Phony government scams

Examples of phony government scams 

***Stimulus Plan Scam-- you receive an official looking letter or email informing you that because you recently lost a job you are qualified for a grant from the Federal Economic Stimulus plan.

***Federal jobs-- you receive a letter or email sending you to an official looking website saying state or federal government jobs are available in your region.

***Grant money-- to cover education costs, bills, home business expenditures and home repairs.

I would like to highlight one of the top phishing scams that  has recently come to light:

 

***President Obama will pay your utility bills.

When you look at these scams they are all trying to take advantage of the economic conditions in our country today. With millions of people unemployed, unable to find work and their unemployment benefits running out the government offers programs to try and help these people. So when they receive notices or emails misrepresenting government agencies  such as Social Security,Medicare,Department of  Labor and the IRS,that appear to be legitimate and may contain phony government seals, symbols  and/or names the natural reaction is to trust this information and provide the data that is requested, and in doing so you have unwittingly provided the scammers with your social security number and other information that they will use to steal your identity. 

                          Tips For Avoiding Phony 
                              Government Scams 

Until you have verified the legitimacy of these letters or emails do not provide financial information or your Social Security number.

 Do not send money  until you have verified that you are dealing with a legitimate government agency. 

You can verify the legitimacy of the request by contacting the appropriate agencies by phone or through their website.

 If it's a state or local program you should contact your state or local governments. 


So in closing this portion of  this week's blog I think you can see there is one common tip that everyone should follow before they give anyone personal information, financial information or money. And that is verify the legitimacy of the request by getting in touch with your local, state or federal government agencies using trusted phone numbers or websites. Take the time to do your due diligence and you should be able to avoid having your identity,personal information or money taken from you.

                         New phone scam

Police are warning the public to be aware of a phone scam involving callers who represent themselves as members of the Palm Springs Police Department.

The scammers tell would be victims they owe a fine for missing jury duty and have to pay $500. They then instruct the victim to go to a local convenience store and purchase a prepaid green card in that amount and call them back.

They are instructing anyone who receives or has received this kind of call to contact the local Palm Springs Police Department.

Now this may be local to Palm Springs or it could be something that is being done throughout the country. I just thought I would make you aware of it

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                      Why you may need a lawyer

As an independent  associate for LegalShield the most common response I get is if I am  a good person why do I need a lawyer.  I would like you to ask yourself have you ever:

Signed a contract or document?

Been overcharged or treated unfairly?

Received a traffic ticket?

Known a victim of identity theft?

Been in the situation where I thought advice from an attorney might be useful?

These are everyday real life occurrences that in consultation with an attorney would be beneficial to you.

And finally I invite everyone to visit the senior scams website that Peter Brusso and I have developed.

                            

                                 seniorscamspodcast.com

Also anyone interested in learning about self defense techniques should visit his new website as it contains valuable information on how to protect yourself.

                 

http://www.selfdefenseweaponssite.com/

Finally I welcome any and all comments on my blogs. Your feedback will help me improve the content of my blog.

In this week's blog we will talk about home improvement fraud first and then debt relief

You should be suspicious of the contractor who:

***solicits door-to-door business

***asked you to get the required building permits

***only accepts cash payments

***do they have  a local business address or telephone number

***uses high-pressure sales tactics

***fails to provide a written contract

***request for payment before completing work

***offers exceptionally long guarantees

***offers home improvement loans

These should be warning signs to you that you may not be dealing with a legitimate contractor.

     

Tips for avoiding home-improvement scams

***obtain more than one bid for the job and insist that the contract be in writing

***do not sign a contract or pay any money before you have your attorney review the contract

***never put down more than one third of the contract price before your work begins

***your contract should state the exact work to be done, start and completion dates and the total cost of the project

***get the license number and the name the license is under  and the address not a( PO Box) and phone number of the contractor

***make sure your contractor is registered in the state that you live in and check the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed against the contractor

***and never make the final payment until completely satisfied with the work that was done

An important resource to go to if you are contemplating home improvements is the HUD Website, they have an extensive list of organizations that provide homeowners with home repairs and improvements by city,town and  County.

If you become a victim of home improvement fraud you should contact your local authorities. Notify the Better Business Bureau and contact your attorney.

It is important when you are considering a home improvement to do the proper due diligence. By following these tips it should reduce your risk of home improvement fraud and to get the job completed at the price quoted by the date committed to by the contractor.

