Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Can, yeah. The second that that network is compromised, um, keystrokes can be, um, logged essentially to steal your passwords, your credentials. And then, um, fraudsters will also use a, a plan of attack called credential stuffing. So they'll use one set of credentials that you've used for a singular account, and they'll hope that you've used it for other financial accounts.
Speaker 2 00:00:25 As our parents grow older, it can be difficult to guide them through their golden years, while still respecting their autonomy and fitting it into our already complex lives. Welcome to the Parent Projects Podcast, where our guests share practical wisdom to tackle the issues that impact adult children of aging parents. I'm Tony Sievers. Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 3 00:00:50 Hey, welcome. In this week, today, we're breaking down those different types of fraud attacks that happen. If you're, you've answered that spam call that you, they get you, maybe they, they start in the telemarketer. It could be extremely frustrating to you if this is something you know about, and then you start looking at an aging loved one, and you're like, well, what are they doing when it comes down to it? Today, we're gonna talk about that. So prepared to stand by, learn ways to guard against those types of attacks, some tools that will help you work your way through it. And if you become a victim, we'll be talking with Shelby Stole, uh, today, uh, and she's gonna break this down, and how you can help yourself. Stay tuned. We begin the Parent Projects podcast. Right now,
Speaker 1 00:01:50 You're
Speaker 4 00:01:51 Listening to Parent Projects, a family Media and Technology Group Production. Now, here's your host, Tony Siber.
Speaker 3 00:02:01 Uh, so you're in the middle of doing something important. You get down that call in, oh my gosh, it says it's from my mom's hometown, like I Atkinson, Kansas, or Clearwater. Can I, I, I gotta get this one right? It's clearly gotta be one of those. And no, it's about your warranty, or it's somebody else who wants to work or, or draw into some other scheme that works the other side. Uh, it's a frustration. It's a frustration when it happens to us. It's certainly a frustration when it happens to our parents. It can undermine their trust in what's going on around them. Uh, it can leave them a little bit hesitant in how much they wanna get on board with technology. Uh, and it can make us feel a little unsettled with it. Today, we've got Shelby stole. She's the Vice President with Identity Force, a TransUnion brand who's gonna talk to us about ways that we can understand what's coming at us, identify those things, some tools to work through that. Um, maybe a couple of ideas of what to do if one of these problems have struck you, a romance scheme or some of these other things. So, uh, let's just dive right into it. Shelby, thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 0 00:03:06 Hi. Thanks for having me today.
Speaker 3 00:03:09 So, uh, y this is, uh, a topic. You're, you're a vice president involved with an organization that has a huge visibility on, on what this problem looks like at a, at a market level. Break this down. What's your, how do you see this at, at that personal level? Uh, what, what is, what is something that kind of helps influence the way that you look and kind of tackle and look at these problems?
Speaker 0 00:03:33 Absolutely. Now, I appreciate the opportunity to chat with each of you today. Um, I'll, I'll dive right in. Honestly, a little known fact when it comes to fraud and how our loved ones and even ourselves can be impacted, is that there are nearly 8 million cases of elder fraud that occur, um, in the United States annually, and that results in more than 140 billion with a b in losses each year. Um, so like most people today, uh, I have a family member who has fallen victim to, or, uh, to senior fraud. And, uh, I'll tell you that story. I, I don't think she'll mind sharing. She shares it with friends. She makes sure that, um, they're armed with the information to best protect themselves. And I think that that's one of the best things that we can do as a learning community, is to share and to further our knowledge of how to better protect one another.
Speaker 0 00:04:16 So, yeah, with, with that, um, my grandmother has an iPad like many people do. Uh, she uses it to look up recipes to keep in touch with family and friends. Um, she watches videos on Facebook. She likes pictures, searches for gardening tips, you name it. During the pandemic specifically, um, she was looking for ways to stay connected with her gardening community, uh, that she would've normally visited with in person. So as virtual meetings and gatherings in classes began to take shape and become the norm, uh, she signed up for a recurring virtual garden room class. And when the email arrived, that would allow her to pay for that class, um, she signed up with her credit card and she set up autopay knowing that she would want to take multiple classes over the course of the coming months. So if we fast forward, um, ahead of class, number one, her card was charged about $500. Oh, yeah. A big amount. Now, each of these
Speaker 3 00:05:14 Gonna be a great gardening class. <laugh>,
Speaker 0 00:05:17 You're an annual subscription, perhaps
Speaker 3 00:05:20 <laugh>. Right? Right.
Speaker 0 00:05:22 Each of these classes should have cost right around $25. Um, okay. And yeah, a much more, uh, reasonable amount. But unfortunately for my grandmother, um, she assumed when she had trouble accessing, uh, the first two classes, that it was just user error on her part, when in fact, there were really no classes that were set to occur. Um, so she had been scammed, essentially, and two automatic payments later of $500 each. She called my mother, who knowing my occupation, called me. Um, and at that point, we took the steps to contact her financial institute to put a hold on her card. We were able to recoup those funds, fortunately. Um, but that's not to say that it didn't occur without some embarrassment, some shame, uh, some frustration, and certainly some stress as well.
