Oct. 28, 2025

Subscription Email Scam Our Guest Almost Fell Victim To

Subscription Email Scam Our Guest Almost Fell Victim To
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Did you get an email confirming your subscription renewal and the fee is being deducted from your bank account? Most people would panic.

Valorie joins us today to discuss her experience and how she almost fell victim to this scam.

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.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/let-s-talk-about-scams--6483699/support.

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, legal, counseling,

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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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00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:40.960
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 to

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a scam. Let's talk about scams. It's the must listen

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show for anyone who wants to protect themselves and their

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loved ones from scams. Every Tuesday at am Pacific time

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on K four HD Radio, Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose,

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and her guests will provide valuable insights and practical tips

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on how to recognize and protect yourself from scams. And

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now here is your host, Joyce Petrowski.

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Hi, everyone, welcome back.

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I'm Joyce Petrowski, founder and board president of Rose Resources

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Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly. You can find more information

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on our website at Rosadvocacy dot org. You'll find our

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social media links and if you scroll down to the

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bottom of the homepage, you'll see where you can sign

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up for our emailed newsletter and or our mailed newsletter.

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Always good to get those reminders on a regular basis,

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so it helps enforce your healthy skepticism and you're more

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apt to make scam prevention a habit with those regular reminders.

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And don't forget to click subscribe. You don't ever miss

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an episode of this show. So today we are joined

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by Valerie excuse me, and she's going to talk to

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us about a tech support subscription scam that she encountered

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a few years back. So let's welcome Valerie. Hello, Hey, Valerie,

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how are you doing well? Thank you well, Thank you

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for joining us today and tell us a little bit

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about the scam that you encountered a few years ago.

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Okay, I was going through my email, clean it out,

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see what was there, and I came across one from

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Norton Anti Virus. I opened it and it was a

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short letter that said, thank you for renewing your subscription

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for Norton Plus. We have deducted four hundred and ninety

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nine dollars from the bank account you had on file

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with us. If you have any questions about your new subscription,

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please call this phone number. Well, I panicked. It was

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at a time when our budget was pretty tight. I

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did not remember having subscribed to Norton, and I knew

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we could not afford four hundred and ninety nine dollars

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at the moment, So I immediately called that phone number

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to tell them this is a mistake. If we signed up,

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please reverse it. We don't want this, and a very

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kind young man on the other end, oh, I totally understand.

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I'm sorry for the mistake. Let's see about canceling this

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subscription and refunding to you the money that we took

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out of your bank account. Now I should have realized

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at the time they never mentioned the bank account, nor

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do I remember ever giving that information in I was

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on the phone, of course, but I had the email

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open in front of me, and he said, we can

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do this all online, and just so that you know

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that this is legitimate, go ahead and open your checking

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account to see that the four hundred and ninety nine

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dollars charge is on there as having come out of

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your checking account. And I opened my bank account, went

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to checking. Sure enough, there was a thing from Norton

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for four hundred and ninety nine dollars. It showed right up,

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and so he said, okay, there is a way that

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we can do this. I'm going to send you to

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your computer a digital form that you're going to fill out,

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and he said, we'll just round it up to five

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hundred dollars and you're going to put back into your

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account from our business five hundred dollars. And he said,

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you're gonna do this, I don't have access to your

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bank account. I want you to know that I can't

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see it, okay, And which is of course, of course

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a lie, right, But anyway, he sent the form digitally

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and I started filling it out, and there was a

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place to enter the five hundred dollars to go back

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into my account. I typed in five zero zero, and

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a third zero immediately showed up five thousand dollars to

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go back into our account. And I said to the

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young man, I did this, but it won't let me

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go back and change it. It went to five thousand

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and get rid of the other's zero. And he said,

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oh no, well, this is a problem. Let me talk

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to my supervisor. And so he goes off the phone

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for a minute or so and comes back and says,

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I'm sorry, we've got a big problem. We're going to

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have to, you know, do something to make sure that

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you send us back the five thousand dollars.

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Okay.

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My husband was on the other side of the room

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and had been listening to this okay, And about that

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time he walks over and he says, I have our

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banker on the phone. She says, there is no activity

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in our account and you should hang up right now.

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Don't say a word to me. Hang up, And so

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I did, and he stayed on the phone with her,

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and she said, now open your checking account, and I

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did and there was absolutely nothing in it. How they

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made it look like money had been taken out of

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my checking account, I do not know. But she said,

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there has been no activity in your checking account in

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these amounts from Norton. It was a scam.

