Since Liberation Day, the wave of tariffs and revisions to tariffs have confused many – and scammers are cashing in. From fake fees to false tax agents, here’s how fraudsters are targeting Americans – and how to protect yourself…
By Peter Reagan
Most people, thankfully, are inherently honest. They aren’t looking to pull one over on other people.
That’s a good thing, obviously.
However, if we’re being frank, it’s this inherent trustworthiness which often leads us to trust others. Even when we shouldn’t.
Many scams are based on exactly that: Misplaced trust.
Beyond the trust issue, though, is a lack of understanding about how bigger systems in society work.
Most people don’t understand the intricacies of the banking system. Most people don’t understand how the economy works (and many people who think that they understand how the economy works become neo-Marxists and Keynesians… which is to say that they really don’t understand how the economy works).
And most people don’t understand fraud.
Sure, they conceptually understand what it is, but they don’t understand why people fall for scams.
Part of it, as I mentioned, is the tendency to trust people which was more commonly done safely in earlier times and in smaller towns.
These days, though? There are so many people that you don’t know that you cross paths with daily, whether physically (especially if you live in a suburban or urban area), or online (who are these people that we don’t know that keep trying to friend you on Facebook anyway?0.
The other big factor that makes people vulnerable to fraud, as I touched on earlier, is a lack of understanding about how certain things work, and that can breed confusion.
And confusion can cause us to make decisions that aren’t in our best interest.
You can think about it this way…
Confusion about new policies can have unexpected effects
Very few people have any real understanding about the big levers in an economy, whether it is interest rates or whether it is President Trump’s favorite thing (by his own admission): tariffs.
And that misunderstanding about tariffs may be making people vulnerable to scams. Reporter Ana Teresa Solá writes,
New tariff policies might be setting the stage for cybercriminals to scam consumers, experts say.
Tariffs may make people vulnerable to fraud? Really?
That was my question, too, but there really is logic leading to that conclusion.
Fraud attempts may appear in the form of a “tariff payment request” text or email claiming to be from a retailer, delivery company or a government agency.
The swiftly changing and unfamiliar landscape of tariff policies, along with economic strain, can create the “perfect storm for cybercriminals,” said Theresa Payton, CEO of Fortalice Solutions.
In other words, honest people who want to comply with the law (who understand that tariffs raise prices) may not be exactly clear on how they will be paying.
In the real world, tariffs are actually paid by importers (the individuals or companies bringing goods into the country), not directly by customers. When a container ship arrives at a U.S. port, customs brokers working for the importer file the necessary paperwork with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The tariff, or import duty, is then calculated and assessed based on the type and value of the imported goods. The importer pays that tariff as part of the customs clearance process. Often electronically. Well before the product ever reaches store shelves.
I’m sure you know that the added cost is eventually passed on to customers through the mechanism of higher prices. Individual shoppers almost never pay a tariff directly.
Note: There is an exception for small retail orders. I sometimes shop for World War I-era collectible coins from highly reputable shops in the UK and France. If I order more than $800 in products, my order is subject to tariffs. In the case of retail orders like this, delivery companies like USPS, UPS, FedEx, or DHL frequently act as customs brokers. They will either pay the fee on your behalf and bill you for it before delivering the package, or contact you to collect fee payment. This usually happens online. (Yes, I know, this sounds a lot like the scams I described, but here’s the difference…) Delivery companies will have a tracking number for your shipment and a shipper whose name you’ll recognize. They won’t ask you for a payment without specifically referencing an order that you’ve already made!
Listen, I’ve made this sound more complicated than it really is. Generally speaking, if someone tells you to pay a “tariff fee” before receiving a package or product? That’s not policy. That’s a scam. What that means is that some scumbag may contact people telling them that they have to pay him “tariff fees” on their Amazon Prime order.
Not realizing that tariffs will actually get rolled into the retail cost that they pay at the store.
So, the victim in this situation doesn’t realize that the scammer isn’t a government tax revenue agent (let’s face it, how many of us have ever met a U.S. Customs and Border Protection in real life?). In reality, the voice on the other end of the phone is a petty thief. A scammer, usually working in a call center with hundreds of other scammers, defrauding Americans out of millions of dollars every day.
That’s bad enough, but there is something that makes the entire situation worse:
Who are the most vulnerable to scammers?
Sadly, scammers often target the elderly.
It could be that older folks are more vulnerable to scams for either of the reasons that we mentioned earlier. Or it could be something else completely.
Whatever the reason, our senior citizens, our parents, grandparents, and great grands are very often exactly who gets left holding the bag when scams fall apart… Which they inevitably do right about the time that people realize that they’ve been taken.
But don’t just take my word for it. A recent article from InTouch Credit Union notes:
Unfortunately, scams are on the rise. And, even worse, they come in many different forms and often use new technology, like artificial intelligence (AI), to make them even harder to detect.
What’s even worse? Fraudsters target retirees on a regular basis. For example, median scam losses are highest in the above 80 age group, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
And remember, it’s not just tariff scams that get people.
Three leading types of financial scams
One common scam type is the impersonation scam, which the tariff scam that I talked about earlier falls under. The tariff scam is a fraudster impersonating a government tax official or some other collection agent.
Another type of scam is the romantic scam where people think that they’re in some kind of relationship with a person that they’ve met (typically online) who, then, “desperately needs money” to fend off some terrible disaster.
And believe it or not, even romantic scams are starting to absorb elements of economic confusion – including tariffs. In some recent cases, scammers posing as overseas love interests have claimed they’re unable to send gifts or travel due to sudden new tariff charges, asking the victim to help cover “government fees” or “import taxes.” It’s the same playbook: a false sense of urgency, wrapped in emotional manipulation, exploiting people’s lack of familiarity with complex trade rules. Anytime strong emotions like love (or lust, or greed) get mixed up with confusion and uncertainty, it’s a prime opportunity for scammers to strike.
The solution to both of those two scam situations is not to think emotionally about people asking you for money, but to think rationally. When you think about either impersonation or romantic scams, they work off of emotional manipulation to get money from victims. Evaluating the request without emotion often causes the intended victim to realize what is really going on.
The third type of scam is, in some ways, particularly insidious because it preys on people’s desire to be secure in their golden years. This type of scam? The investment scam.
Investment scams focus on convincing you that you’ve been presented with a great opportunity. These scams are designed to prey on your concern of running out of retirement money and promising high returns for little risk.
There’s a lot more to learn about financial fraud and investing scams, so check out our Scam Protection Resource Guide. You’ll learn financial self-defense techniques against the latest criminal attempts to steal your hard-earned money.
The solution to the investment scam?
It comes in two parts. The first part is what I mentioned earlier: Think rationally, unemotionally about your money decisions. Don’t make knee jerk reactions. Do your due diligence to make sure that you aren’t being had by something that sounds too good to be true. If you’re suspicious about the voice at the other end of the phone, hang up! Google the company’s main contact number and call them directly. (Don’t be embarrassed to do this, either; big companies really do prefer to prevent fraud up-front than when it’s too late to solve the problem.)
The second part of this solution is to make sure that you are making smart moves with your savings.
Why? Because financially vulnerable Americans (those worried they won’t have enough to retire) are more likely to fall for scams. Desperation is the scammer’s best friend.
The one asset most resistant to these types of financial scams, the asset that isn’t digital and can’t be hacked: Physical precious metals. Diversifying into inflation-resistant stores of wealth, especially safe-haven gold, can relieve a lot of financial pressure. You can be confident your hard-earned savings can weather a recession or a corporate scandal… Start your due diligence for this by finding out more about your options for this type of diversification in our comparison of inflation-resistant investments.