Identity Thieves Now Targeting Social Security Benefits

I wanted to pass the following story along as a warning to people who are approaching Social Security age.

On Good Friday, as I was baking my Easter Bread, I received a frantic call from an old friend in Pittsburgh. Natalia (not her real name) received a letter in the mail from the Social Security Administration (SSA) thanking her for setting up her Social Security Account online. The problem was, she never did. Earlier in the week, when she and her husband attempted to file their income tax return electronically, the submission was denied by the IRS, as somebody had already filed an income tax return for 2017 using Natalia’s social security number. She was understandably desperate for advice on what to do next.

Equifax Data Breach & Its Implications

The Equifax breach, which occurred between May and July of 2017, may have been the source of Natalia’s problems. The breach impacted as many as 143 Million people in the US, plus others in Canada and the UK. Credit card numbers of over 200,000 Americans were breached, as well as “personal identifying information” of 143,000 Americans.
When this breach was announced, many were concerned about the “normal” identity fraud problems: fraudulent credit cards, auto loans, or even mortgages being opened up in their names. In addition, ID theft artists are getting better at filing fraudulent tax returns using stolen social security numbers to claim “refunds” of the withholding of their victims before the victims file their own tax returns. Many of Natalia’s co-workers have experienced this problem over the past 4 years.

The big surprise that has surfaced after the Equifax breach is that some of the devious con artists are now filing for social security benefits using the stolen numbers. This approach works best if the person whose identity was stolen was at least 62 years old (the earliest you can collect retirement benefits), still working, but not yet collecting. Those not yet collecting social security would not know if someone had tapped their account and was receiving their monthly benefit. Also, it would be very easy for these folks to discard a letter from the SSA (like the one Natalia received) thinking it was junk mail or one of those annual benefit estimate statements. On the contrary, if a retiree who was already collecting retirement benefits was a victim of this scam, they would likely notice a missing monthly payment immediately and would contact the SSA.

Therefore, a person who is at least age 62 but still working is the perfect target for this scam. I have read a number of reports over the past 3 months of this occurring. One Michigan resident received a double whammy. In 2017, somebody filed for and collected social security benefits using his number. In January of 2018, he received a SSA-1099 from the SSA for the amount the con artist collected, so now the IRS is looking for him to report the Social Security income and pay any tax due on his 1040!

Natalia’s Problem Resolution

Natalia spoke with the SSA, he shared with Natalia that this scam actually happened to him personally! He deleted Natalia’s online account, so going forward, Natalia will need to appear at her local Social Security office and take care of any business in person, and she will never have an online SSA account. She alerted her bank and credit card companies that her information had been breached, and pulled and reviewed her credit reports from all three credit bureaus. They were all clean, but she is monitoring her reports regularly and has signed up for a credit monitoring service. She also reported the identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission athttps://www.identitytheft.gov/ and was instructed to report the incident to the local police. Finally, Natalia and her husband are working directly with the IRS on the fraudulent filing and they will file a paper return.

Takeaways

Identify theft is never pleasant to deal with. Nobody likes even a “mild” breach involving a stolen credit card number. However, this new scheme of targeting Social Security benefits is especially disturbing, as it targets what a person has accrued throughout their entire work history. If you are of eligible Social Security age (62 or over) and you are still working, pay particular attention to any correspondence you receive from the SSA. You may want to proactively establish your online SSA account using their enhanced security to sign up. Better yet, you may want to emulate Natalia’s approach and set up your relationship with SSA the old-fashioned way…in their offices. It is not as convenient as setting it up online, but at least you can proactively protect yourself against this new threat.

Scary Headlines and bad advice.

I was listening to the car radio the other day and hear an ad by someone who was predicting the end of the financial word. After listing the all the things that will go wrong, he promised that if you invested with him you could enjoy all the gains of the stock market but would not risk losing a penny.

Sound too good to be true? Of course it is, but it works by appealing to people who want to believe that there’s such a thing as a free lunch.

