Do I Really Need This?

0:01 This program is designed to provide general information with regards to the subject matters covered. This information is given with the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial, legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas. The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from debted sources and references. However, Rose Resources outreach to safeguard the elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to a scam.

0:50 Let's talk about scams. It's the must listen show for anyone who wants to protect themselves and their loved ones from scams. Every Tuesday am Pacific time on K four HD Radio, Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose, and her guests will provide valuable insights and practical tips on how to recognize and protect yourself from scams. And now here is your host, Joyce Petrowski. Hi, everyone, welcome back to let's talk about scams. I'm Joyce Petrowski, founder and board president of Rose Resources Outreach to safeguard the elderly. I trust Brian took very good care of you guys last week.

1:33 And. I'm back today with a cold, So hopefully I won't be sneezing or coughing too much during this episode. But I know we this episode was gonna it was titled do I Really Need This? And I was going to have a guest Martin, and due to some timing issues, that just didn't work out. But I'm still gonna to talk about his situation with with the scam that he encountered with his parents. But before I do that, yesterday I was made aware of a new scam that's going around, and so I just wanted to give you a little bit of information on that. So this one happens to be specifically targeting retired people because it's the scammers using the Sole Security Administration name to trick people with the email.

2:33 So the email looks like it's coming from the official government notifications using Solid Security Administration. But if you hover your mouse over the name, you can see the actual email address and you'll see that the email address. The domain, which is everything after the ad sign does not end in dot g o V. Excuse me, it's uh, I'm. Not exactly sure what it ends in. It could be dot excuse me, dot com, dot net. You know, there's there's a bunch of different ones out there, but all government organizations their domains and in like the Sole Security Office is s S a Solid Security Administration dot gov, the I r S is i r S dot gov.

3:27 Medicare is medicare dot gov, so it all ends in dot gov. That's g o V. So when you hover your cursor. Over the name, you're going to see that this email address is not coming from a dot gov email address, which would be the first clue. But if you know, if someone doesn't think to look at the actual email address, they actually get into the email itself. The scammers or you're using the urgent message again to grab your attention and to get you to act quickly. So they're like important disclosures or important regulatory information, and so the emails usually include a link or a file that looks like a standard PDF statement.

4:16 It might have a. Name like Social Underscore Security Underscore Statements Underscore twenty twenty five, dot pdf. Now looking at that, you might look at it and go, okay, well that's my soile security statement. But it's not a normal document. So if you've ever had your trusted tech support person do any work on your system remotely, there's a good chance that they use a tool called RMM Remote Monitoring and Management. It's an actual legitimate tool and a lot of the IT experts, the tech support people use it to fix computers from a distance remotely instead of having to physically be there with you and your device. But scammers have turned that legitimate tool to their advantage and are using it as a weapon against you. So if the if whoever's looking at that email clicks on that link to view the document, it can install a trojan or a virus.

5:27 Malware on your. Device and which allows the scammer to take full control of your device. And once they have that access, they can watch what you're doing and steal private data. If you're logging into your bank account, whatever you're doing, that they can see it, and then they're going to have all your logins. They can also say that there's a new document ready to review for a short time. Again, that's that urgency. If you don't do it now. You might not be able to see that document after a short time, and they might have a button called view document that they want you to click on, and it.

6:12 Would do the same thing. It would take It would allow the scammer to take over your device, and that device could be your mobile phone because it is a mobile computer if you're doing if you're looking at this email on your mobile phone. So just just be careful out there, you know, just because it says it's coming from the Sold Security Administration, just hover over that that name and look at what the actual email address is. And just know that the Soil Security domain is s s A dot gov and you always want to look for that dot gov at the end of the domain in the email address. If I get any more information on this, I'll let you guys know over the next couple weeks. But just always go to your the verified source. So you're going to want to go to your social security account through the legitimate Social Security website and you can find all of your information there. So to get on with what today's about, the title was do I really need this?

7:15 And this situation? A supporter Martin had given us this information that had happened a number of years ago to his parents. They were when this happened, they were probably in their mid to late seventies, and somebody was, you know, trying to sell them a home security system. And it very well could have been a legitimate home security system company. They were just you know, possibly using some aggressive sales tactics, and just I want to preface this conversation with whatever company it is selling whatever product or service. There's a lot of legitimate companies out there.

7:59 And I'm not saying. Because of this situation or because of another situation you might have heard about, that all of these companies are not good. This is where doing your research will will really help you. So to get back to this situation. In addition to the hardware and the installation, it also had a monitoring contract with a monthly subscription fee, which is normal. I mean, you have a security system, but you want to have it monitored so if something were to happen, you know, the emergency people would be.

