Imposter scams are on the rise: Here’s how to manage the risks
As criminals impersonate trusted figures and set up fraudulent websites, education is the best defense
Key takeaways:
Education is the best defense against increasingly common imposter scams in which scammers may impersonate Merrill financial advisors.
If you receive an unexpected call, text or email from someone claiming to be a financial advisor — even your personal financial advisor — always verify the source using a known phone number, legitimate website, bill or statement.
Fraudulent websites can often be identified by poor design quality, grammatical errors, misspellings and urgent requests for contact or other information.
Be proactive by coordinating a mutually understood defense with your advisor.
As our daily reliance on digital communication steadily increases, scammers are evolving their tactics to exploit the trust we’ve built for online and other financial services. Imposter scams are on the rise and are currently the most commonly reported fraud, with approximately 985,000 complaints in 2021 according to the Federal Trade Commission. These types of scams cost victims more than $2.3 billion — double the 2020 total.1
Imposter scams typically begin with an anomalous email (commonly known as phishing), a phone call from a falsified number (vishing), an unsolicited text (smishing) or a social media message. The communications appear to be from trusted professionals such as financial advisors, lawyers or government officials — or family members or celebrities.2 To make them appear more authentic, the perpetrators may even pose as your personal Merrill advisor, or representatives of companies or charities you already have relationships with.
By creating fraudulent websites using legitimate information they’ve harvested from online sources, these scammers lure clients and potential prospects into providing confidential information with the intention of committing financial fraud.
Imposter scams are on the rise, and education is our best defense.
Scammers are impersonating financial advisors by using their names, photos and other contact information to create fraudulent websites in order to steal your personal information.
They may contact you by phone, text or email to try and trick you into providing your personal information. By spoofing legitimate phone numbers to call or text you, these requests can be very convincing.
Posing as a trustworthy advisor, an imposter will send false emails containing malicious links or malware. Don’t reply to messages from unknown senders or click on their attachments.
If someone contacts you claiming to be a financial advisor (from Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank, Consumer Investments or other brokerage firms) or other trusted professional, there are clues to help you tell if the contact isn’t legitimate.
The name of the advisor is the website domain, and the site includes a photo of the financial advisor. Also watch for: information about their employment history, including prior employers’ CRD numbers and examinations.
The site asks you to supply contact information. It may also have grammar errors, misspellings, awkward phrasing, and poor design quality, including low-resolution images and odd layouts.
Scammers often try to elicit a strong emotional reaction to get you to fall for their schemes. Don't feel pressured to respond immediately — this is what they want you to do.
Recognizing that imposter scams exist and are increasing in prevalence may be the best defense against them. But beyond awareness, there are some common red flags that can help you identify these scams before you fall victim, including:
An urgent request to fill out a form with personal information that the advisor should already have if you’re a client or wouldn’t need if you’re a prospect
Poor website design quality, including odd layouts and low-resolution images or photos of the advisor
Grammatical errors, misspellings, awkward phrasing or misuse of investor terminology
A website domain that uses the name of the financial advisor rather than a reputable firm
A list of the advisor’s employees or examination history publicly on the site
Best practices to protect yourself and others
Imposter scams are successful because of how much legitimate information scammers can mine from publicly available information on the web, enabling them to convincingly impersonate a professional or simulate a professional’s website. But by following these best practices, you can protect yourself and others:
Verify all anomalous communications or requests for money or personal information by double-checking the sender information and by independently confirming the source using a verified phone number from an official website, bill or statement.
Don’t rely on caller ID to determine if a caller is legitimate.
Never send money to someone you don’t know, think you know or have only met online.
Never give sensitive information, such as your Social Security number, over the phone or through a website unless you are sure of who you’re interacting with.
Cut off contact at any point with someone you suspect is impersonating a professional.
In addition, being proactive and coming up with a mutually understood defense against imposter scams with your advisor and professional contacts can be an effective way to decrease your chances of falling victim.
Remember: Don’t transfer money as a result of an unexpected phone call or text. We will never ask you to send us personal information such as an account number, Social Security number or Tax ID over text, over email or online.
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