12/12/2025

Don’t get scammed: How to spot fraud before it’s too late

The Conejos County Citizen

Imagine it is 5:30 p.m. on Friday, and you just left work when you receive a text message from what appears to be your bank inquiring about a $1,500 Amazon purchase. The text asks you to reply back with a “Y” or “N” to confirm or deny the transaction.  After you reply “N”, as you have not made any Amazon transactions, you receive another text with a link to verify your account information.  You click the link and are taken to the bank’s internet page, where you are prompted to log in to be verified.  You enter your credentials and there is a message thanking you for verifying and you close out the page.  Fast forward to Monday morning when you check your bank account and find it is negative due to several unauthorized transactions. 

This is something a lot of people in the San Luis Valley, and United States in general, do not have to imagine because this is a reality.  Fraud is on the rise with an estimated total amount of fraud experienced by consumers in 2024 of $743 billion and a projected increase of about 33% in 2025.