Financial crimes such as identify theft, white-collar crime, cybercrime, and all other types of scams designed to steal your money can affect anyone. However, criminals often target those who are most vulnerable, including the elderly.
Criminals may seek to acquire your personal information, such as a social security number, so they can use it without your approval to commit fraud or other illegal activities, typically for financial gain. A criminal may attempt to make fraudulent purchases on your account, open a new bank account in their name, or even obtain medical services for which you may be responsible.
The best way to avoid being a victim of a financial crime is to educate yourself and report suspicious activity. The following websites provide valuable information about the current schemes criminals are using and the tools you can use to protect yourself.
- Various laws and resources about white-collar crime as well as the White Collar Crime Offender Registry can be found on the Utah Attorney General’s STOP FRAUD UTAH website at: https://www.utfraud.com/
- The Utah Division of Consumer Protection provides information about a variety of common fraud schemes at: https://dcp.utah.gov/education/
- The Utah Department of Public Safety and the Statewide Information and Analysis Center provides resources to protect yourself from cybercrimes at: https://siac.utah.gov/cyber-security/
- The Federal Bureau of Investigations provides information about ways to avoid being a victim of fraud including specific information about elder fraud schemes at: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety and https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/elder-fraud
- The US Department of Justice website contains resources for seniors and information about current scams at: https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/senior-scam-alert
- Additional information about elder fraud can be found at: https://www.consumernotice.org/data-protection/fraud-and-scams/elder-fraud/
- The Utah Courts provide information about financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult at: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/case-categories/gc/crimes.html
- The Utah Division of Aging and Adult Services website contains a link to report the abuse or financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult at: https://daas.utah.gov/adult-protective-services/
- The Federal Trade Commission provides consumer advice about protecting yourself from identify theft and ways to recover if you have been a victim of a crime at: https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/identity-theft and https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/
- The Securities and Exchange Commission provides information about protecting your money at: https://www.sec.gov/
- You can report Disaster fraud and COVID-19 crimes at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut
