Slam the Scam Day

In episode 93, you will Join Camile in the world of scams and scammers on Slam the Scam Day!

You're listening to the remote work retirement show. I'm your host, Camille Attell. And this is the only show that helps semi retirees figure out the remote work options. 

 
 I believe the remote work is the new retirement plan and that many retirees have both the ability and desire to work, how they want so they can live how they want. Let's dig into today's episode.... 

In episode 93, Camille addresses the numerous types of scams out there, including those that sound like official government agencies or representatives. The Social Security office posts information about these scams every March 7th of every year. So, it doesn’t matter when you are listening to this podcast, the information always applies.

Camille has extensive experience teaching about scams and scammers within her on-line coaching program, Remote Work School. Unfortunately, there have been members of that community who have experienced a scam of one sort or another personally. Camille gives a glimpse at how angry this makes her.

Unfortunately, the retired and semi-retired job seeking sectors of people are particularly vulnerable to these unethical and unscrupulous individuals. And it is not always easy to distinguish the source. If your radar goes up, leave it, hang up, delete it, and then report it if possible.

Join Camille now for more information not only from the Social Security office but her own personal experience and how she deals with and has dealt with scams and scammers. This is information all of us need, regardless of age or status.

Here is the link for the Social Security Office scam information. 

https://www.ssa.gov/scam

If you want to learn more about how to leverage your digital products or service visit:
 www.camilleattell.com/remoteworkschool

You can also take her FREE training at:
www.camilleattell.com/remote-training
 
If you have suggestions for the show, you can contact Camille via Instagram: @camille.attell

  **DISCLAIMER: This podcast is not a substitute for professional consultation. For any retirement or income-related matters, it is best to work with a professional advisor.**
  
  Welcome to The Remote Work Retirement Show, the only show that is dedicated to remote work for semi-retirees, people leaving the workforce, and people working in retirement to help them have the peace of mind that they can live how they want without the fear of running out of money.
 
 

