Feb. 18, 2025

Impersonating Publisher's Clearing House - A Real Life Example

Impersonating Publisher's Clearing House - A Real Life Example

Scammers love to impersonate Publisher's Clearing House and a lot of other well known companies. This week Joyce is talking with Brian Watson, Community Outreach Specialist with R.O.S.E., who shares a real life experience of someone he met who fell...

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Scammers love to impersonate Publisher's Clearing House and a lot of other well known companies. This week Joyce is talking with Brian Watson, Community Outreach Specialist with R.O.S.E., who shares a real life experience of someone he met who fell victim to this type of scam.
Tune in to learn more about how this impersonation scam works and what you can to protect yourself.

Let’s Talk About Scams is broadcast live Tuesdays at 8AM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Let’s Talk About Scams TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

Let’s Talk About Scams Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

Disclaimer: 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 vetted sources and references; however, R.O.S.E. Resources / Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to a scam.

WEBVTT

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,

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legal counseling, professional service, or any advice.

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You should seek the services.

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Of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

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The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational

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purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional

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legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted

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sources and references. However, Rose Resources outreach to safeguard the

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elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim.

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To a scam.

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Let's talk about scams. It's the must listen show for

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anyone who wants to protect themselves and their loved ones

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from scams. Every Tuesday am Pacific time on kfour HD Radio,

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Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose, and her guests will provide

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valuable insights and practical tips on how to recognize and

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protect yourself from scams. And now here is your host,

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Joyce Petrowski.

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Welcome back everybody. This is Joyce Petrowski, founder and board

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president of ROSE Resources Outreach to safeguard the elderly. You

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can find more resources on scam protection and awareness on

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our website at Roseadvocacy dot org. You can also find

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on the homepage where at the bottom where to sign

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up for our newsletters. We do monthly newsletters, one via

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email and another one in the mail. And you can

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find the social media links right at the top of

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the page for Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. So today

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we're going to talk about impersonation scams and how scammers

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love to personate, specifically more well known companies. And I've

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got a guest with me today, Brian Watson, who is

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going to talk about a specific experience that he learned about.

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So Brian spent twenty eight years in federal law enforcement

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investigating financial crimes as a special agent with IRS Criminal Investigation.

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He retired from government service in twenty twenty three and

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is now a community outreach specialist for ROS. Over the

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past eighteen months, he has done almost seventy fraud prevention

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presentations and forty TV, radio and podcast interviews. And Brian

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also teaches a course at the University of Arizona titled

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white Collar Crime.

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So welcome Brian.

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Thanks Joyce, great to be here, Good to see you.

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Yeah, thanks for joining me today.

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So you mentioned recently about talking to some people that

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unfortunately had fallen victims to a publisher's clearing house scam.

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So could you tell us a little bit about that.

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Yeah, it was last year. I did a broad prevention

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presentation in the town where I live and a gentleman

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came up to me afterwards and wanted to know my

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opinion on some documents he had. He said, I feel

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like I've won a sweepstakes and I've given them a

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whole bunch of money, but I haven't received it yet.

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And I said, well, let me look at your documents.

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And it claimed to be the document said he'd won

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the publisher's clearing house sweepstakes even though he didn't enter it.

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And he showed me a check with his name on it,

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you know, a picture of it. And I'm no expert at,

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you know, analyzing these documents, but it took me like

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fifteen or twenty seconds, and I looked them straight in

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the eye and I said, sir, you have been scammed.

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Do not give another penny. And then I soon found

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out he had paid three hundred thousand dollars and what

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he thought were taxes and fees for a ten million

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dollar prize. And he he just looked at me like

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a broken man, and it was it was heartbreaking for

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me to share that news with him. But he had

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gotten so excited that he'd won this huge prize. He

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actually sold the house to come up with the three

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hundred thousand dollars, and I just felt horrible for him.

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I checked it. I checked in with him a week

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or two later to see how he was doing. And

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this was a gentleman in his seventies, and he was

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planning to go back to work because losing that three

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hundred thousand just crippled him financially.

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Wow how much?

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Just out of curiosity, the check that they showed him,

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how much was it for?

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It said ten million dollars?

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Holy cow?

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Okay, well, yeah, that can get most people excited, right,

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especially when they see it in their name.

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Right, And you know, he everyone wants to win, you know,

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we all have that little spot inside us that wants

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to win a prize or get something, and and you know,

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he fell for it, and it's just devastating and you know,

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I could probably reach out to him again. I still

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have his phone number in my phone, but you know,

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part of me's afraid because you know, something like this

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has a tremendous effect on someone's mental health.

