Who is more susceptible to financial scams: Seniors or young adults?

 We all know that financial scams target seniors and that they are the most susceptible to the bait. Right? think again...

"Stop it with the ageism and delusions of invincibility. Young adults often don’t recognize the bad checks coming at them, or fake job offers, either" writes Ron Lieber for The New York Times.

"For years now, the Better Business Bureau’s survey research has shown that younger adults lose money to swindlers much more often than the older people you may think of as the stereotypical victims. The Federal Trade Commission reports similar figures, with 44 percent of people ages 20 to 29 losing money to fraud, more than double the 20 percent of people ages 70 to 79."

It's not the Nigerian prince or pfishing scam. "The targeted activities vary widely, from the online shopping that these victims may do nearly every day to their once-in-a-blue-moon handling of paper checks. Illegal schemes also target the student debt payments they must make and the jobs they seek to afford them."

"Pet and pet-supply scams have historically made up 25 percent of the online purchase scams reported to the Better Business Bureau."

"Given its size, con artists try to impersonate Amazon more often than any other company’s brand."

Employment Scams: never give your date of birth or Social Security number online. 

Fake check scams “Sorry, this is an accidental overpayment” or “Please use some of the money to perform mystery shopping of online money transfer services.”

 

Student Loan Scams: Once the moratorium on repayment ends, "expect a flood of thieves offering “free extended forbearance” or “Biden forgiveness plans” that do not exist. "Then they’d try to redirect victims’ payments or use their personal information for identity theft. Or both."

 

 

Trump Steered Supporters Into Unwitting Donations

"Online donors were guided into weekly recurring contributions. Demands for refunds spiked. Complaints to banks and credit card companies soared. But the money helped keep Donald Trump’s struggling campaign afloat." Writing for the New York Times, Shane Goldmacher revealed how an "intentional scheme to boost revenues by the Trump campaign and the for-profit company that processed its online donations, WinRed. Facing a cash crunch and getting badly outspent by the Democrats, the campaign had begun last September to set up recurring donations by default for online donors, for every week until the election."

"The tactic ensnared scores of unsuspecting Trump loyalists — retirees, military veterans, nurses and even experienced political operatives. Soon, banks and credit card companies were inundated with fraud complaints from the president’s own supporters about donations they had not intended to make, sometimes for thousands of dollars."

"The recurring donations swelled Mr. Trump’s treasury in September and October, just as his finances were deteriorating. He was then able to use tens of millions of dollars he raised after the election, under the guise of fighting his unfounded fraud claims, to help cover the refunds he owed."

The solicitations included small pre-checked boxes that most donors did not realize set them up for monthly or weekly, rather than one-time donations. This wasn't the first time that the trump campaign used gimmicks to fuel their fund raising. 

Were you or your parents a victim of Trump's fraud? If you are monitoring or managing your parents' finances it would be prudent to check if they had multiple contributions charged to their credit cards or from their bank accounts.   

Get the sordid details at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/03/us/politics/trump-donations.html?referringSource=articleShare

Airlines where refunds don't fly

Thanks to The Middle Seat columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Scott McCartney, we know the which airlines to avoid in the future when we start flying again. And for those who are sitting with a voucher that will expire, it's time to pressure the airlines to refund your fare.
When a passenger cancels a non-refundable ticket, the airline offers a voucher (with an expiration date) for future travel.  When the airline cancels a domestic flight, passengers are entitled to a refund... as in cash. But with the current financial catastrophe some airlines are denying or delaying refunds. You have to subscribe to the WSJ to read the full article; I'll mention the current practices of major US airlines.
Full refund available:
Alaska
American
Delta
Hawaiian
JetBlue
Southwest

With Spirit and Sun Country, you have to call and request/demand a refund.

On the bad guys list (Strings attached and you may have to be persuasive and persistent): United. It will offer no refund if it rebooks you on a flight within 6 hours of the original schedule).

Policies of lots more airlines are described in the April 30, 2020 article.

Free ways to fight fraud in the digital age

Don't waste money on ID theft protection services before fully utilizing the many free options available. Also consider if you have aging parents who might be susceptible to phone and internet scams.
Credit Monitoring:
Review your credit reports with the 3 major credit reporting services at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/. You can get one free report from each agency per year so check one of them in rotation every 4 months. Other options: https://www.creditsesame.com/ and https://www.creditkarma.com/

Credit Freeze: 
Credit freezes are now free to everyone. A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report unless you specifically allow sharing with the person/firm seeking that info. You need to contact each of the 3 major credit reporting bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Password Managers:
Free services such as LastPass, Dahlane, KeePass, and RoboForm will generate and remember your passwords in an encrypted vault. You just need one master password to log into your websites.

Call-Blocking Apps:
Truecaller, Hiya and Call Control offer free smartphone apps. AT&T and T-Mobile offer free basic protection.