Speaker 3 00:06:09 You know, and that's a frustrating part. This topic tends to be one of those topics that comes about in the family after something embarrassed, what they seem to be embarrassing would happen. Right. It's not, it's not like a, Hey, let's get around at Christmas and talk about identity fraud. Right. Or, or that romance scheme email, it's kinda flipping up in the back, right. Or, um, it is, it's, they're, uh, especially I, boy, I know. I want to talk once the, what do you, what do you call, uh, like the, where they pretend to be a family member? Uh,
Speaker 0 00:06:37 Sure. An impersonation attempt or social engineering, I guess.
Speaker 3 00:06:40 There you go. Like those, those ones, are they the, I've, I've talked to a couple of, of, um, of older folks and some older clients I've had in the past that were, they were embarrassed first of all, that they didn't recognize that it wasn't that they, they hadn't been connected really, really tightly before. And so they were kind of excited that there was that connection going. Sure. And it ended up not being really, uh, like the problem wasn't even so much the, there was the problem of the fraud, but then there were all these other little problems of, of the interactions and what they didn't, didn't want to do. So, um, I, I, yeah, it is, it is a tough, how did you, how'd you find into this line of business? How did you find a kind of a passion in understanding what's going on in identity? Is it just that, you know, you were already in it, obviously, it sounds like when it happened to your grandma.
Speaker 0 00:07:25 I was. Yep. Um, I have been in the employee benefits industry for about the past 15 years, so Oh, okay. Communicating the benefits of certain insurance products, whether that's identity, theft, protection, disability, um, things like that, value added services that protect people in a time of need. Um, and I saw a trend in the number of attacks that were occurring, um, not just with the senior population, but really with the general population, um, in full over the past seven to eight years. And then we saw that be really, really heightened throughout the pandemic. Um, so I came on board with the company a little over four years ago, um, but had familiarity with the product prior and communicating it, um, to individuals at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 00:08:05 Okay. Well, that makes se a lot of sense. And I think, um, that's a, it's a great, it's a great benefit from the employer side of the house, something to, to definitely be thinking about. So I could, I could see how you guys work on that. Um, the, and an employer, I mean, what there is, I guess their role is, it takes a lot of time. A lot of this stuff is families get pulled in and they get, they get pulled away to go deal with problems like this. You're pulled, you, you lose your employees for a good period of time. Right. So staying in front of, well, not let alone, it happens to employees too, right? Time it takes to check out of your work life to go deal with your personal life before somebody empties your bank account. That's kind of a big deal.
Speaker 0 00:08:42 It is, yeah. Productivity sees a decrease whenever, um, either an individual or their family member is going through an instance of fraud or identity theft. Yeah. Um, the stress associated with it as well, um, impacts not only productivity, but also, uh, mental wealth, physical wellbeing. We know that that's all tied very intimately together. Um, and of course, financial wellness and worry, um, can come into play as well.
Speaker 3 00:09:03 Yeah. Well, when we, uh, we're gonna take our first break here. When, uh, we come back from this, let's dive into a couple of those common things that we see out there that's going on and, uh, some ways to protect ourself, um, just right after this. So stay tuned. We'll be back with Shelby Stole, uh, right after this message from our sponsors.
Speaker 6 00:09:22 Sometimes I'd like to smack old age, right in the kisser. Ow I always get the best parking spot. I think she needs a little more help. Monday, what I really need is a boyfriend that can drive at night. I can make a fashion statement out of anything. I will be fabulous.
Speaker 5 00:09:43 I have a little crush on my pharmacist. With comfort Care at your side, you can live your best life possible. We know families can't be there 24 7, which is why we can help with as much or as little home care as you need from medication reminders and meal prep to everyday chores and errands, so you can live in your own home on your terms.
Speaker 6 00:10:04 I wouldn't let aging stop me from being me.
Speaker 5 00:10:07 Call Comfort Care now and let us create your personalized care plan and find the perfect caregiver match.
Speaker 6 00:10:14 Can you show that number again? She was texting
Speaker 5 00:10:17 Together with Comfort Care, you can both live your best life possible.
Speaker 3 00:10:22 Uh, government scams, romance scams, online shopping, business, imposters, uh, vacation trips, uh, all all of these things are, are frustrations to us as we're getting, well, they're just frustrations period throughout life. Technology's giving an easier and easier access to us with those types of scams. And today we're talking about ways to recognize what's out there, not just for us, but also if it's playing a role in your parent project, um, how you can start recognizing those major ones that are out there, some communication, uh, ways that you can talk with mom and dad about what's there in a safe way. Some things to do if you, you stumble across it. We've got Shelby stole with us who's joining us. She's vice president of Identity Force, uh, and, uh, TransUnion, TransUnion brand. And, um, you know, Shelby, let's, let's kind of jump into some of those top ones. I was rattling a couple of these off, uh, you know, that we see when we're doing online shopping or, um, or, or actually even just having an email address and starting to interact with stuff. But these days, what are some of the most prevalent that you guys are seeing, uh, happen in the marketplace?