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Oh, absolutely right.

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We both have talked to doctor Martina Dove right about

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the She wrote the book on the Psychology of Fraud,

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Scams and Persuasion Techniques, I believe is the title of it,

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and she's very knowledgeable. She did her thesis on the

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psychological effects and how scammer psychologically psychologically get people basically

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roped into their fraudulent schemes and stuff like that. But then,

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like you said, it's devastating financially, right, I think a

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lot of people that's the first thing they think about, right,

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is the money that was lost. But just as important,

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if not probably more important, is the mental aspect of it.

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You know, here this gentleman was living. I'm sure he

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was retired. You said he was going to go back

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to work, and he had, you know, whatever funds he

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had in order to live in retirement the way he

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wanted to. He probably worked all of his life and

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now having to go back to work and then just

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that that mental you know, I don't want to say damage,

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but trying to think of a better word. You know,

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psychologically and mentally that you know that you that you

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fell victim to this.

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Yeah, And that's the problem of doing presentations is I

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accumulate stories because when you do a presentation or I

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do a presentation, you know, we make it a shame

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free zone. We talk about how very smart people fall

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victim to scams, and it can happen to all of us,

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happens to all ages. We just know from the numbers

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that older adults lose more. So after these presentations, people

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come up to me and share and you know, I

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appreciate them sharing their stories, and I do as much

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as I can to help them. But you know, it's tough,

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but I know it motivates me to get out there

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and do more because these these financial scams and frauds

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that we're seeing, they're just they're only getting worse before

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they get better.

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Right, right, And our whole goal right with doing these

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education and awareness and teaching people how to protect themselves,

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is to get them to recognize the scam early on

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when the contact is made, so they don't go any

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farther into it. Because the farther, the more you engage,

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and the farther you get into it, the least likely

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you're going to be able to get out of it

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without losing something, which most of the time is money

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and could be a substantial.

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Amount of money.

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So well, I want to well, you said something about

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you mentioned about you know, some of the very smartest

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people can can fall victim to scams. It's It's interesting

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because I hear a lot of people talk about they

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automatically equate, whether it's themselves or they're talking about someone

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else falling victim to a scam as being.

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Stupid and it and I get it.

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I mean I've fallen victim to a scam years ago,

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and yeah, for a little while I felt stupid, right,

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And but the thing is is that it scammers don't

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rely on intelligence and or lack thereof, and they, you know,

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a lot of times have no idea what your financial life,

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your financial means are.

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They just.

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They just blanket millions and millions of people hoping that

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a very very small like a half a percent or

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a percent are going to engage, right, And you know, I,

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I don't know, I don't say this in presentations, you know,

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and and but I do think about it, and I

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have I probably have said it to you a few times.

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Is you know, scammers don't send out IQ tests, right,

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and and want financial statements that that's that's they're not

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looking for the people at the low end of the

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i Q test and the high end of the of

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the financial statements. Right. Everybody is susceptible to be and

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will be contacted at some point. So, but I want

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to take this, this experience that you learned about from

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this gentleman, and and equate it to our anatomy of

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a scam that we create and that we use in

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the presentations, which the first part is initiating contact. So

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explain how his experience, how that started with the contact.

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Yeah, I'm pretty sure his contact was by telephone. I'm

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actually familiar with this scam. When I was still with

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the federal government, there was a huge investigation into a

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publisher's clearing how scheme out of Jamaica where about ten

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defendants were charged. And I know in that particular scheme

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they primarily called people, but there were some emails as well.

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And in that case they were using lead lists that

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they purchased. These are lists that are used to make sales,

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and they only wanted people that were eighty years and

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above because in their mind they thought they had a

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better chance. This gentleman was not eighty, but he received

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the phone call and you know it was unsolicited, came

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out of the blue, just like our anatomy of a scam.

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And you know where most most scams prey on people's fear,

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this one kind of captures that greed. And I'm not

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saying this gentleman was greedy, but it's just that feeling

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that you want to win and if someone if you

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win a prize, you get excited. And when you get excited,

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you don't think real well, right exactly the compelling reason

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to act. And they get you excited. They say, do

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you want the check delivered to your house with balloons

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and a TV crew? Or do you want something quiet?

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And they'll they'll they'll just get you all excited. How

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are you going to spend the money? Where are you

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going to go? And they get you thinking positive thoughts

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about winning prizes and then when they enter the conversation

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of okay, well, you know the government's going to have

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to charge you a little bit of taxes and there's

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going to be some fees. You think, oh, okay, that's

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part of the process. Everyone has to pay taxes.