8:39 Notified right away. But apparently once the system was installed, it never really worked properly and the company was never able to make the system work. Now, maybe they had come out a few times to try to get it to work. Maybe it was just once, or you know, maybe they for whatever reason, never came out. I don't know that part of the story. But after you know, a number of months, and you know, it could be could have been you know, a year, two years, three years of paying this monthly subscription and then they had already paid, you know, for the hardware and the installation, but they had that ongoing monthly subscription fee that was continuing to be paid. They finally Martin just suggested them, you know what, why don't you just stop paying the subscription fee. This thing doesn't work. We can't get anybody out here to help us with it.

9:47 And so they stopped paying it and no one ever came back after them for any back charges. Which is a risk you take right if you've if you've committed to this contract of paying this monthly subscription fee for what it is, for whatever product or service it is, and then you all of a sudden stop paying it, well you run the risk of am I going to have to then? Are they going to come after me? Are they going to send me to collections? Am I going to have to go through some legal battle with him? That's a risk you take this is just in this instance, the company never came back after his parents. The company had probably folded, or maybe it just wasn't a legitimate company to begin with. We don't know the exact answer to that question. But unfortunately, by the time they stopped paying the monthly subscription, they were out several thousand dollars for the hardware, the installation, and the monthly subscription fee.

10:51 And so, you know, Martin was like, the moral of this story is you need to step back, which is pause And that's the first tip we give everybody pause and think about the situation. And in this instance, ask yourself, do I really need this? Do I need this home security system? And if I, if I was actually looking for a home security system, have I done my research to determine that this is a legitimate company that sells legitimate products and services? Have I? You know, you can actually get on and put the name of the company in your Internet search bar and put fraud or scam after it and see what comes up, or just say is and then the name of the company a legitimate company.

11:45 Different ways you can You can also look up customer reviews and see what comes up on customer reviews. You know, for the company. If you know somebody that already uses this product, you can talk to them about how they like it. Excuse me, so doing your research in this instance, after you've determined that yes, this is something I really do need and or want and I can afford to pay for the installation, and you know, that's another question is asking yourself, excuse me, asking yourself if this contract were to go sour like in this situation, that the product never worked and I had already paid all that money and I was paying for the subscription, can I afford to lose this money? Because what if the company does end up folding? A lot of companies end up getting bought out, and then the new company, you know, we'll take over and service the subscriptions. But you know, just it's another question to ask yourself, not only do I need this? You know, do I want this? Can I afford to lose this money should something happen where

13:15 I can't recover it? It's another valid question, And then to do your research. There are. Companies out there, real companies that use aggressive sales tactics to get you to buy. Their product or services. And there's a wide variety of aggressive sales tactics. Yes, you know, they can come to your door. And you know those of us that were you know, taught to you answer your door. You don't shut the door on someone. When you talk to them, you invite them in. You be hospitable. We can't do that today. You know, peek out the window. If you don't know the person and you have an appointment, you don't have to answer the door.

14:03 But then also remember, you know, they could call you and they could talk you into setting up an appointment where they come over to your house. And so you're expecting the appointment. You're expecting them to show up and they actually work for the company. They might have a name tag, I don't you know, maybe they have a shirt that has the name on it. Maybe you've already verified. Through the company's official channels that yes, this person does actually work for them. But then they come over and for the appointment, and they just start throwing a lot of information at you very quickly, and your mind is just spinning, like I can't keep track of all this.

14:44 And but then it's like they want you to sign something. Maybe they say it's an estimate, but it's actually a contract, or maybe they you know, say you know, and these are just these are examples. They might also say, oh, well, you know, you can sign the contract and then you know, you can get out of it at a later date, you know, if you don't like it or whatever. But you really have to read the fine print. And a lot of I've heard a lot of people tell me that after they've gone through one of these situations using these aggressive sales tactics, they've been mentally exhausted, and they've taken that paper that they've signed and they just put it in a drawer and you know, they take a nap and then they get up, they go about their day and they might not pull that contract out for a week or two and.

15:44 Actually review it and read it. And while there is. There are laws in Arizona regarding contracts and cancelation laws, and there's a consumer fraud protection and there are certain I'm trying to remedies you have, is what I wanted to say. You know, because contracts are legally binding agreements, but Arizona law does provide consumers with the right to cancel specific types of contracts within set timeframes. These protections are designed to help individuals who may have been subjected to high pressure sales or deceptive practices. But these rights don't apply to every contract. It's important to understand which specific transactions allow for a penalty free cancelation. What are those timeframes? How do you know what type of contract it would apply to. So it's the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.

