Fraud town hall meeting encourages awareness in the digital world

SIDNEY -- The saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" has never been more important, according to an authority on identity theft.

Mike Burke, a senior financial crimes consultant, recently conducted a town hall meeting on identity theft, and financial crimes. He is part of a company called Shazam.

"I travel the country. I'm from Fort Meyers, Fla., originally from Iowa. I work for a company called Shazam. We go out and do these town hall meetings because I work fraud cases. I spent 20 years in law enforcement, another 10 with Homeland Security. I've been with this company for 10 years. When I was in law enforcement, I worked financial crimes and I worked these different kinds of frauds and scams, so it's just more of these types of scams coming about," Burke said.

He said much of personal security can be summed up in a few words.

"Trust and verify is probably the key, and slowing communications down," Burke said before the town hall meeting. 

Slowing, managing the communication with an unsolicited caller is important Burke said. The "bad actors," unsolicited callers, prey on people by creating an atmosphere of urgency. He also talked on the importance of a relationship with your banker. One scam that has gone nationwide is the overdue bill from a toll booth. He also talked about being wary when using credit/debit machines. 

"Do me a favor. If you're trying to use the contactless feature, and for some reason it's not working, examine that card reader just a little bit more," he said.

He also stressed that personal banking institutions can be a financial lifeguard.

"At any point in time, if you're getting a communication, and you feel kind of hinky about it, you know like 'who did I call?' your trusted contact is your banker," he said.

He added banks do not ask questions to get in your personal life; the questions help bankers identify fraud.

The town hall presentation was hosted by Sidney Federal Savings and Loan.