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5 Phases of a Scammer's Attack
Life Lessons

Prevent Someone from Stealing Your Wallet

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

Recently, a woman enjoyed lunch with her friends at a popular café when the unthinkable happened. A brazen thief darted past her table, snatching her wallet off its surface as he bolted for the exit. Prevent Someone from Stealing Your Wallet
In a panic, the woman screamed for help, pointing to the man who had just taken her wallet. Another patron of the café heard the woman’s plea for help and jumped up from his table to give chase. Prevent Someone from Stealing Your Wallet
Hot on the heels of the thief, the Good Samaritan managed to catch up to the scoundrel just as he tossed the wallet in his vehicle and closed the door. Seeing the café patron approaching his car, the thief locked the door, preventing his pursuer from opening it.
Undeterred, the patron balled his fist in anger and thrust it as hard as he could at the window. The glass immediately exploded in a shower of shards. Focused on the imminent threat of capture, the thief started the ignition. When his car roared to life, he jammed the accelerator to the floor and fled the scene.
The patron’s hand suffered severe injuries when he slammed it into the window, and it needed prompt medical attention. The woman never recovered her wallet.
Thieves look for opportunities to steal whenever, and wherever they see them. Broad daylight in a crowded location won’t prevent crooks from practicing their trade, and it shouldn’t cause you to lower your guard.
Never leave your wallet in an open, visible area at a restaurant where a thief can easily steal it. Instead, keep it out of sight in a pocket, in a jacket, on your lap, or other hidden location. Don’t let a thief who may be watching know where to find your wallet by extracting it before it’s time to pay. This will limit the opportunity for a thief to take it from your possession and allow you the chance to enjoy your meal without having to spend time filing a police report, canceling your credit cards, and ordering a new driver’s license afterward.

Prevent Someone from Stealing Your Wallet

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Facebook and 8 Popular Features
Life Lessons

Beware Deceptive Friend Requests

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

 

Social Media Safety Tips Beware Deceptive Friend Requests

Social media has become a prime target for scammers in recent years. Beyond sensationalized photo and video posts that lure unsuspecting viewers to click on an item for the juicy details, fraudsters have a more despicable technique to extract personal information from social media users – impersonating members of the military. Beware Deceptive Friend Requests

Facebook Friend Scams Beware Deceptive Friend Requests

A friend of mine recently received a friend request on Facebook from someone she didn’t know. She perused the personal page of this individual and saw that he posted a profile picture of a gentleman in a U.S. Army uniform next to a military Humvee. The header on this page also displayed a group of men in uniform posing for a photo. In a message he sent to her along with his friend request, he claimed to be a Captain General in the U.S. Army. Beware Deceptive Friend Requests
His biggest mistake wasn’t the one you probably have in mind. The rank Captain General is non-existent in the U.S. Army, and anyone claiming to be one has never served. While this is a dead giveaway, his biggest mistake was telling her that his name was something contrary to the embroidered name on his uniform. Also visible on the uniform also was the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). The real SFC in the photo will always outrank and outclass a shameful Captain General scammer any day of the week. Beware Deceptive Friend Requests
Besides these glaring errors, there’s another giveaway that should have anyone turning down this friend request. The requesting individual has only eight friends. For someone with such few friends to have located and made contact with my friend without any prior contact or acquaintances in common is extremely unlikely.
The best course of action to take when you receive a friend request from someone you don’t know is to turn down the request. If you’re not sure about your affiliation with the person, look for telltale signs that the individual might not be who he or she claims to be: Don’t fall for deceptive friend requests

  • Use of a non-existent rank in the military
  • Claiming an identity other than what a photo indicates
  • The individual has few if any friends
  • Neither you nor anyone you know has any prior contact with the individual

Why would someone resort to such a contemptible means of connecting with someone? The scammer is either looking to glean enough information from an individual to hack that person’s social media account, or the fraudster is looking to use the connection as a springboard to launch a scam. Whatever the reason, accepting a friend request from someone you don’t know is always a dangerous course of action.
My friend ultimately turned down this scammer’s friend request after pointing out the glaring errors in his profile. Two days later, this fraudster’s account was deleted. Don’t fall for deceptive friend requests
Always scrutinize friend requests whenever you receive them, even if the individual claims to be a member of the military. That friend request might be from a scammer in disguise. Don’t fall for deceptive friend requests