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It's and you know, he normal, right.

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It's very normal, and you know, and then eventually, you know,

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the third part of the anatomy of scam is the

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demand for payment. And like I said, that was the

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taxes and fees and you know, and then the other

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thing I love about our anatomy of a scam is

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the urgency. You know, they keep you on the phone

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and they get that immediate payment right away. They don't

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let you think about it, they don't want you to

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talk to anybody else, but they get you going. And then,

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as you just mentioned, Joyce, once you start going down

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that path and you've been and they have you for five, ten,

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twenty minutes on the phone, it's hard to end that

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phone conversation. Oh yeah, you've got you trapped. And they're

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reading from scripts that have proven to work and have

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fooled very smart people.

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Right.

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And so you mentioned, you know the word greed, that emotion.

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Right.

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I don't really like that word either, and I tell

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people I don't. I don't like the word greed, but

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that's what it, you know, that's the word. The emotion

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and and but it is it's excitement, right, it's excitement

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that you've won this luxury automobile or this large sum

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of money.

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So did they or did he mention like the fees

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that they told me had to pay.

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Was it the all at once, the three hundred thousand,

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00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.840
or did they get them a couple times, because I've.

226
00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:38.000
Heard it was they did not ask for the three

227
00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:41.600
hundred thousand immediately, because you know, if they did that,

228
00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:45.919
most people would say, nah, that's that's too much money.

229
00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:51.600
They'll always, you know, start small and then add another thing,

230
00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:55.399
and then another thing, and keep going and and they'll

231
00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.519
just string you as long as as long as they

232
00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.440
have to. I mean, they'll literally take every penny you have.

233
00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.600
That's what I've learned about the criminals these days compared

234
00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.600
to twenty years ago when I first started doing fraud

235
00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:13.000
prevention for the government, is they're ruthless financial predators. These

236
00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.799
people will take all of your money. They will not

237
00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:21.120
move on until they've sucked your drive every dime you have.

238
00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.399
So no, they did not. It was a process. And

239
00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:30.120
that's why when he asked my opinion of the documents

240
00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:34.600
that he'd been provided over the internet, The first thing

241
00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.480
I said was, you cannot give them any more money

242
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:42.159
because they hold that the prize out there. All we

243
00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:44.120
need is one more payment. Oh, all we have to

244
00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.120
do is one more customs thing, one more tax payment.

245
00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.360
You know, there's always one little thing you have to do.

246
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.840
So you can almost grab that prize, but it's unattainable

247
00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:55.080
because it doesn't exist.

248
00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:56.000
Right.

249
00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:59.120
They dangle that carrot and it keeps getting closer and

250
00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.639
closer and within your reach to get you more and

251
00:15:02.679 --> 00:15:05.879
more and more excited about it, and then it just

252
00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:09.840
never fully gets close to you right to where you

253
00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:12.639
can reach it. It's they just keep it out far enough.

254
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:18.840
So that's so, how did how did he end up?

255
00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.279
How did how did he send the money? Did they

256
00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:25.120
specifically ask for or ask for a specific way to

257
00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:25.639
send it?

258
00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.080
You know? So I actually don't don't know the answer

259
00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:32.919
to that. We our conversation that night after the fraud

260
00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:38.879
prevention presentation was fairly brief because they were we had

261
00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.840
about fifty people in attendance, and other people wanted to

262
00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:45.679
chat with me as well, and he recognized that. But

263
00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:47.360
that's when I said I would I would follow up

264
00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:51.159
with him. I made sure that he reported it to

265
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:55.639
the authorities. Yeah, every time I meet a victim, I

266
00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:58.720
always tell them you need to report it. It may

267
00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.399
help you, it may help someone else, but it also

268
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:05.080
helps the government track the most accurate numbers is possible.

269
00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.840
So I worked with him to make sure that he

270
00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:10.320
reported his losses.

271
00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:12.200
Yeah, every.

272
00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:17.799
Person's situation that they go through adds a piece to

273
00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:22.600
the puzzle because they're not the only one that has,

274
00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:27.200
unfortunately fallen victim to this scam. So he is not

275
00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:30.440
the only one who has fallen victim to this publisher's

276
00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.799
clearinghouse scam. And the more information that you can give

277
00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.440
just gives, like you said, the authorities more of a

278
00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:40.639
case and more information to be able to find the people,

279
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.159
right because finding the people in arresting him and then

280
00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.480
you know, going to prison and stuff like that is great,

281
00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:50.919
but unfortunately you're not going to get your money back.

282
00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:56.039
No, And it's important to find as many victims as

283
00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:00.399
possible because then you find the accurate lost number, the

284
00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:05.799
most accurate restitution numbers, and that helps provide for longer sentences.

285
00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.119
A judge is going to give more time if the

286
00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:13.799
government can show that the how you know, a large

287
00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.359
amount of losses it's always better to have a larger amount,

288
00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:17.640
you know.

289
00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.880
And that's a good point because I have a lot

290
00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.440
of people. You know, people will ask, well, do they

291
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:25.839
ever get caught and you know, send to prison, And

292
00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:30.799
while yes, that does happen, I think it's more often

293
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:34.079
they don't get caught or it takes years and years

294
00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:37.640
and years, and they've done so much damage in that time.

295
00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:42.519
But and then the other side of it is, you know, well,

296
00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:45.240
they might only get sentenced to five years and they're

297
00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:47.160
going to be out in two and a half or three,

298
00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:50.240
And then it's like, well, why aren't they in jail

299
00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:53.759
for you know, twenty plus years for ruining so many

300
00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:54.599
people's lives?

301
00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:58.440
And you know, it's like, but you're right.

302
00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:03.400
If if the judge can actually see proof that they

303
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:08.559
victimized not ten people but a thousand people and they

304
00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.680
were able to get not five hundred thousand dollars but

305
00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:15.240
five million dollars or fifty million dollars, well then that's

306
00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:20.279
going to warrant a much bigger sentence. So that's that's

307
00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:23.559
another good point. I hadn't thought about that, so thank

308
00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:24.559
you for bringing that up.

309
00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.920
Right on the federal side, the courts used what are

310
00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:33.240
called the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. They are advisory for judges,

311
00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:38.920
but for most For most cases involving a financial loss,

312
00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:44.480
the prime determinant of a sentence is the how much

313
00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.000
money was lost, and then another thing is how sophisticated

314
00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:52.400
the scheme was. There's also it also depends there can

315
00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:57.720
be some upgrades or enhancements for people's age. Like I

316
00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:00.720
mentioned the publisher's clearing how scheme that was worked out

317
00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:05.400
of Jamaica, out of the Tucson, US Attorney's office. They

318
00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:09.079
were they wanted only people that were eighty plus. And

319
00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:15.039
I actually attended part of that trial and they actually

320
00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:19.720
allowed the testimony of one of the witnesses to be used,

321
00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:23.160
even though she'd passed away between the time she was

322
00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:27.000
scammed and the time the trial started. A lot of

323
00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:31.400
these witnesses died of old age. Unfortunately with the government,

324
00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:37.720
the Court's allowed their a transcribed interview to be entered

325
00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:41.279
into the court proceedings. So oh, this one particular lady

326
00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:45.480
actually testified from the grave and helped secure a conviction.

327
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:46.839
Wow.

328
00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:51.359
Wow, that's that's that's great that they allow that right

329
00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:54.640
that you know, even after they've passed that their story

330
00:19:55.039 --> 00:20:00.200
can be told and can help bring justice right and

331
00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:05.119
and help other people not become a victim and learn

332
00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:09.720
about what's going on, right, because that's if people don't report,

333
00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.759
then we don't know what's going on out there, right,

334
00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:15.599
and that and that's the tough part because I know

335
00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.440
early on, you know, we in the presentations we would

336
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:22.519
talk about specific scams, you know, like romance scam, tech

337
00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:27.759
support scam, investment scam, pig butchering, email compromise and things

338
00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:31.319
like that. But it was like then you you go

339
00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.559
back to work after the presentation and it's like, oh

340
00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:37.519
my gosh, there's three new scams out there, right, And

341
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:40.839
so you know, we could I tell people, we could

342
00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:44.240
sit all day long and talk about all these different

343
00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:49.160
types of scams, but you know, understanding them how they

344
00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.200
work just in general. And that's what the Anatomy of

345
00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:55.119
the Scam was brought out for was getting people to

346
00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:59.480
understand how the scams work so they don't have to

347
00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:03.759
understand and every specific one that comes out and if

348
00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:09.000
they can stop it at the contact right then then

349
00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:13.759
they don't have to get into that emotional state with

350
00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:17.160
the when they create the compelling reason to act. So

351
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:21.319
the top three tips that we give out are. The

352
00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:24.359
first one is be aware of your emotions. And I

353
00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.680
know when I say that, I'm like, I understand if

354
00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:29.799
you get into that emotional state. It's extremely difficult to

