Tough Times Means More Scams

Highlights

Internet scammers are using President Barack Obama’s mug to mask their scheme.
Treat companies that claim to improve FICO scores with skepticism.
Don’t fall for the cash-for-gold scam. You’ll never get the true value.

Scam artists look more legitimate than ever.

They follow headlines about financial bailouts, stimulus packages and a popular president into your pocketbook. And they’re taking advantage of people’s need for cash in a recession as well as the latest social media trends.

However, the old adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” still applies.

Here are some new scams you might have missed and how they work, as well as suggestions on how to avoid them.

1. Government grants scam.

Pop-ups and ads on the Internet depicting President Barack Obama holding a check appear to lend some credence to the government grant scams. The government’s stimulus package and bailouts also fuel the false impression that money’s available for the asking.

These Web sites “guarantee” you’ll get a grant, says Tom Bartholomy, president of the Better Business Bureau in Charlotte, N.C. In this scam, you must pay an application or processing fee, usually between $500 and $1,000. Once you send the fee, the scammer sends you applications and forms that are printed from government Web sites. In some cases, the scammer keeps your money and doesn’t give you anything.

How to avoid this scam: Government grants are available, but you don’t have to pay in advance to apply for them.

“Many people don’t have a deep awareness of how grants work,” says Bartholomy. So they believe they really are guaranteed to receive a certain sum of money.

“We are receiving dozens of calls each day about this scam, and the guarantees appear to be the most effective trigger for the scammers,” says Bartholomy. “Once we talk with the consumer and point out the lies behind this ploy, he begins to understand it’s not a legitimate opportunity.”

Another expert on scams, Christine Durst, CEO of Staffcentrix, a training and development firm for virtual careers in Woodstock, Conn., says you should always read the fine print on a grant opportunity.

“You may be signing up for a subscription service that bills you monthly,” says Durst. “Also, run a Google search with the name of the company plus (the word) ‘scams’ and see what that reveals.”

2. Instant credit repair.

It’s no secret that credit is tight right now and getting approved for a loan is much more difficult than it was two years ago. So when these perpetrators say they can raise your FICO score, the nation’s most widely used credit score, that’s tempting.

“This is very appealing to someone who has just been turned down for a car loan,” says Bartholomy.

Here’s how the scam works. A victim who’s looking to fix his or her credit receives an ad in the mail or sees one in the newspaper and calls about the service. The company offers to order the victim’s credit report and challenge every negative item, and those items will instantly be removed. The credit repair company charges either a per-item or flat fee but promises satisfaction, or you get your money back.

“A month after the fraudulent company has been paid, the victim will see that these negative items have been challenged and removed from his credit report,” says Bartholomy. “But that is only temporarily. As soon as the negative item is verified as authentic, it’s put back on the credit report.”

Besides paying for nothing, the victim is vulnerable to identity theft from the scammers, Bartholomy says.

How to avoid this scam: Anyone can receive a free credit report once a year from each reporting agency — Equifax, TransUnion and Experian — at Annualcreditreport.com. So you can access your report three times a year and challenge inaccurate items yourself for free.

“Instant” credit repair isn’t a legitimate option, and nobody can fix your credit but you, Bartholomy says.

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3. Cash-for-gold scam.

Offers abound to pay you for your unwantedgold, silveror platinum — usually jewelry. You’re told to place it in an envelope provided by the company and mail it in. In return, the company says it will send you the cash value of the gold within 24 hours.

Durst says these companies use the calendar against you. They claim it takes seven to 10 days to receive your jewelry, when actually it takes only three to four days.

“This gives them time to assess the value of the gold and, in doing so, they date and cut a check immediately, usually for an amount that the customer isn’t happy with,” says Durst. “Then, the check isn’t mailed for several days.”

When the check is finally sent, it’s too late to return it. By the fraudulent company’s rules, it must be sent back within 10 days of the date on the check. Of course, reaching customer service to complain is next to impossible. When customers do finally get through, they have their own meltdown because their gold has already been melted down.

And if you do get a check for your gold, it’s only for a fraction of what it’s worth.

How to avoid this scam: If you have any one-of-a-kind heirlooms or antique jewelry, you should take them to a reputable jeweler or antique dealer for an appraisal, Durst says.

“Those unique pieces may be worth considerably more than their weight in gold,” Durst says.

Any other gold could be taken to your local pawnshop or jeweler. Durst suggests going to several to find the one that will pay you the most.

