How can I avoid losing my retirement benefits to an online scammer?

Ralph Estep
00:00:00

Have you ever woken up in a cold sweat, worried that your life savings could vanish with just one click? In an age where scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, protecting your retirement isn’t just about saving anymore; it’s about staying one step ahead of those who want to steal what you’ve worked so hard to build. Today, we’re tackling the critical question: how can you avoid losing your retirement benefits to an online scammer?

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00:00:26

Welcome to the Ask Ralph Podcast.

We're listening to an experienced financial professional with over 30 years of experience can help you make sense of confusing questions, current headlines and industry trends about taxes, small business, financial decision making, investment strategies, and even the art of proper budgeting. Ask Ralph makes the complex simple by sharing his real world knowledge from a Christian perspective with all things financial.

Now here's your Host, Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph Estep
00:00:55

Well, thank you for joining me today. My mission today is simple: I want to help you achieve financial freedom and grow in your faith. Now, if you missed yesterday’s show, we discussed building what I called a "death binder." I know that sounds ominous, but it’s really something that everybody should have. I encourage you to check it out if you missed it. I also encourage you to follow the show. The best way to do that is to go to podcast.com/follow, so you won’t miss an episode.

Today’s letter comes from Margaret, all the way from Tennessee, and she writes this: “Dear Ralph, I’m terrified. Last week, I nearly fell victim to what seemed like a legitimate investment opportunity. Someone claiming to be from my retirement fund company called, saying that there were suspicious activities in my account. They knew details about my investments and sounded so professional. They almost convinced me to transfer my funds to a ‘secure’ account. At the last minute, something didn’t feel right. I hung up. Now I can’t sleep at night thinking about how close I came to losing everything. How can I protect myself? I feel like I can’t trust anyone anymore.”

Well, Margaret, thank you so much for your question, and it’s exactly why we’re here. If you’ve got a question, I’m going to encourage you to join me every Tuesday night as the show goes live—that’s right, live at 7:00 PM Eastern Time. And here’s the best part. I’ll be giving away a $100 Amazon gift card to someone in the audience each week. We’re going to have a drawing and do that every week. So, if you’re interested in joining the online show, go to askralphpodcast.com/live. Again, that’s askralphpodcast.com/live, and I hope to see you tonight on the show.

Now, Margaret, your experience reminds me of a verse from the Bible that speaks directly to wisdom, especially in these challenging times. It’s from Proverbs, chapter 4, verses 6 and 7. It says this: “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding.” Wow. That’s an encouraging word from the Bible. Let’s set that as our goal for today—let’s get some wisdom.

And listen, before you think this can’t happen to you, let me tell you about what happened to my own mother. This was about six years ago. My mom was just sitting on a Tuesday afternoon when she got this call, and it could have cost her everything. I remember her calling me; she said it was a normal Tuesday afternoon, and the caller ID showed it was from her bank. Yup, that’s right—she had been spoofed, and they did it perfectly. My mom told me the guy spoke professionally, expressed urgent concern, and told her there were suspicious transactions on her account. This person claimed to be from her bank’s fraud department. So, just like you, Margaret, my mom was in the same situation. And here’s the scary part.

My mom said, “Ralph, they knew key details about me.” The truth is, my mom thought it was legitimate. What they had done was go through her social media posts and relay details to her, building rapport. Truth is, my mom was a very trusting soul.

She passed away in 2023, and she was a bit naive—but of course, that was her charm. This guy built trust with her, showing empathy and capitalizing on her confusion and fear. He threatened that her account would be frozen. And what did my mom do? She acted immediately. They even sent her what I’ll call spoofed emails. During the call, the guy even said, “Listen, I’m going to send you an email with some codes in it. You need to give me those codes.”

Like I said, my mom was trusting, so she followed his instructions. She thought she was securing her account. But remember this: I always say that with financial decisions, never act under pressure—and this was clearly a pressure situation for my mom. Thank God, my mom also remembered our family rule, which I’d shared so many times: if you get a call like this, hang up and call the bank directly, using a number from their statement or your credit card. In the end, because my mom followed that rule, it saved her from losing almost everything. So, remember, if you get a call that looks like it’s from your bank—and there is spoofing technology for both calls and emails—hang up, check your statement, and call them directly.

Most of the time, you’ll find it was a scam. Now, let me tell you about another client who recently shared his story with me. Imagine this: years from now, you’re finally retired, sitting on your front porch, maybe sipping some lemonade, rocking in your chair as you watch the sunset. You’ve worked hard, saved diligently, and are enjoying the fruits of your labor. But then that peace is shattered. You look at your phone, checking your retirement account—and it’s empty. It’s all gone. This is exactly what happened to my client. Here’s what he told me. He said a few years back, he got a call from someone claiming to be a financial advisor. And this guy was slick.

He said, “Ralph, this guy promised me exclusive access, telling me it was a once-in-a-lifetime deal.” The crazy part? He was using Christian jargon, quoting scripture, and even said he was from the same denomination. Though he didn’t go to my client’s church, he claimed they shared the same faith. Just like with my mom, he was building trust, playing on my client’s faith. He told my client he was part of something special. Well, as they say, the hook was set. My client was hooked, like a big old catfish on the line. He told me, “Ralph, I started investing small.”

He said, “I started seeing profits rolling in, and then I decided to invest more and more.” He confided, saying, “Ralph, I was addicted to the returns.” He even told his friends and his pastor about it, and everyone was excited for him. He said, “Ralph, I felt like I’d finally cracked the code to financial freedom.” As you’re listening, I bet you’re starting to think something was about to happen—and you’re right. Because then, all of a sudden, the communication stopped. My client wasn’t getting any statements. He decided one day to try calling, and the phone was disconnected.