Speaker 0 00:11:29 Absolutely. So, um, identity thieves and fraudsters, unfortunately, are, um, very capable individuals. You wish that they would use their smarts and their powers for good. Um, but that's not always the case. So, um, identity scams and fraud, uh, continue to happen across all age groups, but different methods are effective with different age groups. And so specific to, um, elder fraud and senior fraud, we see, um, that the types of fraud and losses that are most associated with, uh, people over the age of 65 are going to be online shopping. As you mentioned, business imposters. One that really jumps out to me is tech support scams. If you think of a loved one or a family member calling in, um, to their, uh, dish network or their internet service provider because they're having an issue with the router. Um, some of those key words that, uh, a tech support person might throw around that might be, you know, commonplace for most of us are not as familiar to the senior population, um, right, wrong or indifferent. They just don't have that same exposure at times. And so, um, that's a, a scam that we see is definitely on the rise. People are able to get access to financial accounts, maybe passwords to their internet, um, provider and router. So that can be impactful whenever the scammer then uses that, those same credentials to log into accounts where there can be monetary impact.
Speaker 3 00:12:47 Wow. And those can be, well, I could just, you know, imagine some of those scams where they're able to, to leverage or access your router and then be able to sit on, you know, your network or down the way or something of that nature that can, that could be extremely dangerous.
Speaker 0 00:13:01 Um, certainly can, yeah. The second that that network is compromised, um, keystrokes can be, um, logged essentially to steal your passwords, your credentials, and then, um, fraudsters will also use a, a plan of attack called credential stuffing. So they'll use one set of credentials that you've used for a singular account, and they'll hope that you've used it for other financial accounts or logins to, um, maybe medical records, things like that, where that sensitive information is housed.
Speaker 3 00:13:27 Yeah. Well, you know, and let's, let's go ahead and defeat a couple of those, maybe azari even coming across them. So one off of that use of passwords and how passwords are used, I take it, are, what, what are some of the defensive mechanisms that you guys see for, for, um, credential stuffing, for instance?
Speaker 0 00:13:44 Absolutely. So a, a defense to credential stuffing and really, um, just a good rule of thumb in order to have good password hygiene and username hygiene to begin with would be, uh, I know it's annoying, but to change those passwords every 60 to 90 days, um, it's also important you can find online password generators. Um, and I'd be happy, um, to, to in follow up or through our social threads, through identity force, we provide access to safe sites as well, but there are password generators who will, um, help you to generate a password that's not just a name and unique, um, unique symbol in number combination, but rather it's going to put you in a safer spot at the end of the day. So the robustness of your password, the changing of your password. And then, um, number one, rule of thumb, don't use the same password for any account. Um, I know that it can be overwhelming to, to have multiple passwords for multiple accounts, but really at the end of the day, you are significantly safer, uh, by having varying passwords for each account.
Speaker 3 00:14:42 Well, and I think to be practical, uh, mo most of us dealing with the parent project right now are, are gonna know that PR practically, uh, keeping a list of what those passwords are has become very difficult. So in that good, um, you know, that we've, we've always recommended that people make use, if you're gonna use, um, different pa different organizations that can help you create those passwords, many of them will help with password key chains and to hold onto that, that can, that can, uh, assist from that and on your device and keep you up to date, they'll give you reminders to change out and, and to work through those types of systems. Are those, this is kind of the types of service you're, you're referring to, it sounds like?
Speaker 0 00:15:18 Yes. Yes. Those are all very important. The other key piece I would say is if you're able, or if you're offered the solution to, um, enable multifactor authentication, always do so. So that's the sense in which you receive a text message to confirm it's you or a phone call to confirm that it's you. Um, that's a fantastic fail safe, um, for any account that you're logging into.
Speaker 3 00:15:39 Yeah. And so then if, if you are gonna put one of those in a place, you know, we, we'd say, uh, walk through and show an example of how that's gonna do, log on kind of right. And regularly go through that. That's not a forget, you know, or to do it once and then forget off of that. But every so often sit down and do one of those with your loved one, showing them what to expect out of that. You go to the site, well, this is gonna come in, I'm gonna get the text code. It's from here. Um, if you've got some business that you've gotta be doing while you're out and around there, let 'em see that happen. Let 'em watch that unfold. Just keeping people familiar with it. Remembering we use technology pretty often. I will bet I log into something that uses that, that third, that, um, two factor authentication in some way. I'll bet a dozen times within a day. Sure. Right. Easily. Uh, mom might use it once a week, right? When she's gotta look into it, or once a month even from that standpoint. So setting up what that would kind of look like. Any, any, um, any places out there that you've seen or, or anything, anything else to kind of think about and in helping to manage that or explain that process to people?
