By Jim Calloway

No, it’s not your imagination. You are most likely receiving more phishing emails and strange phone calls with people talking in the background this year.

Attempted fraud is on the rise and the schemes are increasingly sophisticated. Soon we will see more artificial intelligence-aided scams, such as a deepfake voice message from a voice well known to you.

The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger is Charlotte Cowels’ account of how she was scammed. She is an experienced journalist who has written about personal finance for years. She even had a brother who was a lawyer, but she was scared to talk to anyone.

Just last week an Oklahoma lawyer received an invoice for $596.61 for an insurance policy renewal. The invoice was from the Oklahoma Bar Association. Not only had no one in the law firm ever heard of this insurance policy, but the return address to mail payment was in Cheshire, CT. So, they reached out to the OBA and confirmed the invoice wasn’t from us. This may be a good story to share with your staff.

For a good overview of today’s scams, see The Latest Scams You Need to Be Aware of in 2024 from Experian.

Click image to see an example of a scam invoice sent to an OBA member.