The Scams and Frauds Going on Around Us

This weeks Blurb is to protect your finances and health from the hottest scams that are now occurring in the US. My intention is to arm you, so you don’t get sucked in and lose money and possibly have your health affected by the monetary loss.

About 3 years ago, I almost fell for a scam. I was about to fall for it, when I told my wife, Elizabeth, what was happening, and she said Whoa! And she was right! So, I’m sensitive to what’s going on out there and want to raise your awareness level, so you don’t fall for a scam.

This list of 2022’s Hottest Scams came from the AARP Bulletin, April 2022. A number of them I’ve never heard of before.

Google Voice Scam  

This might happen when you post something for sale online or a plea to find a lost pet. The scammer will call you and they first want to verify that you aren’t scamming them. They’ll tell you they are sending you a verification code from Google Voice. What’s happening is they are setting up a Google Voice account in your name. This will allow them to pretend to be you.

So, never share verification codes with anyone. If they got ya, go for help to support.google.com/voice.

Rental Assistance Cons 

If you’re behind on your rent, you could be contacted by a phony government employee or nonprofit employee. They will say they want to help you and will need your personal information and money up front for application fees. 

So, to find legitimate rental programs in your area, go to the Consumer Protection Bureau’s website at cfpb.gov.

Fake Job Frauds  

The scammers get your info that you posted on legitimate job websites. They contact you pretending to be a recruiter and are offering you high-salary or work-at-home job offers. They are looking for additional info about you or to convince you to send money for bogus home-office setups or fake fees.

The suggestion to avoid this is to set up a separate email address and phone number free on Google Voice that will ring on your phone but keeps your real number private. You should also call the company’s human resource department to verify that the offer is real.

Fake Amazon Employees

You’ll be contacted via phone, texts, email, or social media message about suspicious activity or unauthorized purchases on your Amazon account. 

You can contact Amazon customer support at 888 280-4331 to verify what’s going on.

Cryptocurrency ATM Payments

You’ll be contacted by a phony government official, utility agent or sweepstakes representative. They’ll direct you to pay a fee, bill or handling charge by cryptocurrency ATM machines that are popping up in convenience stores, gas stations and big retailers.

This one is easy. If anyone says to pay by cryptocurrency, it’s a scam!

Local Tax Imposters

Scammers are impersonating state country and local law enforcement and tax collection agencies to get your personal info and to have you send money to settle a tax debt that they say you have. They may threaten to revoke your driver’s license or passport.

Legit agencies will send a letter and they won’t ask for passwords, bank account or credit card info. They won’t threaten to call the police or have you pay by gift card or cryptocurrency.

Favor For a Friend Gift Cards

You get an email from a “friend” (really the scammer) that they need a favor. They’re having trouble buying a gift card for a birthday gift with their own credit card. They will ask you to buy the gift card for them and for you to call them back with the numbers on the back of the gift card. The top retail stores where the scammer’s are saying to buy the gift card at are Target, Google Play, Apple, eBay and Walmart.

Call or text your friend to confirm that it’s really them.

What can you do if you’ve been scammed?

You can contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network helpline to talk to a trained fraud specialist who will provide you support and guidance on what to do next. Call 877 908-3360 even if you’re not an AARP member or are over 65. They’ll help anyone who calls!

So…realize you need to pay attention to the spreading frauds out there and protect yourself as best you can. Hope you find this information helpful!

 

A Unique Way To Bring Joy Into People’s Lives

Peggy Wheatcroft was getting ready to celebrate her 80^th birthday and she didn’t want a birthday party. She decided to do something different.

Peggy took 80 envelopes and put $80 in twenty-dollar bills in each envelope. She took the envelopes and gave them to 80 people with a note asking them, in honor of her birthday, to give the money to anyone they chose. She asked them to find someone who least expected it. She also asked them to write and tell her about the person’s experience. What she wrote was “Let’s spread a small bit of joy!!”

It took her a year to distribute the envelopes. When the people who were the givers started to write her, the first thing she noticed was the joy people experienced when giving the gift in person to someone. The second thing was the connection to her when the givers explained the source of the money to the recipient.

The research shows that it is better to give than receive as our bodies release the “feel good” chemicals that reinforce our giving. So…it doesn’t have to be $80 to 80 people, just consider whatever the amount how you’re bringing joy to someone else and to yourself. Thank you, Peggy for showing us a unique way to celebrate a birthday and may you have many more!
(Reported AARP Bulletin/Real Possibilities October 2019)

Helping Dementia Patients

A while ago, I wrote about some fascinating research in The Teplitz Report that was conducted by the Langer Mindfulness Institute where they took a group of 80-year-olds and tested them for vision and hearing, grip strength, memory and dexterity before being taken to a monastery that was decorated to replicate life in 1959. The decor also included photos of the participants when they were that age.

