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Scams come at us from every direction—postal mail, email, text, and telephone—and they’re getting harder to identify. 

 “It all comes down to you never know who you’re talking to on the other end of the phone or other end of the computer,” says New York State Trooper Officer Mark O’Donnell. 

 By knowing the characteristics of most scams and thinking things through, we’re more likely to keep our money and personal information out of the hands of con artists. 

“It can be confusing,” O’Donnell says, “and again, these people are professionals, and that’s what they do. They prey on people, and they try to get them confused and scared and nervous for them to open up their bank accounts.”

Learn what to look for in this Inside Out conversation, and then pass the word along, especially to members of older generations. “Talk to your parents. It’s like talking to your kids about stuff in school when they’re growing up. You’ve got to talk to your parents about this and your grandparents. It’s kind of a full circle of life,” says O’Donnell, the Barracks E Public Information Officer.