Yes, it’s a scam

It’s getting harder and harder to determine if something is a scam, particularly on the internet or over the phone, and your best bet is to just assume it is.

In his book “ Excellent Advice for Living “, author Kevin Kelly puts it this way:

Assume anyone asking for your account information for any reason is guilty of scamming you unless proven innocent. The way to prove innocence is to call them back, or log in to your account using numbers or a website that you provide not them. Don’t release any identifying information while they are contacting you via phone, message, or email. You must control the channel.

I had this recently when my bank called to have me verify some information on my account. I’m pretty sure it was really them, but I had no way to know for sure. They were asking me to prove who I was, while I was asking them to prove who they were. It was almost humorous, but they couldn’t convince me that they were really my bank so I hung up. I later called the bank directly and it turns out it really was them, but it very easily could have been a scam.

With technology today you can’t trust:

• The number that someone is calling from.
• The voice on the other end (thanks to AI simulated voices).
• The email address that an email appears to come from.