Topic: scams
Over the Christmas holiday, the mom of one of my good friends gave $10,000 to a phone scammer. Earlier that month, I visited a Rotary meeting and one of their members shared that he had just been scammed by a call he thought was his bank. Last week, I heard from a prospective client that her sister had just given her entire savings away to an internet scammer.
What all three of these people have in common is that they are all in their 70’s, vibrant, active, and engaged in their lives. We typically think of victims of scams as being “vulnerable” and isolated. Yet scammers have gotten so skilled, they are forcing us to re-think who is vulnerable to being scammed. These days, we are all at risk.
Internet and phone scams are on the rise and will only continue to increase over time as scammers continue to refine their skill and gain continued success. No one is immune and scammers target all ages. However, “the people losing money are disproportionately sixty and older, with those eighty and older losing most of all,” states M.T. Connolly, attorney, author, and leading national expert on elder justice (Connolly, The Measure of Our Age, 106). …
In this episode, ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum has urgent, important advice regarding scam calls. Any of us can be scammed!
If you find yourself being pressured by a caller asking for personal information such as a bank card or Social Security number, or insisting you pay a bill with gift cards, HANG UP! These are professional criminals. They know how to use emotion and fear to get consumers to do what they demand.
“There’s almost nothing in this world I can think of that has to be done instantaneously or it’s gone forever,” Herb warns. …
Anyone Can Be Scammed: Wisdom from ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum, Part 3/4Read More »
Spend time with Herb “ConsumerMan” Weisbaum and it will always include a pearl of wisdom. Herb lives, eats, and breathes consumer news.
After 22 years and about 6,500 daily consumer tips, recently Herb hung up his headset for the last time and retired from Northwest Newsradio (KNWN). Thankfully, he’s still writing for Consumers’ Checkbook and hosting their bi-weekly Consumerpedia podcast. If you visit Herb’s ConsumerMan website, you can sign up for his free weekly newsletter and stay up to date on the latest consumer news.
“It’s just enough to stay busy but leaves me with plenty of time to have a little fun, spend more time with the family, and do some charity work,” Herb shared recently on the ConsumerMan Facebook page.
How did Herb find his way to reporting consumer news and to Seattle? I had the pleasure of interviewing Herb recently and learned his story. …
Herb “ConsumerMan” Weisbaum Helps Us Be Wiser ConsumersRead More »
Our special guest again this week (and for the next two episodes) is ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum, one of America’s top consumer experts. Known nationally as ConsumerMan, Herb’s been protecting consumers for more than 40 years. Check below for Herb’s website and newsletter information.
Herb does a lot of stories that look out for older adults. ConsumerMan is a font of well-researched, practical information and alerts that help make us wiser consumers: …
Romance Scams & Password Managers: Wisdom from ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum, Part 2/4Read More »
Our special guest this week (and for upcoming episodes) is ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum, one of America’s top consumer experts. Known nationally as ConsumerMan, Herb’s been protecting consumers for more than 40 years. Check below for Herb’s website and newsletter information.
Herb does a lot of stories that look out for older adults. ConsumerMan is a font of well-researched, practical information and alerts that help make us wiser consumers: …
Don’t Click That Link! Wisdom from ConsumerMan Herb Weisbaum, Part 1/4Read More »