 Well, we have gathered here today to announce our top 10 scams reported to our Consumer Assistance Program in 2023. Thank you for joining us to learn about these scams, and thank you especially for spreading the word to your audiences and raise awareness about these scams. I also want to thank our community partners who work alongside us every day to fight scams. These include AARP, the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, the Financial Abuse Specialist Team of Vermont, the Federal Trade Commission, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office, local law enforcement, and of course, the media. I want to begin by pointing out a few sort of touchstone scam observations. The first is scams are generally international criminals that are very hard to shut down. That means our best tool for fighting scams is education. To work together, to collaborate and spread the word to our friends, neighbors, and families about scams that are happening in Vermont, to keep each other safe. So thank you for this opportunity to say a little bit more about some of the specific scams we have experienced this past year in Vermont. I will say there is an official sort of financial impact tally that the FTC has about how much money was lost to scams in Vermont. It's a very small sum because it's official and it's a much larger number in reality. It's $1.7 million. But we know from all of the calls that we answer and emails we respond to and social media that we respond to, there are a much bigger impact in Vermont than that number. So without further ado, we have received 3,212 scam reports to our consumer assistance program last year. Over 3,000 scams were reported to us last year. And we have our top ten list. Coming in first, as usual sadly, is the computer tech support scam. We had a total of 531 reports on that scam. It's twice as popular as number two. It's very, very prevalent. That's in part because it's so effective. So what that looks like is you will be on your computer and, for example, you'll get a pop-up saying you have a computer virus and just click here. And what happens next is the person either is trying to fish for information that they can then use to steal your identity or, more likely, they're asking you to have remote access into your computer. And once they are able to access your computer remotely, it is devastating because they're able to access all of your bookmarked web pages, your bank accounts. We have received reports at the Consumer Assistance Program of consumers who literally watched their bank accounts be drained in real time by scammers. Don't ever let anybody remote access into your computer. Your attorney general takes her computer to the location here in Vermont to have my computer fixed. I never let anyone access my computer remotely and neither should you. The number two scam is phishing when the scammer has financial information. So they might be posing to be a bank with financial information. They're trying to get you to fill out forms and, in other ways, give them your personal information that they can then use to steal money from you or steal your identity. Number three is an imposter scam. The law enforcement imposter scam is where you will get a call from a sheriff, supposedly, telling you that you are going to be placed under arrest unless you pay this supposed outdate, overdue fine when there's no fine. And, of course, it's very emotionally taxing to receive a call like that. And so it is very effective. We're going to say more about that in a minute after I take through these. The Medicare card phishing scam, and I'm going to say more about that one, but that's number four on our list this year. Another phishing scam, identity theft is number five. I kind of catch all for those reports that we get of identity theft. Sweepstakes and lotteries is number six. We see that one on our top 10 every year. It's another sadly effective one. Fake websites and online listings is number seven. That's things like Craigslist having an apartment that's supposedly for rent and the price is just too good to be true and a very effective one we commonly see. Eight is the family emergency imposter scam, sometimes known as the grandparent scam. That's another imposter scam. Imposter scams are incredibly effective. The deceitful solicitations scam is number nine. These involve attempts to obtain payment on illegitimate promotions from known businesses. So they're stealing a legitimate business's name or logo to try to trick you to giving them your money. And the last on the list is a new scam for us. It's the rewards credit scam. The rewards credit scam usually comes in the form of an email and that is where a large retailer supposedly has sent you an email where you click on this link and you can access rewards that you have supposedly gathered. And once you click on that link, it's a phishing scam that they're going to try to steal information to get your identity so that they can steal money from you. Another possibility is that there's a malware virus on there and they're going to steal money that way. So those are the top 10 scams. I want to highlight that 168 of our reported scams came from businesses. We have a small business initiative in my office. The small business advocate is here, Emily McDonald. And we want to just highlight that businesses, what that looks like generally is another imposter scam where someone is posing as an employee or some personnel related to the business and they're trying to trick you to wire money or pay money in some fashion. So we want to highlight that for small businesses. You are also targets for scammers. So be on the lookout for those. And if you have any problems or concerns, please contact our office. The consumer assistance program can be reached at 1-800-649-2424. You can get help from anyone there or if you have a small business question, Emily would be happy to help you. I want to tuck in a little bit to these top 10 scams. I mentioned the computer tech support scam has led the list and it has for a long time. So that is one to be on the lookout for in particular and always be careful. The tools and tricks