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5 Ways to Avoid Parking Lot Assaults
Life Lessons

5 Ways to Avoid Parking Lot Assaults

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

Earlier this year, a friend of mine finished her shopping at a grocery store. As she returned to her vehicle, a group of four men approached her in the parking lot from four different angles. They pretended to be interested in selling her perfume, but the angle and location of their approach told her otherwise. 5 Ways to Avoid Parking Lot Assaults
5 Ways to Avoid Parking Lot AssaultsSensing the imminent danger, she activated the panic button on her vehicle’s remote control. Her car alarm responded swiftly, emitting a highly audible noise that pierced the air. The men instantly scrambled to their car and sped away from the scene.
Had she not been aware of her surroundings and held her car keys in her hand, my friend might not have survived the terrifying situation. 5 Ways to Avoid Parking Lot Assaults

Here are five tips to stay safe while in a parking lot: 5 Ways to Avoid Parking Lot Assaults

  • Park your vehicle in a well-lit, fully visible location. When you exit a store, if your vehicle’s visibility is blocked by another vehicle, ask a store employee for assistance with taking your groceries to your car.
  • Before you exit the store, have your car keys in hand. Keep your thumb on the panic button as you walk to your vehicle. If you encounter trouble, press the panic button, or scream for help if you don’t have one. Don’t worry about what will happen if you activate the alarm only to discover afterward that the situation wasn’t dangerous. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
  • Stay aware of your surroundings at all times. Don’t fiddle with your phone or peruse your receipt while walking to your car. Criminals look for oblivious prey, and someone who isn’t aware of his or her surroundings makes an easier target.
  • If while walking to your car you notice one or more suspicious individuals lingering near it, turn around and walk back into the store. Ask a store employee for help taking your groceries to your car. 5 Ways to Avoid Parking Lot Assaults
  • When you leave the store, if something about your surroundings causes you to feel uncomfortable, don’t ignore that feeling. Go back into the store and ask an employee for help taking your groceries to your car.

Criminals Capitalize on Opportunity

Criminals typically look for opportunities to take what they want while minimizing their chances of getting caught. Following the five tips above will decrease your chance of becoming a victim, but they won’t completely eliminate it. If someone attacks you in the parking lot, do whatever you must to get away safely. Give the person your wallet, car keys, jewelry or any other possessions demanded of you and call the police afterward. Things can be replaced, but the same isn’t true of your life. Protect it so your family and friends can enjoy your company for many years to come.
By Rod Spurgeon

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Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud
Fraud & Security

Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

An increasingly popular way for voters to vote in an election is to mail-in their ballots. The process is both quick and easy. Furthermore, it allows individuals the freedom to make and mail their selections from the comfort of their own home. Mail-in ballots are beneficial for those who prefer the process to personally visiting a voting station. However, there are unscrupulous individuals who seek to manipulate this process to serve their own political agendas. Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud

Neighborhood Canvasing Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud

In this voting manipulation scam, an individual canvases neighborhoods following the arrival of mail-in ballots to local homes. The person knocks on the front door and introduces him or herself as a county election worker, a volunteer at a non-profit organization, or other helpful entity. Once the scammer builds an initial level of trust with the homeowner, the cheater offers to take the person’s ballot to the voting station or to the Post Office, allowing the voter to remain comfortably at home.
If the voter hands over his or her ballot to this individual, it may never be counted in the election. Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud
The scammer is pursuing an unknown agenda and inspects the ballot to see whether or not it aligns with that agenda. If it does, the ballot is submitted for processing. If not, the ballot is tossed into the trash. Consequently, you become a victim of voter fraud. Furthermore, the election results could be affected. Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud

Ballot Fraud Protection Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud

Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud There are only two ways to ensure a mail-in ballot is recorded properly.

  • First, drop it in the mail along with proper postage or
  • Second, personally take it to an official drop off location.