        Debt relief fraud

          Bogus credit counseling services

***lie about nonprofit status

***don't provide education and counseling

***often arrange for consumers to pay debt through a DMP

***may have been shut down by the FTC  

                 How a DMP works

You deposit money each month to the credit counseling service, which uses your deposits to pay your debts.Then your counselor works with your creditors to develop a payment schedule.

Your creditors may agree to a low interest rate and wave fees. Counseling service must make regular timely payments.

You could take up to 48 months to complete.

You cannot incur any additional credit while in the plan.

          Bogus Debt negotiation programs

***pay off debt from 10 to 50% of balance owed.

***claim services will not have negative impact on your credit rating

 

***claim negative information will  be removed from your credit report.

***have you send your payments to them instead of the creditor.

***say they will set up a special account and pay your creditors on your behalf..

                          The truth

***no guaranteed creditor will accept partial payment

***you will have a negative entry on credit report

***you can still be sued by a creditor and interest and fees continue if you stop making payments 

***debt negotiation companies charge a monthly service fee and a percent of the money you saved to establish an account

*** there is no guarantee that the services are legitimate 

           Tips to avoid debt management fraud

***confirm with your creditors that they have accepted the proposal

***read your monthly statements properly

***do not make any commitments over the telephone and make sure your DMP agreement is in writing and is a detailed price quote of all fees charged

***do not pay upfront fees to enroll in credit counseling or DMP

***ask how your privacy is safeguarded

***check  HUD website for a list of bona fide credit counselors

As I've mentioned in previous blogs Peter Brusso  peter@infocard.cc  and I have a website dedicated to informing senior citizens of  various scams and identity theft frauds. We've just posted a new podcast which can be viewed at:       http://seniorscamspodcast.com/index.html

Have a good week and I will be back next week to discuss a couple more of the top 10 frauds and scams

                 richardbentley.us

The top 10 scams and frauds

It seems as though every day I read or hear about a new company that has been hacked into or a new scheme that has been exposed. So today I'd like to discuss the top 10 scams and frauds. I will list the top 10 and in subsequent  weeks I will go into a detailed overview of each scam or fraud and provide some tips to help you avoid the scam and some action items for you to take if you have been a victim of fraud.

                            *Home improvement fraud         *Debt relief fraud

                            *Funeral fraud                             *Reverse mortgage scams

                            * Investment scams                     *Telemarketing fraud

                            *Internet fraud                             *Lottery and sweepstakes fraud

                            *Phony government scams         *Grandparent scam


In my next blog I will discuss in some detail the first two items on the top 10 list which is home improvement fraud and debt relief fraud.

Also a heads up as we come into the income tax season.  I came across an article in the local paper about income tax fraud where eight people had been arrested for using stolen Social Security numbers and filing bogus tax claims. Some of the numbers were from people  who are deceased but  most were from people who are alive and were not aware that their Social Security number had been compromised. The dollar amount that was fraudulently taken from the U.S. government was in excess of $1.4 million. This created a serious problem for the people who filed legitimately and found out someone had already used their Social Security number,and had to deal with the bureaucracy of the IRS, Social Security administration and any pension funds that they may have had. I can't stress enough the importance of having an identity theft program to protect you and to help you in your time of need.

And finally last week I mentioned the website that Peter Brusso and I have developed to bring awareness to our senior citizens about the various identity theft scams that are out there. We now have three podcasts that are posted on our site. I invite everyone to go to our website and check out our podcasts. Our goal is to inform the senior citizen population of the risks that are out there on a daily basis. Your feedback is very important to us  (the good and the bad)  so we can make this a valuable tool to help our seniors in the fight against identity theft.

                                         http://seniorscamspodcast.com/index.html


                                                     richardbentley.us



   

Yahoo security breach

Yahoo announced this week that its user email accounts have been breached. They are not sure how many of their users have been affected.  They say they have contacted and reset the passwords for those they believe were affected and they took immediate action upon realizing that they had been breached. Yahoo has 273 million accounts worldwide and 81 million in the United States.

This once again points out the need to take precautions to protect yourself. You should immediately change your Yahoo password as a precaution whether you have been notified or not. Here is a list of tips for creating a strong password;

   ***  Use longer passwords to make it harder for a hacker to guess
   ***  Avoid using common words that could be easy to guess
   ***  Avoid sequences like 123456, ABC DEF  and qwerty
   *** Avoid personal information that is easy to find in social media
            (your name, social security number, date of birth, or pets name for example)
   *** Avoid reusing passwords that you've used before on other websites
   *** Don't use the same password on multiple sites
   *** Use different variations of numbers, letters and symbols
   *** Beware of phishing emails that ask you to update your password or personal information

It is important to take these steps to protect your privacy and is recommended that you change your passwords every 3 to 6 months.

