On Thursday, April 10, Champaign Police joined McKinley Health Center for their Special Populations Health Fair on the University of Illinois campus. Assistant to the Police Chief Joe Lamberson shared resources about scam safety with event attendees, encouraging them to keep their money by paying it safe online and monitoring their accounts for suspicious activity.
Champaign Police encourage everyone to take proactive steps to protect themselves from scams, including:
- Setting up regular credit monitoring or freezing credit accounts
- Routinely checking bank statements and online banking for fraudulent transactions
- Being vigilant when answering calls, emails, and text messages, including not clicking links
- Hanging up and refusing to pay anyone who calls demanding immediate payment, even if they make legitimate sounding statements.
A healthy dose of skepticism can save you time and money! If someone calls claiming to be from a specific company, wanting payment of a past-due bill, remember to hang up and call the company directly at a listed phone number to confirm that the funds are due!