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Jeff Bank Vice President talks scams

Vincent Kurzrock
Posted 5/7/24

HURLEYVILLE - The Sullivan County Retired Teachers’ Association held a meeting at Casa Mia on Wednesday morning, April 24.

Present for the event was Rhonda Decker, the Senior Vice …

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Jeff Bank Vice President talks scams

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HURLEYVILLE - The Sullivan County Retired Teachers’ Association held a meeting at Casa Mia on Wednesday morning, April 24.

Present for the event was Rhonda Decker, the Senior Vice President and Security Officer of Jeff Bank.

With her was fellow colleague, Leanne Stuhmiller, Vice President and RSA/Information Security Officer, who spoke to the members of the Association.

She mentioned how, because of technology, the strategies behind scams have gotten a lot more sophisticated.

“While technology is good, it also has its downsides, [Because] unfortunately, that’s where a lot of these scams come from,” said Stuhlmiller.

She talked of how one could get a call, such as a local number. Upon answering, one would find out how the caller is not a local number. It was explained that scammers use an app to spoof that information.

She also mentioned how, regarding computers, a common scam she’s seen is the “Tech Support” scam.

It was explained that scammers reportedly usually target older adults because “that’s where the money is.”

Of particular note that she highlighted, however, was “Romance Scams”.

She explained that, with the rise of dating apps, the frequency of this crime has become more relevant.

She gave an example of a ring called the “Yahoo Boys” or “Yahoo Girls”.

She explained that their job was to send out, either through dating apps, or various social media sites like Instagram, messages to people to try and connect.

It was explained that they reportedly send hundreds of messages a day hoping that “just one or two people take the bite”.

It was explained that these connections will start with a friendship, laying it all out.

The scammer will be telling the person how beautiful and in-love the scammers are.

“Before you know it, the person is [reportedly] sending a lot of money,” explained Stuhlmiller.

She also described how scammers will utilize a real person’s photo, that are found online to further perpetrate the scam.

“My thing with social media ... for Facebook, if you receive a friend request from someone that you don’t know, don’t accept it,” Stuhlmiller stressed, “if it’s [a person] not in your social circle.”

She also mentioned that what you can do if they’re received is to go onto the  sender’s profile.

“If you see it’s recently created or they have hardly anything on it or any friends, it’s usually an indication they are a scammer,” explained Stuhlmiller.

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