I was reminded of that radio commercial when I read this article by Gil Weinreich at Seeking Alpha:

All investors are looking for astute analysis, but in order to appreciate it when you see it, it is worthwhile considering what bad analysis looks like. Jeff Miller does just that, critiquing analysts who make spurious connections between long-term economic trends and specific portfolio recommendations. I’ve seen scary headlines to this effect offering “sell now”-type advice in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 up until today. Even though such analysts had all kinds of valid concerns, investors following the serial bad advice have missed out.

When seeing representative articles from this genre, I ask myself what manner of benevolence prompts a writer to offer ever fresh warnings of doomsday. What’s going on with these analysts? Jeff hits the nail on the head. I quote in pertinent part:

Their business model seems to be one of supporting the insatiable appetite for confirmation bias from investors who have misjudged the market. Unfortunately, many average investors stumble on these sources and take the material seriously. They do not know about past errors or track records.

You never see a retraction or admission of an error. The only clue is that these sources monetize their audience with a ‘solution’ to fear – gold, annuities, a no-fail trading system, or some other seductive, high-commission product.”

The point is a critical reader must understand not just what an author’s main point is, but what is his interest in writing the article. This is not to say that someone with a point of view and a business interest should be ignored. Such a combination often prompts very good content. But understanding these elements can help you evaluate the analysis. Is it tendentious or is it instructive? Strong financial communicators educate; salesmen agitate.

There is so much bad advice generated by the media that it pays to ask what’s in it for the advice-givers. Too often it’s a fat commission on a product that is deceptive.

 

Avoiding Bad Advisors

Some good advice from SeekingAlpha:

The elephant standing in the room in all discussions of financial advice is the unethical advisor who offers bad, or not good, advice. Many commentators prefer not to dignify such people with the term “advisor.” I completely agree that the gulf is wide between these folks and those who genuinely possess advisory credentials; the trouble is that they typically call themselves advisors and they often give advice – it’s just that such advice is conflicted!

At their most extreme, bad advisors are the sharks sitting down in a Long Island boiler room pushing some pump-and-dump microcrap to widows lacking a companion to speak with. They talk about how their stock (or any other money-making device) is poised to shoot for the moon, and try to make you feel stupid for not handing over everything you’ve got.

Most people can recognize such wolves in sheep’s clothing, but seniors are not infrequently taken in, not because of their age certainly, but because of the growing problem of cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s and the like. A major national survey conducted two years ago by Public Policy Polling on behalf of nonprofit Investor Protection Trust found that nearly one in five Americans aged 65 and older had been victims of a financial swindle.

It is relevant to point out that a good financial advisor is often the first line of defense against such predators, as are adult children with sufficient awareness of the issue and, increasingly, doctors now trained to check for signs of financial exploitation when treating patients experiencing cognitive decline. It is also critical to note that a big source of vulnerability is the lack of awareness (of seniors and their adult children) of such decline.

Beyond the outright looting of bank accounts and the like, there are advisors who, on their own initiative or as a result of pressure from their firms, operate like used-car dealers are reputed to do; that is, they try to “put you in” a product today. And the firms we’re talking about, it is important to note, are not just large full-service brokerage firms that have been embroiled in past scandals, but also the discount brokerage firms of saintly reputation that are associated in the public mind as pro-consumer. Here’s a quote from an article by Bloomberg’s Nir Kaiser, citing a recent Wall Street Journal report:

Fidelity representatives are paid 0.04% of the assets clients invest in most types of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds,” but they earn 0.1% on investments that “generate higher annual fees for Fidelity, such as managed accounts, annuities and referrals to independent financial advisors.”

I think the above quote gets to the nub of the problem of unethical advice. Anyone who has any interest other than the client’s best interest should be automatically disqualified from offering you advice. The reason is simply that the person cannot be trusted. Maybe he is generally an upstanding citizen but the day you need his advice, he’s got a big bill to pay at home and convinces himself, first, that the product that will put the biggest jingle in his pocket is just the thing you need. Or, maybe the advisor faces no personal financial pressure whatsoever, but faces pressure to “perform” at work, and wants to keep his job. A 2015 survey from whistleblower securities law firm Labaton Sucharow found that nearly one in five financial industry respondents felt that financial services professionals must at least sometimes engage in illegal or unethical practices.