Speaker 0 00:16:44 Sure. I, I would say the, uh, the last piece to the multifactor authentication is just remind your loved one never to share that password or that four digit code that's being sent to them, that that's specifically intended for them to use to confirm that it is them logging into the system and that no reputable company would ever ask for them to share that code.
Speaker 3 00:17:04 And that is important. We don't think about that. That's, uh, but that is a, that's a scam in itself, right? Where they will call, they already know the phone number at some level, especially if they're calling on a cell phone and they can, they can get people to kind of pull information one thing after another once they do that, or, uh, I think one scam we had heard, they sent a text of a number and then told them the number. They text them, now, this is the telephone they're already talking on. So that this wasn't very difficult, but it established a false handshake of trust when they said, okay, well, we sent you a code that said, you know, 44 82, and, and when they see 4, 4 82, it's like, okay, now what's the password? What's your password? Now you need to tell me this. These are kind of these evolutions of maybe some of the check fraud stuff that we saw 10 years ago or, or 15 years ago, right?
Speaker 0 00:17:52 Yes. It continues to become more and more robust. This is also where we see, um, those impersonation attempts that we mentioned come into play. So, um, that fraudster might call your loved one and, uh, pretend to be a grandson or a nephew and say, Hey, I'm trying to log into your account. I really need access to whatever it is that they're trying to get to. Um, and they're asking for you to confirm that code. And if your guard's not up, uh, and you're a little bit trusting, uh, that that's the loved one that you're chatting with, then some people share it. And at that point, um, big trouble can happen, unfortunately. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:18:25 And, and if you're looking for that starting point, you know, families at home think through, think through. I mean, start with those most sensitive sides. Start at that bank that's gonna be different. Those things they might not tackle, but have high a lot or enter a lot, but are high, high value. And then get yourself just slowly but surely, get them into a system of it. Yeah. That's, that's fantastic, Shelby. Thanks for those. Um, talk to me about, talk to me about a romance scam. Would you
Speaker 0 00:18:51 Yes, <laugh>, I would, this sounds
Speaker 3 00:18:54 Juicy <laugh>, it,
Speaker 0 00:18:56 It could be considered juicy. Um, but if you think of the aging population and the amount of time that unfortunately at times they spend alone and seeking companionship if family members are busy, um, you know, we show also that the, the senior population, um, is not as averse to utilizing technology as we once thought. Um, so as they're interacting online and maybe seeking out friendships or acquaintances or, or looking up an old classmate or someone from, um, from decades back, um, and they're conversing via Facebook chat or Instagram chat or whatever platform they're, they're utilizing, um, people will at times pose as a familiar family member or friend or acquaintance, and they'll earn the trust. They'll continue the dialogue and establish a sort of rapport. This might go on for a couple of weeks, and then down the road they end up asking questions. Um, you know, Hey, do you remember what car you drove, uh, when you first turned 16? Or what was your mother's maiden name again? I'm trying to remember what that was, and I can't seem to think of it.
Speaker 3 00:19:58 Wow, those are big questions. You have my attention now, right? Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:20:03 They are, they're, they're trying to gain access to those security questions, um, because at the same time, you can bet that they're looking behind the scenes at any information that's been breached. Um, whether that's the T-Mobile breach, the Home Depot breach, the target breach to piece together components of your loved one's identity. And then as they gain access to some of that insight and security questions, um, they're able to have a better shot at getting access to that financial account, which is ultimately what their intent is at the end of the day. Wow. Um, yeah.
Speaker 3 00:20:35 What, um, and that is, I mean, particularly can be devastating because now you're talking also of an emotional tie tied with within all of that. So those are likely to be things that, uh, could be hidden for some period of time or wouldn't be learned about off of a breach, I would imagine for some time, uh, across the board.
Speaker 0 00:20:54 Absolutely. It can take quite some time for the, each of those components of the identity to be pieced together enough to where they can strike and have a financial impact, where your loved one, or you maybe if you're managing their finances, um, would be alerted to that fact. So, but the shorter the runway, we can make it with criminals having access to that information the better. Um, but unfortunately at times it, it, it can take a while before it's recognized.
Speaker 3 00:21:17 What is I, I'm gonna, um, I'm gonna throw one at you. Here's a curve ball on one. Sure. Uh, okay. Uh, social security numbers, I mean, it was not that I, no, I don't think anybody's looking to rattle off a social security number, but man, it, it seemed at one point in time, it, it was, it was never actually when it was created, it was never supposed to be used as a public identifying number that would come outside. Then it ended up being used that way by the government. And then we've had different, you know, leaks and other problems that have kind of come out. What are the, what should we be thinking about these days with protecting data like that that sometimes comes across <laugh> on a piece of mail for crying out loud?