4. Mystery shopping scam.

The victim answers a newspaper or Internet ad asking for mystery shoppers. He or she is sent a training assignment and a cashier’s check for a few thousand dollars. The assignment letter tells the mystery shopper to cash the check at the bank, go to a certain retail store and write a report on the cleanliness and service.

The shopper is told to keep $50 for use on the mystery shopping spree and for the shopper’s fee, and to wire the remainder of the funds to an address supplied by the supposed mystery shopping company.

“These are very real-looking checks,” says Bartholomy. “Some even have watermarks and holograms.”

The shopper is told to complete the assignment within two or three days. This urgency keeps the victim from discovering that the check is counterfeit until it’s too late. Once the check is cashed, the victim becomes the responsible party. Unless the victim keeps a hefty checking account balance, personal checks will start bouncing.

How to avoid this scam: If you receive a check to mystery shop, it won’t be legitimate, Bartholomy says. Bona fide mystery shopping companies don’t send checks before the work is done. You can look up the company name at the Better Business Bureau. Bartholomy warns that these companies change names frequently, so you may find no report. Don’t let that give you a false sense of security.

“You should verify that the company is a member of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, which only represents legitimate mystery shopping companies,” says John Swinburn, executive director of the association in Dallas.

Unfortunately, some of the scammers use names of legitimate mystery shopping companies. Make sure the company is on the association’s Web site and that the contact information is the same.

5. Social networking scams.

In this, someone builds a friendship with you on a social networking Web site such as Facebook or MySpace, becoming your “online friend.”

“Once he has your trust and confidence, he runs into trouble and needs your help or, more specifically, your financial assistance,” says Durst.

In another version of this scam, a person may pose as a relative who needs financial help.

The scammer may say he will lose his home or car unless he gets some money quickly. Or he might say he’s in jail. Other perpetrators send you a check and ask you to wire the funds to a relative who lives in your country, saying it’s too difficult to do it from his own country.

“In both cases, you end up out of luck,” says Durst. “With the first scenario, the ‘friend’ will disappear with your money. And in the second scenario, the check you deposited in your account in order to wire the funds will bounce, leaving you to repay the bank.”

How to avoid this scam: Be careful about giving out too much personal information online, says Durst.

If you’re contacted to “bail someone out” and aren’t sure if that person is who he or she claims to be, ask personal questions that only the actual person could answer. Or contact the person that the scammer is claiming to be. Finally, you could call the authorities that are supposed to be holding him.

“If you call your grandson, and he doesn’t know anything about being jailed in Canada, you know you’re being bamboozled,” Durst says.

Just Don’t Call It “Socialized Medicine”

October 13, 2013

This column was originally published on June 29, 2009. It seems apropos given the current arguments over Obamacare. The law was signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010.

The words “socialized medicine” drives many Americans crazy. There is an overwhelming fear as if the mere thought of socializing medical care will destroy our nation. The AMA has done an outstanding job of instilling this fear. They started their campaign in the 1930s against Medicare (socialized medicine for social security recipients). AMA publicists included a phony quote from Lenin proclaiming “socialized medicine is the keystone to the arch of the Socialist State.” Is there any reason to anticipate a change in AMA philosophy? No.

Between the AMA, medical insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical companies there is one objective and that is to keep Americans hooked on the support of a system that makes doctors, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers very rich. In a June 29,2009 BusinessWeek commentary it was reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates their annual payments to doctors at $744 billion. Do you know a poor doctor? I am sure there are some somewhere in America but they are rare.

How much is spent on cancer treatments every year? Breast cancer was an identified illness at the beginning of the 19^th century (President John Adams daughter died from the disease). There is still no preventative drug for this disease. PSA screening tests for prostate cancer have recently been called into question but most doctors continue to recommend them. Doctors treat men for the disease even though the treated men are more likely to die sooner than those who have not been screened. It’s all part of a scam to treat people for cancer but not cure them. A wonderful money machine.

A doctor at the University of Vancouver in Vancouver, B.C. questions prescribing medication for high cholesterol. He backs his contentions with data that shows there is no longer life resulting for people who take statins to reduce the bad cholesterol. My doctor says taking the pills is the right thing to do. Of course it is a money maker for the pharmaceutical companies. Cholesterol lowering medications are Levacor, Zocor, Pravachol, Lipitor, Crestor, Simvastatin (a generic for Zocor) and more.

Are the medical insurance companies really earning extraordinary income? I did the research and found these astonishing net income amounts

– Aetna $1.831 billion USD (2007)

– Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield $3.095 billion USD (2006)

– Cigna Corporation $1.1 billion USD (2007)

– Kaiser Permanente $1.3 billion USD (2006)

– Regence Group $6.7 billion USD (2006)

As far as pharmaceutical companies are concerned look at CVS Caremark as just the tip of the iceberg. Their quarterly net income for the period ending March 31, 2009 was $738,400.

Do we need a complete overhaul of our medical care system in the United States? The answer is obvious. The question is how do we provide the needed care at a cost that everyone can afford?

HUBRIS

From Wikpedia ,“In its modern usage, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance; it is often associated with a lack of humility, not always with the lack of knowledge. An accusation of hubris often implies that suffering or punishment will follow…”

This word is used to describe persons of power who thought they could do what ever they wanted without facing consequences but in the end they did experience a humiliating punishment. Politicians are the most common people to be defined as suffering hubris. Some corporate heads have faced the same fate.

The most well known political names suffering hubris are former President Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Nevada Senator John Ensign, and today South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. There are so many others that the names would probably fill a page. Cheating, lying, adultery, etc. is not limited to one political party. Furthermore this kind of behavior is not new. Past presidents John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower, FDR, and Andrew Jackson are all known to have had sexual dalliances.

Richard Wagoner, the former General Motors CEO, is the best example of a corporate head who thought he could do no wrong. Merrill Lynch’s Stan O’Neal, Fannie Mae’s Franklin Raines all left there positions in disgrace. After three weeks of mounting criticism of his $140 million compensation package, Richard A. Grasso, the chairman and chief executive of the New York Stock Exchange, resigned.

What we learn from this is that occasionally that even the misbehaving mighty can fall. They just can’t see it coming.

Honest Election in Iran is an Absurdity

The idea that an election for the president of Iran would be honestly held is an absurdity. That nation has one man who controls every aspect of life there. He is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In terms of constitutional authority, Mr. Khamenei is plainly the most powerful man in the Islamic Republic; no decision can be made without his consent. It is Mr. Khamenei who will decide the person to be president of Iran. In the unlikely situation that the elected president makes no difference to him, then the results will be reported honestly.

If the goal of Mr. Khamenei is the destruction of Israel and the dominance of the Middle East by Iran than there is little point in negotiations with members of a government that has no final authority.

It is reasonable to conclude that President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, and others in the U.S. foreign affairs department know that Mr. Khamenei is the one person that must be part of any negotiations. So why the speeches and hand held out as a jesture of friendship? It can’t hurt and it just might prevent another war.

The First Hispanic Supreme Court Justice

by Rabbi Norman Cohen, Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles

The media are crowing about President Obama selecting the “first Hispanic Supreme Court justice”. I have news for the media.

We already have had a Hispanic U. S. Supreme Court Justice.

He was Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, U. S. Supreme Court Justice from 1932 – 1938, a Sephard Jew of Spanish ancestry. His father, Judge Albert Cardozo, was Vice President and Trustee of the famous Spanish-Portuguese synagogue in New York City, Congregation Shearith Israel. Young Benjamin was Bar Mitzvah in that synagogue, and as an adult was proud of both his Jewish and Hispanic heritage.

It is the oldest congregation in the Western Hemisphere, having been founded in Recife, Brazil ca. 1630 and moved to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1654. Its present location is at 70th St. and Central Park West. I spent some of my religious and social activity time there as a teenager in the 1950s, when the Rav was the famous Dr. David de Sola Pool.

One thing that surprised me there were the names on the memorial plaques…they were just like my Puerto Rican friends and not at all like my Jewish friends. Study of this history and culture has become a hobby of mine.

Most American Jews, who are of Ashkenaz origins, neither know of nor understand this important component of the Jewish people.

Jews were a major component of the populations of Spain and Portugal for 800 years (~ 700 – 1500 CE). Ladino, the “Sephardic Yiddish” based on pre-1500 Spanish, is still spoken by 200,000 Jewish descendants around the world, mainly in Mediterranean regions. 45 of the 50 most common Hispanic family names are of Jewish origin. All Hispanic given names ending in “el” are Hebrew phrases with reference to G-d. Like Gabriel, Emanuel, Rafael, etc. Many Spanish words and names of places are of Hebrew origin.

If you represented all Jews who were murdered in the Holcoaust by a crowded Dodger Stadium, those Jews whose family names were Gamboa and Graciano would fill a section of box seats. Gamboas and Gracianos are in Jewish cemeteries all over the world …. even in Poland, Canada, South Africa and Israel. That’s just two Sephardic-Jewish family names.

A recent analysis of the DNA of 20 statistical sample of men of Spain found that 20% have the Jewish genetic haplogroup, viz. they descend from Jews. The only way that this is possible is that there was already massive assimilation of the Jews of Spain in the centuries leading up to the Inquisition.

There are organized groups of b’nai anusim —- descendants of Jewish victims of Inquisitions in Spain, Portugal and Latin America who were forced to convert, or who hid and abandoned their Jewishness out of fear of persecution —- who are clamoring for acceptance as Jewish returnees.

It is estimated that a significant fraction of the Hispanics of the Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico are of Jewish ancestry and don’t know it.

But the media would not think of, nor recognize, Benjamin Cardozo as a “Hispanic”. They want a “genuine” Hispanic, certainly not one who was also a Jew.

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August 8, 2009: A Daily Kos article on Cardozo is an interesting addendum to this article. A Poll at the bottom of the article indicates that 59% of those participating believe that Cardozo was the first first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.

Buying A Camera – Consider Alternatives

I have found no report on market share of each digital camera manufacturer. I am sure that data exists somewhere. When I read camera advertising in the Los Angeles Times the clear winner is Canon in terms of amount of space used for that brand. Most of the advertising is for Canon and Nikon. I am enrolled in a digital photography class and of 15 people but only two do not own Canon cameras. Clearly Canon has done a better marketing job.

That is sad because there are many other brands that produce excellent products. Consumer Reports July 2009 issue lists four brands of point and shoot cameras that are “standouts: Canon, Casio, Panasonic, and Samsung.”

There may be perfectly reasonable reasons for Panasonic and Casio poor marketing through camera shops. One might be that by direct sales they cut out distributors and retailers and can earn more on every sale.

Perhaps auto manufacturers could sell directly to consumers. That would certainly be one way of increasing profits. Maybe not.

My Panasonic Lumix FZ28 is referred to as a Superzoom. It is a point and shoot camera that looks like an SLR. The difference is that there are no interchangeable lenses and it weighs less than 15 ounces with the battery installed.

The results I have obtained from this camera have met all of my expectations. The super zoom goes out 428mm. That means an object 700 feet away looks like it was right in front of me when I shoot the picture. The high ISO rating of 6400 (In [HIGH SENS.] in scene mode, the ISO sensitivity automatically switches to between [ISO1600] and [ISO6400] and the available flash range also differs.) enable me photograph without a flash in many instances.

Latino Boycott of the Census Makes no Sense

A Los Angeles Times Editorial

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Funds and services depend on an accurate count; boycotting could hurt those who need those things the most.

The latest effort to push illegal immigrants further into the shadows of civic life comes from an unexpected quarter. Not from those who would gladly deport every single person residing in this country without permission, but from advocates who profess to have their best interest at heart. The National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders is urging illegal immigrants not to participate in the 2010 census. The group’s supposed logic? That the statistical invisibility of 11 million to 12 million people will be a powerful lever to move legislators and the Obama administration to act with urgency and create a pathway to citizenship.

This misguided advice could have come from the Minuteman Project. Because an undercount means that the very places where illegal immigrants reside and use services, those states and counties already in desperate financial straits will be shortchanged of federal funding that would help all residents. Are these church leaders also urging illegal immigrants to not send their children to school? To avoid hospitals? To forgo driving on highways? An undercount means diminished funding for those public necessities and many others. Furthermore, census data determine voting districts. Are these advocates calling for fewer elected officials who might actually negotiate a pathway to citizenship?

In a report on undercounting in the 2000 census, the accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers calculated that states loses more than $3,000 per uncounted resident. California, for example, is already out hundreds of millions of dollars because of an undercount in the 2000 census of an estimated 500,000 people. Los Angeles, Alameda, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego counties will lose the bulk of that money, with L.A. losing more than $600 million over 10 years.

Unfortunately, this boycott movement seems to be gaining momentum; it dovetails with an existing fear of government detection. But anyone who boycotts the census has a poor understanding of U.S. history. Political power in this country is tethered to visibility. It is not a coincidence that in the past, the voiceless — Native Americans on reservations, enslaved African Americans — were purposely not counted in the census. (Actually, for taxation and representation purposes, the latter were counted as three-fifths of a person.)

There is no logical reason to fear participation. By law, all personal census information is sealed for 72 years, and no one who fills out a form is going to be deported as a result. With nothing to gain but much to lose, boycotting the census would be a strange tactic for people who have marched by the millions, revealing their numbers for the world to see. Whatever happened to “Today we march, tomorrow we vote”?

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See my column Why are most Mexicans in Mexico so poor?