355
00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:34.960
be aware of your emotions. But you make different decisions

356
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:38.240
when you're in an emotional state versus inter rational state,

357
00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.200
which is why you always move to number two. And

358
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:43.799
you have that trusted person that you can talk to

359
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:47.759
about any situation because sometimes, and I'm sure this has

360
00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:50.960
happened to you, Brian, when you hear yourself say it

361
00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:55.640
out loud, your mind all of a sudden goes to, oh, yeah,

362
00:21:55.680 --> 00:22:00.079
that just doesn't make sense. Other times you're still in

363
00:21:59.920 --> 00:22:04.039
that emotional state and you need your trusted person to

364
00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:07.759
talk to you and kind of talk you out of

365
00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:11.920
it right into your rational state. So what were some

366
00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:14.519
of the oh and then the third one, we don't

367
00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:16.319
want to forget that what is you have to verify

368
00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:18.839
before you can trust. And so this gentleman's way to

369
00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:22.279
verify was he came to the presentation, and he came

370
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.640
up to you afterwards and talked to you and showed

371
00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:27.640
you the letter, right, and you said, within about fifteen

372
00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:31.400
to twenty seconds, you realized so was it a letter

373
00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:35.359
that he probably got via email that they right sent him.

374
00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:39.000
They sent some documents to him, and one of them

375
00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:41.680
included that picture of the check with his name on it.

376
00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:45.400
But I recognized real quickly anybody could have created that,

377
00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:50.519
and they were just just so many warning signs. I mean,

378
00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:53.000
and you're right, I was. I'm like a neutral third

379
00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:56.599
party who could see it from a distance. I wasn't

380
00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:59.559
in that emotional state like he was, and that's why

381
00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.640
I was able to recognize it so quick. There might

382
00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:07.160
have been a typo or a weird website, but I

383
00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:08.599
just I just knew right away.

384
00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:12.799
Unfortunately, Yeah, just the way it looked.

385
00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:16.960
So you know, when we tell people, you know, another

386
00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:21.359
way to verify is, would could he reach out to

387
00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:23.160
publish publisher's clearing house?

388
00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:25.119
You know, find there.

389
00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.680
Don't use any contact information in that letter, right, don't

390
00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:32.480
use any website or email address or phone number in

391
00:23:32.519 --> 00:23:38.359
the letter, but find publisher's clearing house verified phone number

392
00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:42.160
and call them And did I actually win?

393
00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:46.200
Right? And they should be able to tell him, right.

394
00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:50.599
But that is so tough because most people would expect

395
00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:54.160
to receive a call from publisher's clearing house, like you're

396
00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:59.880
you all excited, you know. I that's great advice, you know,

397
00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:04.480
because we've met people that have lost money and scams

398
00:24:05.079 --> 00:24:07.400
phone calls claiming to be from their bank, you know,

399
00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:12.319
the security department. That happens way too much. But yeah,

400
00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:17.400
the best advice is hang up the phone and call

401
00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:20.240
from the verified number that you found on your own,

402
00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:24.680
from their official website, or if it's the bank, you know,

403
00:24:24.759 --> 00:24:28.519
the back of your ATM card. But you know, the

404
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:33.519
huge clue in this case is the fees and the

405
00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:37.000
fact that you you didn't sign up for it. And

406
00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:39.759
you know, it falls onto the under the old adage

407
00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:43.039
if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

408
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:47.400
But I know my mom received the publisher's clearing house

409
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:53.839
call a few years ago and the person was very smooth,

410
00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:58.640
fast talking, very positive, trying to get her excited, how

411
00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:02.640
do you want to spend the money? And luckily there

412
00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:06.960
was a clue somewhere in that conversation that didn't sit

413
00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:09.759
right with her and she didn't fall for it. But

414
00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:12.960
as you mentioned earlier, they're coming after all of us. Yeah,

415
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.880
and you know, I've actually received the publisher's clearing house call.

416
00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:20.440
I was actually working at the IRS one day, and

417
00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:23.480
this was about three years ago. I'm in the office.

418
00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:26.599
My cell phone rang, and the gentleman said, oh, have

419
00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:29.880
you ever heard of the publisher's clearing house sweepstakes? And

420
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.680
I knew it was a scam right away because people

421
00:25:32.680 --> 00:25:35.799
in my office were working that investigation or a variation

422
00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:39.240
of it. And I kind of played dumb, Oh wow,

423
00:25:39.400 --> 00:25:43.119
I have did I win? And I don't know, maybe

424
00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:46.000
I sounded two fake or something. That guy ended up

425
00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:49.079
hanging up on me. I would never be good as

426
00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:51.559
an undercover agent. I'm just I'm not a good liar.

