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DES MOINES -- Better Business Bureau serving Greater Iowa is strengthening its fight against financial fraud. Cody Huizenga, operations specialist at BBB Greater Iowa, has completed Fighting Financial Fraud, a national train-the-trainer program from the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, BBB’s educational foundation, made possible with support from the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
The program brings BBB professionals from across the country together for six monthly online sessions on fraud-related topics. Participants study common scams and the red flags that signal them, along with research and education tools designed to help consumers protect their money. Graduates receive presentation materials so they can share that knowledge with their own communities through workshops and talks.
For BBB Greater Iowa, the training is already paying off in day-to-day work. Huizenga applies what he learned to review reports submitted to BBB Scam Tracker, BBB’s free online tool where consumers report and look up scams. The training also connected him with fraud-prevention professionals at BBBs nationwide, creating a network for sharing scam trends as they emerge.
“Scammers change their scripts constantly, so we have to stay a step ahead,” said Huizenga. “This training gave me a sharper eye for the warning signs in the reports Iowans send us. It also connected me with people at BBBs across the country who are seeing the same schemes, so we can spot a new scam sooner and warn people faster.”
BBB encourages consumers to watch for these common warning signs:
• Pressure to act fast. Scammers create urgency so people don’t have time to think or ask questions.
• Guaranteed high returns with little risk. Legitimate investments always carry some risk.
• Unusual payment requests. Requests for gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers or payment apps are a major warning sign.
• Unsolicited contact. Be cautious of unexpected calls, texts, emails or social media messages offering investment opportunities.
• Requests for secrecy. Anyone asking a person to keep an opportunity or payment secret from family or the bank is a red flag.
Before investing, consumers can check whether a financial professional is registered using FINRA BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org. Anyone who encounters a scam can report it at BBB.org/ScamTracker. Each report helps BBB warn others and spot new fraud trends.