How do I avoid being the victim of a squishing scam?

[00:00:00] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Have you ever received one of those QR codes that seemed a little…well, fishy? Imagine scanning a QR code thinking you're about to get a great deal only to find your bank account drained moments later. Well stick around because I'm going to tell you some real stories of people who fell for these scams and we're going to learn how you can outsmart the scammers. Today on the Ask Ralph Show, we're diving into the world of squishing scams and how you can protect yourself from becoming the next victim as I answer the question how do I protect myself from a squishing scam?

[00:00:38] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, let's take a quick look back at yesterday's show. Yesterday was a show about how can I beat the finance manager at their own game. I told a story about me being 12 years old, helping my mom navigate that process. So if you missed it, I'm going to encourage you to go back to askralph.com and you can check that episode out. I packed it with some insider tips that could save you thousands of dollars and maybe give you some peace of mind the next time you go into buy a car.

[00:01:08] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I received this message from Hector. Hector wrote this, he said:

[00:01:11] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Ralph, I keep hearing about these squishing scams, but I'm not sure what they are and how to protect myself. Can you explain what they are and share some tips on staying safe?

[00:01:20] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well Hector, that's a great question and this squishing we're talking about is not that bug that's been annoying you. So today on this show, I'm going to talk about some eye-opening stories and some practical advice to keep you from becoming a victim of one of those squishing scams yourself.

[00:01:38] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Welcome to the show, I am here today.

[00:01:40] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I'm thrilled that you joined us. I am here to help you gain financial freedom. I want to help you grow in your faith and I just want to thank you for joining me on your journey, and we'll do this journey together here on this Technology Tuesday. Now, before we get into the topic today, I want to remind you to visit our website.

[00:01:56] Ralph Estep, Jr.: That's at askralph.com. I'm going to encourage you today to join our community and I want you to share this show with others who might benefit from the information. Now I'm going to give you a free copy of my book. When you do that, go to askralph.com and join our community. I'm going to give you this book.

[00:02:11] Ralph Estep, Jr.: It's called Mastering Your Finances. Now, if you were to buy this book on your own on Amazon, it would cost you $10. But it's absolutely free when you join our email list. And remember, this show is all about your question. Just like Hector's questions today. I love answering your questions. That's why I call it Ask Ralph. So I’m going to encourage you.

[00:02:28] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Send me an email with your question. You can do that to ralph@askralph.com or simply visit askralph.com. I want you to click on that microphone icon at the bottom and just tell me what's on your mind and I'll put your answer on the show.

[00:02:45] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, today's topic brings to mind a Bible verse found in the book of Proverbs it's from 22:3. I've used this on the show before, but I think it really fits what we're talking about today. And it says this: “The prudent see danger and take refuge; But the simple keep going and pay the penalty.” Well, how about we apply some of that wisdom to the digital age today, and let's start how to spot this squishing danger before it's too late.

[00:03:13] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, all right, let's jump into it. Let's address Hector's question about squishing scams. Like I said, this isn't that bug that's annoying you. So you might start off with a question, “Ralph, what in the world is a squishing scam?” And to be honest with you before I got Hector's question, I had never even heard it called that, but here's what it really is: It's a devious twist on something many of us use every day without a second thought.

[00:03:35] Ralph Estep, Jr.: It's that QR code. It's a type of fraud. So squishing scam is a type of fraud where it uses a malicious QR code and what the whole goal of it is to steal your personal and financial information. Now you might be thinking, “Ralph, dude, you're talking about those little QR codes? Those little square barcodes?” I mean, I see them everywhere.

[00:03:52] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I'm sitting at church the other day and I'm looking at the bulletin and the whole bulletins full of these QR codes. But that's right, scammers are turning these convenient pieces of technology into a weapon that they're using against unsuspecting victims. Well, let me share a story with you. You know I like to tell stories on the show. This one I'm going to call him Tom.

[00:04:12] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Again, I don't use clients' real names. But a few months ago, I had a client, he came into the office. Now, Tom was a small business owner. He was really successful, and this dude was on top of his finances. But that day, he just didn't look right. Honestly, he came in my office. He was disheveled. Tom is usually a sharp dresser, but man, he was not sharp dressing that day. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.

[00:04:35] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And the first thing he says to me, he says, “Ralph” and his voice was just shaking. I have never seen Tom like this. I mean, this is a dude that was on top of his game. The most positive guy you'd ever meet, and he says to me, he says, “Ralph, I think I've lost everything.” I looked back at him. I said, “Tom, what in the world are you talking about?”

