Scammers are using information leaked in data breaches to pose as government or financial institution representatives in attempts to convince people of the scammer's legitimacy.

Imagine getting a phone call, text or email about an unauthorized purchase. The person on the phone tells you about fraud on your account and suggests they transfer you to FTC/FBI/IRS or financial institution for assistance in clearing up the problem. The representative confirms your identity by telling you your social security number, address, a password and/or other personally identifiable information (PII). Only government/financial representatives would have your PII, right? Wrong. The person on the other end of the phone is really a scammer with access to information obtained from data breaches, and using that information to make their identity and claims seem legitimate.

Don't fall for their scam - here's what you need to know...

Your Complete Scam Resource

Even though we spread the word about scams every month in this newsletter, several times per month we are called to help people recover from a scam. Most scams are easy to detect if you SLOW DOWN and carefully read what the email or text message is saying. Bad grammar, misspellings, and bogus email addresses or phone numbers are in nearly all scams. Unfortunately scammers also still call and leave voicemail messages too.

Don't get ripped-off this year. Please take a few moments to review the scam information that we post on our website - a resource you should review any time you may be considering acting upon an unsolicited email, text message or phone call. Click the button below to visit our website, and bookmark/favorite it for future easy access.

One method scammers use is to coerce you into calling THEM! This may be come in the form of a fake security pop-up on your screen, email invoice, or text message. NEVER call a number or respond to such messages. Please refer to the printable articles below so that you will know how to react the next time one of these scams is presented to you.

Watch this month's featured video on our YouTube playlist showing how a financial columnist fell for a phone scam and handed over her $50,000 life savings to a scammer. Click the video above, or view all of our recommended videos by clicking the button below.

If you're trying to save money on your telecom bill(s) - we can help! Should you "cut the cord" on your TV service? Can you save money on your internet, home phone and/or mobile phone services?

We can sit down with you, examine what you're paying now, and help you save money. We can go through the pros and cons of cutting (or adding) services based on your specific needs.

Since 2003 clients regularly ask us for a way to keep their computers secure and up-to-date, and not have to worry about the seemingly constant barrage of updates. With websites getting hacked on a daily basis, and the increasing chance of your personal information being lost or compromised, it's more important than ever to keep your computer up-to-date and maintained.

With the Computer Techs Maintenance Plan, we will maintain, update and check the security on your computer on a convenient quarterly schedule. Service can be performed via a Remote Support session which takes about an hour. Services include: