Scam Squad

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) was launched at the United Nations on June 15th, 2006. This is an international effort to raise awareness within the global community about elder abuse. WEAAD serves as a call to action for our communities to educate people about abuse, neglect, and the exploitation of seniors. Elder abuse is a crime in the United States that is largely unrecognized or unreported. It is estimated that 1 in 10 seniors, ages 60+, has been victimized by some form of elder abuse. As many as 1 in 5 seniors have been the victims of financial exploitation. Elder abuse can take many forms, including neglect, and is not always easy to recognize. On Scam Squad, we often talk about scams that involve the financial exploitation of seniors. To report a case of elder abuse, please contact Adult Protective Services; reports can be made anonymously. Please due your part to prevent elder abuse.

UNEMPLOYEMENT FRAUD by Hub for Podcasting

Special guest Dayton Aldridge shares with us the reality of ‘voice cloning’ and ‘artificial intelligence’. As artificial intelligence becomes more common-place, computers are talking among themselves to provide better search results to human users. With each passing day, A.I. is gathering more data from the general population in order to become more advanced. As A.I. application becomes more widespread, people should be more aware of its capabilities; including, but not limited to, scams and fraudulent activity that involve A.I. Dayton shares about various scams and frauds that involve A.I., including the capabilities of A.I. to mimic and copy any individual’s unique voice.

We have all heard that phrase, "there is no such thing as a free ride" - This saying is more true than ever today. In the digital age, there are so many 'free' offers and product trials online that turn out to be fraudulent! Marketers of cosmetics and supplements alone recently defrauded customers out of 74.5 million dollars. Beware of 'free trial' offers - be sure that you are clear about what you are signing up for as a consumer. It is unlawful for businesses to lie to customers in order to lure them into a reoccurring monthly payment. We also know that the Corona Virus has fraudsters scamming at an unprecedented rate. In order to protect yourself more thoroughly , credit reports are now available for free until April 2021 from annualcreditreport.com

One topic that we have discussed repeatedly is check fraud. Check fraud is a topic that keeps coming up, and it is no surprise that there are increased incidents of fraud during tax season and the arrival of Covid-19 stimulus checks. Crooks and fraudsters are fishing through the mail, looking for checks and sensitive information. With increased social distancing restrictions, less people are on the streets, providing a prime opportunity for crooks to fish in the mail. The big blue public mailboxes are especially vulnerable to this kind of theft and criminal activity. Fraudsters are looking for utility checks and other bills because these envelopes almost always have checks in them. Crooks are able to ‘wash’ and alter the information on the checks. Perpetrators can even deposit the checks via mobile banking app.

A special thanks to Doris Roof, Senior Fraud specialist from Montecito Bank and Trust. To report a scam, call the District Attorney’s Fraud Hotline at 805-568-2442. The Better Business Bureau urges you to visit their Scam Tracker site at https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/santa-barbara/reportscam or call them directly at 805-963-8657.

May is elder abuse awareness month. In the United States, we estimate that 1 out of every 10 seniors, ages 65+, are victims of abuse. As many as 1 in 5 seniors are exploited financially. Surprisingly, even family members and caregivers are sometimes the abusers. During the Corona Virus Pandemic, many elders are more vulnerable than usual. Please honor and respect the seniors in your community.

To report a case of emergency elder abuse directly to law enforcement, please call 805-683-2724

COVID-19 VIRUS SCAMS by Hub for Podcasting

Beware of dropping off payments in mailboxes as scammers are literally fishing them out--and altering the payee and/or amount.

Also, a warning about being contacted through emails and texts by scammers, who are pretending to verify your login information so they can gain access to your Pay to Pay (P2P) accounts (such as Venmo or Zelle). Once they have your banking login information they can set up a new P2P account and steal money directly from your bank account!

SWEEPSTAKES SCAMS by Hub for Podcasting

IMPOSTOR SCAMS by Hub for Podcasting