Never trust a stranger who arrives unsolicited at your home to properly handle your ballot. That individual may not be entirely honest with his or her intentions. As a result, your important vote may never be recorded.
By Rod Spurgeon Avoid Mail Ballot Fraud

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Simple Tips on How to Save Money
Money Tips

Four easy ways to avoid bank fees

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

Four easy ways to avoid bank fees

Banks earn income from a variety of sources. Credit card loans, home mortgage loans, business loans, and student loans comprise much of their core revenue generating products. But there are other sources that are just as valuable as these traditional services. They’re called account fees, and banks earn billions each year on the revenue they collect from financial account holders. It’s up to you to learn what these fees are and how to refrain from handing over your hard earned cash unnecessarily to financial institutions. FourFour easy ways to avoid bank fees easy ways to avoid bank fees
Many customer incur bank fees when they don’t plan how to use the benefits of their accounts efficiently. This can cause customer frustration when there’s less cash on hand than expected to pay bills and other expenses. To keep more of your hard-earned money for your use, here’s a list of common bank charges and how to avoid them:

  • Overdraft fees can cost an account holder hundreds of dollars each year, if not more. There are two ways to avoid these. First, review the balance in an account before accessing money in it. Be sure to factor in any pending automatic payments. This is an important point to remember. If an individual forgets about upcoming payments, it can cause that person to assume there’s a higher balance in the account than there really is, and spend more than he or she should as a result. This might have the effect of forcing electronic payments to bounce. Both the bank and business attempting to withdraw money from the account will likely charge overdraft fees for this inconvenience, leaving the account in an even deeper deficit.

Second, set up overdraft protection as a backup plan to avoid fees when there isn’t enough cash in an account to make a payment. Link the account to a credit card, checking or savings account that can act as a reserve source of cash to cover the overage. Ask your bank how to do this if you’re unsure of the process.

  • When a person needs cash on the go and there aren’t any in-network ATMs available nearby, non-network ATMs can do the job. Fees from accessing out-of-network ATMs, however, can easily cost $4 or more per transaction. If there are no free withdrawal options within your vicinity, go to a nearby store that offers cash back with any purchase. Instead of handing that $4 to the bank, spend it on yourself. Some stores might require a minimum transaction amount for a cash back withdrawal, so ask before jumping in line with a .50 cent purchase.

If finding a convenient ATM location is a persistent problem, consider opening an account online with a bank that offers better free ATM access. Some banks also reimburse customers for using out-of-network ATMs, to a certain limit. These are also worth consideration to avoid ATM fees.

  • Account maintenance fees are becoming more of the norm as some banks have shifted away from free checking. While these fees can add up fast over the course of a year, there are usually ways to avoid them. Some banks waive the fees with direct deposit or when an account holder maintains a minimum balance. If you have more than one checking account, it might be possible to split your direct deposit to both accounts. Send the minimum amount to avoid banking fees to one account, then send the rest to your primary account. Speak to your employer about this possibility.
  • An often overlooked opportunity to avoid new bank fees is to keep an eye on monthly statements as they become available. This allows an account holder to learn about new changes to a bank fee structure and to take action to avoid them. This is also why it’s important to ask for paper copies of your statements and review them every month when they arrive in the mail. If your bank charges for paper copies and you don’t want to incur the charge, ask for email reminders when the statements become available, then review them online as soon as possible.

While your bank is hungry for cash to boost its bottom line, you don’t have to be the one to feed it. Stay aware of the fee structure for your accounts and take steps ahead of time to avoid unnecessary charges. It’s your money, and you should keep it where it belongs – in your possession.
Rod Spurgeon
ownyourdefense.net

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Single click purchases cost more than you think
Tech Support

