Linda Noble says she has been a victim of fraud, not once, but twice.
On Wednesday, April 29, she went to Lifepointe Church to hear expert tips to avoid being a victim for a third time.
“To try to get more information on how to prevent it from happening to me again,” Noble said. “It's scary, it's kind of intimidating because you think you've taken all the steps to prevent things from happening, and it happens again, so you know that you haven't taken all the steps. That's why I came, to try to get more information.”
Guest speaker Pete Selenke with Central Bank, which sponsors the lunch and learn, hosted by the Sedalia Area Chamber of Commerce, shared his tips for spotting fraudsters quickly and avoiding becoming the next victim in a long line of scams.
“I started as a teller, and the first time someone stole from me as a teller, I took it very personally,” Selenke said. “Ever since then, it's been a thing that drives me nuts.”
He explained the BSA (Bank Secrecy Act) and why bankers may ask questions to get clarification on certain transactions.
“As a financial institution, we are required by law to know who our customers are, what they do, and understand what they're doing,” Selenke said. “It’s not asking to be nosey and know what’s going on in your business; it's to understand why you're doing it and protect you.”
Bankers are able to catch most fraud by being aware of big transactions.
“The number of customers we've saved from losing lots of money because the teller or banker asks a question before they withdraw money is immeasurable,” Selenke said. “So when somebody does ask you a question, A: we're required to do it, and B: we want to make sure you're taken care of.”
Selenke has testified before Congress as an expert on predatory fraud and urged the audience to remember two important tips to avoid being scammed.
“Never try to hide your activities, when somebody's telling you to hide something and not tell people about it, and try to hide it,” Selenke said. “And never lie to your banker, if somebody tells you to go lie to somebody, run away.”
The banker noted he uses advanced software and can generally understand what you’re trying before the money changes hands.
“The FBI reported last year $20,900,000,000 of fraud was reported to the FBI, which is probably only 10% of the actual amount, it's in the hundreds of billions,” Selenke said. “No one is immune. I think this is important not to forget.”
Selenke then warned against answering texts if you don’t know the sender directly.
“There are probably 200-300 thousand people currently in Southeast Asia being held in human trafficking,” Selenke said. “And if they can't steal from rich Americans, Canadians and Australians, they get beaten, or their family gets beaten.”
Never open an unsolicited text message, as the scammers will quickly use well-tried scripts to gather your info and rip you off.
Selenke offered a cautionary tale from right in town, where a romance scam was used to bilk a local out of their life’s savings.
“Somebody had over $1 million in savings, their retirement, had their house paid off and were living life well,” Selenke said. “They fell for a scam, sold everything, including their house, because they were going to move in with somebody, bought a one-way airplane ticket, got there and there was nobody. Now they're living on Social Security.”
This fraud could have been prevented by trusting your banker with the details of big transactions and learning the many common scams used to separate you from your money.
Noble has been bitten by scammers and is now taking steps to be less vulnerable and simply avoid them.
“I think that they need to take the abilities that they're using and use them for the best instead of for the negative,” Noble said. “They're hurting people, it's stressful, you know? You're trying to figure out why it happened, how it happened and what you can do to stop it from happening again.”
To learn more about potential fraud and how to report it, visit CentralBank.net and search for common fraud scams.
Chris Howell can be reached at 660-530-0146.
