Transcription
Sharing the simplest things about yourself, things that you thought were completely normal, can lead to devastating consequences. With just your name, scammers can get very far. So, imagine if they have your phone number, email, or even worse, your address.
Hi, I'm Pamela Garrett, an estate planning and asset protection lawyer. And I'm going to teach you the top 10 things you should never under any circumstances tell anyone. So, next time you're asked for personal information, you know exactly how to protect yourself from harm, because you'd be surprised at how bad this list gets. Starting with mistakes you're probably making right now.
The people trying to steal from you are not the strangers in dark alleys we were taught to fear growing up. They're on the phone posing as your bank. They're in your inbox pretending to be your insurance company. They're on social media quietly collecting the pieces of your life that you've made public. And they are very, very good at what they do.
As an attorney, I see that aftermath constantly. Clients who had their identity stolen, accounts drained, estates compromised, not because they were careless, because they didn't know which pieces of information became a master key to everything they've built. Let's go through all 10. For each one, I'll tell you exactly what gets used against you, what to say, and what not to say when someone asks for it.
Number one, your social security number. You already know not to hand this out, but that's not actually how they get access to it. The part most people miss is the method. It's not someone asking you directly. It's a call from someone claiming to be the IRS saying you owe back taxes and they must verify your identity immediately or face arrest. It's the letter that looks like it came from Social Security asking you to confirm to avoid suspension of benefits. It's a job application on a sketchy site that asks for your social security number before you even have an interview. The urgency, the official looking branding, the just plausible enough scenario. That's the mechanism. And once they have it, the damage is extraordinary. A scammer with your social security number can open credit cards, take out loans, file a tax return, and claim your refund before you do. Apply for government benefits, and build an entirely new identity. You may not find out for months. I've had clients discover their social security number was compromised only when they were denied a mortgage because someone had quietly opened six credit cards in their name and maxed them all out. Years of cleanup. The rule is simple. The IRS does not call you. Social Security does not email you. Any unsolicited contact asking you to verify your social security number is a scam. Hang up. Delete it. And if you're worried there's a real issue, call the agency directly using the info on their official website, never the one they gave you. And here's one of the most powerful things you can do right now today before this video ends. Freeze your credit at all three major bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It's free. It takes about 5 minutes, and it means no one can open a new line of credit in your name, even if they have your full social security number. And when you legitimately need to apply for credit, unfreezing it is also free and also only takes minutes. There's almost no downside and the protection is enormous. If you haven't done this yet, please do it today.
Number two, your passwords. And I'll be honest, even my household is not immune to this one. My husband fell for this recently. He got an official looking email from our power company saying our payment didn't go through. He clicked the link, logged into what looked like the website, and entered everything, including our credit card number. This was while he was distracted at the mall with our kids. By the time we realized it was fake, it was too late. We had to go and cancel all of the cards and change our passwords. He is a smart, careful person. That's the point. These are not obvious. The logos are right. The language is right. The urgency is just enough to make you act before you think. Here's what makes a compromised password truly catastrophic. Most people reuse the same password or some version of it across multiple accounts. When scammers get one, they don't just try it on one site. They run it against hundreds. Your email, your bank, your investment accounts, your retirement fund. One password becomes a pass key to your entire financial life. The fix? Use a password manager to generate a unique password for every account. And never type your credentials into a page you reached by clicking from a link in an email or text. Go directly to the site yourself. Always.
Number three, two factor authentication codes. Two factor was designed to protect you, but scammers have figured out how to get the code directly from you. They call claiming to be your bank's fraud department. They say they need to verify your identity and ask you to read back the code they just texted you. The moment you do, they're in. They weren't verifying you. They were logging in as you and your code bypassed every security layer in your account. Remember this, no legitimate institution will call you and ask you to read back a verification code. That code is for you to enter. Anyone asking for it is running a scam.
Number four, your date of birth and home address. These feel harmless, which is exactly why they're so useful to scammers. Combined with publicly available information, your birthday and address, allow someone to answer security questions protecting your accounts. Impersonate you when they're calling your bank, and submit address changes to redirect your mail, including financial statements, new cards, and tax documents. Take your birth year off your public social media profiles. Be deliberate about which forms actually need your home address, and treat these answers to security questions like passwords. Use answers that are memorable to you but not findable by anyone who knows you.