Single click purchases cost more than you think

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

As more people turn to online purchases to access a world of diversified products, shoppers gain enhanced value from the items they buy. Such shopping versatility can create a form of information overload, prompting some shoppers to abandon items in their virtual shopping carts while they consider their options. To encourage customers to finalize their purchases, some online stores have simplified the process by offering a single click buying option, and scammers have taken notice. Single click purchases cost more than you think
Single click purchases cost more than you thinkSingle click purchasing options allow online shoppers the opportunity to make a purchase by clicking a single button. The process avoids placing items in a virtual shopping cart where customers have more time to back out of a purchase. Single click purchases can be convenient for shoppers who want to minimize the time it takes to buy items, but it could also lead to dramatically higher costs for those who might not read all of the details of what they’re buying.
Single click scammers prey on those who don’t examine the details of an item by lowering the cost of their wares significantly below the competition. A scammer will then increase shipping costs far above what it would take to transport the item, hoping an enthusiastic shopper won’t notice. When shoppers see the surprisingly low prices for the items they’re seeking, they might choose to quickly grab the deals before they’re gone without reading all of the details on the listing. The single button purchase option helps speed up this process. Later on, when shoppers receive their monthly banking statements, they’re shocked to see the dramatically higher costs of the items they ordered. That’s because they failed to see the inflated cost of shipping for the items before pressing the single click purchase button.
A virtual shopping cart allows a person to see the details of a purchase before finalizing a transaction. The price of the item, shipping expense, and taxes are calculated to form a bottom line cost that a shopper can evaluate before agreeing to a purchase. Think of a shopping cart as a “Are you sure you want to do this” button. It helps create a sort of cooling off period that gives a person extra time to think twice about whether or not making the purchase is the right decision. It also allows a person to see if the costs on screen are what that individual expects. Single click purchases cost more than you think
An additional benefit of using a shopping cart instead of a single click purchasing options is the reduced number of “I want it” purchases from kids and grandkids. If you lend a child your smartphone, tablet PC or other computing device, and the single click purchasing option is switched on, a child who sees an amazing item or app for sale could tap the purchase button to instantly make that desire a reality. Keeping the option switched off will make the purchase more difficult to execute and could prevent unexpected charges on your credit card statement.
Always take the extra time to evaluate a purchase before finalizing a deal. Never sign up for the single click purchasing option and always evaluate the details of a purchase, including shipping costs, before committing yourself to it.
By Rod Spurgeon
ownyourdefense.net

Single click purchases cost more than you think

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Aging

Write Down the Details

by Rod Spurgeon
written by Rod Spurgeon

Time has a way of tinkering with memories. Though some people have a more detailed recollection capability than others, many still struggle to recall the precise details of past conversations. With that doubt comes the possibility that a memory can be adversely influenced by others. Write Down the Details
When it’s difficult to remember the exact terms of an agreement discussed through a past conversation, it gives the other party an opportunity to convince the forgetful individual that he or she agreed to an alternative arrangement, or that no such agreement was made. Agreement manipulation through memory exploitation isn’t likely to be in the favor of the person struggling to recall the details of a conversation. How can someone prevent another from taking advantage of a faulty memory? By recording conversation details as they take place. Write Down the Details
Write Down the DetailsBefore calling anyone with whom you intend to make an arrangement, or immediately after you receive a call from such an individual, grab a pen and notepad or your laptop. During the conversation, write down important points. For example, during a negotiation with a service company, write down the name of the person you talk to, the time and date you speak with that person, service features of the package you’re getting, the price for that service, and the duration in which that service will be provided at that price. The process is similar during conversations with other types of businesses as well. Make sure to write down every important point to avoid forgetting them in the future.
If you have to ask the representative to repeat him or herself, or there are long periods of silence as you write down important points, don’t be embarrassed. The only way you’re going to recall the details of every conversation every time is to write down important points. If later on the representative isn’t able to locate the details of an agreement, or has them recorded incorrectly, you’ll have the information you need to feel confident in your conversation about the specifics of the arrangement.
Also, before the expiration of that agreement, call the company to negotiate a new deal. Mark your calendar or create a reminder on your cell phone to call the company a month before the expiration of the arrangement. Don’t let new, higher rates take effect because you forget to call and arrange a new agreement.
Always write the details of important conversations inside a notebook for future reference, and use that same notebook to jot down new arrangements. Place the notebook in a desk drawer or other easily accessible, memorable place until you need it again. Taking these steps every time you engage in an important discussion will increase the likelihood that future conversations with others will be fair to both you and the other party.
By Rod Spurgeon
http://ownyourdefense.net
@OwnDefense

Write Down the Details

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