427
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:56.799
But they're coming after everybody, you know, not just eighty plus.

428
00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:01.880
I was probably late forties, early fifties when that happened,

429
00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:04.079
and like literally calling everybody.

430
00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:07.480
Yeah, and you know it's interesting, you said, you know

431
00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:11.440
they bought the group in Jamaica bought a leads list, right,

432
00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:15.920
There's so many legitimate companies that buy leads list and

433
00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:21.839
you can tailor those based on geographical, location, age, if

434
00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:25.920
you're male or female. You know a wide variety of

435
00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:31.279
parameters that you can tailor those lead lists. So it's

436
00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:36.880
it's I'm not surprised that that scammers are doing that

437
00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:39.240
and being able to say, I want this list for

438
00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.880
just eighty year olds plus all throughout the United States,

439
00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:46.319
or maybe you know they're going state by state, who

440
00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:53.400
knows how they're operating. But but yeah, there was one other.

441
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:56.799
I hate it when that happens. I thought of something,

442
00:26:57.079 --> 00:26:59.160
and as quick as it came in, it went out.

443
00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:01.200
I think I'm starting to show my age.

444
00:27:02.119 --> 00:27:04.559
So you know, one thing I will add joyce. I

445
00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:09.119
mentioned this earlier. I said, when I do presentations, I'll

446
00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:12.079
always get someone who walks up to me afterwards and

447
00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:17.039
shares their scam story. But I also get a lot

448
00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:19.680
of people that come up to me and say how

449
00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:21.680
they avoided a scam or.

450
00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:22.640
Oh that's awesome.

451
00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:27.000
Yeah. And I spoke to this group, a lunchtime group

452
00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:32.400
of about fifty women last month, and after the presentation,

453
00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:35.680
I'm not kidding you, about five different attendees came up

454
00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.720
to me and they told me how they were approached

455
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:43.200
and how they identified it and were not scammed. So

456
00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:47.279
that sent me home very happy that day. It wasn't

457
00:27:47.319 --> 00:27:52.640
because of me, you know, they probably you know, heard

458
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.839
you know, they're just they're smart, you know, and they

459
00:27:55.880 --> 00:28:00.559
recognized it. So not everybody gets scammed. A lot of

460
00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:05.039
people are approached and they recognize it and they walk away.

461
00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:08.200
And so to me, that's also very motivating as well,

462
00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:13.359
because when we're giving these presentations or if they see

463
00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:17.000
you know, television shows or commercials or read an article,

464
00:28:17.720 --> 00:28:20.799
it all helps. We're all in this together. I mean,

465
00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:23.400
it sounds a little cheesy, but it takes a village.

466
00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:26.960
It takes all of us working together, looking out for

467
00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:31.559
each other to be able to prevent people from getting scammed.

468
00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:33.839
Right, which is you know, one of the things we

469
00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:37.680
talk about is having a lot of different outlets for

470
00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:38.920
people to get information.

471
00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:39.319
Right.

472
00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:42.400
When we first started, we had just the email newsletter,

473
00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:44.079
and then it was like, well, you know what, some

474
00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:46.160
people don't want to get their information and read it

475
00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:48.319
on emails. They want to get it in the mail

476
00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:51.400
and hold it and read it. And that's their choice.

477
00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:52.920
And so it's like, we need to come up with

478
00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:55.920
a newsletter we can print and send out in the mail.

479
00:28:56.519 --> 00:29:00.759
And even if it doesn't have everything in it, because

480
00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:04.440
it would be like a book, right, what it does

481
00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:09.039
is it keeps scam awareness and how to protect yourself

482
00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:11.720
at the top of your mind. And it's not to

483
00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:15.319
scare you, but it's to help you develop that healthy

484
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:19.279
skepticism that you can't trust everybody and you have to

485
00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:23.200
ask questions instead of jumping to believing. You have to

486
00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:26.039
ask questions, and you have to seek out your trusted

487
00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:29.000
person to kind of go over things with, right, And

488
00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:30.039
so it just keeps it.

489
00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:30.880
Top of mind.

