Chase fraud expert warns of impersonation, social media scams during Financial Literacy Month

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – This segment on The Three was paid for and sponsored by Chase.

April is Financial Literacy Month, and protecting money has become as important as saving it, according to a fraud prevention expert at Chase.

Darius Kingsley, head of consumer fraud and scam prevention at Chase, said impersonation scams are among the most prevalent threats facing consumers. Scammers use spoofed phone numbers to make calls appear to come from banks or government agencies.

“You’ll get a phone call and it’ll look like it may even be a spoofed number from a scammer. It’ll look like it’s coming from your bank and you’ll talk to the person on the other end of the phone thinking that you’re talking to your bank, but it’s really a scammer on the other side,” Kingsley said.

Social media scams target online shoppers

Social media scams represent another major category of fraud. Kingsley said scammers create fake websites to sell merchandise that does not exist, last-minute concert tickets or fake apartment listings.

“We live online these days. We’re doing so much more shopping than ever. We look for apartments, jobs, all of that we do online. The scammers know that,” Kingsley said.

Some fake apartment listings include real photos, but the apartments are not available for rent.

How to verify suspicious calls

Kingsley said consumers should hang up on unexpected calls from banks or government agencies and verify contact through official channels. He said consumers can call the number on the back of their credit or debit cards to confirm whether an issue is real.

“If someone reaches out to us like that out of the blue, it’s probably a scam,” Kingsley said. “If it’s your bank and all of a sudden they call you up, you can hang up on them. It’s okay because by the way, if it’s real, no one from a bank is going to be upset or offended that you hung up on them.”

Law enforcement and federal agencies typically send letters before making phone calls, Kingsley said. He advised consumers not to call numbers provided in suspicious text messages.

Chase maintains a security center website at chase.com/security with information on scam prevention. The site includes tips on setting up family passwords and steps to take after falling victim to a scam. The resource is available to non-Chase customers.