Speaker 0 00:21:54 It does. Yeah. Yeah. It's, we tell people to protect it on one hand, and on the other hand, we use it very publicly at other times. Um, you're spot on with that social security numbers. Um, if you're asked to provide a unique code, for instance, um, to authenticate your identity as you're calling into your cell phone provider or your TV provider, you should never use the last four of your social security number. Maybe if it's a six digit code, certainly don't use six digits of your social security number. Um, if you can avoid using any combination, uh, that's best first and foremost. Yeah. Um, because what happens is we're seeing two, two trends really. Um, social security numbers, of course, can be used to set up a credit file. Um, they can also be used to set up financial accounts that are fraudulent as well.
Speaker 0 00:22:39 Um, but where we're really seeing an alarming trend as of late, is when it comes to synthetic identity theft. And that's a fancy phrase at the end of the day for, um, piecing together components of multiple individuals identities, uh, to where that fraud or that identity theft goes untraced for longer. So if I'm piecing together someone's social security number, someone else's, uh, date of birth and name, and someone else's address, yeah, you can of course assume that at the end of the day, the person whose social security number is being used is going to be most adversely impacted.
Speaker 3 00:23:13 Yeah. Wow. That is, uh, and these are, some of, these are some of those challenges and, and fears of some levels of generative artificial intelligence and other things supporting, right. And, and making some complexities to that and us understanding those things. So, okay. So we'll probably that's probably not going away anytime soon. We'll, we'll see a lot of that out there. Should, should people, when mail comes across shredding mail, blacking out mail, things like, is this still a thing? Is this still something that, that, uh, that we should do that mom and dad should do?
Speaker 0 00:23:44 It is still a thing. I would also say, if your loved one is comfortable electronically receiving those documents, that we, we do talk about breaches that occur, of course, but electronic documents are, at the end of the day, safer than mailed physical documents when it comes to having that type of sensitive information on it. Think of the number of times mail gets delivered to the wrong address, or the fact that it's an open mailbox that, um, it's, it's best to receive those things via a secure environment when possible. Um, but I, of course, I understand that not everybody has that comfortability with receiving those documents electronically as well. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:24:18 Uh, that's fantastic. Okay. Um, um, vacation and travel scams. What are, uh, what's vacation and travel scams?
Speaker 0 00:24:26 Yep. Uh, I don't know about you, but I love a free vacation. I think everybody does <laugh>. Um, so if you receive that phone call, um, or email address, mailer and, uh, mailer most frequently, more than not, um, stating that you've won a free cruise or you've won discounted nights at, uh, HARs in Las Vegas, wherever it is, um, somewhere that's interesting or of interest to your loved one, and they're asking for you to respond with your bank account information so that we can hold the trip for you, um, go ahead and respond with your date of birth, um, your demographic information so that we can send you the next steps for this trip. Um, it can happen in multiple ways. Again, phone, uh, email, mail, and people are excited. It plays on their emotions. They're looking forward to the vacation that maybe they otherwise wouldn't afford at this point in time, or that they weren't thinking of going on, and now it's some, you know, spontaneous adventure. Um, so it's important to discern between what is real and they're usually not free vacations given away, um, and what is, uh, an attempt to fish that information from an individual.
Speaker 3 00:25:33 Yeah. Yeah. Those are, um, I, I, yeah, we see those all the time. Uh, so against those, uh, what are the most prevalent, so to, we are in May, it's May of 2023. So this, obviously this changes often, and you and I have talked about, we, we look and we take interest and are constantly quarterly trying to take a look at what's up. What are you guys seeing these days, uh, right now? What are some of the most prevalent?
Speaker 0 00:25:57 Yeah, I would say synthetic identity theft is on the rise for sure. Um, government, um, fraud as well. So we just wrapped up tax season. If people filed extensions perhaps, or they're waiting on refunds, um, anything i r s related can really run the entire year, unfortunately. Um, so that will happen via phone call. Um, I would also say that social engineering scams when it comes to warranties, um, are on the rise right now. Whether that's a car warranty, um, a home warranty, if your, if your loved one is recently purchased, a home removed, so warranties where people are calling in, they're asking you to confirm again, your information, your, your personally identifiable information in order to keep something that's intended to protect you. Fraudsters and criminals are smart enough that they know they need to entice that individual with something that's either exciting, like the vacation or something that provides value, like that warranty, um, or like that tax refund. So yeah, keeping your, your eyes peeled and your ears open to the fact that when someone is asking you for information, you should always pause, you should stop, and you should consider, why am I giving this person, um, valuable information, and should I be giving this person valuable information?
Speaker 3 00:27:12 D is it, um, is there a way to track or is there thoughts on keeping track of what information you're sharing with somebody? Should you be able to do that, or is there a best practice that involves that? Or is it generally just about stopping, slowing down the transaction and, and trying to have as much consideration as possible? Sure.
