On this week’s edition of Money, I’m Home, Lynne kicks off a new monthly series about fraud with Consumers Fraud Specialist Kristy Desimone. Each month we’re going to focus on the many types of fraud and how you can be ready if it happens to you.

 

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0:00:06.5 Lynne Jarman-Johnson (LJJ): Money, I’m home! Welcome in. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. Thank you so much for joining us today. I’ll tell you what, we have got a full year of such great podcasts plan for you, and I want to give you a little sneak peak. Joining us today is Kristy Desimone, and she is our fraud specialist here at Consumers Credit Union. You know, the more I talk to you, Kristy, the more I am so excited that we are going to do a series on fraud prevention for our members this year.

0:00:34.8 Kristy Desimone (KD): Me too. I’m so stoked to be here to provide some education and some examples, just to help us out as we push through into the New Year and make it a great year for everybody.

0:00:44.3 LJJ: As I’ve talked to you, there’s so many surprising eye-opening things that are happening out in this big worldwide web we call that we love, right?

0:00:52.1 KD: Right.

0:00:52.4 LJJ: But then I’m finding out from you, there’s so many fraudsters out there, and it’s kind of… It’s really scary when you hear about it.

0:01:02.6 KD: Yeah. It can be really scary and the pandemic kind of changed some of the fraud landscape that we have, but we are doing our best to educate and stay on top of it, and really give our members and our employees opportunities to help our members not fall for scams and protect each other through this time so that we can stay on top and prevent these things.

0:01:24.9 LJJ: So, tell us a little bit about what you’ve been seeing that… You said since the pandemic, and obviously technology has brought to the forefront the opportunity for people really to be able to fake things, you know? That phishing it’s called… And explain that a little bit.

0:01:43.2 KD: Yeah. So, I think the biggest one that we’ve seen grow exponentially throughout the pandemic has been romance scams, and these are these long-term scams where people build trust through social media in order to gain access to funds, accounts, online banking. It really is probably the most heartbreaking of all the scams, because the person is really invested, and since we were quarantined and isolated, people really reached out for any way to connect with someone else. So, these have been something that have just grown so much.

0:02:18.9 LJJ: Well, I have heard, and this happened in our family, a scam where an individual actually used voice recognition to my mother, and she thought it was a relative of ours in trouble, but it was voice recognition and I think it comes from gaming. Have you heard of that?

0:02:35.7 KD: Yeah. So, they can record people and get ways to make it sound like someone that you know, and then any information on social media, they are able to read and find and connect the dots. So, you really assume you’re speaking to someone you know. We had a member who had a relative reach out and they were… Knew everything. She was like, “They knew everything about me, they knew all these things,” and it really breaks down to their willing to do the research in order to get access to you and funds.

0:03:08.6 LJJ: Kristy, what else is going on out there? Every month we’re going to touch base with you and find out if there’s any new things going on, but obviously…

0:03:18.4 KD: Right.

0:03:19.5 LJJ: Our members are savvy, they know what’s going on, but some of this stuff is so real looking or real sounding.

0:03:26.3 KD: Right. Exactly. Yeah, and a lot of times it’s email. So we’ve gotten a big surge in email checks. So they appear, they’re written to you and they appear to be legitimate and their email, then you just go ahead and deposit it and the person will get some funds back and you keep some funds, and it seems like a very good way to make a little money during the holidays and things like that, but in reality, it really is someone trying to get real money in place of a check that is not good. So that… Yeah, it’s amazing what people… I had one person say, “It was written to me, so I just deposited it and was like, let’s see if it works,” and so, it’s just… [laughter] It can be tough to be like, “Hey, let’s pause and maybe not do that.” [laughter] But…

0:04:11.3 LJJ: You know, we are still in a pandemic, and it is the time where A, you may be online more, you might be online less, but those things that you’re saying, that can be a comfort to me that I feel like I have a little bit more extra cash if you need it.

0:04:29.8 KD: Right.

0:04:29.9 LJJ: Is an immediate… And you know what the saying is, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

0:04:35.1 KD: Right. And so many people have seen their safety nets pulled away over the past year or two years, that they’re willing to try anything in order to get those safety nets back. So, it really is that moment where you’re like, “I’m just trying to make sure I stay comfortable and able to make ends meet,” instead of like, “Hey, let me think about this for a second a little deeper.”

0:04:55.7 LJJ: Now, when we talk… We’ve got great topics that are coming up that we’re going to talk about all year long, so everybody just keep on listening, because you’re really going to learn some things. But one of the things that I think is so fascinating is the fact that people still, for some reason, and me included, that you sometimes just don’t want to talk about money, and you might be embarrassed if something happens where you fell for a fraud, and you’re like, “How did I do that?”

0:05:24.1 KD: Right. And I think that is the number one thing that people feel when they realize that they’ve fallen for a scam, as they’re like, “How could I not see this? How could I not recognize these signs?” And sometimes you’re so caught up in the moment that you’re like, “This has to be true. I’ve done these great things and this is my pay off and I’m ready for it.” And in reality, we are here to not point any blame at anyone, but we’re here to educate and help people understand what to look for in this landscape so that they don’t fall for those scams.

