Avoid Getting Ripped Off!

Posted by Richard L. Roberts

Sandy Nichols introduced our speaker, Joe Cortez: Mr. Cortez is a thirty year law enforcement veteran who recently retired as the fifteen year Chief of Police, City of Pismo Beach. He has made a career out of creating high performing law enforcement organizations from agencies suffering from a loss of public trust, mismanagement and a lack of accountability. For example, he led the PB Police Department to achieve the prestigious national law enforcement accreditation; the fifth municipal police department in the state and the only department in SLOCounty to earn this distinguished recognition.

After commenting that our president was the first Rotary president he had ever seen in pajamas (Lisa in her scrubs), Cortez presented several examples how scammers will deceive you into sending them money, give them your credit card or social security number. It is best not to ever give these out over the phone unless you are assured that the caller is a legitimate representative of a bank or business. Some scammers will tell you that you have won a national lottery and that they only need money to pay taxes up front before the winnings are sent to you. The elderly are particularly susceptible. It the scammer's story sounds too good to be true, it most likely isn't!

Some tricksters will sort through your trash to pick up account numbers and other information that they can use to get into your money accounts. It is best to buy a decent shredder and shred all of your financial documents. Some will ask to verify your Medicare number in order to take care of medical charges. In most cases, your Medicare number is the same as your SS#. Some scammers are able to insert a device, called a skimmer, in a gas pump credit card scanner and read all of the data used including your pin number for a debit from your checking account. It is not a good idea to use a debit card at the service station.

Scammers have been known to call up the elderly saying, "Hello, grandma, I need help," Grandma wires them money and finds out later it wasn't one of her grand children. Cortez had a personal experience when he was tired and not thinking clearly; a scammer called asking him to verify his credit card number and gave it without thinking. The card was used within fifteen minutes of the call for substantial purchases. Scamming seems to be on the rise with more and more cases each day especially with the economy in the tank and the more creative use of the internet and hackers. (Last week, my wife, Carol, was called by our bank asking if we had made credit card purchases in Egypt and Israel. "No!" she said. We now have new credit cards -Ed.) Steve Curry pointed out that credit card users have some protections given to them by the banks. The banks can absorb the losses. But the small business has neither and has to soak up the loss. For further information: www.ftc.gov.