that these scammers use with that scam are insidious. I, Crystal told me once we got a report from someone who they hid the malware virus link behind the X to close it down. So you think you're closing it down and the next thing you know, you've done the exact thing that you shouldn't do, but they've been too wily and they hid it from you. So it's, I, when I, if I get a pop-up like that, I literally just show my computer down because it makes me so uneasy because I hear of all these reports that we have. The other thing I want to mention is the imposter scam. I have this red flag formula of scams, I call it, and it's a formula where there's a combination of items and it's usually very effective at protecting you. It's when these items exist, you have to be thinking to yourself, this is probably a scam. It's when a person you don't know is asking you for money urgently and the problem with my formula which is very effective, but with these imposter scams you think you know them and so there's a sense of trust. So even though there's urgency, even though they're asking you for money, there doesn't seem to have the same sense of concern because they've tricked you that they're someone they're not. So we see it's a common trick, there's a theme. The family imposter scam is, you know, frequently on our list and also heartbreaking. We also see romance scams as another kind of version where you think this person is someone they're not. So be on the lookout for imposter scams. I also just want to give a shout out to the Burlington Police Department who alerted us to a scam that was going around and we were able to, you know, be a part of trying to get the word out about that scam. The Medicare phishing scam I wanted to point out, there's a spike in that scam during Medicare enrollment and the challenge is there's, of course, legitimate activity going on during that time period and it can be hard to distinguish between what is legitimate, what might be this scam. The thing that I would just say is we are waiting at the Attorney General's office's consumer assistance program to help you. If you have any concerns or any just doubts or like sense that there might be something amiss, please just call and we probably have heard a scam just like this one and we can walk you through it and just be that person who is a scam expert can help you make the right choice for yourself and determine whether something is a scam. I also want to just highlight this rewards credit scam. You know, we feel like we've seen it all so when we get a new scam, we take notice. The fact that this is a new scam and it's number 10 on our top 10 list is worth just highlighting and emphasizing. This looks like the email that you get, it looks like it's from someone legitimate, they'll steal a logo and when you click on the link there you go, you think you're getting your rewards, instead it's malware or it's a phishing attempt so be on the lookout for these reward scams that are coming to your email and we weren't gonna emphasize that one because it is a new one. So what do we do with all of this? Well let's talk about stopping scams. We wanna educate about what we can do and we have tips for you of course. First of all, everyone should be helping each other so we would say if you experience a scam the truth is when you report it to our office you're helping someone else not get scammed or even if you haven't been scammed and you find a scam please report it, that way we can spread the word to others who might be more vulnerable at falling for that scam. The thing that you can do if you are encountering someone who has this urgent request, they want your money, you don't know who they are, you're not sure who they are, is slow down. What they're doing is they're spiking your emotional response to get you to give them money. If you are in your feels and you're feeling excited, scared, worried, you're gonna be less likely to identify there's something amiss, this might be a scam. And it's not, I think it's intuitive that if you are worried, if you're scared that you would be in your emotions and not be thinking logically. But it's also excitement, you know we've had the fake package scam top the list some years and the fake package scam, that's really excitement. It's like, oh I got a package, oh what was this, someone mailed me something or I ordered something and I forgot and then it turns out it's a scam. So it's any kind of time that you're in your emotions you gotta slow down and take steps to verify the entity you're dealing with is legitimate. The other thing to do is write down the contact information and disengage. That's when you can call the consumer assistance program for help or just talk through, I got this call, not sure if it's a scam and I just wanna do like a scam check with you and we'd be happy to do that, to connect with you. So you can always call the consumer assistance program 1-800-649-2424. And I also wanted to highlight something that scam experts like us are very familiar with and that is gift cards are frequently used as a tool for scammers to get money from you. And I don't mean a gift card like to LL Bean. I mean the gift card that's Visa or Mastercard you can get it at the grocery store. And they'll say, oh, I'd like to be paid in gift cards. We have a jokie motto which is true and we should put it on a mug, gift cards are for gifts. If your friend is getting married, great opportunity to get a gift card. If someone is saying I would like you to pay me in gift cards, it's a scam. I need to know no additional information to tell you that. Someone is asking you to pay for something with a gift card, it's a scam. I said so and I'm right. If you again have any questions you can always reach out to the consumer assistance program but they're gonna tell you our motto gift cards are for gifts. So in closing, I wanna thank you for being here today and just note that millions have been lost to scams and that's money we can't get back. So we gotta work together to educate our friends, our family, our neighbors about scams that are happening and how to stay safe from scams and that is all I have for today. So