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Fraud AlertS!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
Fraud Alert!....Bogus
Telemarketers Seek Credit Card Info
Fraudulent
telemarketers are calling consumers claiming to be with your
credit card company and needing to “verify information.”
Callers may say they are with the security department from VISA
or MasterCard, and ask if you have purchased an
anti-telemarketing device for $500 from an Arizona company.
When you say “no,” the caller says they will issue a credit to
your account, and need to verify your address and the
seven-digit security number on the back of your card. The
caller will ask that you read the last three numbers to verify
that the card has not been lost or stolen.
The
callers are not from VISA or MasterCard, but are con artists who
trick you into giving out valuable security information so they
can use your credit card number for purchases over the Internet
or telephone.
To protect
yourself from credit card fraud:
ü
NEVER give
out personal information to anyone who has called or emailed you
– no matter if they claim to be with a “security department.”
Credit card companies and banks never ask for anything off their
cards because they already have that information;
ü
Don’t talk
to strangers over the phone or reply to unsolicited e-mail.
For assistance call the
DA's Elder Fraud Line:
(209) 468-2488
Also visit SJC District Attorney's Web Site:
http://www.sjgov.org/da/
For
additional
fraud alert information from the San Joaquin District
Attorney's office click here:
Jan 2008 Fraud Alert
CASE is a
Partnership of the District Attorney and the Community to
Prevent Elder Financial Exploitation
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Fraud Alert!....Pet
Scams
The FBI Internet Crime Report reveals the top internet scams of
2007.
Pet
Scams:
You see an ad selling a pet and send in your money, plus a
little extra for delivery. You never get the pet; the scam
artist simply takes your money and runs.....(more)
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Page
Fraud Alert!....Phishing
Many Internet
users are receiving e-mails requesting account information.
The e-mail sender is supposedly a bank, government agency, or
companies like eBay or PayPal; but in reality they are
criminals.
Attempts to steal your sensitive
information are called "phishing" and it is very prevalent.......(more)
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Page
Fraud Alert!....Stop
Calling Me!
Tired of calls from strangers?
Take back control of your telephone! How do you do this?
Click
here.
Top of
Page
Fraud Alert!....Tax-Time
Scams
Don't let
tax-time become scam-time. For more information on phony
IRS e-mails and fictitious bank correspondence and phony forms,
click on this
link!
Top of
Page
Fraud Alert!....Traveling
Con Artists
Traveling con
artists are in San Joaquin County. For more information
click on this
link!
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Page
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IR-2007-109,
May 31, 2007
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today
alerted taxpayers to the latest versions of an
e-mail scam intended to fool people into
believing they are under investigation by the
agency’s Criminal Investigation division.
The e-mail purporting to be from IRS Criminal
Investigation falsely states that the person is
under a criminal probe for submitting a false
tax return to the California Franchise Tax
Board. The e-mail seeks to entice people to
click on a link or open an attachment to learn
more information about the complaint against
them. The IRS warned people that the e-mail link
and attachment is a Trojan Horse that can take
over the person’s computer hard drive and allow
someone to have remote access to the computer.
The IRS urged people not to click the link in
the e-mail or open the attachment.
Similar e-mail variations suggest a customer has
filed a complaint against a company and the IRS
can act as an arbitrator. The latest versions
appear aimed at business taxpayers as well as
individual taxpayers.
The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails or
ask for detailed personal and financial
information. Additionally, the IRS never asks
people for the PIN numbers, passwords or similar
secret access information for their credit card,
bank or other financial accounts.
“Everyone should beware of these scam artists,”
said Kevin M. Brown, Acting IRS Commissioner.
“Always exercise caution when you receive
unsolicited e-mails or e-mails from senders you
don’t know.”
Recipients of questionable e-mails claiming to
come from the IRS should not open any
attachments or click on any links contained in
the e-mails. Instead, they should forward the
e-mails to
phishing@irs.gov
(follow the
instructions).
The IRS also sees other e-mail scams that
involve tricking victims into revealing private
personal and financial information over the
Internet, a practice that is known as “phishing”
for information.
The IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for
Tax Administration work with the U.S. Computer
Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and various
Internet service providers and international
CERT teams to have the phishing sites taken
offline as soon as they are reported.
Since the establishment of the mail box last
year, the IRS has received more than 17,700
e-mails from taxpayers reporting more than 240
separate phishing incidents. To date,
investigations by TIGTA have identified host
sites in at least 27 different countries, as
well as in the United States.
Other fraudulent e-mail scams try to entice
taxpayers to click their way to a fake IRS Web
site and ask for bank account numbers. Another
widespread e-mail tells taxpayers the IRS is
holding a refund (often $63.80) for them and
seeks financial account information. Still
another email claims the IRS’s ‘anti-fraud
commission’ is investigating their tax returns.