0:05:53.3 LJJ: I remember years back, and I know it’s still happening today, and we’re going to talk a little bit in the New Year about social media. I sat on Facebook and up popped a message when messages first started. So this was years ago.

0:06:07.8 KD: Yeah.

0:06:08.5 LJJ: And a friend of mine that I graduated from high school with, I had not seen in years, but I know they travel all over the place, and how do I know that? Because of Facebook [laughter] there in up pops this message saying that this individual [chuckle] had been captured. I mean, I laugh now, but seriously, when it happened, I panicked. I thought, “Oh my gosh.” I really thought it was true. I didn’t know that… I hadn’t been in touch with the individual that much, and so…

0:06:37.2 KD: Right.

0:06:37.6 LJJ: It was a scam asking for money to get out of jail.

0:06:42.3 KD: Yeah.

0:06:42.9 LJJ: And there was a moment that I was ready. I was going to do anything to help this person. So, it’s sometimes not even about the fact that you might fall for it, it’s because you’re trying to help someone, it might not be even you that you’re trying to help, you’re trying to help somebody.

0:06:56.7 KD: Right. And that’s what they do, is they throw this line in hopes that they can find someone who wears their heart on their sleeve, and is willing to help anyone at all costs. And when they find those people, that’s when they really try to reel in as much as they can, as quickly as they can. So, they really do try to cast a wide net to get to those people.

0:07:13.8 LJJ: You just kind of shake your hand later, but then you realize you’re just… You’re an honest person trying to help. Hey, Kristy…

0:07:20.5 KD: Right.

0:07:21.5 LJJ: Tell us a little bit about yourself. You have such passion for fraud prevention, how did you find out about this space? And I’ll tell you you are members every single day.

[chuckle]

0:07:33.7 KD: Yeah, so I’ve been with Consumers for about four years, I started in our call center and then moved over to our digital service center, and then when I was in the digital service center, the pandemic happened, so we shut down and we were the only ones there processing checks and transactions. So, we saw the fraud, and that’s really where I found my passion, that I wanted to help educate members and understand the fraud landscape. So, I partnered with our fraud department and got training and was able to really help our DSC learn how to see fraud and help members when they’re being scammed. And that really just fueled my love of education. I love presenting and talking and giving information. I want to be as transparent as possible, because in the fraud fight, we are all together and a lot of times you can feel really alone when you fall for a scam. And we don’t ever want you to feel that way, because we want to be here in order to be someone you can lean on when these things happen.

0:08:34.3 LJJ: Well, I think Kristy is proof positive that you really can, as a member, or if you’re not a member and you have questions, we are here to answer those questions in a very open, honest, transparent way, and we don’t want you to feel uncomfortable asking a question about potential fraud or something that you see that’s going on that is making you feel edgy or uncomfortable. Kristy mentioned our DSC, and just for the listeners, that is our digital service center, that also means our TellerPlus+ team. So all of those individuals that you are connecting with in our TellerPlus+ stations, inside and outside our drive-throughs, that’s what that is. So again, if you drive up to a TellerPlus+ or you go inside one of our offices, you can ask anybody or you can share what’s going on, and we are there to help.

0:09:27.6 KD: Right, and I think the hesitancy with fraud questions and falling for scans has gone on for so long that I’m ready to break down that wall and be like, “Hey, ask me what you need, I’m here for you,” kind of deal.

[chuckle]

0:09:40.3 LJJ: Well, you will be here for us every single month, here on Money, I’m Home, we are going to invite Kristy in to tell us a little bit more about what’s going on and dig deeper in some of those fraud scams. Here I am, old school. You mentioned checks, and it just kind of makes me smile, because my kids are younger kids and those of you who have kids out there, I’ll tell you what, they don’t know what a check is, so we’re going to delve into that. Isn’t that just fascinating how times have changed?

0:10:10.6 KD: I know, I’ve seen people where they don’t know how to write a check, just the basic idea of where do I put the person I’m paying, and where do I sign? And all these things. So, it’s really fascinating to see the change from being where checks were something that the entire economy ran on and now they’re slowly becoming less and less important, because we’re having a variety of different ways to pay things. But I don’t know if they’ll ever disappear, so it’s good to give us some education in order to help our younger members understand.

0:10:39.0 LJJ: The things that are new technologies that opens the door for new fraud. So, this year, we are going to dig deep and we are going to break down those fears.

0:10:49.3 KD: Yes.

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0:10:52.3 LJJ: I am so excited about the New Year, thank you so much and I really appreciate A, your passion, but your knowledge. You have such great knowledge about what’s going on and helping our members.

0:11:03.5 KD: Awesome. I’m so excited to be here. I’m ready to tear down some walls with you.

0:11:06.6 LJJ: Hey everybody, if you want to continue tearing down walls or maybe you’ve got like a ladder you want to build [chuckle] for your savings, keep on listening to Money, I’m Home. I’m Lynne Jarman Johnson. I would like to thank Jake Esselink for his production skills. I hope you guys all have a great week and welcome into the New Year. We are going to really focus in on some strategic initiatives to help you become financially well. From finance to fitness, Money, I’m Home with Consumers Credit Union.

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