Dec. 16, 2025

Would You See These Minor Differences That Have Huge Consequences?

Would You See These Minor Differences That Have Huge Consequences?

This is going to be a short but very important episode. Join us as we share a scam email and scam text where there are minor differences with huge consequences.

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

1
00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:04.759
This program is designed to provide general information with regards

2
00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.759
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

3
00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:12.160
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

4
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:19.239
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial, legal, counseling,

5
00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:23.600
professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services

6
00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:29.359
of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

7
00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:33.759
The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational

8
00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:37.240
purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional

9
00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:41.119
legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted

10
00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:45.359
sources and references. However, Rose Resources outreach to safeguard the

11
00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:48.320
elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to

12
00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:53.840
a scam. Let's talk about scams. It's the must listen

13
00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.119
show for anyone who wants to protect themselves and their

14
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:01.679
loved ones from scams. Every Tuesday at am Pacific time

15
00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:05.959
on K four HD Radio, Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose,

16
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.879
and her guests will provide valuable insights and practical tips

17
00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:15.239
on how to recognize and protect yourself from scams. And

18
00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.799
now here is your host, Joyce Petrowski.

19
00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:24.599
Hi, everyone, welcome back. Joyce Petrowski, founder and board president

20
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:28.000
of Rose Resources Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly, where we

21
00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:33.040
have a scam prevention through education platform focused on the

22
00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:38.760
older adults. You can find more information on our website

23
00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:42.200
at Roseadvocacy dot org. On the homepage you'll find all

24
00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:44.480
of our social media links and if you scroll down

25
00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:46.599
to the bottom, you'll find where you can sign up

26
00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:49.439
for our newsletter. We have one that we send in

27
00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:51.680
the mail at the beginning of the month, and then

28
00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:54.000
we have one that goes out within the first week

29
00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.560
of the month via email that has a lot of

30
00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:01.200
information on there, and then every two day morning, so yes,

31
00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.879
that would be this morning in about ten fifteen minutes.

32
00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.639
It happens at nine to fifteen Arizona time. You get

33
00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.439
a Tuesday tip on the email. And the nice thing

34
00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:16.280
about that is one is it might be something new

35
00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:19.520
that you didn't know, so you learned something. The other

36
00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:23.319
thing and probably just as important is going to be

37
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:26.520
even if you already know it. What it does is

38
00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:31.039
it reinforces scam prevention in your mind. So the next

39
00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.520
time you're contacted, your more app to pause and think

40
00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:38.400
about scams and do your research and due diligence before

41
00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:42.080
you interact with the email, the text, the phone call,

42
00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:48.360
you know, whatever the messaging, whatever the contact was. And

43
00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:51.039
it also gives you a conversation starter, so you can

44
00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:55.080
talk to your family and friends, especially your older adult

45
00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.280
family and friends. You know, when you see them, if

46
00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:58.919
you go visit them once a week, you talk to

47
00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.599
them on the phone. It's a conversation starter where you

48
00:03:01.639 --> 00:03:04.879
can have a conversation about scams and how to protect

49
00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:11.159
yourself without seeming without making the other person feel defensive

50
00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:13.560
by always telling them don't do this, don't do that.

51
00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:17.479
It just talking about it in regular conversation, and it

52
00:03:17.479 --> 00:03:20.159
builds your relationship with them and they will be more

53
00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:23.400
apt to come talk to you when they do encounter

54
00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.840
something or maybe if they've accidentally clicked on something they

55
00:03:26.840 --> 00:03:29.240
shouldn't have, they're going to be more app to come

56
00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.159
and talk to you. So sign up for those newsletters.

57
00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:37.280
So today this is going to be a short show.

58
00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:42.120
I'm going to share my screen. We were given some

59
00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:48.680
information on a couple different scams that were out there

60
00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:50.919
and it actually was pretty clever. So I'm going to

61
00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:59.599
share my screen right now and show you what I'm

62
00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:07.840
talking about. Here, I can get to the pdf. So

63
00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:11.840
look at this one. This is quite interesting. So this

64
00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:17.879
was a text that someone received and you know, it says, hey,

65
00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:20.639
with a wavy hand, you know normal, can you help

66
00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:24.439
me with this YouTube? Short video? Could you please check

67
00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:28.519
whether I can promote this one or not? Now, look

68
00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:32.319
at the link that's there, and then it says, okay,

69
00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:36.680
thank you. But look at the link that's there, and

70
00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:39.600
I probably should have circled it, but it's right here.

71
00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:45.680
You've got the https, and you've got the two slash marks.