Speaker 0 00:27:30 I think as much consideration as possible is a, a key phrase there to be very discerning. I know that that's not always a trait that's natural to people. We want to be trusting and open. Um, but if you can encourage your loved one to reach out to you and, and talk to you and say, Hey, is this a situation where you feel that I can share my information? Or do you think that this is real? Having that open line of communication where it's more of a village approach to determining if something is, isn't truly, um, reputable or if there's a potential threat involved. Um, I think taking the shame away or the embarrassment away from asking the question goes a really long ways.
Speaker 3 00:28:07 Yeah. You know, there is, and, and that's a, that's a great point, and to set the tone, these organizations and companies, so you work, they get it. They clearly, they understand this, you know, from a, a personal perspective, I remember one time, I, I have I bank insurance and others with a similar, with the same organization. And one comment or call that I'd gotten while they were working through just a, just a, uh, we'd had a, a spin, um, a, a big spin on an area that was just outta state and something we had purchased from OUTTA State. So they were calling to check in against that, but it just didn't catch me right at the right moment. And I, I just said, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna call you at the customer service number that I have on the back of my credit card. Is, is there a, is there a number I can refer to to get back through? Uh, and they immediately, like, I was kind of, I was kind of embarrassed to ask off of that, but she was, the lady was really nice. She's like, Nope, absolutely. You don't need a number. You call in off of that number as soon as you do, they're gonna see, we were just having this conversation and they'll pick up where you and I left off.
Speaker 0 00:29:08 That's fantastic.
Speaker 3 00:29:09 I mean, it was that easy. And I was like, huh, fantastic. And it worked that easy. I, I hung up the phone. I called from a number that I knew because it came in unlisted or un unknown in just the way that it came from their call center. Sure. Um, yeah. And, and sure enough, that person was able to pick it up and say, yep, this is what we're calling about, and it was this. And I was like, oh, yep, okay. God, it, my wife made a purchase, you know, outta state. But that's probably what that is, and we got it.
Speaker 0 00:29:32 That's a wonderful step to take. And it might seem elementary right, or embarrassing at times, but it's, yeah, it's a necessary step, and I can promise you that you'll be less embarrassed by having taken that step than by dealing with an instance of theft or financial fraud down the road.
Speaker 3 00:29:47 Yeah. And look, there are a few things that can't be worked out if in front of you there that can't be worked out over an hour or something. Right? Absolutely. If not even longer. Right. So if you're getting that call, it's not gonna be a life and death generally from that, taking that moment to say, great. Um, you could even take a number from them. That's not the number you want to call back. You just want to go back to where you have that bonafide number, make that phone call, have your parents make that phone call to you, and then you can walk through with that number and say, okay, this is the number we have for them. I'd just call 'em back and let's, let's go. So that's, uh, yeah. Wonderful. Well, uh, before we, before, we're gonna make a break here in just one second.
Speaker 3 00:30:26 I, and we're gonna see a little of what you guys do at Identity Force, um, and, and happy to take a peek into that a little bit under the hood. Uh, just kind of prior to jumping into that, the, the cyber fraud in particular, that's, that's on the rise, uh, for seniors today. The, the fishing, particularly when it comes down to fishing and stuff like that. Sure. One, one element, uh, that I've noticed is, and, and we've seen in a couple places here at the show, when a, um, when people are going to sign up for, it seems to be insurance products or shopping insurance, they are giving, they're being asked to give in order to complete it. They're being asked to give permission for the insurance company to assemble information from way outside of what we're just doing here. And it kind of looks like we're giving permission carlan for them to go assemble a huge risk target of something to get hack. Can you, can you speak to what that is and, and what the industry's doing about that?
Speaker 0 00:31:28 Yeah. I would say that a, that is a way, not interest company specifically, but that is a way for, um, companies or fraudsters really to pose as a company and, um, and commit a phishing attempt. So I would say as you're evaluating the companies that you are mass shopping with or comparing products with, um, that you'd be very cognizant and share as little information as possible to get through the application process. Um, and that you've done your research up front to see if this is a reputable, um, shopping engine, essentially, that read the reviews. You can very quickly, um, Google search and see the reputation of a company. You can, um, check to see if there are any bad reviews where people have fallen victim to fraud or if they've had issues throughout the process. So it's always worth that extra layer of research just to determine if it is a legitimate site or not.
Speaker 0 00:32:19 Um, and one thing in addition to phishing that, that I think that everyone should be cognizant of and pay attention to is phishing with a V instead of that pH. So V like Victor Vishing attacks, um, similarly we're seeing happen where, um, people are answering a phone call and they might ask right off the bat, what's your full name? And if I say, Shelby stole, and then they say, confirm your date of birth, and I confirm my date of birth right there on the phone line, um, they're recording that information, and now they've got my voice recognition so that they can go in, log in to maybe my retirement account or my h s a account, if I have a, an online voice recognition set up, and they're using that again at the end of the day to authenticate my identity, um, and gain access to my accounts.