Such pressures exist in every field, but perverse incentives increase where large sums of money are involved. Many honest advisors seeking to break away from what they see as a conflicted corporate environment have undertaken fiduciary responsibilities, banded with an organization that imposes ethical standards and very often set up their practices as registered independent advisors, or RIAs. These are all good ideas, and favor good advice, but it bears mentioning that there are honest advisors outside of this framework, and that this framework doesn’t guarantee honest advice. Ultimately, it is incumbent on every individual who could benefit from professional financial advice to hone his own ability to detect integrity or the lack thereof, and to find an honest and capable advisors whose advice will help them succeed beyond the cost they are paying for the service.

Getting financial guidance is more important than ever, but be careful who you take advice from.  If you have questions, feel free to ask us.

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Harsh Lessons In Modern Con Art

There have been a lot of articles about the fact that Seniors are often the subject of financial fraud, and it’s true.  But you don’t have to be old to get scammed.  Most of Bernie Madoff’s victims were rich, successful and relatively sophisticated.

Here is the story of financial writer, public speaker and financial thought leader, Mitch Anthony, who was scammed out of $1 million and whose mother lost her life savings.  It’s an object lesson.

As I sit down to write this article, I know it will likely be the most difficult composition of my writing career—difficult because it dredges up a miasma of regret, embarrassment, sadness and anger like nothing else I’ve experienced in life. I was conned out of almost a million dollars.

I will survive. But my mother was also conned—out of every penny she had. Her journey would prove much more difficult. The recollection of what I’m about to detail makes me feel stupid and gullible, like a sucker who should have known better. Then there’s the exasperation and indignation of watching someone skirt justice for one simple reason: There wasn’t ample time to hold him accountable for the fortunes he destroyed and the lives he crushed.

The federal statute of limitations on financial crimes is five years. Once you discover you have been defrauded, very likely two to three years have passed. Legal proceedings will chew up a year or two. By the time prosecutors decide there is merit in proceeding, the time has almost run out, and they will cease their efforts knowing they are up against the statute. This was our exact experience. By the time I brought the fraud to the attention of the FBI, they informed me that the perpetrator was already “on their radar”—but at this point, there wasn’t enough time left to do anything, and they couldn’t afford the time and resources to waste their efforts.

The man’s name is Wendell Corey, and he touted himself as a “developer.”

At what age are you too old to manage your money?

I was fascinated to read an article with the above title that was published recently.  It was accompanied by a picture of an elderly couple and their caregiver walking with canes.

The article reflects many of our own observations.  We have been managing money for people for over thirty years.  During that time we have seen the effect of age and ill health on the people we work with.

Here’s the good news:

“Most people who don’t suffer from cognitive impairment can continue managing their money in their 70s and 80s, according to a report just published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR). But of course some older Americans, and especially financial novices who take over money management after the death of a spouse, will need help …”

Here’s the bad news:

As we get older our ability to process information slows down.  As a result, the elderly are more likely to be defrauded or abused by financial scams.  They may not open their mail regularly, have problems paying bills and fail to read and understand their financial statements and reports.

If you’ve never made investment decisions, paid the bills, balanced the family checkbook or reviewed the investment accounts you are especially vulnerable.  This if often true of older couples in which the wife managed the household and the husband managed the family finances.

As we get older, there are a few basic things that we should do to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

1. Have a spending plan for your retirement years.
2. Make sure that your spouse and your financial advisor knows about the plan and knows where your accounts are so that they can be monitored for fraud or abuse.
3. At some point you or your spouse should agree to transfer your responsibility for managing your investments, and make sure that both members of a couple should know how to run the household finances.

For guidance on these issues, we suggest ordering a copy of BEFORE I GO and BEFORE I GO WORKBOOK.

