What is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)?

Alicia Nelson-Bell, Finance Intern

​Living in the technology age and having so much information so easily accessible can help improve our lives, but it can also make it difficult to know that we are getting information from the most trustable and accurate sources. One great, reputable and trustable resource that we want to highlight is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB. The CFPB is a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders and other financial companies treat you as the consumer fairly. Along with that, they provide lots of great education and tools to help consumers make informed financial decisions as well as teach others, including kids, how to do so.

The CFPB does a great job staying up to date on helping consumers protect themselves from the many scams that are going on at increasing rates than ever before due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In light of this, we want to highlight some of the different scams that are out there, how to recognize scams and what to do if you have been a victim of a scam. 
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Current Popular Scams:
Scammers will always use whatever is going on in the world that is creating stress, fear and uncertainty to their advantage, so it is important to stay up to date on what scams are currently happening so that you are best able to look out for them and recognize them. Some COVID-19 related scams include:

• Funeral Expense Scams- Scammers are contacting people pretending to be FEMA and offer to register them for funeral expense benefits if they have lost a loved one to COVID-19.
• COVID-19 Vaccine Scams- Scammers contacting people offering early access to vaccines (including boosters) for a fee and collect your information over the phone or email for that fee. 
• COVID-19 Cure, Air Filters to remove COVID-19 from the air in your home, and Testing Scams- Scammers collect your information to get payment for any of these items and then don’t actually deliver.
• Fake Coronavirus-related Charity Scams- Scammers posing as a real charity or makes up the name of a charity that sounds real to get money from you. 
• COVID-19 Government Imposter Scams- Scammers pretending to be affiliated with the government, who people are paying extra close attention to these days, to scam you out of money.
• For information regarding investment scams related to the Coronavirus check out investor.gov, a part of the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

Tips to Help you Recognize a Scam:
In order to mitigate your risk of becoming victim of the many scams that are out there, it is important to educate yourself on ways to recognize them. Some tips for recognizing scams include:

• Check the CFPB’s website to stay up to date on scams that have been reported to be going on. 
• Know that the government will never call, text or reach out to you over social media about you owing money or about getting you stimulus or tax funds faster. 
• Visit government websites directly, don’t click on links sent to you. 
• Take down the name and number from anyone claiming to be calling you from a charity and research it before giving ANY personal information. 
• Beware of ANYONE who reaches out to you and asks for money in any form or any personal information over the phone. If you owe money to anyone and are considering making payment, either do it in person or call the agency yourself so that you know you are actually dealing with the agency. 
• Anyone who reaches out to you and makes any claims that create a sense of urgency to get results or whatever is being promised. 

We want to encourage you to check out the CFPB’s website to get even more up to date information as we did not include an exhaustive list. We would also like to encourage you to check out some of their other educational tools and resources to help you become even more empowered to make educated financial decisions. The more educated you are about protecting your finances and about finances in general, the less likely you are to experience as high of levels of financial stress. Always make sure that you are getting your information from reputable sources as well as only giving your personal information to reputable sources when necessary. The CFPB is on your side empowering your financial wellness!