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DECEMBER 1, 2022
5
Is the IRS really texting you? Nope
Federal Trade Commission hosts
webinar on spotting scams and
fraud in Indian Country
<Never, ever give your information to
someone over the phone. I9d also like to
remind people no law enforcement de-
partment, no matter where they9re from,
would ever ask for money over the phone.
If that happens, call us right away.=
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer
Before you reply to that text from
an unknown number claiming to be
a government agency, the phone
call from tech support or your bank,
or an e-mail asking you to verify
payroll information, it would be
wise to pause and not respond.
More likely than not, it9s a scam-
mer who wants to steal your per-
sonal information for nefarious
purposes.
That was the message behind
a Federal Trade Commission we-
binar for Native American news
media titled <Spotting and Avoiding
Scams in Indian Country.=
<Every year, scammers steal
hundreds of millions of dollars
from people by pretending to be
government or tech support, selling
useless products or promoting fake
lotteries and sweepstakes,= an FTC
press release stated.
Approximately 40 people logged
into the Zoom teleconferencing ap-
plication on Thursday, Nov. 10, to
attend the webinar. The brieong is
part of a new national initiative by
the FTC to <build public awareness
among Native Americans about
how to spot and avoid scams in
their communities, as well as where
to report them.=
<The FTC has long been dedicated
to protecting demographically di-
verse communities and it is a prior-
ity to reach out to Native American
communities,= Bureau of Consumer
Protection Deputy Director Monica
Vaca said. <We are here to start
a conversation about what fraud
looks like.=
The webinar included fraud sta-
~ Grand Ronde Tribal Police
Chief Jake McKnight
tistics, legal action the FTC took
to oght it and get money back for
consumers, free resources to help
protect against scams and a per-
sonal story from a Navajo Nation
member about her experience being
scammed by an auto dealer near
the Reservation.
Vaca shared some sobering fraud
statistics from 2021: There were
more than 2.9 million reports of
fraud to the FTC, of which 25
percent of people reported losing
money, adding up to a staggering
$6.1 billion.
<That9s just the ones we actually
heard about,= she said. <We know
fraud losses exceed that number.=
The top scam of 2021 was the
<imposter scam.= Essentially, a
scammer contacts a person via
phone, e-mail and increasingly
through a text message, and pre-
tends to be someone a person trusts
from a well-known business, bank
or government agency. They9ll tell
you your Social Security number
was compromised, you9ve been
implicated in a crime, your bank
account information is needed to
process a refund, or there is a fam-
ily member in need of help, to give
a few examples.
Vaca implored those who have
been the victim or intended victim
of a scam to report it to reportfraud.
ftc.gov.
Wednesday,
December 21, 2022
2:00-3:30 or
5:00-6:30 p.m.
In the Kwis Kwis
& Chak Chak classrooms
<We can use the information to
bring civil lawsuits to stop illegal
practices and, when it is possible,
to get money back for people who
lost it to scams or unscrupulous
business practices,= she said.
She cited a case example of Tate9s
Auto Group in Arizona and New
Mexico, which were charged in
2018 with deceiving customers and
falsifying information on vehicle
onancing forms. Many of those af-
fected were members of the Navajo
Nation. Ultimately, the dealerships
paid a $450,000 settlement to ap-
proximately 3,500 consumers who
had been scammed by the dealer-
ship9s deceptive business practices.
<Cars are one of the biggest pur-
chases consumers make and it9s
a lifeline, a necessity to get from
place to place,= Vaca said.
A Navajo Nation Tribal member,
<Sherrie,= who only used her orst
name, told attendees about her
experience being the victim of pred-
atory dealership lending.
The Navajo Reservation is ap-
proximately 27,000 square miles
and very dispersed, often with
dirt and gravel roads, which can
become treacherous during the win-
ter. Sherrie, who owned a Nissan
Sentra, wanted something more
durable and safe.
After receiving a flier in the
mail, she visited a local dealership
at the Reservation border town
of Winslow, and ultimately was
scammed into buying a new vehi-
cle with a verbal promise that she
could trade in her Nissan. A few
weeks later, she began receiving
phone calls about her car payment
being late and was ultimately sent
to collections for a $10,500 debt.
Her car, which she thought was
used for a trade-in, was auctioned
off. With bills mounting and her
credit ruined, she sought legal
help from a Flagstaff nonprofit,
DNA-People9s Legal Services, and
after more than 18 months received
a settlement from the auto dealer.
Assistant Director of the Midwest
Region Joannie Wei noted that
other common scams in Indian
Country include phishing e-mails
with authentic-looking invoices,
companies offering debt relief, tech
support scams and callers asking
for payment via gift cards or wire
transfers.
<That9s always 100 percent a
scam,= she said. <Those issues are
impacting communities broadly.
We need to talk about these scams
because the more we know, the
more we will help people to avoid
them.=
If someone suspects they9re being
targeted by a scam artist, Wei ad-
vises never giving out personal or
onancial information and resisting
the pressure to act immediately.
<Before you give out any informa-
tion, tell somebody you trust about
what is going on,= Wei said.
She also advises browsing ftc.gov/
consumer-alerts to get up-to-date
information about the latest frauds
and scams.
Grand Ronde Tribal Police Chief
Jake McKnight provided some local
context, but was not a participant
in the webinar.
<We9ve tried to get out and edu-
cate as many people as we can in
the community about these scams,=
he said. <A common one is someone
claiming to be from a government
agency, usually the IRS, saying
you need to pay back taxes now or
go to jail.=
McKnight said another scam is
a variation of the imposter scam,
where the caller poses as a fed-
eral agent and tells the intended
victim someone rented a car in
another state in their name and it
contained drugs and their Social
Security number linked to different
accounts. If they don9t cooperate
with the investigation, the scam-
mer says, they9ll go to jail.
<We had a young Tribal member
and her dad come in to tell us about
the scam and we immediately told
her to cancel her credit cards and
check if her Social Security number
had been used,= McKnight said.
McKnight said that in the past
few years the department hasn9t
received as many reports as it used
to, but that Tribal members should
remain vigilant when interacting
with someone they don9t know via
phone, e-mail or text, especially if
they insist on being paid via wire
transfers or gift cards.
<Never, ever give your informa-
tion to someone over the phone,= he
said. <I9d also like to remind people
no law enforcement department, no
matter where they9re from, would
ever ask for money over the phone.
If that happens, call us right away.=
The nonemergency line for the
Grand Ronde Tribal Police is 503-
879-1835.
McKnight cautions that get-
ting consumers9 money back after
they9ve been scammed is very
difocult.
<We do the best we can, but it9s
a very rare occasion that anything
happens,= he said. <If you don9t
know the person, don9t give out
your information. You just can9t do
that anymore. Scams are happen-
ing everywhere.= þ
We want to hear from you!
Grand Ronde Head Start Preschool
The Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center
Comment Box is located at the entrance of the
Health & Wellness Center, next to the drinking fountain. Share
your experience, good or bad with us! þ