BBB & Moorhead Library Educate The Public On Scams

MOORHEAD, Minn. – Many of us have received calls from scammers trying to trick us into giving them money. The Better Business Bureau partnered with Moorhead Public Library to host an anti–scam workshop.

“You have a warrant, grandchild in jail.”

Those are some of the most common tricks that scammers try to use to play with your emotions and scare you into paying up. They might even try to make it personal so you’re more willing to give away information about yourself.

“Make some kind of connection so you trust them. When you pick it up you become a commodity you get sold over and over again,” Healther Aal with the Better Business Bureau explains.

That led the Moorhead Public Library to host a workshop because of today’s concerns over privacy of information.

“It’s just been a very relevant topic lately with Equifax, Facebook data,” Moorhead Library Public Services Supervisor Jenny Rodgers said.

When a scammer calls you, they can make the number that shows up in your phone very similar to your own. You may think it’s somebody from your community calling you.

“The caller I.D. doesn’t mean it’s from here. Sometimes not even from inside the country,” Aal said.

People of all ages can fall for scams. Even millennials.

“Millennials are more targeted because they don’t  talk about it like senior citizens do,” Aal said.

Workshop organizers say they want people to be informed.

“Our phones are always ringing. Do we answer it? Do we let it go?” Aal asked.

“I hope they feel safe giving information to right sources and not the improper ones,” Rodger said.

If you continuously get unidentified calls, the Better Business Bureau recommends you let them go to voicemail.