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Wow.

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Well, I was so upset that I had fallen for this.

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I immediately texted my kids and my siblings and told

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them what had happened. I said, be careful of this,

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and my daughter in law said to me, also, be

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careful on one of those phone calls that you never

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answer a question yes, because they will record that yes

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and use it to say that you gave them permission

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to do something. I said, okay. Two days later, we're

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in the car driving someplace. My phone rings and it's

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not a number I know, but I answered it. There

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was a young man on the other end whose voice

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I kind of recognized. To said Hi, this is SO

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and So. Do you remember me? And I said no

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and hung up. I was so glad, because otherwise I

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might have been tempted to say yes, I'm really upset

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with you, right right, But I said no and hung up.

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Two days later he called again, and I didn't even answer.

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I just immediately hung up.

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And was that the last that you ever heard from them?

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That was the last time I heard?

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Well, I'm surprised that they only tried twice because they

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had you so.

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Close to.

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Very very close, right right.

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Yeah, So you were at one of our presentations recently,

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and so you got to see our Anatomy of a

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Scam infographic that we did it was it's in the

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resource packet and we went over it. And so you know,

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we tell everybody we want you to know the red flags,

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and we want you to cut it off at the contact,

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which is the first step, right, it's they have to

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contact you somehow. And a perfect example here was the

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email and it doesn't sound like there was any bad

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grammar in the email, and they probably had Norton or

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they probably had Norton's logo in there, you know, maybe

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to make it look more legit, you know, and you know,

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that's a lot of artificial intelligence, right. You can plug

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it into chat, GPT, a bunch of prompts, and it's

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going to spit out an email to send to millions

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of people that has the grammar's accurate, right, So you

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can't look at the for bad grammar anymore.

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And so then the second.

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Part we talked about was that creating that compelling reason

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to get you to act, which was, oh my god,

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they took four hundred ninety nine dollars out of my account.

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You said, your budget was tight, we couldn't afford it.

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There's a phone number right there, you just immediately call it.

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But you know, you said, I panicked, right, And that's

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that emotion that they want to get you in, is

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the panic. And your husband was listening and he's sitting

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there in his rational state of mind. Yes, so he's

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thinking this doesn't make sense, so he immediately calls the

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bank to verify, which is exactly right. What we talk

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about doing is to verify before you trust. But once

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they get you into that emotional state, all you're doing,

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like in your instance, you were panicking and you just

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wanted to do follow the steps that he was giving

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you because you wanted to get that four hundred and

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ninety nine dollars out of your account. You wanted that

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money back, and he showed you how it was in

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your account. And I don't know technic how they're able

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to do it. I just know they're extremely smart and

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savvy and they have a lot of technology available to.

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Them to make it appear like he did to you, right, And.

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That was what amazed me. You know, of course he

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was saying, I want you to do this so that

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you know that I'm not getting into your checking account.

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And I realized later a big mistake I made at

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the beginning was it said on there we have deducted

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this amount from the account you have on file with US.

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I should have asked, first thing, which account is that,

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because I don't believe he would have known until I

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opened it?

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True, right, And see, these are all those things.

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Right after you get out of that emotional state and

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you think about it more, you're like, you see the

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red flags, right, But that's the difference between when you're

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in your rational state versus your emotional state. And so

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you know, like a lot of people would say, you know,

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they felt stupid, you know, and stuff like that, and

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it's like, it doesn't have anything to do with intelligence

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because you're not thinking clearly when you're thinking out of

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emotions and that scammers know that, and so they they

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do that.

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And I guarantee you you are not.

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The only one that called that phone number, right, And

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there are people that would have lost five thousand dollars

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because they would have went through with the whole thing.

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And you had your husband not been there and you

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followed through everything that he did, you know, then you'd

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be thinking, Okay, you know, I'm I've got that money back.

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But the next day or two you would have then realized,

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wait a minute, five thousand came out of my account,

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and there's never anything put in my account to begin

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with that. Because of that that, you know, you might

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not have checked your account until the next day.

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So it's it's really scary.

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Well it is. And I have always considered myself a

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level headed person, but I panicked pretty quickly.

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It's you know, there's they're so good they can get

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you emotional right off the bat, you know. And and

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and there's people that you know, I think when they

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hear somebody talk about scams in their mind, their mind

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immediately goes, well, that'll never happen to me. And with

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that thought process, you've become, in my opinion, more vulnerable

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to falling victim because you're already thinking you're not going

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to and so you've already let your guard down.