I'm happy to answer questions if you have any questions. Yes. I have a new scam that's happening with small businesses. You know, we're in a time where scams is very common now. How do you go about dealing with new types of scams? I mean, how do you go about funding that obstacle to help people navigate what they should do? Well, we are experts in scams and we're experts in consumer behavior. So we're always using those, that kind of expertise and foundation to find the best way of educating the public and supporting them. So I'll give an example. We have recently tried to amplify scam awareness using social media. And we also go to, you know, seniors are often a target unfortunately for scams and so we partner with AARP to spread the word. They have scam jams. You know, Chris, who's the director at the Consumer Assistance Program or I will go. So we're always trying to meet people where they are, use our expertise in consumer behavior and communication to try to reach folks where they are. When it comes to small businesses, this small business advocate position is incredibly useful because she's able to, you know, talk with businesses about what's happening and figure out a way of like, what's the best way of reaching them and making sure that they understand what the risks are. So we're always adapting and learning as the technology changes. That's why we exist. That's why we're here to protect people and kind of be on the cutting edge of scam awareness. What about what you guys do to small businesses? This is probably the scary for them and Vermont is known for our local businesses. Yes, we are. The thing with those small business scams, I mean, we are mostly small business, I'll say small business, but the business scams often involve a lot of money because their businesses are not, you know, a family or a person. And a lot is at stake. So our advice to businesses is to put systems in place to protect yourself from a scam. So if money is being wired, why not have a second look, have more than one person looking at it or a system in place where, you know, you wait a certain amount of time before a big transaction is executed. So you have time to kind of slow down. The other thing that is encountered frequently is if you just look at someone's email address, it's a little different. So being aware of this isn't quite the email address I was expecting or the name is misspelled. Like something is a little bit often. If you find that, take a pause, contact that person through another means to ensure that this is what they wanted. I mean, when we get some of these small business scams, like break your heart because so much money is at stake. And once the money is gone, it's very hard to, depending on how it was sent to bring it back. So this is a good time. I talked about gift cards. Cash obviously is a nightmare. Wiring money is problematic. Credit cards have a lot of consumer protection baked into them. You can do a charge back on a credit card. So a credit card is actually a much safer way to go than some of these other means. You know, this is another example of the technology changing. There's now, there's Venmo and Zell and all of these other tools. So Venmo has put some tools in place to protect people from scams. But just choosing a means of paying for things that have built in consumer protection like credit cards is a wise choice. Funny you mentioned Venmo. One of the ones I get all the time and might have a PayPal account. And I'm constantly getting this, an attempt was made to get into your account. And how severe is that? And like, what would you suggest to the common person to do, to circumvent that, to like beat hands and leave like, what are they getting after? Is that such a, it's not, it's, you have no idea that you're not getting an email. You're not getting it like just at some, ask that question about those sorts of accounts. And then also, because of where I work, are you also, because I know some of these things are difficult to figure out, as English speaking, are you reaching out to and translating to other languages because we have so many other different language speaking folks here in Vermont that are even more, are really also at risk of being scammed. That's a great question. We have interpretation services at CAP. So we've come a long way in that regard. There was one time when someone called and they spoke Spanish, remember, who was there? I had to talk to them. My Spanish is really, really bad. So it was ugly. Luckily, we won't have to go back to those days. We have interpretation services. But getting to how to protect yourself, the sad thing is this is really a part of life now. So what, you're gonna keep getting emails saying someone tried to get into your account because it's just gonna keep happening. But that's a sign for you, for all of us, to factor authentication, to make sure that we're using all the tools available to us to protect ourselves. So we're changing our passwords. We're using different passwords in different situations. Anytime that you find out that you have a password that's compromised, you need to change all the passwords, the sites that you use that password for. So it's really on the consumer to find these ways to protect themselves because unfortunately, that kind of thing is just gonna keep happening. It's a good point. When someone is contacting you by phone instead of by mail, especially if it's the government, the government doesn't have a lot of money. So they're not gonna try to spend time on the phone with you and they could be sending you a letter. We used to have the IRS scam was huge a few years ago and now we hardly see it because people learned what it was. But I always think the IRS, if you ever tried to call them, you're on hold for 45 minutes. I don't have time to talk to you. So anytime it's a great point. Anytime someone is calling you and you have to wonder, really, would this more likely be a letter and the answer is usually yes. Thanks so much for being here and thanks to all of these folks for their incredible work, fighting scams every day. We're so lucky to have them at the Consumer Assistance Program.