Well, that’s not a good sign. He went online, and the website had vanished. Poof, just like that—his “sure thing” had completely evaporated. I remember him calling me, saying, “Ralph, I felt betrayed. I felt so much shame. I felt anger.” He told me it was overwhelming. He confided that he felt foolish, naive, and utterly devastated. You might be thinking, “Ralph, that’s a terrible story,” and you’re right.

It is a terrible story. But in the end, it taught him a powerful lesson. It showed him the importance of discernment. And this is critical. We need to use discernment, thinking through things and asking, “Does this make sense? Does it pass the sniff test?”

What it did for this client was teach him to seek wise counsel. He learned not to be swayed by smooth talk and empty promises.

And listen, here’s a bold reminder: true financial security doesn’t come from chasing quick riches. You’re just not going to get there if you think you’re going to make a million dollars overnight. I’m sorry, but you’re sadly mistaken.

True financial security comes from time, building faithful stewardship, and wise decision-making. You might ask, “Ralph, what did he do next?” Well, that’s a great question. The first thing he did was report the scam to authorities. He put it out there to warn others so they wouldn’t be taken advantage of. Then he turned the mirror on himself and took a hard look at his actions. He realized he had allowed greed and the allure of easy money to cloud his judgment. He recognized he needed to change. And guess what?

He reached out to me as a Christian financial advisor. He had listened to my show, recognized that I shared his values, and understood the importance of aligning finances with faith. So we sat down, and I showed him how to recognize red flags, how to ask the tough questions.

I told him to be skeptical of anything that seems too good to be true—because it probably is. It’s probably not good. That’s just the truth. Well, I’m going to share some key action steps with you in a few moments, but let me ask you a few questions. Do you feel overwhelmed with your finances? Do you feel like you’re all alone? Do you want to find financial freedom?

Do you want to align your finances with your faith? Do you live in a state of financial instability? Do you feel frustrated, hopeless, and stuck? Well, guess what—I have great news for you today. There is hope. And that hope starts by joining the Ask Ralph Show Insiders Group. We have a community of people who feel the same way as you.

These are people facing the same challenges: they’re getting bogus calls, spam emails, and spoofed emails. The difference is they’re mastering their finances, living their dreams, and finding peace of mind. You see, we’re feeling those same pain points and seeking to balance our finances with our faith.

And best of all, the Insiders Group is sharing answers—that’s the whole point of it. We’re working together, sharing solutions, and sharing hope. Now you can apply to join our community. Just go to askralphpodcast.com/group and complete the questionnaire. Again, that’s askralphpodcast.com/group.

There’s a questionnaire there. I encourage you to do it now and become a member of the Insiders team. Well, I promised you I’d give you some action steps, so here are five concrete steps you can take today to protect your retirement.

Number one—and I think this is a great idea—establish a verification word with your actual financial institutions. Many financial institutions allow you to store such a word on their site, or you can use multi-factor authentication. It’s a way to verify, like my mom did, by hanging up the phone and calling them back directly with the number that you know is theirs.

Number two: never, ever click on links in emails about your accounts. Don’t ever do that. There are criminals out there who do this. Listen, I just got one yesterday: “We need to secure your account, Ralph, click right here.” The funny thing was, the place they pretended to be from—

I don’t even have an account there. I guess because I have so many clients, there was a particular bank that said, “Ralph, you need to secure your account right away.” And I thought, well, that’s interesting because I don’t even have an account with you guys. So clearly, it was fake. But don’t ever click on those emails.

This has happened to me—I shared it on the show a couple of weeks back. It’s scary because it looks like the real thing. You get that fear, that adrenaline rush, when you see that your account might be compromised. Once you click on that link and enter your information, I can guarantee you this— it will be compromised. Let’s look at number three: set up multi-factor authentication on all your financial accounts. We’re living in a digital age. If you don’t have multi-factor authentication set up on every account you have...

I’m not saying you’re a fool, but guess what? You’re being foolish when it comes to this. You need this extra layer of protection. It’s going to help you. Yes, it’s a nuisance when you log in and have to find your phone or an authentication app. It’s a nuisance—I get it; I deal with it ten times a day. But I take security seriously.

You should do the same thing. Number four: create a financial security folder with official contact numbers. This one is critical. Whenever you have a new account, open a folder with all the official contact numbers. Maybe store it on your phone, but have those financial numbers saved. They can spoof an incoming call, but they can’t spoof the number when you call out. You can type in the number you want to call and verify it with the person on the other end.

The truth is, banks and financial institutions will call you about security issues. They do have fraud departments—that’s all true. Just call them using the number you have on file and verify it that way. And last but not least, number five—and I harp on this all the time—is to install and maintain updated antivirus software. A lot of these spoofed emails will actually be caught by that antivirus software.

Now, I’m not a technology expert. I know a lot about it, but not everything. Apparently, there are tells in that email address that some antivirus software can pick up. So, keep them updated. First, don’t just buy them and set them up—maintain them and make sure they’re updating regularly. Now, tomorrow, we’re going to be discussing an intriguing topic.

We’re going to look at why “looking poor” can be the key to being rich. Listen, you’re going to love this one. You won’t want to miss it. It’s counterintuitive, I’ll tell you that, but I’ll give you some insights that could really transform your financial future. Remember this: my passion is to help you achieve financial success. That’s why I do what I do.

I want to see you live out your dreams, and at the same time, I want to see you grow in your faith. Working together, we can master your finances from a Christian perspective. So, as I always say on the show, I want to encourage you: stay financially savvy, and God bless you.

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