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Right, and.

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You know, uh, it happens to the best of us, right,

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Thank thank goodness, your husband was there and was able

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to overhear what was going on and and called the

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bank to verify and found out, you know, this was

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a scam and all of that. And so the you

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probably heard of the tech support scams, how they would

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originally come out where they would you'd get a pop

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up on your device saying you've got a virus, and yeah,

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sometimes there's a loud noise and all this stuff.

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And sometimes that happened.

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Yeah, you can't use your device and you've got to

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call this number and this and that. And we saw

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that for the longest time, and then all of a

227
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sudden and it got to the point where so many

228
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people were falling victim to it. A couple of years ago,

229
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the FBI put out a public service announcement on this

230
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specific refund scam where they changed their technique and it

231
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all still revolved around tech support or anti virus and

232
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stuff like that, but it was the refund subscription. And

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so that's how scammers evolve, right. They start out and

234
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then they and then they change their techniques, and it's

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just to keep everybody on their toes, right, because they

236
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know if they change their techniques that there's going to

237
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be some people that will fall victim until we start

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hearing about it and we can warn people about it.

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But that's why getting to understand scams in general, which

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I think we do a really good job of with that.

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Anatomy of a scam, right, is that step one is

242
00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:34.279
that contact and like you did the next two days later,

243
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I think you said he called, you got the phone

244
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call and you answered. It was from a number you

245
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didn't know, and you answered it, and you know, and

246
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I'm surprised they only tried twice, but it's good that

247
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they that they only tried twice and they've left you

248
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alone after that. But that contact is recognizing it at

249
00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:59.679
the contact and whether you've engaged with them and then

250
00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:03.519
found out or you recognize it right when you receive

251
00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:06.759
the contact. It's better to recognize it right when you

252
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receive it and not engage because, as you saw through experience,

253
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how quickly they get you panicked, how quickly they get

254
00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.960
you excited, how quickly they get you to feel like

255
00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:20.879
you're not lonely anymore. You have a loved one in

256
00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:25.600
your life, right, the romance scam and all that well.

257
00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:28.480
And also because I called the number, then they had

258
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my cell phone number.

259
00:16:29.960 --> 00:16:35.440
Right, yeah, right, And and again I'm surprised that it

260
00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:38.840
was just that it was just twice that they called

261
00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:44.399
you back, but that's that's great. And you also mentioned

262
00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:47.919
about when you talk to your family members about it,

263
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which is another thing we want people to do, is

264
00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:54.200
you tell people about it, right, because if they haven't

265
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been contacted, yet they will and if they don't know,

266
00:16:58.039 --> 00:16:58.559
they don't know.

267
00:16:58.639 --> 00:16:59.960
You don't know what you don't know?

268
00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:04.359
Right, It's and that way, the more information we can

269
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share and the more information that we can get out

270
00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:10.319
there and share with other people helps keep them safe too.

271
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But you mentioned your daughter in law had mentioned about

272
00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.400
not to say yes on the phone as well, and

273
00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:21.079
I've heard other people talk about that. But I've also

274
00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:26.359
had some people say that that's not really a scam,

275
00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:27.680
that that doesn't happen.

276
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And it's like, you know.

277
00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:35.839
I have I seen on the FBI reports right the

278
00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:39.680
you know, don't say yes, And do they specifically state

279
00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:42.920
that type of scam. No, they might put it under

280
00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:47.359
another type of scam, but it's something that could be

281
00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:52.279
very straightforward and very easy for.

282
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Them to do.

283
00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.519
And you might not ever know, you know, you might

284
00:17:57.880 --> 00:17:59.720
like you said, all of a sudden, have the subscription

285
00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:02.880
or the purchase, but then you just you might think

286
00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:07.200
somebody got your credit card and that's how they were

287
00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:11.680
able to purchase stuff. But I would bet that it's happened.

288
00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:14.480
I mean, if I was a betting person and I

289
00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.640
was putting money on, I'd be like, yeah, I'm sure

290
00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:20.200
it's happened to people, whether they know about it, realized

291
00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:24.759
that it had happened or not. It just seems, you know,

292
00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:26.880
like it would be a very simple thing for them

293
00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:31.039
to do so. But again, you know, people have different

294
00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:35.960
opinions on different things, so it's always good, right too,

295
00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.000
for people to know that. So you know, when you

296
00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.960
get that phone call and you answer and they say

297
00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:43.640
is this Valerie and you're like or you know, you

298
00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:47.680
say speaking or something like that, Like you said, he said,

299
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.000
do you remember being You're like, no, even though you

300
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:51.319
did recognize his voice.

