This simple step is a credit saver
We are a mobile society. Many of us have had a number of locations to which we’ve been sent mail. Unfortunately, when we move and get a new U.S. mail delivery location, we don’t always inform those corresponding with us, or those merchants sending us bills on accounts we’ve opened.
I had a call from a consumer whose credit has been ruined because she, from the perspective of her creditors, was ignoring their monthly billing statement and inquiries. Some creditors don’t report bad accounts to one of the three major credit-reporting bureaus, but many do. If your old creditors do report delinquencies, you might be having your credit destroyed without knowing it.
Here’s what you can do to prevent this potential catastrophe: View your three credit reports. Pay special attention to the section of report that lists your past known addresses, then make sure there are adequate forwarding instructions sent to each business account or creditor.
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GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE INSURANCE: Every government health insurance program is a ripe target for scammers large and small. This fact, combined with Medicare’s issuance of new ID cards for recipients, is creating a ripe field for crooks to illegally access the almost $3.5 trillion spent on health care (FY 2017).
Not only are individual scammers attracted to this vast pool of money, domestic and foreign crime organizations work hard to dip into these funds. It’s almost impossible for the government to stop these criminals. Citizens have a responsibility to watch out for scams.
The money that’s stolen affects us all. It hurts our country and limits the amount of money available to provide services to those who need them.
One great example is “Braces by Phone.” Here’s how it works:
The target gets an unsolicited call from an individual stating they represent a company or a specific doctor’s office. The spiel offers seniors braces and supports for every part and joint of your body. The caller asks open-ended questions, designed to get the target to talk about their health problems. Once the scammer identifies a particular physical problem the target has, an elbow, a knee, a back or an ankle, the scammer will offer you a brace for free or almost free.
You will get a brace or support, but a doctor will not examine you. Instead, a doctor somewhere will approve your purchase and you will be sent a cheap brace or support. The government will be billed the maximum amount allowable by law — usually hundreds if not over a thousand percent more than the actual cost of the appliance you receive. That’s how the scammers steal from all of us.
LESSON: See your regular doctor for medical braces, supports and devices. Hang up on these scam callers.
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IT’S ILLEGAL: Recently, a one-page solicitation, offering to paint your address numbers on the curb in front of many homes, has been taped or affixed to USPS mailboxes.
First, using mailboxes in this way is illegal: https://bit.ly/1O4qSG3
Secondly, the person offering this “service” asks that you leave cash or a check, made out to him and attached to your mailbox.
QUICK TIP: This may not be a scam, but it is a very bad idea. I turned this solicitation over to the U.S. Postal Inspector. I suspect we won’t have much more of this in the area.
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NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT?: One of my readers called me about a series of small charges on one of her credit cards — for 99 cents each. Nothing to worry about, right? Wrong!
These charges were made to the same card on different days. During approximately the same time period, she got a call, allegedly from her credit card company, informing her of suspicious “activity” on her credit card. The recorded call advised her to call a “credit card fraud line” to help stop the illicit activity.
The problem is the scam charges were placed on her account by the same scam group calling and urging her to call them back. They said they were from the credit card company — they were not. In fact, these same scammers were the people who charged her company the series of small charges.
The scammers were “testing” the credit card number to see if they had an actual credit card number. Their goal was to get her on the phone to “verify” her credit card information, including her proper name, address, credit card number, expiration date and security code. Once they had obtained all the information, they would charge her card for as much as her credit limit would allow, have the funds deposited in a temporary account, drain the account and be gone with her cash.
How do you protect yourself from crooks like these? Here’s how:
1. Check your credit card statements carefully and regularly.
2. Immediately challenge ANY charges you don’t recognize, large or small. Put them in contest IMMEDIATELY!
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CROWDFUNDING SCAMS: Crowdfunding is a way for small startups to get money to develop products, many high tech, for the general marketplace. When you donate money, with NO GUARANTEE that the product will ever be produced, you are promised a significantly lower price for the product, when and IF the product is commercially available.
One crowdfunding campaign raised over $850,000 in two days. The product was a small underwater device that replaced scuba tanks. There was never any such product in development. It was, in reality, only a well-orchestrated scam campaign to bilk scuba diving techies like me to part with their money. You can read more of these scams (many are pretty funny, like the tin hat and matching jock strap to protect your vital organs from cell phone radiation): https://bit.ly/2Oe2BHV
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A QUICKIE FOR MY FRIENDS: Be careful about buying high tech gadgets, like cell phones and laptops, on Craigslist or EBay. There is a booming market for pristine boxes on Craigslist and EBay. Scammers repackage old and sometimes refurbished products and turn around and sell them as new at unrealistically low prices to unsuspecting consumers. Go to this website for a peek: https://n.pr/2P0HKFe
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REMEMBER BILL BROOKS: “He’s On Your Side”
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I have many more tips and interesting cases that I’m working on. Call me at (208) 699-BILL. You can follow me at www.billbrooks.us. I am available to speak about consumerism to schools and civic groups. Bill Brooks is a consumer advocate who lives in Coeur d’Alene with his proofreader, Bobbi (who is also his wife).