FTC: 12 Days of Consumer Protection, "Frosty the Con Man"

 December 15, 2020

by 

Carol Kando-Pineda

Attorney, FTC, Division of Consumer & Business Education

 

“Hello? It’s me — Frosty. Look it’s a long story but without my top hat, I’m melting. Please, I need your help — send money now or I’ll be nothing but a puddle!”

OK, so that’s a silly example and real imposters aren’t funny. But, on the 8^th day of Consumer Protection, it’s definitely worth remembering that scammers can be really convincing. And they don’t take a break, even at this time of year. It’s surprisingly easy for a scammer to impersonate someone to snow you. Networking sites make it easier than ever to sleuth out personal and family information. And they play on your emotions. Scammers are banking on your love and concern to outweigh your skepticism.

You might get a call or message supposedly from an out-of-town family member or friend claiming to be in an accident, arrested, or hospitalized. To make their story seem legitimate, they may involve another crook who claims to be an authority figure, like a lawyer or police officer.

What do you do if you get a message like this?

• Stop – and check it out. Resist the urge to act immediately, no matter how dramatic the story is.
• Call a phone number for your family member or friend that you know to be genuine. Or reach out to another family member or friend to check out whether what the message claims is true.
• Don’t wire money — or send a check, money order, or gift card by overnight delivery or courier.

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month: Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2020 theme: “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart.”

Everyone should be aware of the amazing power of the devices we all have in our pockets to access email, text, online research, accessing social media to communicate, and more. Our devices also track and send data when we press "send". 

I've been tracking Cyber Security concerns for many years and doing presentations, talking with students and community groups about the impact of the internet on our lives, jobs, friendships, and accurate information.

This years' theme #BeCyberSmart is important now more than ever.  I've included links to resources that may assist in learning about how to be smart online and encouraging others as well:

Rich Coleman, PSCC, P. Twp. DPS / CPAM / Crime Prevention Consultant

Click the link below for details and resources: 

Cyber Security Alliance: Stay Safe Online

FBI- National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2020

Center for Internet Security: CIS- National Cyber Security Month 2020

NPR - "Your Technology Is Tracking You. Take These Steps For Better Online Privacy"

NPR , 10,13,20, Cyber Security tip

Watch for more Cyber Security Tips,,,,

Be safe~

 

FTC COVID-19 and Stimulus Reports : Fraud, ID Theft, and Other scams and fraud

Consumers are being contacted by email, spam phone calls, text messages, social media posts, and spoof emails to obtain personal financial information and stealing your money. During this time of COVID -19 when were are working from home, schooling from home, and surfing the Internet more cyber crimes are on the rise. 

We are seeing an impact on "all" age groups. Before you open a suspicious email check to see if that is a legitimate email request from a company you are doing business with. If not send it to your "junk" folder and block for future emails. Do no open hyperlinks in emails that you are not expecting.

The top Fraud scams: Online Shopping, travel /vacations, health care, diet products, centers /plans, mobile: text messages, internet information.

The top ID Theft scams: credit card, other ID theft, Government documents or benefits fraud, loan or lease, employment or tax-related, phone or Utilities.

The FTC has released the 2nd Quarter ending June 30th, 2020, Consumer Sentenial "Fraud and ID Theft / Other" report. There is also a detailed report " FTC COVID-19 and Stimulus Report". 

I've attached the Michigan reports reflecting the following:

Fraud total as of June 30th, - 7, 189

ID Theft total as of June 30th, '20, - 349,641

FTC COVID-19, and Stimulus Reports:

To access the full reports click the link below:

FTC Sentinel Report 2nd Quarter

FTC COVID-19 and Stimulus (Fraud / ID Theft) report, 9,30,'20

FTC COVID-19, Stimulus Reports

Rich Coleman, PSCC, Pittsfield Twp. DPS/ CPAM

Federal Trade Commission : August 2020, Coronavirus Advice for Consumers

 

AVOID CORONAVIRUS SCAMS

• Learn how to tell the difference between a real contact tracer and a scammer. Legitimate tracers need health information, not money or personal financial information.
• Don’t respond to texts, emails or calls about checks from the government. Here’s what you need to know.
• Ignore offers for vaccinations and home test kits. Scammers are selling products to treat or prevent COVID-19 without proof that they work.
• Be wary of ads for test kits. Most test kits being advertised have not been approved by the FDA, and aren’t necessarily accurate.
• Hang up on robocalls. Scammers are using illegal robocalls to pitch everything from low-priced health insurance to work-at-home schemes.
• Watch for emails claiming to be from the CDC or WHO. Use sites like coronavirus.gov and usa.gov/coronavirus to get the latest information. And don’t click on links from sources you don’t know.
• Do your homework when it comes to donations. Never donate in cash, by gift card, or by wiring money.