301
00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:56.400
Oh, yes, but yeah, so.

302
00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:05.359
Just quickly, it doesn't have to be quickly. Did you

303
00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:07.680
learn some stuff in our presentation?

304
00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:13.880
Oh, quite a lot. We thought it was very helpful.

305
00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:18.240
And you know, we hear a lot of advertisements for

306
00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:24.200
things like LifeLock and protector things and had not ever responded.

307
00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:29.039
But after hearing your presentation, we did what you recommended

308
00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:34.200
and googled the top five companies that protect you online,

309
00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:38.039
and we now have a subscription for one of those.

310
00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:43.640
Oh okay, However, there was one little issue as.

311
00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:45.359
Offering online protection.

312
00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:56.079
Pardon me, Google thinks I'm talking to anyway, partly due

313
00:19:56.279 --> 00:20:00.240
to my low vision, issues. Sometimes I don't see the

314
00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.920
details of things. But it turns out that the program

315
00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:10.160
that we purchased works on three of our devices, but

316
00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:15.920
not on two of them because the other two are

317
00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:21.160
have ISP providers that are not supported by that particular.

318
00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:22.240
Oh okay, okay.

319
00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:26.079
So I have not yet called them and asked. I mean,

320
00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:29.359
I signed up for five devices. I thought I would

321
00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:32.200
call and ask for maybe a refund to go down

322
00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:36.319
to three, but I would I would recommend to people

323
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:41.160
if you're looking at those, look to see which companies

324
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:42.519
they support.

325
00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.759
Oh okay, for the is SP, yes and all of that.

326
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.960
That's that's good information, right, And but the good thing

327
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.839
about it is you can call them and say, hey,

328
00:20:53.880 --> 00:20:56.519
can I can I go down to the package of

329
00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:59.839
three because it doesn't work on my other two devices.

330
00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:02.279
There shouldn't be any reason why they wouldn't do that.

331
00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:04.839
But that's good. I'm glad you.

332
00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:05.000
So.

333
00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:09.200
Was that like a credit monitoring company or was it

334
00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:13.279
more of like a company to get your information off

335
00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:13.920
the internet.

336
00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:17.400
It was more one of those that protects your information

337
00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:21.759
on your internet. Okay, we do all we do all

338
00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:24.920
of our banking on the internet. Okay, hey, all of

339
00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:29.119
our bills on the internet, and that I believe is

340
00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:30.599
what they are protecting.

341
00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:33.480
Okay, all right, well that's good, that's good.

342
00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:36.079
I'm glad you guys were able to get some useful

343
00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:41.559
information from the presentation. You know, that's our Our goal

344
00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:46.079
is to make everybody more educated and aware. So when

345
00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:49.880
you are contacted, you know how to recognize the flags,

346
00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:51.759
and you know what to do, right.

347
00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:54.559
You know what to do to try not to get

348
00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:56.160
into an emotional state. Right.

349
00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.920
And so you have your husband right that you just

350
00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:00.920
pause and go, Cam got to go talk to him,

351
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:03.400
right if he gets something and he's like, okay, well

352
00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:05.720
let me go talk to my wife, right, And you know,

353
00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:08.119
maybe your daughter in law or some of your other

354
00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.000
family members will be like, oh well wait a minute.

355
00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.640
Valerie had something happen. Let me call and talk to her.

356
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:20.039
Right. So it's it's good to share information, and it's

357
00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:26.039
also good to be someone's trusted person, right. Especially there's

358
00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:28.680
I think there's a lot of seniors that live alone

359
00:22:29.359 --> 00:22:32.599
and are kind of isolated, and they might not have

360
00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:36.000
family members, and so that's where it's really good that

361
00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:40.480
they have neighbors that you know, friends and neighbors that

362
00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:42.640
can check in on them. And make sure they're okay

363
00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:47.440
and talk to them about these things so they so

364
00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:51.119
they don't fall victim, because as you saw, their scammers

365
00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:52.160
are ruthless.

366
00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:55.400
They are they are, and a.

367
00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:57.240
Lot of people have often said, man, if they would

368
00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:01.440
only use all of this energy to do good, it's like, how,

369
00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:03.640
you know, great would this world be.

370
00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:06.839
But yeah, you know, it's unfortunate.

371
00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.160
Some of the scammers are forced labor, you know, so

372
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:12.079
they've been kidnapped in and.