Ex-NFL player, Mega Millions winner press $7.8M claims against Morgan Stanley

What do sports super-stars and lottery winners have in common?  Both are in financial danger.

That’s a strange thing to say about people who are often multi-millionaires.

The problem is that neither the talented athlete nor the lottery winner is usually any good at managing money.  That’s a harsh judgment to make but too many star athletes and lottery winners end up broke.  They end up broke for many of the same reasons:

• They believe that the financial windfall they have received is inexhaustible.
• They attract too many groupies and hangers-on who are after their money.
• They spend the money they have received instead of investing it for their old age.
• The money they do invest is often lost because of poor, or dishonest, advice.

From Financial Planning magazine:

Former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel and Mega Millions lottery winner James Groves are jointly seeking $7.8 million in damages against Morgan Stanley related to investment recommendations made by a now-barred broker, according to regulatory filings….

Samuel and Groves filed their claims in FINRA arbitration in July, according to a copy of Parthemer’s CRD. From 2003 to 2013, Samuel played for several NFL teams, including the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. Groves won $168 million in the Mega Millions lottery in 2009.

In this case, Asante Samuel was persuaded to buy a night club, probably hoping to capitalize on his fame as a football player.  It’s fairly common for professional athletes to open restaurants or night clubs.  The problem is that even for professional restauranteurs, the failure rate is shockingly high, and athletes don’t have the training or time to run these businesses.

The story of many lottery winners is one example of ruined lives after another.   Bud Post’s story is not unusual.

When William “Bud” Post won $16.2 million in a 1988 lottery, one of the first things he did was try to please his family, according to this Bankrate article.

Unfortunately, his kin was of the unfriendly sort. Post’s brother hired a hit man to kill him, hoping to inherit some money. Other family members persuaded him to invest in two businesses that ultimately failed. Post’s ex-girlfriend sued him for some of the winnings. Post himself was thrown in jail for firing a gun at a bill collector.

Over time, Post accumulated so much debt that he had to declare bankruptcy. He now relies on Social Security for income. “Lotteries don’t mean (anything) to me,” he is quoted as saying—after he lost all his money.

Is there no hope for professional athletes and lottery winners?  Yes, but it requires them to know their limitations, which may include hiring professional help before they begin spending their new-found wealth.

If you’re a sports star or lottery winner who would like to retire rich, and you want to have someone to talk to about the way you can fend off the vultures that your wealth and fame attract, contact us.  You don’t want to spend your time in court trying to get back what you lost.

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How QB Mark Sanchez was sacked by a financial adviser

This article from Financial Planning caught my eye:

NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez and major league baseball pitchers Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt were allegedly cheated out of about $33 million by Ash Narayan, who worked for RGT Capital Management for nearly 20 years, the SEC has charged.

Narayan “secretly siphon[ed] millions of dollars from accounts he managed for professional athletes,” the SEC alleged.

When you hire someone to manage your money you trust that they will serve you honestly and ethically.  Unfortunately, that trust is sometimes betrayed, which gives the financial services industry a black eye.

One of the things that we can pass along to our friends and clients are lessons learned.  In this particular case, Narayan put a lot of his clients’ money into a struggling internet firm in which he had a financial stake.  That is a huge conflict of interest and should be a red flag for anyone who hires a financial advisor.

Sanchez hired Narayan partly because they attended the same church.  We have seen several instances where people entrusted their money with advisors who were part of the church, the club or another affinity group without checking further.  When hiring an advisor you cannot assume that people close to you have your best interest at heart.  Even family members will take advantage of other members of the family.

If you want a brochure that tells you how to choose a financial advisor, contact us.  We are fiduciaries.

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Avoiding Tax Scams

Financial Advisor magazine ran an excellent article about a scam that is being run by people pretending to be IRS agents. One of these scams defrauded more than 5,000 people out of more than $25 million.  Here’s how one scam works:

Victims are told they owe money to the IRS and it must be paid promptly through a pre-loaded debit card or wire transfer. If the victim refuses to cooperate, they are then threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver’s license. In many cases, the caller becomes hostile and insulting.