Speaker 3 00:33:07 Yeah. There, so that was a recommendation had been given to us off of ours. I used to answer the phone of, hi, this is Tony, uh, and I've been recommended, don't answer the phone off of that. Right? That's, that can create challenges for that. That is fascinating. And particularly as we get into, uh, to those types of recognition programs, so fantastic. Well, hey, I'm excited right now to take a peek into it. Let's look a little bit under the hood with Identity Force and stay tuned. Come back to, uh, to us, listen to Shelby Stole and I talk a little bit more o on identity theft, uh, here on the Parent Projects podcast. Stay tuned.
Speaker 7 00:33:44 Our connected lifestyle puts everyone's personal information at risk, whether you're at home or even at work. With many organizations experiencing data breaches and fishing scams, the stats are alarming and no one is immune. Not even the US government. In fact, older adults are victims of identity theft nearly every four minutes. And nearly 75% of working adults, even children, are targets for identity theft. And those numbers increase every year. We're all at risk of losing control of what we spend every day of our lives creating our identity. So how should we protect it? Identity force as Santic brand provides continuous and comprehensive 24 7 monitoring of your identity, privacy, and credit identity force continuously scans dark places of the web where sensitive information is bought and sold. So if a thief attempts to use your personal information in any way, rest assured that identity force is working hard to protect you. Our advanced ID theft protection technology provides rapid alerts from any device Identity force offers anywhere, anytime protection, allowing you to take immediate action before damage is done. And if something should happen, identity Force provides comprehensive restoration and recovery services with Certified protection experts available 24 7 through Easy Shield Restoration. Don't just protect what you have, protect who you are, put identity forces award-winning identity theft protection solutions to work for you, whether for you personally or to protect your employees. Get started with a free identity force trial today and start protecting what matters most.
Speaker 3 00:35:34 Hey, welcome. Back in this week, we are sitting down with Shelby Stroll of, uh, the Vice President with Identity force of TransUnion. Uh, and, uh, Shelby, we're, we've been working through and talking on, uh, identity fraud, things that are happening, identity theft, fishing, fishing. That's a, a great new, uh, a a new term that I've seen the impacts of technology and, and what we're seeing and how it's coming about to us. Um, you know, I, um, I have been probably like most Americans, right? I had identity fraud. My military records, unfortunately, the Office of Professional Military O P M S, they were, they got hacked, uh, in all in the data files. And our, our human resources files were hacked. So the military pays for us to have me and, and all my kids and my family, my dependents to have, uh, protection. Uh, so what are the, um, I guess is that, I mean, how, how revel, how prevalent are we seeing that across America these days, uh, for, for people that have had those, those breaks?
Speaker 0 00:36:35 Absolutely. Um, so there are legal requirements that are associated when a breach occurs. Um, the breach must be reported either, uh, to a public or private repository. And, um, once the breach occurs, there is the opportunity, of course, for criminals to monetize that breach on the commercial dark web as well. Um, so legally speaking, a company, once they experience a breach, is required to provide, um, a certain layer of identity theft protection when it comes to resolution of any future instance, um, and reimbursement for any funds that may be stolen from you. Um, so that's of course, the business that I operate in on a day-to-day basis. So those proactive monitoring components that are associated with, um, watching out for your name, your likeness, and your, your personally identifiable information once the breach has occurred, is a great way to hedge off any, any future instance of identity theft.
Speaker 3 00:37:25 Okay. Awesome. Um, what are, okay, so that's, and I love these. The also that that's got some level of proactive response on the backside when, when something goes out there, we can, how long would we be looking to see a problem or not a problem if we, you know, you are part of the target one or you're part of this or any of these others that are, go out there and, and honestly, in a world in which it seems like you're not just looking against individual hackers, we're kind of running against nation states, uh, in a, in a lot of courses who don't just have to have to get it right. Once we know as a technology company, um, it is a constant squeeze against us that we have to be perpetually against because we have to be right every day. They get to be right one day and we have a problem. Sure. Um, with that, with that said, I digress. What is, uh, about how long or so do we, would, would somebody continue to watch to see if, if that's gonna have an impact for 'em?
Speaker 0 00:38:25 I would say if somebody is not taking proactive steps to protect their identity and protect the data that has been breached, then you can indefinitely kind of look, look over your shoulder and expect fraud to occur. Um, the reason being is that it's not really a question at the end of the day as to whether our information has been breached. We know that components of nearly everyone's identity has been breached. Will it be used for? Criminal intent is going to be dependent upon future breaches that occur that allow any criminal to piece together enough components. So while, you know, at the end of the day, name, email address, phone number might not be enough for someone to commit an instance of fraud, they might be able to harass your loved one or yourself at the end of the day to, to try to commit fraud and reach out to those individuals. Um, but until they get that date of birth, that last four, the social security number or those login credentials, that's whenever they're able to strike. And so it's an ongoing problem, unfortunately. But the good news is, if you know that, um, your loved one's email address, for instance, has been compromised, you can go in, you can set up multifactor authentication, you can change the password, um, and you can take steps that will prohibit that instance of breach or compromised information from snowballing and leading to a greater instance of fraud.