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Transcript

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In episode 93, we talk about how you can slam the scam. This is put on by the social security office so that you can protect yourself from government scams. You're listening to the remote work retirement show. I'm your host, Camille Attell. And this is the only show that helps semi retirees figure out the remote work options. I believe the remote work is the new retirement plan and that many retirees have both the ability and desire to work, how they want so they can live how they want. Let's dig into today's episode.... Hello? Hello. Thank you so much for joining me today. If you're listening on the day that this podcast went live, it is March 6th and it is a Wednesday of 2024. And tomorrow is national slam the scam day for 2020 for now. It really doesn't matter what year you're listening to this. If it's 2025 and. Beyond because this is a national day that comes up every year in March. It is a day designated by the social securities office of the inspector general. The goal is to raise awareness of government imposter scams. And obviously, even though it's just one day of awareness, this is something we should all be aware of every day. So even though officially March 7th, Thursday, March 7th is the day. Really every day you need to have your radar on about scams. This is a topic that's really important to me because we talk a lot about scams in remote work school. And I want to make sure that my customers and clients are always aware of the different scams that are out there. Especially the ones that are around jobs. People who are fishing to get information from you, like your social security number or your bank account, or they're trying to have you send them a check for a lot of money, so you can buy equipment to do a job. And it absolutely breaks my heart because there are a number of people that this has happened to both folks inside of remote work school before they joined my program. Um, or even like friends, I know, or family. I know, and it just is crushing. It can be absolutely devastating, not only financially devastating, but it can be emotionally devastating too. And so it's really important for me that I, uh, build on this. This is not something where I've partnered with the. Social security office or anything like that. They're not sponsoring this podcast or they're not on this episode. But I'm aware that they do this every year. I'm on their email list. And. Whenever it comes up. I like to do something. Uh, on the podcast to talk about it either directly or indirectly. So today, what I want to do is I want to talk about what they are suggesting that you be aware of and things that you can do to slam the scam, to really be aware of when something is a scam. And what you can do to minimize any harms to you. So, what I'll do is I will actually link to some of their resources in the show notes so that you can go click the link and go directly to their website, which has a lot of information to make sure. That you have the information you need to, to be aware of these scams. Now they talk about specifically government scams. That's what they focus on, of course, because it is the social security office. I like to focus on, um, job scams, people that are, like I mentioned before, people who are fishing for information because, uh, they, well, they're praying basically. On folks like you, who may be looking for a job or looking to get your resume out there or get an interview. And I see the scams all the time. So. I'm going to talk a little bit about that today, in addition to what the social security office is recommending. And then in general, there are lots of other scams out there. I don't want to get into every single one of them, but I just want you to be aware of some of the common ones that are floating around. So, first of all, the, um, what's what's on the social security website is they talk about that. There are different scams that are going around, that you should be aware of and they want you to be suspicious about, and then take action. And so one of them is this suspicious call. So apparently there are calls that go around where you might get a phone call and that phone call, by the way, it could be a human. It could be a bot like a robot. It could be AI. So unfortunately, This is where I think we could see some, uh, some of the negative sides of AI, because AI can in many ways, simulate a real human voice. That's really unfortunate. Um, it could, it could even be, um, A phone call of someone who sounds very official. It could be overseas. It could be anything that I've mentioned and more. And so what they want you to do is if you receive a call like this and it feels suspicious, We can talk about what suspicious means, uh, It could Prange they want you to hang up immediately, like just hang up. Now. I gotta be honest with you. I struggle with this with hanging up because when my radar goes up and I think that someone is initiating a scam. I kind of like to tease the scam out of them a little bit. And then I just go off because I'm so angry. I'm so angry because I know that so many people in my community or the people that I serve or people who are of retirement age are being targeted by these people. And so what I do is I go on the offensive and I start threatening the scammer. I talked to them about how I'm going to report them. I say things like, I can trace you. I know where you work. I mean, I'm not going overboard. I'm not like, you know, B, I'm not like crossing the line. I'm not breaking the law or anything, but I'm letting them know upfront that I know that they're a scammer and that I am aware of who they are and I will report them. And I do report them. Um, and there, there is a way to report by the way, the social security office does have, um, a way that you can report these scams. So should I hang up? Yes. Uh, but I'm sort of a virtual vigilante. I feel like I just made that up. I probably didn't. Um, but I just get so mad because I'm so protective. Of people. Right. And I just, it just fries me. Um, so anyway, you're supposed to hang up. Uh, don't believe people, if people are trying to convince you of something. Uh, they're trying to, and they do this for sure. I have been on the opposite. End of many scammers, both phone calls, text messages, instant messages. Oh, and they try everything to be official. They'll send you pictures, they'll send you an emblem or a logo of where they work. They'll give you a name that sounds official, or a title like senior representative of something. And they try to establish credibility really early on, but I'll tell you, you'll just kind of know. There's a little voice. We talk about this a lot in remote work school. A lot of us talk about like the scams that we're seeing or things that just feel really fishy or weird. And there's always a little antenna in your brain. That's like, Hmm. I don't know. This person sounds too good to be true. Or who is this agency that they're calling from? Is it real? You know, and like if at all your antenna goes up at all, even a little bit, just hang up. It's just safer. You don't want to get caught. These people are good. I've even almost gotten scammed, even though I'm really good at spotting them, um, to, into buying Taylor swift tickets last year. I think I talked about that on another episode, this person was good. I mean, even when. To the degree of setting up a fake social media presence. And they made it look like someone who lived in my neighborhood. They put up big pictures of a family. And this was a mom who couldn't go because, you know, something came up with her kid's soccer game and I was really sucked into this conversation. Except, and this is where the little radar went up. The tickets for Taylor swift seemed awfully inexpensive. This is for her era's tour, which when that hit the scene, if you follow that at all, these tickets were ridiculously priced. I don't even know why I thought I could go ever, but the tickets just seemed way too cheap. And so that was one of those things where I'm like, this just feels weird. So even though the social security office is focused on government scams. Again, I just want to weave in scams in general into this episode, because if I've seen them, I want to report them to you. So anyway, people will try to establish credibility. Don't believe them. Also what the social security office tells you is, look at your caller ID. So like who's coming up on your phone. I mean, is it somewhere number? Is it some name you don't recognize? Is it a name that sounds official, but why would someone official be calling you? Um, I get