373
00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:13.400
They're forced to do this stuff.

374
00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:16.839
Others are doing it because they want the money and

375
00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:18.359
they don't care who they're gonna hurt.

376
00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:21.519
So, you know, it's uh and.

377
00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:25.799
Unfortunately that you don't you don't usually know which one

378
00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:28.960
it is you know that you're talking to. But I'm

379
00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:33.000
so glad that that you guys were able to figure

380
00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.160
it out before that transaction went through. Did you have

381
00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:39.599
somebody look at your computer and stuff and make sure

382
00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:44.319
that there isn't any anything in the background going on

383
00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:45.920
that you weren't aware of.

384
00:23:46.599 --> 00:23:49.400
No, I'm sorry we didn't even think to do that.

385
00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:50.599
I would do that.

386
00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:50.960
I know.

387
00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.200
It's been a few years, and I would think that

388
00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.400
you would have noticed some stuff.

389
00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:56.519
You would have.

390
00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:02.079
You know, you you have seen more or you would

391
00:24:02.119 --> 00:24:04.319
have noticed your device is not working properly. But it

392
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.119
might be worth it might be worth having a tech

393
00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:10.319
support person just and they can remote in to your

394
00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:14.799
devices and that they can look around and they can

395
00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:17.559
make sure that there's not something hiding in the background

396
00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:21.319
that you're not aware of, that's infecting your device, that's

397
00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:23.759
watching what you do. I mean, there's just so much

398
00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:26.319
stuff out there. I think it's good to do that,

399
00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.640
and it's also good to Yeah, it's also good to

400
00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:33.279
have that trusted tech support person in your back pocket

401
00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:36.880
per se. So when you do have an issue with something,

402
00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:38.160
you're not going to panic.

403
00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:41.160
You know exactly who you want to call.

404
00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:44.680
Yeah, and if you need if you don't have anybody,

405
00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:47.240
if your friends or family can't refer you to somebody

406
00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:50.359
that they trust, just shoot me an email. And I

407
00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:53.039
have a few people that I can give you their information.

408
00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:56.799
Thank you. I would like that we have recently moved.

409
00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:01.119
We're in a new area completely, and so the people

410
00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:04.720
I had people where we previously lived, but not here.

411
00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.440
Okay, all right, then I'll give you a couple of

412
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:11.200
people's information and you can give them a call. But

413
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:13.480
I think that would be good. You know, like I said,

414
00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:15.559
I think you would have seen something. You would have

415
00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:21.000
noticed your device is acting weird. But it's just always good,

416
00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:24.920
especially when you've had right. You don't know how that

417
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.480
guy was able to show make it look like it

418
00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.440
was your bank accounts, So you just want to, especially

419
00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:34.640
with whatever device that was that you were on, make

420
00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:36.200
sure that one okay.

421
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:41.559
And actually that device kind of did a meltdown and

422
00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:44.599
we got rid of it, so maybe that was why.

423
00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:46.839
Okay, that very well could have been.

424
00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:49.400
You know, that very well could have been, and so

425
00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:51.240
maybe that's why you haven't seen anything.

426
00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:55.240
But now I would like to ask you though, with

427
00:25:55.400 --> 00:26:00.559
these companies, the company that we got that you knows

428
00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:04.480
what's going on on our devices, would they not be

429
00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:06.759
able to find something like that?

430
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:11.440
So if you don't mind me asking who is the company.

431
00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:14.279
I went with Aura? It was at the top of

432
00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:18.920
a couple of lists. Do you know that A A

433
00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:23.400
you are A A you are a.

434
00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:35.559
Oh it's identity protection? Yes, you know.

435
00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:42.240
I would call them first and find out because they

436
00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:46.400
I'm looking online. I'm not familiar with that company. It

437
00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:54.799
says Removal of your data, identity theft protection, Home title Monitoring, right,

438
00:26:54.920 --> 00:27:03.519
So they probably have something that can is monitoring your device,

439
00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:08.160
maybe some antivirus or anti malware software that is. I

440
00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:11.720
would just call them and ask them that question because

441
00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:16.200
they might already You're right, they might already be doing that. Yeah,

442
00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:20.240
they they could be, because I know we personally use

443
00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:23.839
Norton LifeLock and Norton used to be the anti virus

444
00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:28.599
and LifeLock was the credit monitoring company and they merged together,

445
00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:33.079
and so we have that antivirus through them, but also

446
00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:35.960
the credit monitoring through them as well. So or could

447
00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.640
be the same type of company that has that does

448
00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:40.160
multiple different things.