Speaker 3 00:39:43 That's great. That's great. So what are, and I guess then we'll back up just one more step. What are the first steps that we could have a loved one or a family member, or even us, but if we wanted to give some direction to mom or dad about what to do, if they were to get a letter like that or something, they were to be informed in some way, shape, or form, what would those first kind of steps do?
Speaker 0 00:40:04 Yeah. If they received notification that they've fallen victim, um, to a breach or to an instance of fraud, it's very important to contact, um, maybe the state or local agency that's involved if government fraud is in play, um, it's also important to immediately contact the financial institute in question. Um, and then to think through, think like the criminal as much as you can. If I have gained access to this account, what other similar accounts am I going to try to gain access to? Um, so once that notification is received, it's a great time to just take, um, a look at your entire login and financial landscape as a whole to make sure that each of those steps, whether it's multifactor authentication, whether it's a change of pin number, um, that you're going through each of those in a proactive way mm-hmm. To mm-hmm. That it's not a domino effect of the accounts in which that criminal has access to.
Speaker 3 00:40:56 Okay. And, and I noticed you started on that in saying, talking to the agency that was involved. Cause usually there'll be a governmental agency that's informed somewhere on that letter and contacting that organization. I, I get an inkling that might be, because sometimes there are scams that pretend like they're telling you there's a disclosure or breach of data. Does, am I in the right ballpark? Unfortunately,
Speaker 0 00:41:20 Unfortunately, you are. Yes. You'll want to confirm that. Um, you'll want to confirm that the breach of, of course, did occur, because there are breach notifications that go out that are false as well, and they'll want you to call in and confirm that it's you again, we're going back to confirm that it's you provide that information. Yeah. Um, so you've gotta be very, very diligent. It's not a bad idea to tackle it in tandem with a loved one with your senior family member so that you've got two sets of ears hearing every piece of information, um, that's being thrown at you. And of course, there is the option, of course, um, there are identity theft protection products out in the market where, um, resolution specialists are, are very well versed in corresponding with those agencies, with those financial institutes, and with, with legal teams as well, whenever necessary.
Speaker 3 00:42:06 Brilliant. Awesome. Well, it sounds like it's a really good thing. There's smart people like you, Shelby, and your team at Identity Force that are working with companies to stay in front of this. I really appreciate you, uh, the efforts that you're taking out there to stay up to, up to speed, and to keeping us safe.
Speaker 0 00:42:23 Sure. We, we put forth our best effort and, uh, I always say at the end of the day, it's an unfortunate reality that we have to deal with all of the things that are being tossed each of our ways, um, every day. But, um, it's important to have the protection and the foresight in place, so we'll continue our commitment to protection for everybody.
Speaker 3 00:42:39 That's great. Hey, uh, Shelby, if, um, if somebody wanted to get, if you're, if we actually, because of a lot of us are still working and working through that, a lot of good small business owners or, or other business influencers that are out there, if they wanted to get more information and how they can handle that at that broader scheme and protect people within that organization, how do they get a, how would they get ahold of you guys?
Speaker 0 00:42:59 Absolutely. Um, you can do a quick Google Identity force, a TransUnion brand, and you will, um, be led right to our website that you can see on screen here today. And we have business solutions. We have Identity Theft protection solutions, breach response, you name it. Um, everything as it pertains to creating trust with your data at the end of the day, um, and remediating any instance of fraud or theft.
Speaker 3 00:43:20 Yeah. That, that's wonderful. I think it's a great place to look too and to turn, um, when that's happening, where you can communicate from one place and get a lot of people at once. Yes. Uh, you, you definitely have a, a heavy pace of fraud to keep up against. So that's a, that's a heck of a race. And again, I, I really applaud the work that you guys are doing at it. Thanks so much for keeping vigilant over it, and thanks for sharing your time, talents, and treasures with us here at Parent Projects.
Speaker 0 00:43:44 I appreciate it, Tony. Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 00:43:47 Thanks.
Speaker 2 00:43:51 Well, that's it for the team this week, and thanks for joining us. If you enjoy the content, remember to subscribe and to share this episode on the app that you're using right now. Your reviews and your comments, they really help us expand our reach as well as our perspective. So if you have time, also drop us a note. Let us know how we're doing for tips and tools to clarify your parent project, simplify communication with your stakeholders, and verify the professionals that you choose. You can find us on YouTube, follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Thanks again for trusting us. Until our next episode, behold and be Held.
Speaker 4 00:44:24 Thank you for listening to this Par Project's podcast production. To access our show notes, resources, or forums, join us on your favorite social media platform or go to parent projects.com. This show is for informational and educational purposes only. Before making any decisions consulted professional credential in your local area. This show is copyrighted by Family Media and Technology Group Incorporated and Parent Projects llc. Written permissions must be granted before syndication or re-broadcast.