Number five, your insurance policy numbers. Health insurance fraud is massive and growing, and most victims don't find out until real damage is done. With your policy number and basic personal details, a scammer can bill your insurance company for appointments that never happened, procedures never performed, and prescriptions never written. I had a client whose insurance was billed nearly $40,000 for medical equipment she never received. By the time it surfaced, her insurer had already paid most of it and was attempting to recoup from her account. Took over a year to resolve. Treat your insurance card like a credit card and review your explanation of benefits every time one arrives. Most people throw them away unread, which is exactly what fraudsters count on.
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Number six, your phone number. Your phone number has become the verification layer for almost everything in your financial life. Your bank accounts, your investment accounts, your email resets. There's a specific attack called a SIM swap that makes it catastrophic. Here's how it works. A scammer calls your mobile carrier pretending to be you. They have your name, your address, maybe your account number gathered from data breaches on your own media. They say their phone was lost or damaged and asks to transfer your number to a new SIM. The carrier complies. Now that phone receives every call and text meant for you, including every two factor code, every bank alert, every password reset link. Documented cases, entire investment folios have been emptied within hours of a successful SIM swap. What to do? Call your carrier today and add a PIN or passphrase that must be provided by anyone who tries to make changes. Don't list your phone number publicly. And if your phone suddenly loses service for no apparent reason, treat it as an emergency and call your carrier immediately from another device.
Number seven, photos of your ID. We've been trained to send ID photos everywhere. Rental apps, platforms, verification services, a photo of your driver's license contains your full legal name, date of birth, address, and ID number. With that image, a scammer can open financial accounts, pass identity verification, and create fraudulent documents. Deep fake technology has made this worse. Your ID photo combined with a generated image of your face can now pass some of the automated verification systems entirely. Before sending your ID photo, ask if this is a platform I know and trust. Is there a clear legal reason to need this? If you're uncertain, don't send it. When you must use secure encrypted channels, never a standard text or email attachment.
Number eight, your ownership or financial status. Talking openly about your own home, your business, your investments, and expected inheritance is a targeting mechanism. Scammers don't randomly select victims. They identify them. In estate planning, I see this cause enormous damage. When people talk openly about inheritance details, the information travels. I've seen families torn apart by relatives who learned what was coming and spent years contesting estates, manipulating aging parents, or positioning themselves to intercept assets. Keep the details of what you own private, not out of shame, but out of strategy. This especially applies to social media. Posts about new homes, new cars, or financial milestones are public announcements to anyone paying attention.
Number nine, your travel plans. Posting that you're leaving for 2 weeks is a public announcement that your home will be empty. Burglary is one risk, but sophisticated scammers also use travel announcements to time financial attacks, knowing you'll be distracted in a different time zone, less likely to notice account activity and harder to reach if your bank flags something. Don't post travel plans publicly before or during your trip. Share your itinerary privately with people who need it. Set up travel alerts with your financial institutions. Make sure your home is monitored while you're gone.
Number 10, responding to deep fake calls impersonating people you love. This is the one that keeps me up at night. Artificial intelligence can now clone a person's voice from as little as a 3-second audio clip from a video, a voicemail, a social media post. With that clone, a scammer can call with your child or grandchild's voice and tell you there's an emergency. The script is always the same. They're in trouble. They need money now. Don't tell anyone because you're hearing what sounds exactly like their voice. Every instinct you have says that it's real. I have seen clients wire tens of thousands of dollars in a single afternoon because of a call like this. One family wired $80,000 before they confirmed their son was perfectly fine at home. The fix is simple and it works. Establish a family code word today, right now before this video ends. Something random that only your immediate family members know. If anyone calls claiming to be a family member in an emergency, you ask for the code before you do anything else. No code word, you hang up and call the real person directly on the number you already have for them. No matter how convincing the voice sounds, no matter how urgent the situation feels, you verify it first every single time. This one practice established in 5 minutes of the conversation with your family can protect everyone you love from the most sophisticated scam and experience today.
Here's what I want you to understand. After going through all 10, the people trying to take what you've built are not waiting for you to make the obvious mistakes. They are looking for the information you think is harmless. Your birthday, your phone number, your travel plans, the sound of your child's voice. The best protection is not paranoia. It's a set of simple habits. Verify before you share. Never act on urgency someone else created. Keep financial details private and establish verification systems with the people closest to you.
I'm Pamela Garrett. If today gave you something you didn't know before, and I suspect that number 10 did, share this with someone you love, especially anyone older in your family who may not know about deep fake calls. It could protect them from something truly devastating. Drop your questions in the comments. I read everyone.