[00:04:52] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, he went on to explain. He had gotten this email, he thought it was from his bank. You know, he gets emails from his bank telling him, you know, this and that. And the email said, “Hey, you know, guess what, Tom, I want to warn you.” Now, this is coming from his bank, he thought. They were telling him that there was suspicious activity on his account, and they urged him to verify his identity, and they actually put a QR code right in the email.

[00:05:14] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Well, Tom, without thinking about it, it was during a busy day, he had a lot going on. He scanned that code with a smartphone, and it redirected him to a page that looked exactly like his bank website. I mean, as far as Tom could tell, it looked like his bank and I'm not going to tell you what bank he banks with, but it looked like his bank. So what did Tom do?

[00:05:31] Ralph Estep, Jr.: It went right to the log-in page. So he entered his login information. Now he figured he was secure in his account because that's what the email said. But what Tom really did was he had just handed over the keys to his financial kingdom to cybercriminals. And within hours, I'm talking hours, Thomas was telling me this story after the fact, his business and personal accounts were completely drained.

[00:05:53] Ralph Estep, Jr.: We're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars because he used it for his business as well. And they were gone in the blink of an eye. The scammers had used this log in information to transfer funds. They applied for loans in his name and even attempted to open new credit cards. You might be thinking, “That's terrible Ralph.”

[00:06:10] Ralph Estep, Jr.: “Surely that's a rare occurrence.” And you know what, when I did some research, I wish that was true, but it's not. It's not that uncommon. Let me share another story that hits closer to home. I got another client, her name's Jessica. Now she's a bright young person just starting her career. She's a tech savvy person, you know. She's got the apps and she does the YouTube thing and all that social media stuff.

[00:06:31] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And she started telling me about this great deal she found. And then she says to me, “Ralph, you're not going to believe what happened.” She'd been shopping at our local mall when she saw a poster. It was simple poster in the mall for a popular clothing brand that she wears all the time and that poster had a QR code, and that QR code promised her this exclusive 70% off discount.

[00:06:51] Ralph Estep, Jr.: If you scan the code. Well, of course Jessica is like, “Hey, you know what? I like to buy clothes.” and “Hey, 70% off my favorite brand? I'm in.” She whipped out her phone and scanned the code and the code took her to a website that looked like the clothing brand's official website. You see, there's a connection here.

[00:07:07] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You know, same idea. So she saw the brand. She saw the logo. She filled out that form with her name. She put her address and answered her credit card information because that's what they need to claim that discount. But guess what happened to Jessica? Instead of getting that great deal, Jessica ended up with a maxed-out credit card and a stolen identity. Jessica had made another mistake, just like Tom. Now these stories are heartbreaking. And we can just stop there if we wanted to, but there also wake up calls. We need to realize that these squishing scams are real, they're prevalent, and they're getting more sophisticated by the day. But here's the good news, that's why I did the show today.

[00:07:46] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You can protect yourself. So, let me share some actionable steps that you can take and use right now. Number one thing: Before you do anything else, you've got to start off with being skeptical of any time you receive an unsolicited QR code. If you receive that code via email or text or see one in some unexpected place, that's when you put on the brakes. You pause and you say, “Wait a second, was I expecting this?” So just like Tom, when he got that thing from his bank, he wasn't expecting that, that wasn't something he was looking to get. Number two thing you want to do: You want to verify the source of the QR code that claims to be from your bank or a familiar company. Don't follow the code, contact them directly from their official website or the phone number to confirm. You could pick up the phone and call and say, “Hey, this is Tom.

[00:08:34] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I just got this QR code in the email and it says that my account's been hacked, or my accounts had some issues on it.” And I'm very confident the bank would have said, “Oh no, no, Tom please, don't. Whatever you do, don't click on that.” Another thing you can do, and this is really easy to do, is inspect the URL.

[00:08:51] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You know, that's the HTTPS address and make sure it makes sense. What you will find is oftentimes, when these URL codes are looked at, there's some kind of bogus. They add figures that don't have the S for the secure. Nothing you want to do. Number four is: Use a QR scanner with built in security. There are some code-reading apps that can detect malicious codes before you're redirected to harmful sites.

[00:09:15] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And here's one, listen, this is a no-brainer. Number five: You never want to enter personal or financial information after scanning a QR code. Just don't do it. Because the truth is, legitimate businesses typically won't ask you for sensitive data through those QR codes. So just don't enter your information. Another thing,

[00:09:33] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I talk about this on our Technology Tuesdays all the time. You've got to keep your software updated, especially on your phone. You know, these regular updates when Apple or Android sees these malicious things, they start to build up protections against those threats. If you're not updating your phone to the latest software, then you're not going to have that updated information to protect yourself. And number seven and I can't stress this one enough: If you're using the internet at all for anything, you've got to, you must listen to me on this.