For more information from the FTC on Scams and Fraud c/o COVID-19, click the link below:

https://www.ftc.gov/coronavirus/scams-consumer-advice

CPAM: Workshop August 24th, 2020, "Phil Chalmers - Profiling Teen Killers, School Shooters, Mass Murderers Serial Killers"

CPAM members, School personnel, Law Enforcement personnel - Here is an opportunity to hear from Phil Chalmers featuring live interviews. Berrien Springs Public Schools Virtual Learning Center

Monday, August 24th, 2020.

Attached is a flyer that has all the details.

Governor Whitmer Proposes Additional Police Reforms for Michigan

 
 

Governor Whitmer 

Proposes Additional 

Police Reforms for Michigan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2020
Contact: Press@michigan.gov

Please click the link below for the press release details.

https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90640-533217--,00.html

Senate Fiscal Agency: Analysis of Senate Bill # 945- "Law Enforcement Training"

Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of Senate Bill #945, Click the link below for the analysis.

Senate Fiscal Analysis of Senate Bill #945

MI Senate Bill # 945, Amend "Michigan Law Enforcement Standards Act of 1965- PO 203"

The MI Senate bill # 945 was passed on June  4th, 2020. Click the link below to access the bill.

MI Senate Bill # 945, MI Law Enforcement Standards Act

CDC - Checklist for Community and Faith Leaders

Interim Guidance for Communities of Faith

CDC offers the following general considerations to help communities of faith discern how best to practice their beliefs while keeping their staff and congregations safe.  Millions of Americans embrace worship as an essential part of life.  For many faith traditions, gathering together for worship is at the heart of what it means to be a community of faith. But as Americans are now aware, gatherings present a risk for increasing spread of COVID-19 during this Public Health Emergency. CDC offers these suggestions for faith communities to consider and accept, reject, or modify, consistent with their own faith traditions, in the course of preparing to reconvene for in-person gatherings while still working to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

This guidance is not intended to infringe on rights protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or any other federal law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA). The federal government may not prescribe standards for interactions of faith communities in houses of worship, and in accordance with the First Amendment, no faith community should be asked to adopt any mitigation strategies that are more stringent than the mitigation strategies asked of similarly situated entities or activities.

In addition, we note that while many types of gatherings are important for civic and economic well-being, religious worship has particularly profound significance to communities and individuals, including as a right protected by the First Amendment. State and local authorities are reminded to take this vital right into account when establishing their own re-opening plans.

Scaling Up Operations

• Establish and maintain communication with local and State authorities to determine current mitigation levels in your community.
• Provide protections for staff and congregants at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Offer options for staff at higher risk for severe illness (including older adults and people of all ages with certain underlying medical conditions) that limit their exposure risk. Offer options for congregants at higher risk of severe illness that limit their exposure risk (e.g., remote participation in services).
• Consistent with applicable federal and State laws and regulations, put in place policies that protect the privacy and confidentiality of people at higher risk for severe illness regarding underlying medical conditions.
• Encourage any organizations that share or use the facilities to also follow these considerations as applicable.
• If your community provides social services in the facility as part of its mission, consult CDC’s information for schools and businesses and workplaces, as relevant, for helpful information.

Safety Actions

Promote healthy hygiene practices

• Encourage staff and congregants to maintain good hand hygiene, washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
• Have adequate supplies to support healthy hygiene behaviors, including soap, hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol (for those who can safely use hand sanitizer), tissues, and no-touch trash cans.
• Encourage staff and congregants to cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or use the inside of their elbow. Used tissues should be thrown in the trash and hands washed.
• Whenever soap and water are not readily available, hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol can be used.
• Consider posting signs on how to stop the spreadpdf icon of COVID-19 and how to promote everyday protective measurespdf icon, such as washing hands, covering coughs and sneezes, and properly wearing a face coveringimage icon.

Cloth face coverings

• Encourage use of cloth face coverings among staff and congregants. Face coverings are most essential when social distancing is difficult. Note: Cloth face coverings should not be placed on children younger than 2 years old, anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious, and anyone who is incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the cloth face covering without assistance. Cloth face coverings are meant to protect other people in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms.