calls. I'll get, I'll get, um, voicemails sometimes from people and it'll pop up and it'll say like office or agency official agency of something. And I'm like, what is that? Even. So, you know, I just know automatically, like don't trust that that's weird. The next one. And this one is like, it seems like it should be obvious, but it just is, is not don't give anyone any money. And I can't even begin to tell you how many people, family members included. Want to just give people money because it does seem legitimate. Maybe someone's calling and they say they're from the social security office and they need to verify information so they can send you your check. And what they need from you is they want your bank account number, your routing number. They need your social security number. They need you to write them a check so they can validate or verify don't do that ever, ever, ever. The only time you would ever do that is if you go to the social security office or you're logged into your official secure account, but if someone is calling you or emailing you or texting you or anything like that, No, that is not the time to hand over that information. And also don't give them any personal information. No social security numbers. No names, no histories, no birth dates, no ages, nothing like that. Now, if you do feel like there is a scam, um, or you know, something worth reporting. I'll link to where you would report that, but I'll also mention you would go to O I G dot S S a. Dot G O V again, I'll put the link. Um, in there. And if you want to go to the page directly, you can go to ssa.gov/scam. I want to talk about some of the ways that scammers will impersonate the government. Again, this comes directly from the website. These are some things to look out for specifically, people may again, call you email, you, text you, however it is. And they may say that they are from the social security administration. And, uh, your benefits will end unless you pay. Apparently that is very specific. Language that some of these scammers will use. So be on alert for that. Secondly, they may say that they are from the IRS and that you owe taxes. That's another one you need to be aware of. And the last one is they say that you need to give your Medicare number to get a new card. Just remember anytime anyone calls you, emails, you, or texts you and asks you for this information, you do not need to give that information. You need to hang up. And then it's wise, if you report that. So that's the slam, the scam that the social security administration office is talking about. I want to talk about just a couple of more related to job searching since this is the remote work retirement show, and lots of folks are looking for remote work. Some of the scams. Uh, for remote work or work in general, have to do with people reaching out to you in text format or instant messaging you on platforms like Facebook or Instagram or any of the other places, or even on your own phone number. And they say things like they want to set up an interview with you, or really not even an interview. They just. Want you to start sending information so that they can set up an interview with you? And they may ask you for things like where do you live? Your address, they may ask you for your resume sometimes. Not always. It's it tends to be more about personal information there. We're just trying to engage you. And then they refuse to do things like get on a phone call with you, or jump on a zoom meeting with you so that you can actually have an interview. And if you ask for an interview, they'll make excuses. They'll say, no, we're just going to do this through chat or go ahead and just email me at this address or worse, you know, email me your information, like your checking account and your social security number or any other financial information. Why don't you just instant message me that we'll get you going. We're going to send you some equipment and it just turns into. A, oh, it just crushes me because. They make it seem like you have to go through. Some steps to even get to an interview. And a lot of times those steps include them. Just getting more information from you, leading you on to believe that there will be an interview when really they're just either trying to steal your identity or get something from you financially. And so it's another good idea to simply ignore it. Don't respond. In fact, it's better to block them immediately. Delete them. There really isn't a good way to report people like that because there just isn't an agency that deals with that. Right now. Um, I'm sure there will be. Um, Yeah. I mean, trying to go to like your local police or anything like that, just isn't going to work. A lot of those scams are overseas. Uh, one that I got, I got into recently where. I did lamb pass. The person happened on a platform called WhatsApp. That's a platform that works internationally. It was, it was crazy. This person reached out to me and said, Hey, we saw your profile on LinkedIn. So that sounds legitimate. And we have this great role that we think that you would be a great fit for. And, uh, you know, it offers paid training, yada yada, and. It was weird. Like it kind of felt legit. Cause they said they saw me on LinkedIn, which is, is a legitimate platform. But I knew it was weird. I mean, why would anyone contact me in a text message on WhatsApp? That's just already a red flag. So I kind of knew, I was like, what is this? So I was like, sure. Yeah. You know, send the information over and then they said, well, we really want to set you up with an interview with our hiring manager. Which I thought was weird. Cause I'm like, well, they didn't ask me for anything, but okay. I'll go along with this charade. So I said, all right, that's great. Um, Sure have your hiring manager reach out to me. So the hiring manager reached out to me and the job just sounded wackadoo. I don't even know what it was. They were like, oh, so the commission structure is this, and you're going to earn X amount for every deal. You close, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, what is the job? And I'm not kidding you. The job sounded just like the weirdest thing. I don't even know what it was. The title was strange. I didn't know what it meant. I kept asking questions. I asked more and more questions because I. I can't help myself. I'm not advising you to do this. I'm just telling you, this is what I do. And in the end I just went off. I was like, y'all are scam scammers. You're con artists. You're not even good ones at that. You're horrible at this. I know where you work. I've looked you up. I'm reporting you immediately. Uh, and this person literally started laughing at me in a text message, by the way, it was just, I just, it was soul crushing because I know that they're doing this to a lot of people. And there were a lot of people who would fall for it because it was good at first. So it's just another one to look out for. Um, where again, people will use legitimate things like LinkedIn. Or indeed or whatever, they will use those legitimate platforms to trick you. Into having a conversation with them. Only to lure you down the path to keep getting information from you. So always block them, don't engage with them. And the last thing we'll say is, do not get discouraged. The one thing I tell people is you have to be constantly applying to jobs. Constantly being found on places like LinkedIn or other platforms like flex jobs so that you don't get your heart set on one job that turns out to be a scam. The best way to guard against that is to have many, many, many opportunities lined up in the pipeline. So when that fish swims away or you cut bait, You have many more opportunities lined up and you don't feel so discouraged by the scams. Okay. And remember, don't give away any information. It's just, I can't say that enough. Okay. All right. I feel like I've been on a soapbox. I've been harping on this, but once again, it is slammed the scam day. Well, tomorrow the seventh or whatever, you're listening to this episode. So I just want to make sure that I'm doing my part in making you aware. Thank you so much for listening. Join me next time. I'll be talking about a new side hustle that I came up with, how I did it and, uh, what I can expect from it. I don't know. Maybe you'll learn something. If nothing else, it should be a fun. Episode. See then. If you're looking to get back into the workforce, change jobs, work remotely, or learn artificial intelligence, check out my free remote work training so you can get ahead of the trends and stay ahead of the pack. Click the link in the show notes, or go to www.camilahealth.com and press the free training button.