Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and persistent.

Many people wonder, “Why me? Why do people keep calling me, texting me, and generally making my life miserable?

The answer is money, and it’s being made hand over fist, by scammers and thieves. They don’t know you, they probably live in another country, and they are part of a very, very big business. 

Just this past week, the Ohio Turnpike Commission put out another press release on a big “smishing” text scam they first publicized in April, in which the criminals are telling people they owe unpaid traffic tolls  and that they need to click a link to pay them. But it is all fake. There are no unpaid tolls, and the websites connected to them are fraudulent. 

If you happen to get one of these fraudulent texts, here is what they advise you do:

• Mobile device owners who receive suspicious tolling text messages should delete them without clicking on the link.  
• Anyone who may have clicked on a fraudulent link and provided any personally identifiable information should immediately contact their bank or credit card provider to secure their information and financial accounts. 
• Victims of SMS tolling text scams should file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and be sure to include the phone number from where the text originated and the website listed within the text. 
• Individuals with questions about tolls incurred should check their account using the toll agency’s legitimate website or contact the toll agency’s customer service phone number.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. There are just so many scams going on right now, with many of them targeting Seniors. Some drain your bank account,  and some steal your identity. But it all comes back to money, and the scammers are relentless in their pursuit of it.

So, to help both shed light on the topic, and to unravel the mystery surrounding how these criminals work, we’re sharing a couple of recent interviews. 

First, we’ll hear from Sam McCoy, who is Senior Vice President for Elder Rights at Direction Home, the Akron-Canton Area Agency on Aging. He talked to us recently, about how and why Seniors are so frequently the target of scammers, and why protecting them is both so very important, and so very difficult.

Sam McCoy, Direction Home

We also talked recently to David Kennedy, who is the President & CEO of TrustedSec, a major Cybersecurity Consulting firm that serves business customers worldwide, and is headquartered in Fairlawn, Ohio. He was recently a guest on “This Week in Tech with Jeanne Destro“, and talked with us about how cybercriminals are stepping up their game, and getting even more effective, by using AI powered voice cloning technology.

David Kennedy, TrustedSec