Intensify cleaning, disinfection, and ventilation

• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces at least daily and shared objects in between uses.
• Develop a schedule of increased, routine cleaning and disinfection.
• Avoid use of items that are not easily cleaned, sanitized, or disinfected.
• Ensure safe and correct application of disinfectants and keep them away from children.
• Cleaning products should not be used near children, and staff should ensure that there is adequate ventilation when using these products to prevent children or themselves from inhaling toxic fumes.
• Ensure that ventilation systems operate properly and increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible by opening windows and doors, using fans, etc. Do not open windows and doors if they pose a safety risk to children using the facility.
• If your faith community offers multiple services, consider scheduling services far enough apart to allow time for cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces between services. Take steps to ensure that all water systems and features (for example, drinking fountains, decorative fountains) are safe to use after a prolonged facility shutdown to minimize the risk of Legionnaires’ disease and other diseases associated with water.

Promote social distancing

• Take steps to limit the size of gatherings in accordance with the guidance and directives of state and local authorities and subject to the protections of the First Amendment and any other applicable federal law.
• Promote social distancing at services and other gatherings, ensuring that clergy, staff, choir, volunteers and attendees at the services follow social distancing, as circumstances and faith traditions allow, to lessen their risk.
• Consider holding services and gatherings in a large, well-ventilated area or outdoors, as circumstances and faith traditions allow.
• Consider appropriate mitigation measures, including taking steps to limit the size of gatherings maintaining social distancing, at other gatherings such as funerals, weddings, religious education classes, youth events, support groups and any other programming, where consistent with the faith tradition.
• Provide physical guides, such as tape on floors or walkways and signs on walls, to ensure that staff and children remain at least 6 feet apart in lines and at other times (e.g. guides for creating “one-way routes” in hallways).

Take steps to minimize community sharing of worship materials and other items

• Consistent with the community’s faith tradition, consider temporarily limiting the sharing of frequently touched objects, such as worship aids, prayer rugs, prayer books, hymnals, religious texts and other bulletins, books, or other items passed or shared among congregants, and encouraging congregants to bring their own such items, if possible, or photocopying or projecting prayers, songs, and texts using electronic means.
• Modify the methods used to receive financial contributions. Consider a stationary collection box, the main, or electronic methods of collection regular financial contributions instead of shared collection trays or baskets.
• Consider whether physical contact (e.g., shaking hands, hugging, or kissing) can be limited among members of the faith community.
• If food is offered at any event, consider pre-packaged options, and avoid buffet or family-style meals if possible.

Nursery/Childcare

• If a nursery or childcare will be provided during services and events, refer to CDC’s information on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in childcare settings and adapt as needed for your setting.
• If holding summer day camps, refer to CDC’s information on youth and summer camps and adapt as needed.

Staffing and Training

• Train all clergy and staff in the above safety actions. Consider conducting the training virtually, or, if in-person, ensure that social distancing is maintained.

Monitoring and Preparing

Check for signs and symptoms

• Encourage staff or congregants who are sick or who have had close contact with a person with COVID-19 to stay home. Share CDC’s criteria for staying home with staff and congregants so that they know how to care for themselves and others. Consider posting signs at entrances with this information.

Plan for when a staff member or congregant becomes sick

• Identify an area to separate anyone who exhibits symptoms of COVID-19 during hours of operation, and ensure that children are not left without adult supervision.
• Establish procedures for safely transporting anyone who becomes sick at the facility to their home or a healthcare facility.
• Notify local health officials if a person diagnosed with COVID-19 has been in the facility and communicate with staff and congregants about potential exposure while maintaining confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)external icon or other applicable laws and in accordance with religious practices.
• Advise those with exposure to a person diagnosed with COVID-19 to stay home and self-monitor for symptoms, and follow CDC guidance if symptoms develop.
• Close off areas used by the sick person and do not use the area until after cleaning and disinfection. Ensure safe and correct application of disinfectants and keep disinfectant products away from children.
• Advise staff and congregants with symptoms of COVID-19 or who have tested positive for COVID-19 not to return to the facility until they have met CDC’s criteria to discontinue home isolation.

Maintain healthy operations

• Implement flexible sick leave and related flexible policies and practices for staff (e.g., allow work from home, if feasible), and provide requested reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship to individuals with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)external icon or other applicable laws and in accordance with religious practices.
• Monitor absenteeism and create a roster of trained back-up staff.
• Designate a staff person to be responsible for responding to COVID-19 concerns. Staff, clergy, volunteers, and congregants should know who this person is and how to contact them if they become sick or are around others diagnosed with COVID-19. This person should also be aware of state or local regulatory agency policies related to group gatherings.
• As volunteers often perform important duties (e.g., greeters, ushers, childcare), consider similar monitoring, planning, and training for them. Consider that volunteer and staffing may need to increase to implement cleaning and safety protocols and to accommodate additional services with reduced attendance.
• Communicate clearly with staff and congregants about actions being taken to protect their health.

