Fraud is when a person lies or tricks someone on purpose to gain something valuable, like money or property. It usually involves hiding the truth or giving false information so that another person believes something that isn’t real. In short: fraud is a dishonest act meant to take advantage of people.

Fraud can take many forms: scams, fake messages asking for personal information, or someone pretending to be someone they’re not. Fraudsters want both your money and your personal information. 

Identity theft—taking your personal information such as your Social Security number, claimant ID, address or bank information—is the most common and valuable source of fraud. Your information can be used in many illegal and fraudulent ways.

Tips to Keep Your Information Safe

• Do not give your personal information, including bank information, to unknown callers or senders.
• Use caution when responding to text and email messages from people you don’t know. 
• Do not click links from unknown people/numbers.
• Create strong passwords with a mix of letters, numbers and symbols.
• Change passwords often; avoid using the same password for everything. 
• Keep your phone and computer updated with the latest security protections.
• Trust, but verify if the text/email/caller is real and from where they say they are from. 
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.