Fraud Alerts

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July. Did you know July is National Auto Theft Prevention Month? Although the warm weather allows for summertime activities, it also opens up windows of opportunity (literally) for car thieves. Auto-theft is on the rise (up 9.4% since 2017) in Colorado, but there are habits…

I am cautiously optimistic that spring is finally here, although I have not yet put away my winter coat!  As anyone who has lived in the Rockies for any amount of time knows spring storms can be treacherous.  Hail damage can leave roofs, cars and yards a mess.  Repairs take money and time and they bring…

April showers (and bomb cyclone snow) may bring May flowers, but they are also bringing a surge of consumer complaints on a new scam.  A Social Security Administration (SSA) scam is on the rise and the Federal Trade Commission warns that consumer complaints about it are escalating while the IRS tax fraud scam is declining. …

I love this time of year. The lights at the City and County Building certainly put me in the holiday spirit.  This month, we are sending along our yearly “12 Days of Holiday Scams” list. While many of us take vacations, fraudsters never do. As a matter of fact, there is often an uptick of scams during this time…

When disaster strikes, we often look to, and see, many charitable organizations stepping up to provide the much needed support to those affected. It’s during these times that these organizations see an uptick in contributions.  Without our support, many of these charities would not be able to operate.  When our hearts ache for those in harm’s…

In this month’s newsletter, we are providing some tips to keep your college- bound children safe from falling into a scammer’s trap. Additionally, you may find the information from the FBI’s Yearly Internet Crime Report very interesting.  For each state, the Internet Crime Complaint Centeraka IC3 report, tracks the categories of scams, the number of people who were…

Who among us hasn’t enjoyed enhancing a text or an email with a wink, a nod, or even a hat. These icons are adorable.  They take the place of words, save on character space, and provide a little emotional intent behind your words.  And, for the most part, emojis are harmless.  But we wouldn’t be talking…

Hail season is upon us and so are the businesses that chase the storms to get your repair business when you are at your most vulnerable.  Don’t be so quick to hire a contractor that you end up worse off than you were before.  The Better Business Bureau recently reported that a hail repair business…

  Typos.  At best, they are an embarreeesmint!  At worst, making a typo when you enter a website name into your browser, may just get you scammed. It’s called a typo-squatting scam. A recent report stated that more than 12 million web users have fallen victim to the typo-squatting scam in the first 3 months…

From Cambridge Analytica Data misuse to daily hacking, what you share on social media is a veritable orchard of private in formation waiting to be harvested. The primary way that your data is grabbed is by answering all those posts that seem harmless. You’ve seen these posts from your “friends” asking for your response: what was the name of…