Signs and Messages

• Post signs in highly visible locations (e.g., entrances, restrooms, gathering halls/community rooms/gyms) that promote everyday protective measurespdf icon and describe how to stop the spreadpdf icon of germs (such as by properly washing hands and properly wearing a cloth face coveringimage icon).
• Include messages (for example, videos) about behaviors that prevent the spread of COVID-19 when communicating with staff and congregants (such as in emails and on community websites and social media accounts).
• Find freely available CDC print and digital resources on CDC’s communications resources main page.
• For more information click the link below:
• CDC- Checklist for your Faith Community c/o COVID -19

FTC Alert: Cell phone games - This “game” is a chain letter scam

This “game” is a chain letter scam

May 21, 2020

by 

Seena Gressin

Attorney, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC

Are you tempted to play “The Circle Game,” join a “Blessing Loom,” or jump on a “Money Board”? These are some of the names for an online scam that’s making the rounds at a time when millions of people are out of work and scraping for cash. It promises a big return for a modest investment. Don’t fall for it. You’re virtually guaranteed to lose your money, or pull in friends and family who will lose theirs.

Also known as the “Mandala Game,” “Blessing Circle,” “Infinity Loom,” “Giving Circle,” and by other names, the scam is a chain letter-type of pyramid scheme. While versions vary slightly, the one we’re hearing about most promises that you’ll collect $800 for an investment of $100 and, at the same time, help bring good fortune to someone else by recruiting them to join. Here’s how it works.

You see a post or get a direct message on Instagram, Facebook, or other social media. It invites you to join the Circle or Loom by sending $100 through PayPal or another digital payment service to the person whose name is at the center of an octagon-shaped playing board. Your payment gets you one of eight spots on the outer ring of the board and a chance to move towards the center by recruiting other people to join. As more people join, your board changes and the number of playing boards expands. Eventually, you’re supposed to land at the center of a playing board and collect $100 from each of eight new recruits on the outer ring. That’s when you leave the game or start all over again with another $100 payment.

What’s the harm? Like other types of pyramid schemes, these chain letters depend on recruiting new people to keep money flowing into the enterprise. There are no products sold or real investments creating profits. Once players run out of new recruits to bring into the game, the money dries up and everyone waiting to reach the center comes up empty handed.

If you get an offer to join an online game like this, beware ­– it’s a scam. The warning signs? Promises that you will make money by paying in yourself and recruiting others to do the same. If the offer comes from a friend or family member, warn them. 

And, if you’ve paid someone to join this game, please tell us: ftc.gov/complaint. 

Your report can help us protect others from a scam.

FTC, Scam Alert: COVID-19 contact tracing text message scams

COVID-19 contact tracing text message scams

May 19, 2020

by 

Colleen Tressler

Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about contact tracing. It’s the process of identifying people who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, instructing them to quarantine and monitoring their symptoms daily. 

Contact tracers are usually hired by a state’s department of public health. They work with an infected person to get the names and phone numbers for everyone that infected person came in close contact with while the possibly infectious. Those names and phone numbers are often kept in an online system. People who had contact with someone infected with COVID-19 may first get a text message from the health department, telling them they’ll get a call from a specific number. The tracer who calls will not ask for personal information, like a Social Security number. At the end of the call, some states ask if the contact would like to enroll in a text message program, which sends daily health and safety reminders until the 14-day quarantine ends. But tracers won’t ask you for money or information like your Social Security, bank account, or credit card number. Anyone who does is a scammer.

There’s no question, contact tracing plays a vital role in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19. But scammers, pretending to be contact tracers and taking advantage of how the process works, are also sending text messages. But theirs are spam text messages that ask you to click a link. Check out the image below. Unlike a legitimate text message from a health department, which only wants to let you know they’ll be calling, this message includes a link to click.

Don’t take the bait. Clicking on the link will download software onto your device, giving scammers access to your personal and financial information. Ignore and delete these scam messages. 

There are several ways you can filter unwanted text messages or stop them before they reach you.

• Your phone may have an option to filter and block messages from unknown senders or spam.
• Your wireless provider may have a tool or service that lets you block texts messages.
• Some call-blocking apps also let you block unwanted text messages.
• Here are several other steps you can take to protect yourself from text scammers.

• Protect your online accounts by using multi-factor authentication. It requires two or more credentials to log in to your account, which makes it harder for scammers to log in to your accounts if they do get your username and password.
• Enable auto updates for the operating systems on your electronic devices. Make sure your apps also auto-update so you get the latest security patches that can protect from malware.
• Back up the data on your devices regularly, so you won’t lose valuable information if a device gets malware or ransomware.

For more information, see How to Recognize and Report Spam Text Messages.

Want more information on the latest scams we’re seeing? Sign up for our consumer alerts.