72
00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:51.800
But where's the colon? If I'm not mistaken, it's https

73
00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:59.279
colon backslash, backslash. And then you start with the you

74
00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:03.120
start with the the website name. Okay, it could be

75
00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:07.839
YouTube dot com or Roseadvocacy dot org. But it's missing

76
00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:11.560
the colon in here. Now, when your eyes look at that,

77
00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:17.839
you know that it's https colon backslash, backslash. So you

78
00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:21.000
might not see that that colon's missing. It's that slight

79
00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.839
little change that to your naked eye you might not

80
00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:28.480
see it, Which is why it's so so important to

81
00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.160
look at every single letter that's in there and write

82
00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.920
it out. You know, if if you're not looking and

83
00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.439
seeing every little thing, you know, uh, write it out,

84
00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:43.240
put your cursor over it, and go okay, that's a

85
00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:45.879
y oh you you know, but start here and go

86
00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.319
h because it should have the HTTP s and the

87
00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:56.319
S means it's secure, but the colon is missing. So anyways,

88
00:05:56.360 --> 00:06:01.199
that's something that was texted to, uh, to someone and

89
00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:04.959
I'm sure hundreds thousands millions of people are getting this

90
00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.279
type of text or a text very similar with this

91
00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:12.680
type of website where it's not this is actually the

92
00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:20.399
whole website, the whole domain name is including this HTTPS

93
00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.879
in it, So just be careful of that. And then

94
00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.040
the other thing that we saw. And if any of

95
00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:32.560
you have been to our presentations that we do, this

96
00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.680
is one of the things that we talk about and

97
00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:39.800
we suggest to people, especially if they're not familiar with

98
00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:43.720
the website, or they get an email and they're not

99
00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.920
familiar with who it came from, or you know. And

100
00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:51.279
I've always used Amazon as an example, but Microsoft fits

101
00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:53.920
as well, and this one happens to be. I don't

102
00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:58.439
believe this was an actual email that somebody received, but

103
00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:03.160
somebody put it together if my understanding's correct, or maybe

104
00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:07.079
it is an actual email. But anyways, the good thing

105
00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:10.879
is is it's here to show you and that we

106
00:07:10.920 --> 00:07:15.120
talk about this in the presentation. So Microsoft, it's a

107
00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.600
big company, it's a well known company. Just about everybody

108
00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:21.560
knows or has heard of Microsoft. And yeah, when they

109
00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:24.399
send you emails, a lot of times it'll come from

110
00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:30.040
a no reply because it's an informational email. You might

111
00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.319
have to click on a link within the email, or

112
00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:34.240
they have a phone number that you call, you know,

113
00:07:34.279 --> 00:07:37.279
whatever it is. But and this is something we say,

114
00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:41.199
look at everything after the at sign because that's the domain.

115
00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:45.720
So you look at this and you you look at

116
00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.120
it and go, okay, well it's Microsoft dot com. That's

117
00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:51.120
the right one. But if you look at it really

118
00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:55.800
really closely, look at that M right there, you think

119
00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:59.439
it's a lowercase M for Microsoft. It's not. It's a

120
00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:04.439
lowercase R and it's a lowercase N. And is your

121
00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:08.120
naked eye going to see that little space between the

122
00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.879
R and the N and that right there makes it

123
00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:16.040
a totally different domain. It's not Microsoft. But if you

124
00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:21.000
clicked on a link in here in this email, it

125
00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:24.959
would take you to that fake domain that I am

126
00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:31.560
guessing is impersonating Microsoft. So you want to be extremely careful,

127
00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:34.080
and even now when I'm looking at it and I

128
00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:37.039
have my glasses on, I have to blink a few

129
00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.759
times because when I first looked at it, I'm like, no,

130
00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:41.840
that's an M. And then I have to get my

131
00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:47.159
eyes in focus and really look at it. And you know,

132
00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:48.759
the thing is is, you know what, if you want

133
00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:51.120
to go to the Microsoft website and you know it's

134
00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.879
Microsoft dot com, don't worry about clicking links in a

135
00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:58.480
text or an email. Just go to the Microsoft dot

136
00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:02.039
com website. So if you already know what the website

137
00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.759
is and you have ordered things from the website, you

138
00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:09.480
have a subscription with the website, so it seems reasonable

139
00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:12.759
that you would be getting an email from them about something.

140
00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:17.799
This one specifically was a password reset request. You know,

141
00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.919
if you've not reset your pat if you have not

142
00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:26.440
initiated a password reset on one of your Microsoft accounts,

143
00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:31.559
then you can just ignore it. But if you did, right,

144
00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.039
go directly to Microsoft dot com and go into your

145
00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:42.279
settings to change your password there. Because it's hard to

146
00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:46.240
see it, and like I said, before, my eyes, you know,

147
00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.799
when I first started looking at this, it looked like

148
00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:52.080
a lowercase M. And you really have to look at it,

149
00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.240
and I had to blink a few times and you know,

150
00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:57.000
make sure my eyes were open wide to look at

151
00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.440
it and go, yep, no, that's a lowercase R and

152
00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.519
a lowercase IN. So be very careful with that. Some

153
00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:06.440
other things that can you know, happen is what about

154
00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:12.480
a lowercase L. Does that look like a one? What

155
00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:17.960
about capital O? Is that really close to a zero?