Source: "Your Money: Scam Alert" by Sid Kirchheimer for the AARP Bulletin.

Consumer Privacy Act

"America’s first broad data privacy law, the California Consumer Privacy Act, went into effect Jan. 1. These days, a wild range of companies gather and sell your data, from Ford and Chipotle to Uber and Walmart. Now the CCPA gives you the power to say cut it out."
"And while the law technically covers only California residents, Americans living anywhere can use the CCPA to reset their relationships with more than a dozen major businesses (and counting)."


"You’re going to have to jump through some hoops, but you can ask companies to access, delete and stop selling your data using the new California Consumer Privacy Act - even if you don’t live in California."

Thanks to Geoffrey A. Fowler writing for The Washington Post, February 6, 2020

1) You can ask companies to show you exactly what data they’ve collected about you.
2) You can instruct companies not to “sell” your data. The word “sell” is in quotes because the law defines that pretty broadly as an exchange of value. (There’s a lot of debate about that, though — see below.)
3) You can ask companies to delete your data, unless doing so would create a security threat or interfere with someone else’s free speech.


"You have to go to each and every company to exercise your CCPA rights. Yes, that could become a never-ending project. But the good news is that many companies have web forms you can fill out like busywork."

Gather information before you start. "You’ll need to have access to your usernames, passwords and loyalty card numbers. (If you don’t already have a password manager to keep all your important information organized, this is an excellent time to get one.)"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/02/06/ccpa-faq/?arc404=true&utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most

Why waste money on bottled water?

Almost all Americans have access to clean water. According to Consumer Reports, More than 90% of Americans on municipal systems have pure water. Yet we spend more than $30 BILLION per year on water that is no cleaner than our tap water. In fact, numerous bottled water companies (Aquafina and Dasani)draw their water from municipal supplies! Just think was $30 billion dollars could buy!

As I often pick up trash along sidewalks, hiking trails and bike paths, the most common litter is plastic water bottles. While supposedly recyclable, the market for plastic recycling has almost evaporated since China decided to stop importing our waste.

All the microplastics going into our bodies and the environment is another reason to use a refillable water bottle.

Check out the November 2019 issue of Consumer Reports with its special report: "Is bottled water safe?"

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head more interested in helping corporations than protecting consumers

"Kathy Kraninger gave her first speech as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C., in April. We were alarmed to hear Kraninger voice an overall vision for the CFPB that appeared antithetical to its core function of “enforcing federal consumer financial laws.” Kraninger stated that she was concerned with the CFPBs’ role in creating a “regulatory burden” for the companies under its supervision. She conveyed her intent to focus the Bureau on “prevention of harm” through consumer education, while limiting its powerful examination and enforcement tools to “purposeful” uses.

“Given Director Kraninger’s announced focus on education over consumer protection, consumer advocates are determined to educate the new director about the need for robust Bureau oversight and enforcement to hold financial companies accountable for harmful practices,” Consumer Action’s Deputy Director for National Priorities Ruth Susswein said." Source: Consumer Action
https://www.consumer-action.org/news/articles/consumer-action-insider-may-2019/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c4ee986f-51de-4c8a-a008-0d1eaef48ad2#Topic_08

Another example of the value of government regulation: The Card Act of 2009

Beside the obvious everyday advantages of vehicle safety regulations like requiring seat belts and air bags in vehicles, many federal laws protect consumer privacy and financial transactions.

"May 22 is the 10th anniversary of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009. The game-changing CARD Act, which was passed by Congress during the Obama Administration and has since been enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has saved consumers billions of dollars in credit card fees and predatory “penalty rates,” despite industry predictions that it would kill the credit card market. Sadly, nearly half (47%) of consumers surveyed by CompareCards, a Lending Tree company, said they’d never heard of the CARD Act. Now’s your chance to learn more about what the CARD Act has done (and continues to do) to protect consumers like you." source: Consumer Action Insider.

Here's a reminder about how banks and credit card companies used to take advantage of consumers and how the world changed for the better 10 years ago.

What the Credit CARD Act of 2009 Means for You

You might not know it, but the Credit CARD Act of 2009 changed your life in a powerful way.

By Beverly Harzog , Credit Card Expert |Feb. 20, 2019,
https://creditcards.usnews.com/articles/what-the-credit-card-act-of-2009-means-for-you?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c4ee986f-51de-4c8a-a008-0d1eaef48ad2

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau being ravaged by Trump's team

"A report from the minority staff of the Senate banking committee accuses Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting Director Mick Mulvaney of undermining the bureau's mission and says director nominee Kathy Kraninger may continue to weaken the CFPB. President Donald Trump should consider someone with consumer protection experience to lead the agency, the report says." (Retirement Security SmartBrief, 11/29/18). Read the article by Kate Berry in American Banker:
https://www.americanbanker.com/news/senate-bankings-top-dem-issues-scathing-assessment-of-cfpbs-mulvaney