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INSIDE THE CON There's a reason why people can be so trusting: Even before the bad actors pick up the phone, they may have information about their targets. They may know dates of birth,
the last four digits of Social Security numbers and even their victims’ recent, valid card transactions. The information may be gleaned from data breaches or purchased on the dark web,
where criminals buy and sell data. Fraudsters also hit up banks, pretending to be customers so they can wheedle out information about recent transactions, the prosecutor says. With that
information, they can fool a person by inventing a bogus transaction — $970 at Walmart or $5.72 at a gas station, for example — to persuade them an illegitimate charge has occurred, says a
fraud investigator at another big bank. Cabrera says that crooks steal from mailboxes and break into vehicles to grab your financial and personal data; in a coastal state like his,
beachgoers and tourists can leave checkbooks or other valuables in cars. According to Aronberg, offenders will try “by hook or by crook” to get to your front door to get their hands on your
card, even in gated communities, where they may tailgate an entering car — or walk around barriers. Aronberg urges people who have been scammed to report their cases to local police.
“Victims need to speak up, because the scammers depend on victims’ silence,” he says. The people betrayed in the Operation Golden Years case are not keeping quiet. “We've been pleased
by the level of cooperation of victims,” Aronberg says. “It's a real testament to their will to see justice done." Under the law, your liability for the unauthorized use of a
credit card tops out at $50, but can be higher if it's a debit card and you didn't promptly report the loss or theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The 84-year-old
Palm Beach County woman says even though her bank made up for the $4,295 in fraudulent transactions, the crimes were a “very unpleasant experience." "It caused me a lot of hassle,”
she says, “but eventually, we got it straightened out. I had to get all new cards and report it to the credit bureaus and so forth. I couldn't believe that I fell for it." That
bad dream has led to good advice. “Don't fall for fraud,” she warns. “Don't take somebody's word for it, without checking it out."
