March 4, 2025

Protect Yourself, Protect Your Loved Ones

A hair stylist in Castle Rock recently experienced identity theft, though she is careful never to disclose personal or confidential information. One day her daughter discovered thousands of dollars had been stolen from a joint savings account. A police report was filed and after hours on the phone and in person with the bank trying to prove it was a scam, the pair discovered someone had pretended to be the stylist with legit-looking IDs. 

Identity Thief Gets Brazen

A day later, the stylist received a call from an LA branch of the bank reporting that her “granddaughter” was attempting to withdraw money. She had produced the stylist’s driver’s license. The stylist declared that she had no granddaughter, the police were called, and the thief was arrested. The pilfered money was restored, and the stylist and her extended family have invested in online security subscriptions and placed fraud alerts on credit accounts. 

Everyone is a target – particularly the elderly – and since it’s National Consumer Protection Week, we wanted to alert the residents of Looking Glass about the latest scams on the internet and in phone calls and texts. 

Phishing / Smishing Attacks

Have you noticed text messages coming through on your phone from USPS, UPS, FedEx or Amazon asking you to click the link because your package could not be delivered due to an address error? A con artist is phishing for confidential information hoping that you have ordered something and will click to receive it or are curious about what’s inside the package.

Other texts prey on your fear that there’s an issue with your bank account. That’s effective because if your hard-earned cash is at risk, that’s a huge cause for concern. You want to ensure that it’s safe and secure. Scammers report an “urgent problem” with your credit card, an overdraft at the bank, suspicious activity with your account, or an overdue bill resulting in massive fines. Spam texts disguised as bank alerts were the most popular types of scam texts in 2023 according to Slick Text, an SMS marketing company.

These smishing texts can include real company logos, threaten you to respond within a deadline, scare you into thinking you will lose money, have lost money, or offer you things too good to be true. Even savvy consumers who are naturally suspicious have to do a double take at some of these messages. (Are you smarter than a scammer? AURA, an online ID Theft protection service, has a quiz to see how you stack up.) 

Don’t Say “Yes”!

This one is dangerous because it relies on human nature to answer a question automatically before thinking rationally. A recorded voice will ask, “Can you hear me?” and the victim will respond “yes,” while a computer on the other end records your voice. From there, the scammer can play your recorded “yes” to access online financial accounts, make purchases and commit fraud. They simply play the recording of your voice when asked to authorize a log-in or agree to buy expensive items over the phone.

Scammers also use AI-generated or altered voices for their videos and for phone-based scams. Some AI tools can even mimic real accents. It’s possible for scammers to target you directly by finding a video of a friend or relative on social media and cloning their voice. They might call you, pretend to be the person and say they need money to pay a ransom or bail. These types of scams are sometimes called “grandparent” scams because the scammers often target older victims by claiming to be a grandchild in a difficult situation.

Sophisticated AI Scams

With low-cost AI tools proliferating, scammers can impersonate anyone, anywhere which means you must be wary of everything you see or hear online.

In December 2024 the FBI posted a PSA listing some of the ways that criminals use generative AI to trick victims using AI-generated text, images or videos to enhance popular scams. Scammers can use AI-generated images to create eye-catching websites, social media ads, fake identification documents, explicit photos and fake headshots for social media profiles.

They can also use AI-generated videos to promote fake products, services or investments.

Relationship Scams

“Social engineering” cons refer to a romance scammer who recognizes a desire for companionship and manipulates you out of your money while plying you with compliments, promises and praise. A common technique is the “wrong number” scam where the thief sends a seemingly innocent or flirtatious text message to the victim and then declares, “Oh sorry, wrong number.” The apparent accident is meant to get you to interact with the scammer.

From the faux-accidental introduction, the wrong number scam can take many different forms. For a crypto or investment scam, the swindlers might spin into offering you the “deal” they were preparing to offer someone else. It can also turn into a relationship scam, where the scammer tries to strike up a friendship or romantic relationship with the victim. Some wrong-number scammers can convince their target to download a malicious app to their phone or computer.

Check out this article to learn techniques for spotting social engineering scams.

Scammers are resourceful, inventive, and skilled. There are tax scams, job scams, love scams, social security scams, crypto and investment scams, and people pretending to be law enforcement personnel – all of which cost people billions. There are fake job postings which ask people to perform online tasks for money. And there are counterfeit job postings that phish for personal information. Yahoo Tech has tips for job hunters on how to spot the red flags.

Here’s the bottom line according to PCMag’s security team: Scammers are shameless, conscience-free, and they don’t take vacations. Be wary and suspicious of anyone and everyone online who might be trying to contact you. The same goes for texts or calls — stay vigilant. 

Looking Glass: Connections and Community

The community of Looking Glass is made up of neighbors and friends, where people circle the wagons when someone’s in need, and celebrate everyday joys and small and tall victories. The builders in this Parker community, Dream Finders Homes, Taylor Morrison, D.R. Horton (and soon Richmond American Homes) design and build for the today’s, with multiple parks, trails and amenities. Check out this lively master-planned community today!