I also have been blogging about identity theft scams against senior citizens.  A recent survey estimated that seniors over 60 have lost nearly $3 billion a year to financial abuse and surprisingly much of this abuse is not from strangers

It is with this in mind that I've partnered with Peter Brusso who is the  entrepreneur owner of infocard.cc. Peter's skills are in website building, SEO services, internet marketing and Podcasting.  He also helped me  build my website.

We've  launched this week a new website that is targeted towards senior citizens to help them understand what some of the scams are out there and steps they can take to protect themselves. We are  doing a series of Podcasts that will be posted on our website. We will also be talking with  people who have been victimized by identity theft or fraudulent activities to steal their money. Please visit our website .  We look forward to your input and any experiences you may have had with identity theft.

                                                      http://seniorscamspodcast.com/


I hope you find this blog to be informative and I welcome any comments good or bad.  

                                                                  richardbentley.us

Be a good digital citizen

                       Tips for protecting digital data

Digital privacy day,  it is observed each January 28 "It is an international effort to recognize the importance of protecting privacy, safeguarding data and establishing trust "this is according to the National Cyber Security Alliance . They encourage everyone to be a good digital citizen in the technology - rich society in which we live.

                      

                       How to Be a good digital citizen

A good digital citizen is someone who uses technology as it is intended and is proactive in the protection of their  privacy. You should also be protective of any personal or private data others may have entrusted to you and remain vigilant and proactive about protecting it.

                 Tips to practicing good digital citizenship

***Use social media cautiously.  Do not post anything that you want to keep private or will put your digital data in jeopardy.

***Make sure you use and update often your security and privacy options on any online account you may have.

  ***Turn off your computer when not in use if left on and connected to the Internet you give hackers access to install malware or commit other cyber crimes.

  ***Do not open an email or link if you do not know the person or company that is sending it to you. Also unless you know the person or company that you're communicating with under no circumstances give out personal information.

  ***Make sure that all devices such as the computer, smart phone or tablet have up-to-date virus protection. Make sure that all of your security software has the latest releases to protect you against any new threats to your digital data.

  ***You should have different passwords for your various accounts and you should change them regularly. Avoid using the common passwords such as birthdays, spouse's first name or street addresses. Make each one unique using uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols and they should be at least eight characters in length..

  ***When shopping online be sure to use sites that are familiar to you and you have used them in the past. If in doubt about the website contact the website owners and call them to verify that it is a legitimate site.

  ***If you come across a fraudulent website or any other type of  scam, report it to the authorities as everybody is responsible to do whatever they can to help in this assault on our privacy.

  By following these tips you should reduce your risk of having your privacy and personal information stolen. It is important that everyone take whatever steps necessary to protect themselves and others.

                                                         richardbentley.us

Identity theft prevention tips

Last week I wrote about security breaches at two major retailers. This week in the news it has come out that there could be many more retailers that were breached but have not announced it.

So you may be asking yourself what can I do to protect myself and minimize the risk of having my identity stolen. I will try today and in future  postings to give you tips on how to minimize the risk you have of your identity being stolen.

There are times to use your browser and there are times to use a search engine (i.e. Google, Yahoo, or Bing).

You should use your browser when you are searching for a specific website such as "www.annual credit report.com" these web addresses begin with a WWW or HTTPS:// and they generally end in.com.net or.org. By doing this you'll be taken directly to the website of your choice thus minimizing the risk of entering a bogus website.

A search engine should be used when you are seeking specific information on a general topic or something specific and you don't have a website.

So in closing it is very important to learn the difference between a browser and a search engine. You should always be very cautious before providing any website with your personal credit information and if it's a new website that you've never used before try and verify that you are on a legitimate website and not a bogus one put there to steal your identity.

Next week I'll be  providing tips for protecting your digital data.

                                                   richardbentley.us

                                                     

Identity theft

If you have been following the news this week you would have seen that two major retailers have had their computer systems hacked and well over 100 million people have had their credit card  information stolen.

You also heard the concerns about the security of the affordable care act. Millions of people are being asked to provide their most personal information and there are major concerns about the security of the program.

What is most disturbing about the thefts and concerns is the security of your information is out of your control. You could've taken the most stringent steps to protect your security and they still would have been stolen.

I believe that this points out the need for everyone to have identity theft protection so you will be notified if you are a victim of identity theft. This will give the security of knowing that if your identity is stolen you will be notified and you will have help restoring your credit standings. Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America.


                                                                 richardbentley.us















                         richardbentley.us