Grinnell Rotary met July 29, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. for a meal, meeting, and program.
During the short business meeting, the main topic of discussion was Kites Over Grinnell. Rotary is sponsoring Kites Over Grinnell, which will take place September 28TH.
The guest speaker for the evening was Steve Johnson, of Johnston, IA. He presented a program on fraud. This is a big topic that cannot be covered in a small article, so I am concentrating my space on one facet only. AARP Fraud Watch Network has identified 13 ways that con artists can steal your money. 1) Phishing…Someone contacts you via email and says that there is some problem with your bank account and you need to verify this account with a social security number, bank routing number or birth date. 2) Stealing mail or sensitive documents…Personal information is taken from your trash, your office or from social media websites and used to steal your identity. 3) Bogus job opportunities…bogus job offers are made on various employment websites, and then use your personal information provided in the job application. 4) Gold coin scam…You are conned into purchasing gold coins that are priced at a mark-up that will result in you losing money the minute you buy them. 5) Free lunch…You are invited to a free lunch where an investment will be offered, you have no time to think about whether it is a scam, since the you are required to sign up now. 6) Oil and gas scams…You are encouraged to invest in drilling for oil where there has never been oil before, which could result in you striking out while trying to strike it rich. 7) Fake checks. 8) Tech support scams…You get a call that your computer has a virus. You allow the con to remotely take control of your computer, and they actually install a virus, and charge you to remove it. 9) Disaster-related charity fraud…Scammers use natural disasters to set up fake charity websites to raise money for the victims, and the money actually benefits the criminals. 10) Sweetheart scams…You go to a dating website hoping to find your special someone, a con artist shows an interest in you but can never meet in person, and eventually asks you for money. 11) Timeshare scams…You try to sell your timeshare, and are contacted by a con artist who says they work for a company that helps to sell timeshares, and after you pay the upfront fee, they disappear. 12) Grandparent scam…Con artist calls a grandparent and pretends to be grandson or granddaughter, saying that they have been arrested or detained. They need you to wire funds. 13) The foreign lottery scam…You are informed that you have won a foreign lottery, and all you have to do to collect your winnings is wire them a prossessing fee, when in fact, you have won nothing. Some prevention tips include: protect your social security number and personal information, monitor your bills and financial accounts, watch over your credit reports, protect your personal identification numbers and passwords, protect your information online, protect your mail, and be cautious of scams and frauds.
Grinnell Rotary meets every Tuesday at West Side Family Restaurant at 6:00 p.m.