490
00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:35.000
And what you get everybody is at some point is

491
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:37.480
going to receive it, but your friends might not have

492
00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:39.400
received it yet. So if you talk to your friends

493
00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:44.559
about it, or if you have an older loved one

494
00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:49.359
that you regularly see or talk to and you're like, Okay,

495
00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:52.200
well I read about this scam or I read about

496
00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:57.240
this protection tool, weave it into your normal conversation, right,

497
00:29:57.400 --> 00:30:02.640
because one keep those lines of communication open, and you're

498
00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:06.119
letting your loved one know that scams are not scary

499
00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:08.400
to talk about, that you care about them and you

500
00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:11.920
want them to be protected. And so if they have

501
00:30:12.160 --> 00:30:15.359
anything that comes along that you could be their trusted

502
00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:18.319
person and you're not going to pass judgment, right, You're

503
00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:20.279
you're not going to get angry, you're not going.

504
00:30:20.200 --> 00:30:20.880
To get upset.

505
00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:24.920
Just let's talk about it and let's see how we

506
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:27.200
can we can mitigate what's going on.

507
00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:30.880
Because I've seen that so I heard, go ahead.

508
00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:34.680
Well I'm sorry. That's why I think our monthly newsletter

509
00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:39.519
is such an effective tool because it's a conversation starter exactly.

510
00:30:40.680 --> 00:30:44.119
You get family and friends signed up for it, and

511
00:30:45.160 --> 00:30:49.400
when it when you send it out, then you can say, hey,

512
00:30:50.119 --> 00:30:53.960
did you know about that new scam involving unpaid holes?

513
00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:54.680
Oh?

514
00:30:54.759 --> 00:30:56.680
Yes, yes, that was in the last Oh.

515
00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:58.880
Yeah I received one of those. Oh yeah, well you

516
00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:02.640
know that's an example missing yeah that you know, I've

517
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:04.680
seen those in the past and they're coming back again.

518
00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:08.759
But that way, you're not insulting someone's intelligence. You know,

519
00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:13.240
no one, no one wants to, you know, get scammed.

520
00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:16.799
But also people don't want to be patronized because you know,

521
00:31:16.839 --> 00:31:20.359
a lot of times their age. But these are good

522
00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:23.400
conversation starters. So like you said, it's just a normal thing.

523
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:27.000
We can just talk about scams on a weekly basis

524
00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:30.920
whenever it comes up, and it's it's not a taboo subject.

525
00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:34.200
Right exactly, And and you know, not having the whole

526
00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:37.160
conversation be you know, don't do this, and don't do that,

527
00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:40.119
and don't do this, because then it kind of feels like,

528
00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:43.359
I know, if my kids came, my kids are adults,

529
00:31:43.400 --> 00:31:45.160
and if they came to me, you know, and said

530
00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:47.319
don't do this or don't I at some point I

531
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:50.079
would be sitting there going, why do I feel like

532
00:31:50.119 --> 00:31:54.039
I'm in kindergarten and the teachers like about ready to

533
00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:56.880
hit me in the knuckles with the ruler, right, you know,

534
00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:00.279
it's it makes you not want to engage in the

535
00:32:00.279 --> 00:32:03.160
conversation when all you hear is don't do this, don't

536
00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:07.079
do that, don't do this. You know. So just making

537
00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:11.519
it positive in all of that stuff, it just really

538
00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:14.279
goes a long way. And the more you can share,

539
00:32:15.079 --> 00:32:16.960
and like you said, getting people to sign up for

540
00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:21.519
our newsletters rights, it just keeps it top of mind

541
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:23.440
and it's a conversation starter.

542
00:32:23.720 --> 00:32:30.440
I like that. It's a conversation starter. Right. I still

543
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:33.200
haven't thought about whatever that was. Probably as soon as

544
00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:34.799
we get done, it's going to come to my mind.

545
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:42.440
So but yeah, so Publisher's Clearinghouse. I mean, my mom

546
00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:44.279
used to play it all the time. She's been gone

547
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:47.160
for about five years. And I'll tell you what, had

548
00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:51.119
she gotten one of those phone calls, she would have

549
00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:55.000
and she lived with us for probably ten to twelve

550
00:32:55.079 --> 00:32:59.799
years before she passed. But I wasn't home all the time, right,

551
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:03.960
and in it, you know, I would tell her, you know,

552
00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:06.720
don't worry about answering the phone. You know, there's a

553
00:33:06.839 --> 00:33:09.680
voicemail if people want to leave a voicemail. But as

554
00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:11.839
soon as that phone rang, I mean, it didn't even

555
00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:14.160
get to the second ring, and she's answering it. Yeah,

556
00:33:14.200 --> 00:33:16.759
that's just what she wanted to do, right, and so

557
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:19.839
making sure you have those conversations. But she would have

558
00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:24.400
immediately been like, oh my gosh, I wont that much.

