Better Business Bureau hosts seminar to combat identity theft

AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — The Better Business Bureau of Amarillo recently held a seminar aimed at educating the public on how to prevent identity theft.

Janna Kiehl, president of the BBB, emphasized the importance of vigilance, noting that the primary way people lose their identity is through data breaches at companies.

"When you get letters from a company you want to be able to take advantage of the services they provide," Kiehl said. "If you sign up for any kind of alerts, they also lose their information or personal information because they give it out to places that maybe might not need it."

Kiehl warned that thieves often pose as fake businesses, manipulating victims by establishing an emotional connection.

"Later they'll call you and say we understand you were part of a scam and you lost money we can help you get that money back that also is a scam it's called recovery move scam," she said. "Once a victim participates in these types of scams it's very hard to get them away because the scammers have their information."

To minimize risk, Kiehl advised using the BBB to verify if a business is reputable. She stressed the importance of safeguarding finances and reporting any suspected scams.

"When people lose money to identity theft they can't get it back," Kiehl said. "They can file a report on BBB's ScamTracker site, they can warn others and they can help that way."

If you would like to report or look up a scam, click here.