Here’s what you must know: the IRS never solicits payments by phone or e-mail.  If they need information they will always write a letter first.  Do not respond to e-mails that appear to be from the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.

There are a number of other frauds that involve taxes.  A thief may steal your identity and fraudulently file a tax return and claim a refund.  There are several ways to avoid this happening to you.  First, protect your identity by shredding all documents that contain personal information.  Second file early and electronically; electronic filing eliminates paper documents with sensitive information will not get stolen in the mail.

Beware of tax preparer fraud.  It is important to choose carefully when hiring an individual or firm to prepare your return. This year, the IRS wants to remind all taxpayers that they should use only preparers who sign the returns they prepare and enter their IRS Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs).

Beware of “Free Money” from the IRS or scams involving social security.

Flyers and advertisements for free money from the IRS, suggesting that the taxpayer can file a tax return with little or no documentation, have been appearing in community churches around the country. These schemes promise refunds to people who have little or no income and normally don’t have a tax filing requirement – and are also often spread by word of mouth as unsuspecting and well-intentioned people tell their friends and relatives.

 

We protect your identity and work hard to safeguard sensitive financial information.  It’s why we provide you with a password protected Lock Box when we send information such as performance reports to you electronically.

For more information, please contact us.

Use caution when selecting an investment advisor

It’s important to know that your investment advisor has your best interests at heart.  As Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) we are “fiduciaries.”  That means that we put our clients’ interests first, ahead of our own.   One of the great things about being an independent RIA is that we work directly and only for our clients instead of being on the payroll of some large investment firm.  Our clients are our employers, not a large bank or some corporate giant with headquarters on Wall Street.

An article published in a recent issue of Financial Planning was entitled  Trusting Advisors Just got Harder.  

According to the author:

A new working paper by business school professors at the University of Chicago and University of Minnesota found that 7% of financial advisors have been disciplined for misconduct that ranges from putting clients in unsuitable investments to trading on client accounts without permission.

It’s a touchy subject in this industry.  Many of the issues are related to the sale of high-commission products including annuities and other insurance products.  According to the professors’ research, unfortunately, the offenders often move on to other firms and are likely to become repeat offenders.  Before working with an advisor it is always a good idea to do a BrokerCheck with FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Agency) to see if he or she has a blemished record.

The study actually provides a list of the 10 advisory firms with the highest misconduct rates.  Surprisingly, some of the biggest firms in the industry have a large number of advisors with misconduct on their records.

Most of the people at these firms are honest and do look out for their clients’ best interest. But it does pay to be careful out there and at least do some background research, like BrokerCheck.  As Reagan once said “trust but verify.”

For more information, contact us.

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New Scam Tricks Advisors Into Giving Up Clients’ Money

Financial fraud has always been a problem, but the Internet has enabled entirely new ways of stealing money. We recently received an alert about a new scheme to defraud advisors and their clients.

The scam begins with an email to an advisor that includes a bogus invoice. The email appears to come from a client, and it includes a request to send money directly to the business listed on the invoice. The invoice might appear to be for purchases such as antiques or art, or for such things as attorney fees or legal settlements. The advisor sends the money, and the fraud is complete.

The payee is often in a foreign country or at an overseas bank. This makes it nearly impossible to catch the thieves or reclaim the money. The FBI estimates that more than 2,000 victims lost more than $214 million to this scam between October 2013 and December 2015.

My firm has a policy of not sending clients’ money to third parties based on email communication alone. But we go beyond simply confirming client requests by phone. It is our policy to get to know our clients personally. We know if they have a pattern of sending money to third parties. In all cases, we require a written letter of authorization as well as verbal confirmation from the client before any money is sent out.

The recent news that personal information about more than 20 million government employees, contractors and others was stolen highlights the importance of the security of your financial information. It also makes dealing with a financial firm where you are an individual, not a number, increasingly important.

NOTE: We recently submitted this article to NerdWallet who posted it on their Advisor Voices board.