559
00:33:24.440 --> 00:33:25.440
She would have been in that.

560
00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:28.799
Emotional state, Okay, all right, what do I have to pay?

561
00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:29.200
You know?

562
00:33:29.240 --> 00:33:29.440
Where?

563
00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:31.000
Where do you want me to make the payment? She

564
00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:35.519
would have done the same exact thing, and she eventually

565
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:39.319
would have said something to me about it. But would

566
00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:42.279
it have been before she sent the money. I mean

567
00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:48.119
I don't know, but yeah, I mean I she totally

568
00:33:48.200 --> 00:33:52.359
would have done everything that that gentleman did, you know,

569
00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:56.720
and I think I think a lot of us would

570
00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:59.599
in all honesty. I mean, like we said, who doesn't

571
00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:00.920
want to win ten dollars?

572
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:01.680
Right?

573
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:05.759
At least that might be our first initial response and

574
00:34:05.799 --> 00:34:08.960
whether we continue down in that emotional state or we

575
00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:11.000
just say, wait a minute, stop. I need to think

576
00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:15.440
about this, right, that's a situation that I don't think

577
00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:17.199
you know what you would do until you're in it.

578
00:34:17.880 --> 00:34:22.360
Right, right, No, it's it's it's easy to say you

579
00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:25.239
wouldn't fall for it until it actually happens to you.

580
00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:29.239
But that's why this one was so effective. And there

581
00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:32.719
were so many people, so many criminals doing it, and

582
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:36.280
and this even though there's been some successful prosecutions by

583
00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:39.000
the government, you know, it's it's like a game of

584
00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:41.639
whack a mole. Someone else is going to pop up

585
00:34:41.679 --> 00:34:46.360
and take their place. And right, so we you know,

586
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:48.079
we just got to keep talking about it and just

587
00:34:48.119 --> 00:34:49.880
warning people, right and.

588
00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:51.920
We and like you said before, we got to get

589
00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:55.159
people to understand this is not taboo, right to talk

590
00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:59.239
about it. It's yeah, nobody wants to talk about scams, right,

591
00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:02.239
but it's just something that it's gotten to the point

592
00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:05.559
where we need to weave it into our regular conversations

593
00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:10.280
in order to stay aware and know what's going on.

594
00:35:10.599 --> 00:35:15.159
So well, Brian, we're going to have another conversation because

595
00:35:15.480 --> 00:35:20.519
you've got other stories and I would love to do

596
00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:24.159
a show where we talk about the what people have

597
00:35:24.280 --> 00:35:27.719
told you on how they've been able to recognize red

598
00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:31.360
flags and realize it's a scam. I think that would

599
00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:36.519
be awesome to talk about that. So thank you very

600
00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:43.079
much for joining me today, and you'll be back soon,

601
00:35:43.239 --> 00:35:47.119
I hope, when you're not out doing presentations, when you're

602
00:35:47.159 --> 00:35:50.920
not out teaching your class and all these other things

603
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:51.599
you have going on.

604
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:55.079
No, thanks, Joyce. It's always good to chat and we're

605
00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:56.000
going to do it again soon.

606
00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:01.199
Okay, thanks Brian. All Right, so thanks guys for joining

607
00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:04.840
us today on Let's Talk about Scams. Join us every

608
00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:09.360
Tuesday morning at eight am Pacific time on kfour HD

609
00:36:09.559 --> 00:36:14.199
Radio to learn more about what's going on with scams

610
00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:18.079
and your awareness and education and how to protect yourself.

611
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:21.440
And don't forget to sign up for our newsletters at

612
00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:25.199
the bottom of our homepage and you will find our

613
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:28.760
social media links at the top of the homepage. And

614
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:31.480
let us know what you think about our new website.

615
00:36:31.480 --> 00:36:34.519
We just launched it last week, curious to hear what

616
00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:38.880
everybody thinks about it. It's Roseadvocacy dot org.

617
00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:41.480
Thanks since, see you next Tuesday.

618
00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:46.079
Well that's all the knowledge for this episode. June in

619
00:36:46.199 --> 00:36:50.559
every Tuesday at eight am Pacific time on Kfourhdradio at

620
00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:55.119
KFOURHD dot com as Joyce explores a variety of knowledge,

621
00:36:55.159 --> 00:36:58.760
so you have the power to make scam protection you're

622
00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:02.320
helping have it, and until then, feel free to reach

623
00:37:02.360 --> 00:37:05.119
out to Joyce and let's talk about scams