16:56 It prohibits the use of deception, fraud, false pretenses, or the concer the ealment of important facts during the sale or advertising of goods and services. While it defines unlawful. Behavior, other specific state and federal laws provide the actual right to cancel certain financial and sales agreements. So there's also the federal law. There's one specifically called the Truth and Lending Act that provides the right to rescind certain credit transactions. Depending on what contract it is with whatever product or service that you're getting into. Is there a specific federal law that applies to that. Is there a specific state law that applies to that in addition to the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act. That timeframe is usually three days from when you sign it. And I say usually because it's not All contracts are different, and we.

17:52 Already said that. It deals with specific types of transactions, So your type of transaction or product or service contract might not apply to this three day So what I'm getting at is there's a lot of different laws that. Are out there to protect you. But once you get into the contract and let's say you do open it up, you know, you take it out later that same day and start reading through that. Well, now you've got to then research what are my rights for this specific type of contract. What are my rights to cancel it? Is it federal, state, local, combination thereof?

18:34 And so now you're involved in doing all of this research to then go you know, and then also determining, well, by law, how do I show I that I canceled this contract legally within my rights? So what do you need to have for documentation? What all does that cancelation include? Do you have to send multiple cancelation letters signed by you in the mail, you know, to a specific address within the company, And then how do you know that they got it? Are you going to have to send it certified return receipts so you know it was delivered, you know, with maybe a signature. There's just a lot of a lot of things that can go into canceling a contract. So the better thing to do here is before you even sign anything, do your research. Pause, talk to your family or friends, your trusted person about what this product is and what are the reasons why you think you really need to have this or maybe it's a want. Can I afford to lose this money? You know, if whatever product service is going to cost you five grand, ask yourself if this thing goes sour? Can I afford to lose five thousand dollars? And do all of this up from so you're not having to do this tenfold a day later after you've signed the contract, and just

20:09 because someone has all of this and they have a contract and they're trying to get you to sign it, they can leave you a copy of the contract without you signing it, and you can have time to review it and go through everything and make sure that you are understanding exactly what all is involved. Is there a subscription fee? Okay, I thought the subscription fee was for twelve months, but it says in the contract it's for five years. If I cancel it within five years, I'm going to be penalized. These are things you need to know. What happens if the company closes, What happens if the company is sold and the contract goes to the new company.

20:56 There's a lot of different things that are in contracts. Some of them are there to protect the that are there to protect you, and some of them are there to protect the company. So it's imperative that you read through and understand everything that's in the contract, which is you know why you can have your trusted person there. You don't necessarily always need to consult an attorney. That's your choice if you If you have an attorney and you want to send it to them and say, hey, tell me what's in here I need to be concerned about. That's your choice to do that. Some people are comfortable just reading through it on their own. Other people are like, I don't understand this legal jargon.

21:39 I'd rather pay for an hour's worth of my attorney's time to have them review it and let me know what's going on. But these are all things that you can do to protect yourself instead of just signing a contract and going off of what someone told you. Okay, because when push to shove, what's going to matter is what's in the contract, not what someone told you. So this is a short one today. This is all I have I've already been sneezing three or four times, so I am going to cut this short today. If you have an idea or a topic you want us to talk about, send us an email at info at Rosadvocacy dot org. You can also go on our website at Roseadvocacy dot org and all of our social media channels are on the homepage, and if you scroll down to the bottom of the homepage you'll find where you can sign up for our emailed newsletter, and we also do a newsletter that we send out in the mail. Scam prevention is something unfortunately, we're in a world where we need to make this a habit, and one of the ways to make it a habit is to have a reminder about it. It's not to scare you, it's not to get you to never come out of your home, never get online again. But those reminders and with the emailed newsletters every Tuesday morning at nine point fifteen Arizona, time you get a tip Tuesday, you might already know the tip, and that's fine, but

23:11 what it's doing is it's reinforcing the scam prevention habits so the next time you are contacted, you are more apt to think, scam Okay, what are the steps that I need to take? And that's going to make you pause and stop and not get into an emotional state where you'll end up then the scammers using the social engineering against you to get you to make decisions about giving away your money off of based off of an emotion, and then you're gonna want You can find all of our episodes from past radio shows on our YouTube channel that is on our homepage with the other social media links as well. You're going to subscribe. We're trying to get up over one hundred subscribers. Please subscribe. You'll get a notification about what's coming up every week. And we also have the shorts that are anywhere from forty to fifty five seconds that are on the YouTube channel. You can just click on those and see what that's about.

24:16 If you don't want to listen to a whole fifty minute or twenty five minute episode. Anyways, Thank you guys. We'll be back next week. Take care. Well, that's all the knowledge for this episode. Juni in every Tuesday at eight am Pacific time on KFOURHD Radio at KFOURHD dot com as Joyce explores a variety of knowledge so you have the power to make scam protection your healthy habit, and until then, feel free to reach out to Joyce and let's talk about scams.