Building a Moat Around Your Financial House

Think of all the hard work you did planning for retirement as building a strong and comfortable financial house. You’ve spent decades designing it to provide shelter and support for the rest of your life, ensuring the income it generates can withstand challenges like inflation and market volatility. That’s a fantastic achievement.

But even the most well-built house needs protection from intruders. In today’s world, those intruders are often sophisticated scammers who have become ruthlessly effective at finding ways to get inside and drain your resources. It’s a topic that can be uncomfortable, but it’s one of the most important things we can talk about.

Consider the heartbreaking story of Marjorie Bloom. In 2021, the 77-year-old retired federal attorney lost her life savings—$661,000—to a complex tech support scam. It all started with something that seems harmless: an unsolicited pop-up window on her computer screen. The pop-up, which appeared to be from Microsoft, listed a phone number to call for support.

Let’s be crystal clear: Legitimate tech companies will never do this.

Unfortunately, Ms. Bloom called the number. The person on the other end informed her she had been hacked and, after she mentioned she banked at PNC, transferred her to another scammer posing as a fraud investigator from the bank. This fake investigator persuaded her that criminals were actively stealing her money and that to protect it, she had to move her funds quickly and secretly. He even warned her that telling anyone, including her three children, could ruin the bank's efforts to protect her.

In hindsight, the red flags are easy to spot, aren't they?

• An unsolicited offer of help. The pop-up message on her computer was completely unexpected.

• A demand for urgent action. The scammer insisted she had to move her money now.

• An insistence on secrecy. He specifically told her not to talk to her family.

These criminals are slick, smooth, and utterly ruthless. What’s even more concerning is how they’ve adapted their tactics. Scammers know that a legitimate bank employee might raise a red flag when you try to make an unusual or large transaction. So, they coach you. They provide convincing scripts and stories to tell the teller, making it incredibly difficult for the real fraud teams to intervene and protect you.

It’s a scary thought, but awareness is the first and most powerful line of defense. By understanding their playbook, you are in a much better position to recognize a threat and avoid falling prey to these schemes.