156
00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:25.039
Look at Microsoft again? Here the C and the R,

157
00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.879
the lowercase C and the lowercase R. Does that look

158
00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:32.399
like a lowercase A. So there's a lot of different

159
00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:39.000
things that you know that can be just tiny little

160
00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:44.080
changes that a scammer makes. And the domains available and

161
00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:48.200
they buy the domain and they're impersonating another company just

162
00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:52.000
by switching you know, those letters around or a letter

163
00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:54.480
for a number, and it makes it so close and

164
00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:59.639
so similar that your mind's already thinking Microsoft. So your

165
00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:02.480
eyes are looking at it. Your mind's thinking Microsoft, So

166
00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:05.639
your eyes are telling you it's Microsoft. Well, no, I

167
00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:07.600
really have to look at it and go, am I

168
00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:10.720
looking at a lowercase M? Or is that this? Or this?

169
00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:13.240
And you really have to look at it to determine

170
00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:17.320
what the letters and numbers, capital, lowercase all that are

171
00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:20.399
and it's always good to write it down. Yes, it's

172
00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.720
going to take you a few extra minutes, but it's

173
00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:28.720
going to protect you. It's going to help protect you

174
00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:32.000
from getting onto a malicious website, because that can cause

175
00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:34.720
a whole lot of damage. You get onto a malicious website,

176
00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:37.600
and it can cause a lot of damage. You're clicking

177
00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:40.720
on links, it can capture your information, maybe it puts

178
00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:45.399
malware on your device, and now the scammers are sitting

179
00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:47.759
in the background on your device and you have no

180
00:11:47.919 --> 00:11:54.080
idea that they're there, and they're watching everything you do.

181
00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:56.720
And you log into your bank account, Well, now they

182
00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.279
see what your log in is, right, So you got

183
00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.679
to be careful. That's another reason why you need to

184
00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:07.279
have very strong antivirus anti malware protection on all of

185
00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:12.799
your devices, even your cell phones, because your cell phones

186
00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:16.200
are mobile computers, they're connected to the internet, they're mobile computers.

187
00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.320
And have that strong antivirus anti malware on your phone

188
00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.360
as well, because especially on your phone, it's so small,

189
00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.799
you try to scroll up, you end up clicking on

190
00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:29.440
a link you didn't want to click on. And there's

191
00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.519
a lot of great antivirus anti malware software out there.

192
00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.440
If you have a trusted tech support person, talk to

193
00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:38.679
them and find out what they recommend. They might have

194
00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.120
one that works really well with Apple. They might have

195
00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:47.720
another one that works really well with Samsung or Android products,

196
00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:51.840
or maybe they have one that's just really good all

197
00:12:51.879 --> 00:13:00.440
around for desktop laptops, iPads, notebooks, mobile phones. They might

198
00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.600
have one that you know, well, there's this little thing

199
00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:05.679
in here that you have to be okay with, but

200
00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:09.440
it's really really good and very easy to use, right,

201
00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:12.480
So do your research and find that and make sure

202
00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:14.919
it's on all your devices, because if you clicked on

203
00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:18.840
something in one of these malicious emails, there's a good

204
00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.679
chance that your antivirus anti Maowa is going to recognize

205
00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:24.440
it and it's going to warn you. It's going to

206
00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:27.519
say this is a malicious site. You shouldn't go there,

207
00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:32.360
and then you can say okay, and then not go

208
00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:37.919
there and then get into the actual legitimate website on

209
00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:41.679
your own. So that's all I have for today. I

210
00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:43.919
told you it was going to be short and sweet today.

211
00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:46.519
Got a lot of work to get back to, so

212
00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:50.639
looking forward to talking to you guys next week. I'm

213
00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:54.080
working on having a guest next week to talk about

214
00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:59.200
their scam experience and the following week. It'll either be

215
00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:02.720
next week, which I realize is a couple days before Christmas,

216
00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:05.639
or it'll be the following week, which is right at

217
00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.720
the end of the year, but we'll have that guest

218
00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:12.159
on and share their experience. So until next week, don't forget.

219
00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:14.120
You're going to want to click subscribe so you don't

220
00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:17.600
miss an episode. You can also find the shorts and

221
00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:20.759
the live videos on our YouTube page, which the links

222
00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.759
are on our website at Roseadvocacy dot org. And don't

223
00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.279
forget to sign up for our emails. We have one

224
00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:30.159
in the mail and one via newsletters. I mean we

225
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:32.639
have one in the mail and one via email. They're

226
00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.600
at the bottom of the homepage. You can sign up

227
00:14:34.679 --> 00:14:38.720
for them. We're really trying to get our YouTube channel

228
00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:42.840
up over one hundred subscribers, so please if you can

229
00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.039
click on that to subscribe. My understanding is you're going

230
00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:48.720
to get a notice when a new one's coming up

231
00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:52.200
and you can be ready for it. So thank you

232
00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:53.600
and we will see you next week.

233
00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.440
Well that's all the knowledge for this episode. Julian Every

234
00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:03.480
Tuesday at eight am Pacific time on KFOAHD Radio at

235
00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:08.039
KFORAHD dot com as Joyce explores a variety of knowledge,

236
00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:11.679
so you have the power to make scam protection your

237
00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:15.480
healthy habit, and until then, feel free to reach out

238
00:15:15.480 --> 00:15:18.080
to Joyce and let's talk about scams.