449
00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:43.400
And I believe it does because we were looking for

450
00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:52.799
the identity protection. Also wanted the the the mortgage the house.

451
00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:55.640
Oh yeah, and it said they monitor the house title

452
00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:56.039
as well.

453
00:27:56.759 --> 00:28:00.599
Yeah, so but I will ask them. I do need

454
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:02.599
to call them to see if they'll refund part of

455
00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:03.000
my things.

456
00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:07.799
Yeah, yeah, I definitely ask them that. So, unless there's

457
00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:11.160
anything else, I think that brings us to a close.

458
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:18.119
Okay, thank you so much. Your presentation was so helpful.

459
00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:21.039
It gave us the kick we needed to do some

460
00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:25.079
things for our protection, and I appreciate you letting me

461
00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:28.079
tell my story I do hope it helps to protect

462
00:28:28.119 --> 00:28:28.759
someone else.

463
00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:32.640
And I so appreciate you being willing to tell your story.

464
00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:33.759
I know it's.

465
00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:37.880
It can be difficult at times to tell these types

466
00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:42.079
of stories, so I really appreciate you being vulnerable to

467
00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:47.640
share it with everyone. You're very welcome, all right, thanks, Valerie,

468
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:57.119
You're welcome, all right, bybe so, Valerie, she went through

469
00:28:57.160 --> 00:28:59.799
a lot a couple of years ago, a lot of

470
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:06.759
getting getting that email and thinking that there was four

471
00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:09.319
hundred and ninety nine dollars coming out of her bank account.

472
00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:13.279
And that's exactly how scammers are very savvy with what

473
00:29:13.319 --> 00:29:17.359
they do and getting you into a in this instance,

474
00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:18.839
a panic mode very quickly.

475
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:21.960
So just remember to pause and.

476
00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.559
Talk to your trusted person so you can verify what's

477
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:30.799
going on. Before and verifying what's going on, you know,

478
00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:34.319
don't call the phone numbers, don't respond to the contact,

479
00:29:34.440 --> 00:29:37.519
don't click on a link in the contact to go

480
00:29:37.559 --> 00:29:40.160
to a website or anything. Go do the verification on

481
00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:43.119
your own, you know, find the verified website, find the

482
00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:46.720
verified phone number for whatever company it is, and call

483
00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:51.279
them directly and see what's going on, just like Valerie's

484
00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:54.720
husband did after he heard what was going on. He

485
00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:58.240
called the bank directly and was able to talk to

486
00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:00.720
them and found out there was no actiity going on

487
00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:03.559
in the account, and so they shut it down. And

488
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:08.079
don't forget. You can find all our social media on

489
00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:11.000
our website at Rosadvocacy dot org. Scroll down to the

490
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:13.799
bottom of the homepage you'll find our email and mailed

491
00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:17.680
newsletter sign ups. It's always good to get these reminders.

492
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:20.359
With the email, you get a Tuesday tip that comes

493
00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:23.359
out every Tuesday at nine fifteen am. You might look

494
00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:26.480
at it and go, Okay, I already know that, and

495
00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:28.440
that's great that you already know that tip.

496
00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:29.039
But what it.

497
00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:33.119
Does is it reminds you about scam prevention and it

498
00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:36.480
helps make it become a habit. When you have scam

499
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:40.119
prevention as a habit and a healthy skepticism when you

500
00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:44.359
are contacted, you will be more likely to think about

501
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:49.000
scam prevention and have that healthy skepticism and do what

502
00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:56.680
you need to do to verify things before you call

503
00:30:56.759 --> 00:30:59.920
the you know, call the place, or engage with what

504
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:05.839
whatever the contact was to protect yourself. So anyways, and

505
00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:09.000
click subscribe. You don't want to miss one of these episodes.

506
00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:12.240
And we are getting really close to Halloween. I hope

507
00:31:12.279 --> 00:31:15.960
everybody has a great Halloween and we'll see you next week.

508
00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:16.559
Thank you.

509
00:31:18.039 --> 00:31:21.039
Well, that's all the knowledge for this episode. Tune in

510
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:25.319
every Tuesday at eight am Pacific time on KFOURHD Radio

511
00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:30.160
at KFOURHD dot com as Joyce explores a variety of knowledge.

512
00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:33.799
So you have the power to make scam protection your

513
00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:37.599
healthy habit, and until then, feel free to reach out

514
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.200
to Joyce and let's talk about scams.