12/19/2025
Senior Financial Advisor Daniel J. Traub, son of Orchard Cove resident Elanah Traub, recently hosted a financial fraud prevention talk for the community.
"Everybody is a target for these, and it's getting more sophisticated all the time," Daniel said. "It basically comes down to someone somewhere pretending to be someone they're not."
He said a number of scams target people by exploiting their trust, such as fake charities, fake lotteries, and family emergency scams where the scammer pretends to be a relative in crisis who needs money immediately.
"Anyone who puts pressure on you to do something immediately is probably trying to scam you," Daniel said, as a number of these scams create a false sense of urgency. Another red flag is being asked to provide payment in an unusual way.
"No legitimate person is going to have you pay them in crypto. No legitimate person is going to have you pay them with a prepaid card," he said.
On the subject of cards, he said credit cards have more built-in protections than debit cards. He recommends using a separate credit card for online transactions. Citing data breaches, he advises against saving that credit card information on various web marketplaces. He also recommends checking your monthly statements for any unusual activity.
"Look at your statements. I can't tell you how many people have told me they've never looked at their statements," he said.
Daniel also highlighted a number of phishing emails, including those from scammers pretending to be with the City of Boston, Amazon Prime, and Microsoft. He said scammers frequently pose as companies or contests.
"If they tell you you have to pay something to win something, it isn't legitimate," he said.
