there's not much they can do about it. Once your number is on the Do Not Call Registry, telemarketers are, in theory, not allowed to call you. However, as witnessed by many on the list, these calls still come through. By using internet-based phone numbers or routing calls through other countries, telemarketers are able to circumvent the law and contact those on the Do Not Call list. Until recently, consumers had to tell callers, in writing, that they no longer wish to receive sales calls. Under the new regulations, the calls can be stopped by asking the telemarketer "in any reasonable way at any time" to stop.

In addition to making it easier for consumers to stop sales calls on their end, the FCC's changed regulations will allow and encourage telephone providers to offer robocall-blocking tools to their customers. While robocalls can be annoying to those receiving them, they can also be costly. Some calls and texts rack up charges on a monthly phone bill. Many times, phone providers keep a significant portion of the fees charged by such third-party message services, a practice that has led companies like Verizon and Sprint to court in recent months. If the calls and texts were blocked in the first place, such charges would not be an issue.

Under the new rules, even if a company had previously received written permission from the owner of a phone number to make sales calls, the robocaller has to stop immediately once they find out that the phone number has changed ownership. In this way, the new owner will not have to be bothered by calls that were authorized by a previous owner. The new rules, however, apply to certain companies and not to others. For example, computerized calls from banks or hospitals are allowed if they are designed to help the consumer. Calls about possible fraudulent activity on a credit card or about medication refills are not considered"robocalls" in the classical sense by the FCC.

While law enforcement is working toward catching illegal telemarketers and putting a stop to some of the sales calls. the FCC believe that the most sensible way to stop the calls is directly at the source. If phone providers were to offer to their customers the variety of new services available to block such calls, consumers could at least avoid calls from the most notorious telemarketers. Some lawmakers worry that the new regulations could be harmful in that they prevent surveys and demographics studies from being performed on the general public. On the other hand, many consumers find survey-takers to be just as annoying as telemarketers. Altogether, these regulations could be a way to give consumers what they want. Stopping illegal calls and making consumers happy are the top responsibilities of the National Do Not Call Registry, and these new laws may help them fulfill their purpose.

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Find out more about us at www.sepulvedaescrow.net. Any Questions? Contact our Escrow Expert! Sepulveda Escrow Corporation (818) 838-1831. Follow our company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+.

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