[00:10:03] Ralph Estep, Jr.: If you don't hear anything else I say today: Enable two factor authentication because it's going to add that extra layer of security to your accounts, making it harder for scammers to gain access even if they have your password. So even if they somehow get your password and they get your username, that secondary, that multifactor authentication is going to save the day.

[00:10:23] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And it probably would have prevented these issues that both of these people had today. Remember, and this is the gospel, right? If you want to talk about gospel, now this isn't the Christian gospel, but the gospel of reality. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

[00:10:39] Ralph Estep, Jr.: You've got to trust those instincts. I think Tom, if he went back and thought about it, probably thought, “You know what? My bank never contacted me like this.” And the other person too, she probably looked at that and said, “Wait a minute, do I really usually have to enter my credit card information.” It's always better to just say, “You know what?

[00:10:57] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I'm not interested.” Err on the side of caution, now you might be wondering how Tom and Jessica stories ended. Well, let me give you the rest of the story. I'm happy to say that with quick action and some expert help, we were able to mitigate some of the damage. You know, Tom's bank saw that this was a scam, and they reversed some, actually, most of the fraudulent transactions.

[00:11:16] Ralph Estep, Jr.: And then we worked with Jessica to help her restore her credit, because unfortunately, it had gone wildfire. But listen, here's the thing you got to understand. Even when these things are corrected, that road to recovery isn't easy. It's going to take months. You're going to be on the phone. You're going to have paperwork.

[00:11:33] Ralph Estep, Jr.: It's going to be stressful. And here's the thing, both Tom and Jessica had to learn some hard lessons about digital security. But you know what? Now these two people, I'm going to tell you right now, they're probably a little bit to the other extreme but they are certainly security conscious people. I did a show the other day about VPNs.

[00:11:49] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Both of them have used a VPN now. So what did they do? One of the things I'm going to talk about today is you can turn these painful experiences into valuable lesson and then once they become a lesson, you can drive that passion and help educate others. So let's recap what we've learned today. Number one: squishing scams use malicious QR codes to steal your information.

[00:12:09] Ralph Estep, Jr.: So again, like I said, number two: Be wary of unsolicited QR codes, especially those promising deals are urgent actions. Like we talked about, if it sounds too good to be true, just assume it is. Number three: Always verify the source of the URL before entering any personal information. And I'm going to say this, if you get a URL or some kind of link like that, don't enter your personal information.

[00:12:32] Ralph Estep, Jr.: If you really think this is a valid thing, contact that person or contact that organization and use their normal bank site or their normal website or their normal phone numbers. Another thing I'm going to tell you to do, like I said, is use security enhanced QR code scanners to keep your devices updated. And last but not least, this one is very important. I think God has given us this level of discernment. We have this instinct. So trust your instincts.

[00:12:57] Ralph Estep, Jr.: If something feels off, it probably is. Remember this: Your financial security is in your own hands. You have got to stay vigilant. You have got to stay informed and don't be afraid to ask questions. That's what I'm here for. Now, tomorrow’s show, we'll be diving into what are five things that banks don't want you to know which could cost you money. Just like the other day, I talked about the debit cards and why you might want to not use them.

[00:13:21] Ralph Estep, Jr.: Tomorrow's episode is going to talk to you about what the banks aren't telling you and way you might be able to save money. Now you might be listening to today's show and you're feeling overwhelmed you know, “Ralph, this is so much information. I'm not a tech savvy person.” But listen, I don't want you to worry.

[00:13:35] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I'm here to help you. I want to encourage you to schedule an appointment with me and let's create a personalized plan for maybe your issues are with your personal finances. Maybe they're with your business finances. You're looking for ways to grow your business and you just feel like you're stuck in a rut. Well, why don't you schedule a consultation with me?

[00:13:52] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I charge $150 consultation fee, but I can guarantee you that after our talk, you will feel like you got much more value out of that than what you paid. The easiest way to do that is if you go to askralphpodcast.com/store, and that's not one of those malicious QR codes. You're going to go to our secure website and do me a favor and just schedule that appointment.

[00:14:11] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I want to help you improve your personal finances. I want to help you improve your business finances. I want to help you grow your business and most of all, I want to help you achieve all your financial goals. So schedule today and let's create a plan to achieve your own success. Remember this, my passion is to help you achieve financial success.

[00:14:30] Ralph Estep, Jr.: I want you to live out your dreams and I want you to grow in your faith and we can do all those things together. Together, we can master your finances from that Christian perspective. So as I always say before I sign off, stay financially savvy and God bless you.