Smart About Money: Don’t take the bait

By Nick Maffeo

Researching scams and scam prevention, I came across the concept of the “initial bait.” Specifically, it is the lure (like the offer of a refund) or the threat that gets someone to respond to a scammer’s approach email, text or phone call. There’s a reason it’s called “phishing.”

Nick Maffeo

The scammers make initial approaches all day every day. They know how hard it is to get someone to take the bait. Most people completely ignore those approaches. They delete questionable emails and texts. They don’t pick up calls with names or numbers they don’t recognize.

So one way you can keep from getting caught in a scammer’s net is to never take that initial bait — to 100 percent refuse to respond in any way to fishy emails or phone calls. They’re usually easy enough to recognize. Misspellings and grammatical mistakes, a weird email address, and callers who don’t leave messages are three tell-tale signs. Just ignore these approaches and your day is good.

But what if, by mistake, you do respond to a phishing attempt? It happens. What you do next really matters.

Because when a scammer gets someone to respond, they immediately go into action. Some believe that the call is then actually handed off to a co-scammer who specializes in reeling victims in. I don’t know if that’s the case. And it hardly matters if it’s the original scammer or someone else — at that point, you are dealing with experienced criminals who are experts at what they do.

In many cases, the scammers will set up a situation where they pretend they are being helpful so they can get their victim to reciprocate by being helpful too. That’s where the real trouble starts. Because at that point, the victim is engaging.

The absolute advice of law enforcement nationwide (including the Canton Police) is do not engage. Don’t get curious. Don’t decide to “get to the bottom” of whatever this strange call is all about. Under no circumstances give the person on the phone access to your computer or cell phone. Get off the phone. Because the longer you talk to a scammer, the more likely they are going to get your adrenaline rushing, which makes it harder for you to think clearly. Scammers are very, very good at that.

The local police are available 24/7, and if you get to the point where a caller is alarming you or confusing you or if you have a sense of urgency or panic, break contact (even if it feels like you’re being rude) and immediately reach out to the Canton Police at 781-828-1212.

Don’t feel like you have to respond to this odd or alarming situation immediately or at all. Fight the urge to be helpful. Never agree to go to your bank to withdraw a large amount of cash or go and buy Bitcoin on the direction of some stranger on the phone.

It will probably take a while to calm down after a direct contact with a scammer. It’s perfectly natural to need to decompress and let the adrenaline dissipate.

You can help protect yourself from scammers. Run through being aware of the red flags of a scam in your mind like a fire drill. Talk about good scam recognition and prevention with family and friends.

Canton’s Anti-Scam Task Force is also an excellent resource. You can connect with them through the Department of Elder & Human Services at 781-828-1323 — ask for Director Diane Tynan or one of the office’s social workers.

Nick Maffeo is the President & CEO of Canton Co-operative Bank in Canton. Have a question? Email to submissions@thecantoncitizen.com.

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