Related Items:
Suspicious e-Mails and Identity Theft
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As Nest Eggs
Shrink, Many Defer Retirement
For newly retired and nearly
retired, market meltdown
forces tough choices.
Millions of Americans are
confronting the same stark
reality after the collapse
of the stock market
destroyed trillions of
dollars of retirement
savings and forced those in
or near retirement to make
serious adjustments to their
plans. For some, that has
meant abandoning the idea of
retirement altogether. For
more information on this
issue, please click on MSNBC
website:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27700954/
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Oldest Boomers reach that age this year - need to consider
health care, benefits
Eileen Alt Powell, Associated
Press, Sunday, March 9, 2008
The oldest Baby Boomers turn 62 this year, and some are using
that as the catalyst to consider retiring.
It's possible because they can begin collecting their Social
Security benefits at that age, though at a lower level than if
they wait until age 66 or older.
But before quitting their jobs, Baby Boomers need to think long
and hard about whether they're ready financially and
psychologically to move into the next phase of their lives,
experts say.
"For some, turning 62 is the siren calling from the shore," said
William Wright, a certified financial planner in Wichita and
president of the Financial Planning Association of Kansas.
"There's the opportunity for the Social Security check ... and
we've been through four years of bull market, so people have
amassed the assets."
But Boomers considering early retirement also need some sense of
what they're going to do with their time.
"There's a set of financial conditions and psychological and
qualitative conditions," Wright said. "Not having both can spell
peril for the retiree."
Bill Frisbie, 64, who retired from his job selling print
products 2 1/2 years ago because of Parkinson's disease, said he
would have continued to work if he hadn't gotten sick.
"I liked the thrill of the hunt," he said. "I worked 60-hour,
70-hour weeks. I actually miss that."
Diminished benefits
He worries that if his wife, Lynette, 57 and an executive with
the Western wear company Sheplers Inc., retires too early,
she'll be bored or risk outliving their savings.
On the other hand, he said, the couple have been working with
Wright to determine whether they have the resources for her to
join him in retirement in a couple of years.
"The real positive side is that it would give us more time
together," Frisbie said.
Experts say there are a number of issues Boomers should weigh
before plunging into retirement.
While Americans can begin collecting Social Security at age 62,
their monthly benefit check will be at least 25 percent smaller
than it would be if they wait to full retirement age. The impact
on benefits can be determined at the Social Security Web site,
www.socialsecurity.gov.
Search for the "retirement age calculator" and then click on
"age 62 benefit" for the analysis.
Health
care crucial
Bryan Beatty, a fee-based asset manager in Vienna, Va., said
many would-be early retirees also overlook health care costs.
"A lot of people don't realize that Medicare doesn't kick in
until age 65," he said. Medicare is the federal health insurance
program that provides hospitalization, medical and drug
coverage.
Bridging the gap in coverage between 62 and 65 can be expensive,
he said, especially for workers who don't have retiree health
coverage. In some cases, a worker can take advantage of a
spouse's coverage. In others, they can buy 18 months of coverage
from their former employers under a program known by the acronym
COBRA.
An alternative is private health insurance, "but you better not
have any pre-existing conditions," Beatty warned.
Drew Denning, vice president for the retiree services division
at the Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa, said
Boomers also need to "make sure your nest egg is at critical
mass."
He noted that studies by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research
Institute in Washington and other groups have found that a
majority of Americans haven't saved enough and haven't tried to
estimate retirement expenses.
Denning's quick formula: Figure that you'll spend in retirement
70 to 100 percent of what you do before retirement. Subtract
your Social Security benefit. Subtract your pension, if you've
got one. Say the result is that you need an additional $50,000 a
year. Multiply that number by 20 to 25.
In this case, your nest egg needs to be at least $1 million,
which will allow withdrawal at a rate of 4 to 5 percent a year
to support your lifestyle. Because the numbers are so
daunting, many Boomers will have to work beyond 62, he said.
"Frankly, you're better off knowing at 62 that you can't afford
to retire until 65 than to find out at 75 that you can't make
it," Denning said.
Options in starting Social Security
Drew Denning, vice president of the retiree services division at
the Principal Financial Group, suggests that Baby Boomers look
at several factors before deciding when to collect Social
Security benefits:
Take Social Security early:
-- If you don't expect to live long
-- If you have a rich pension
Take benefits at full retirement age, which is 66 or older for
Boomers:
-- If you expect to live a very long life
-- If you can live on other assets until 70, then count on
Social Security as a guaranteed income stream
Used with permission of The Associated Press © 2008 All Rights
Reserved.
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