One of the best ways to spot a scam is to know how scammers tell you to pay. When viewers reach out to ask News 8 On Your Side consumer investigator Brian Roche about a scam, one of the first questions he usually asks is: How are you being asked to send the money?The answer is usually a tip-off they are being scammed.Scammers want you to pay them in ways that are hard to trace and hard to get your money back, such as a gift card, a wire transfer, a payment app, or cryptocurrency. Many people are still unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.Scammers like to use them because they don’t have the same legal protections as credit cards, and payments usually can’t be reversed.To avoid these scams, remember that no legitimate business or government agency is going to demand you pay with cryptocurrency to buy something, pay taxes or fines, or to “protect” your money. That’s always a scam.Brian said he’s a bit surprised that scammers are still trying to con people using cryptocurrency.Many of the older consumers that they target have absolutely no idea what crypto is or how to use it, so the bad guys don’t get their money.But that doesn’t mean they won’t stop trying, so don’t let your guard down.
One of the best ways to spot a scam is to know how scammers tell you to pay.
When viewers reach out to ask News 8 On Your Side consumer investigator Brian Roche about a scam, one of the first questions he usually asks is: How are you being asked to send the money?
The answer is usually a tip-off they are being scammed.
Scammers want you to pay them in ways that are hard to trace and hard to get your money back, such as a gift card, a wire transfer, a payment app, or cryptocurrency.
Many people are still unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether.
Scammers like to use them because they don’t have the same legal protections as credit cards, and payments usually can’t be reversed.
To avoid these scams, remember that no legitimate business or government agency is going to demand you pay with cryptocurrency to buy something, pay taxes or fines, or to “protect” your money. That’s always a scam.
Brian said he’s a bit surprised that scammers are still trying to con people using cryptocurrency.
Many of the older consumers that they target have absolutely no idea what crypto is or how to use it, so the bad guys don’t get their money.
But that doesn’t mean they won’t stop trying, so don’t let your guard down.
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