You may think that you are well-versed in the latest scams avoiding them with a keen eye. That is, until you are in a hurry or let your guard down and you don’t even realize you’ve been scammed because it’s something you never considered. This includes myself.
I had recently ordered the air dry crème I mentioned in Influential Connections as one of my own personal best hacks. I didn’t disclose I was ordering it from eBay since I was getting a great deal and knew it was risky. Using my husband’s account, we first became suspicious when the email stated it would be delivered via USPS and only hours later it was delivered by Amazon.
When he opened the package thinking it was his order from Amazon, he immediately told me I had gotten taken. Instead of 4 normal size tubes, 4 tiny sample size ones were delivered. I went back to the eBay webpage where I had ordered it and there was nothing noting the size that was being ordered, only a picture of the regular size product.
I took a picture of what was delivered and requested a return. The seller did counter with nothing at first and then a refund of half the amount I paid but I was in it for the principle, making it harder for the seller to scam future customers. I was able to return it and did receive a full refund that eBay would have upheld had the seller not followed through.
The experience got me to find a new air dry product that’s even better from a more trustworthy source that I should’ve recommended instead.
It’s the time of year where we do let our guard down trusting people will be true with their intent. More often the focus is on the people we encounter at company and family gatherings, not the people behind our accounts and the products sold to us. We take for granted that we will receive exactly what we are pitched and have ordered online.
These are things you should know. And you can pass these along to your friends and family, especially to your parents.
Fraudulent Sellers
The most important thing you and I should know, purchase products from reputable sellers on verified websites. Most ecommerce platforms will back the customer like Amazon, eBay, Target and Walmart.
Request and keep the receipt you receive when you return Amazon or other shipped items at the UPS store. My husband had items that continually showed not returned when in fact they had been. We had the receipt to prove it.
Social Media Investment Scams
As a general rule, most tech savvy people know that much of what you now see on Facebook is fake unless it has been posted by someone you personally know or verified to be authentic or from a business or organization within the community where you live.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are not tech savvy. In the latest FTC report, total fraud losses reported by older adults (ages 60 and over) soared from about $600 million in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2024. The FTC has an educational outreach program called Pass It On that provides fraud prevention resources. However, it is an overwhelming number of documents that no one will read, and the Federal Government was dead last on the list of financial resources that people trust.
While Facebook ads promoting extreme discounts from retailers like Wayfair deceive the inexperienced online shopper as most are scams, they pale in comparison to the now prominent investment scams proliferating social media. FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has seen a significant spike in investor complaints resulting from recommendations made by fraudulent “investment groups” promoted through social media channels.
It’s bad (real or AI generated) actors posing as successful retirees or registered investment professionals, who initially advertise “stock investment groups” on Instagram, Facebook and other social media channels and then turn to encrypted group chats on messaging applications such as WhatsApp to communicate with interested investors and pitch investments.
They may claim affiliation with well-known public figures and others in the investment industry, people and financial firms who are not involved in the scam. Or they may have “so-called” successful retirees give long, drawn out video testimonies of why this new type of investing is needed.
A recent one I came across on Instagram was https://investorsdigest.org/retirement-crisis. Before the website was taken down (you’ll get a 404 Page Not Found! if you follow that link), I did some research on what this was all about. It was slick and they wanted a lot of your money, at least $500k.
The Instagram ads and video posts were supported by links to valid articles of large well-known financial institutions claiming the current retirement strategy is broken, the 60% stocks / 40% bonds portfolio is dead, real estate is a prison and 401(k) and IRA(s) are fee traps. Instead of gambling on stocks or praying that bonds recover, you could be generating monthly income of $8k – $20k per month!
You ask how? The 5 Layer Income System. Exclusively now available to you!
From what I could find, it was a mix of private credit funds, family limited partnerships, systematic income engineering (no such thing) with the rest unidentifiable. It was targeting those who follow their kids and grandkids on Instagram. It was selling generic information or “secrets” on how to become a successful investor using fake success stories and investments asking for personal information and bank or other fund access with the promise of larger returns.
This particular scam has been shut down but only to be replaced by new, enticing investments that will register a new website and investment protocol. Awareness and educating those who don’t know is key.
The ACATS Theft Scam
ACATS (or ACAT), Automated Customer Account Transfer Service, is an electronic system used in the brokerage industry that lets you move your investments from one brokerage firm to another. The problem is that ACATS has such poor security that scammers are exploiting it to intercept your accounts and money. Since ACATS transfers are largely automated, the receiving firm often verifies only basic information, and the customer may not even be notified until after the move.
The scammer will open a new brokerage account called a “shell account” under your name. Since you typically have time to transfer assets in, they open it with no money. It looks legitimate because they’ve used your stolen personal data to answer all the identity questions.
Knowing you have a large sum of money invested at another firm, they initiate the ACATS transfer from the new shell account. All the money in your existing brokerage or retirement account is electronically moved to the new shell account that the criminal controls. Once that money is gone, it can be unbelievably difficult, if not impossible, to get it back.
Fidelity Investments has an automated system where any Fidelity customer can put an ACATS lock in place. You can call Vanguard as it is a manual process that you can’t do online. Ask for someone in the security department at Vanguard to put the lock in place. Schwab indicates you have their protection guarantee but doesn’t currently have a process for an ACATS lock.
In the new year, I’ve considered posting the Featured Images of these articles along with links to access them as a counter to the rising investment scams. I know little about what works on Instagram and am very late to this game, but if it helps a few, it will be worth it.
Featured Image – A cat attempting to be incognito. Note there are no decorations on this Christmas tree other than lights.
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Investor Alert: Social Media ‘Investment Group’ Imposter Scams Continue to Rise | FINRA.org