It’s
the Christmas season, but scammers never take a holiday - and what’s worse,
they’re getting more cunning. They’ve learned know how to bait the hook and
pull you in. But here are four tips so you don’t get caught, cleaned and gutted
of your hard-earned cash.
Never
“pay to play”. You cannot win a lotter or sweepstakes you did not enter, and a
legitimate sweepstakes will not ask for money upfront. Even though we dream being
offered that incredible “deal”, if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Take
your time. Scammers often claim an emergency hoping you will take quick action
without checking out the situation. One of my rules is never commit to anything
on the phone and I always give myself at least a couple of days to think about the
offer. And seldom is the “one time only” deal available only once.
Check
with loved ones. Before offering to help a grandchild or a loved one, call them
to make sure the request is real.
If you
do receive a scam, report it to the Federal Trade Commission online at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
or call 1-877-FTC-HELP.
Interestingly,
older adults are more likely to report fraud than younger people. The top scams
reported by older adults are technical support scams,
prizes/sweepstakes/lottery scams, family and friend imposter frauds, and real
estate and timeshare resale offers.
What I
found surprising though is that contrary to popular thinking, older Americans
are not necessarily defrauded by scams at higher rates than younger consumers. But
tragically older adults have reported much higher individual dollar losses than
younger consumers.
The Federal
Trade Commission, the nation’s primary consumer protection agency, has been
working diligently to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent
practices. – and protecting older adults has been a top FTC priority for
decades. Actions they have taken include challenging phony sweepstakes and bogus
tech support to a case over alleged claims that a product could treat
everything from arthritis to memory loss.
But the
FTC can’t do it alone. Consequently, the FTC has started a “Pass It On”
campaign encouraging individuals to share their experiences with friends and
family. The more information that gets out to every corner of our communities,
the better protected we will all be from costly scams. For more information go
to consumerfinance.gov/oa or call 855-411-2372. Or you can check out “Pass It
On” at www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0030-pass-it-on.
Now
that we’ve had our first visit of snow, it is a good time to mention the
Center’s snow closure policy. If School District 21 is closed, the Center will
be closed. If there is a two-hour morning delay, the morning classes will be cancelled.
The Center’s concern is we don’t want anyone to feel obligated to attend a
class or meal when the roads and sidewalk are unsafe.
Last
week I mentioned The Center’s Christmas Breakfast from 8:00 – 9:30 on December
15th sponsored
by Dean Dollarhide and Dennis Morgan. But I forgot to mention there’s going to
be more than the “All-You-Can-Eat” Pancakes. There will be door prizes, a
raffle drawing for one of the two quilts hanging in the lobby - one of which is
a full size 77” by 97” quilt with an animal theme; and another chance to
purchase a beautiful one-of-a kind lap blanket or apron. Come and enjoy
breakfast and more!!
The 1965
epic romantic drama set in Russia between the years prior to World War I and
the Russian Civil War; and starred Julie Christie was Dr. Zhivago. (I received
correct answers from Cheri Brent, Sandy Haechrel, Jess Birge, Tiiu Vahtel and
this week’s winner of a quilt raffle ticket Laura Comini.)
Time
to move from Julie Christie to Warren Beatty whose career as an actor, writer,
director and film producer spanned 5 decades. But his popularity took off when
he starred in this landmark film that told the story of a couple who during the
middle of the great depression started with small time heists then moved to
robbing banks; and who in the movie’s final scene died in a flood of bullets. For
this week’s “Remember When” question, what was the name of this 1967 film? Email
your answer to www.mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788 or
send your answer with a recording of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by
Flatt and Scruggs.
Well,
it’s been another week learning how to deal with it. Until we meet again, with
time you learn that one of the necessary ingredients of successful aging is PATIENCE.
“When
you stumble make it part of the dance.” author unknown
No comments:
Post a Comment