Everyone wore 1950s fashions and entertainment was all 1950s - TV shows, movies, books and music. They were also instructed to discuss sports and events that did happen during that era, but to talk about them in the present tense. They were told to think of themselves as actually being younger.

After five days, the participants did look younger and their scores on everything, including eyesight had improved. To me, the eyesight improvement in five days was a powerful outcome.

Well, there’s a company that’s putting this research into a real-world environment that is quite exciting. The company as created a dementia daycare facility called Glenner Town Square that is a replica of small-town USA when Eisenhower was President (for Millennials that’s 1953 to 1961). This was a time when these patients were between 10 and 30 years old. They have music from the that era playing over the PA system. They are showing popular movies from the times in 15-minute clips. They have Rosie’s dinner with a 1959 Ford Thunderbird parked outside. There are pictures of famous people like Elvis, Audrey Hepburn and James Dean on the walls.

There are also 14 store fronts on the property – a library, the bar, the barbershop and even the opera house. The patients are guided in groups of 5 from one store to the next for 45 minutes. The aides play cards with them, help them paint, tell stories and even have them write inspiring messages for sick children at a nearby hospital.

What the research is showing is that reminiscence therapy can help those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of cognitive disease feel better plus it often calms their agitation. It may also bolster their cognitive ability and reduce depression. In addition, the benefits seem to extend long beyond the hours a patient spends inside the center.

The company is looking to open 100 facilities across the country, which is exciting!

So..the notion of taking a trip down memory lane now has more power to help elders in ways we’ve never thought possible. I also think it’s exciting to have the Langer Mindfulness Institute’s research put to such practical use. Now, what if someone set up a facility that was not just daycare, but the full facility was designed for the earlier time period which might improve the positive changes in the resident’s abilities even further.

(Reported AARP Bulletin December 2019)

Get A Dog And Live Longer!

Even though I have dog I’m not making a prejudice statement. It seems that dog owners 50 and older see their doctors less often, have fewer illnesses and recover more quickly when they are sick verses those who don’t have a dog.

Researchers have even found that simply petting an animal lowers blood pressure by producing an instant relaxation response in the body.

Alan Beck, Sc.D., from the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine reported that animal owners had a higher one-year survival rate following a heart attack than a non-pet group, even when both groups were doing the same level of exercise.

Perhaps retirement communities should reconsider their no pet policies and hospitals and nursing homes could allow the family pet to come to visit the patient.

(As reported in AARP Magazine)

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Forging Deeds And Stealing Homes

A new scam has popped up that can make it easy for someone to steal your house! A scammer goes to your local city hall where they look up your property records. The scammer then purchases a property transfer form for $10, forges your signature and files the paperwork with the city or county recorder’s office.

In many states, the recorder’s office is not required to authenticate the identities of buyers or sellers. In states where they require IDs, the crooks are creating fake IDs.

The “new owner” of your home can sell it at a discount to a cash-paying buyer (who is also scammed) or they can use the collateral in your house to get a new loan while taking a lot of the cash value out of the house.

The scammers are targeting homes that are paid for because it’s easier to get a loan from a lender when there is no existing mortgage.

A reporter for the NY Daily News was actually able to buy the Empire State Building with doctored documents. (He immediately transferred it back, as he was just investigating the possibility of doing this.)

So…what can you do to protect yourself?

1. Occasionally check your records with your registrar’s office.

2. If you receive a new mortgage payment book, contact the company that sent it immediately.

3. Demand that your deed-recording office uses software that alerts homeowners whenever a transfer is made on their property.

4. If you discover your home was stolen, contact your local and state law enforcement officers.

(Reported AARP Bulletin)

Getting Through The Medicare Doughnut Hole

As you may know, people on Medicare and taking needed prescription drugs, can fall into the “doughnut hole,” which means that they have to pay 100% of the cost of their medications out of their own pocket.

Once their medical out-of-pocket expenses have reached the catastrophic level, the government will pay for their meds.

Now you have an online tool, the AARP Doughnut Hole Calculator, that will give you some options to either avoid or postpone the “doughnut hole” altogether.

The tool, which will tell you when you might hit the hole and gives tips on how to stay out of the hole, is located at http://linkbee.com/DoughnutTool.

The site automatically lists less expensive medication alternatives.

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