Financial Crimes Awareness

More than ever before, fraudsters are using text messages, emails, and phone calls to get remote access to consumers’ computers, phones, and tablets. Understanding how these scams work—and knowing how to protect yourself—is essential to safeguarding your account and identity.

What are remote access scams?

A remote access scam is a type of fraud where criminals pretend to be someone from your financial institution, the government, or another trusted organization. They tell you that your account or device has been compromised and pressure you into installing remote access software so they can fix the issue. Once installed, they then take over your account or steal your money, passwords, and private information.

Here’s what you can do to stay safe.

Stop: Be cautious of unsolicited contact. Even if a message or call sounds important, take a moment before downloading software or allowing access to your device. Be extra careful if someone pressures you to act right away, asks for an access code, or pushes you to install a specific program.

Drop: Fraudsters can’t get access to your devices if you don’t install anything. When in doubt, hang up the call, trash the email, delete the text, or close the website. Then call that organization’s support line to verify if something is truly needed.

Remove: If you think you’ve been targeted, remove any remote access software and run an anti-virus scan to remove any viruses. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, ask a professional to check and clean your device. Removing suspicious software is critical to stopping fraudsters from having continued access to your computer or phone.

At Access Financial, protecting your financial well-being is one of our highest priorities. While education and vigilance can help reduce the risk of fraud, it’s equally important to know how to respond in the unfortunate event that your personal information is compromised or you become victim to identity theft. We have included an Identity Theft Recovery guide below as a resource for you and your family, outlining the steps experts recommend to help minimize damage and begin the recovery process. As always, if you have concerns about your accounts or financial security, please don’t hesitate to contact our office at 952-885-2736.

Identity Theft Recovery Guide

If you would like to check out other useful tips from Schwab, please visit SchwabSafe.

DOCUMENTS TO GATHER WHEN FILING TAX RETURNS

Tax season is right around the corner and we know how tricky it can be to manage such a task on top of your other responsibilities. To help you get organized, this checklist provides categories of documents you may need to gather to file your return. Feel free to use it as needed or provide it to your accountant so we can work together to make sure this tax season goes smoothly for you.

After reviewing the checklist, please let us know any questions you may have or if you would like to meet to discuss this further. Please share this resource with others you feel may benefit from it.

Tech Tip ~ Adobe Scan App

We have a number of clients send us pictures of documents. This can be challenging for both the sender and receiver. The sender must contend with lighting, centering, sizing, shadows, etc. The receiver does not always receive a document that can be easily reviewed or saved.

A free app we have used that works well is Adobe Scan. This app allows users to scan documents of a variety of sizes, convert them to pdf, and forward via text, email, etc. without needing access to a scanner or computer.

To get the app, simply scan the QR code and download. You can find more information at https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/mobile/scanner-app.html

Hope you find this helpful!

DETERMINING THE OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY

We recently shared articles regarding the importance of choosing the right people to fill essential roles when executing your estate plan. Ownership (or titling) of property is another valuable aspect to consider.

There are various ways property can be owned which also effects how property can be transferred. In general, ownership can be outright, as tenants in common, as joint owners with rights of survivorship, or as community property. The use of trusts and custodial gifts to minors with UGMA or UTMA designation are options as well. Attached is a document describing some of the more common forms of ownership.

We would be happy to discuss this further or answer any questions you may have.

Executing your estate plan: Choosing the right people

While minimizing taxes and planning for the eventual disposition of your assets are important aspects of estate planning, selecting the best people and/or organizations to carry out your wishes when you are no longer able is often one of the most difficult decisions. It is important to consider a number of factors including trust (will they honor your wishes), ability (do they have the knowledge and experience), and the willingness (proximity, time, desire, etc.) of those appointed in each role.

Below are links to five articles relating to key roles that need to be filled.

Appointing the proper people in these roles (and reviewing this regularly) allows you the opportunity to put several layers of protection in place, especially as estate situations become more complex.

Buy or Lease Your Next Vehicle

When it’s time to get a new vehicle, it is worth considering whether buying or leasing is the best option. This flowchart may help guide you or someone you know through the buying versus leasing decision.

If you would like to discuss whether buying or leasing is more appropriate for your individual situation or have us assist with a break-even analysis, please let us know.

Bonus Pay for MN Frontline Workers

We recently received notice from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MN DLI) regarding bonus pay for COVID-19 frontline workers. We thought it would be helpful to share and, although it may not apply directly to you, it may for your family members or friends.

The notice states “To thank those Minnesotans who worked on the frontlines during the COVID-19 peacetime emergency, Gov. Tim Walz signed Frontline Worker Payments into law April 29, 2022, enabling those workers to apply for Frontline Worker Pay.”

We received two information sheets provided by the MN DLI. The first contains information to help determine eligibility. The second provides details on the application process after determining eligibility.

The state is anticipating applications will be taken June 8 through July 22. If you are interested in applying or would like more information, please visit frontlinepay.mn.gov.

Considerations when updating your estate plan

Creating an estate plan takes time and energy. It always feels good when the planning is done and the documents have been finalized.

Like almost everything related to financial planning, priorities, assumptions, expectations, and relationships tend to evolve over time making it important to review your estate plan on a regular basis to be sure it continues to reflect your desires.

Hopefully, this checklist will assist you in reviewing your documents and determining whether it is time for an update. We will be happy to discuss your estate planning in more detail with you.

If you have family, friends, or colleagues you believe would find this resource helpful, please feel free to share it.

MILESTONES RELATED TO FINANCIAL PLANNING

Age is more than just a number when it comes to financial planning. Certain ages have implications for retirement plan distributions, while others are related to benefits you may qualify for.

The table below may be of interest illustrating important age-based milestones.

If you would like to discuss how any of these milestones will impact your current and/or future planning, we would be happy to do so.

AM I AT RISK FOR IDENTITY THEFT?

Cyber threats and identity theft are risks almost everyone faces. Most of us use personal data in one form or another to perform a myriad of tasks including accessing financial accounts, email, social media sites, online shopping, and other password-protected websites/portals/software applications. Criminals are well aware of this and are working hard to exploit our use of these platforms.

The checklist below can help you assess your level of risk and provide a few pointers to reduce the likelihood of being a victim of cyber criminals, internet scams, identity theft, etc.

We hope the information is useful. Please feel free to share this resource with others.