Scam Alert

Here's some useful information from the Better Business Bureau about popular scams:

1. Sweepstakes Scam:  You've won a prize.  Just pay a fee and they'll send your reward.

2. Romance Scam:  Scammers get your name from an online dating service, ask to communicate outside of the service so they get your email or text.

3. Secret Shopper Jobs:  Great jobs with high paying companies as a mystery shopper.  Of course, you have to send a check or wire money first.

4. Medicare/Healthcare Scam:  Scammers say they're from Medicare and ask for your Medicare number and other personal information so they can bill Medicare for services you never received.

5. Emergency Scam:  The popular "grandparent" scam in which your grandchild calls from jail and needs you to bail him/her out.  People who have gotten these calls say the caller sounds just like their grandchild.

6. Risk-Free Trial Offers: All sorts of products but once the "free time" is over, you get billed.

7. Utility Company Scam: Scammers ring your doorbell and tell you they can get you cheaper utility bills and try to get your account information so they can switch you to a different service.

8.Neighborhood Spoofing:  Your caller ID shows a number with the same area code as yours or even some of the same digits as your phone number so you pick up the phone.  Don't ever press the number to get off their list--doesn't work.  You get more calls.

9. Tech support scam:  Caller says s/he is from Microsoft or other tech company and says there's a problem on your computer.  Once you let them on, they can steal your personal information.

10. Arrest Scam:  Caller says it's the IRS or the police and you have to meet them somewhere to pay a fine and avoid arrest.

11. Hotel Scam:  The "front desk" calls your room number and says they've had a problem running your credit card and asks you to give them the correct number.

12. New Friends Scam:  This isn't a phone scam, but several times I've had teenagers come to my door saying they've just moved in on the next block and want to "meet the neighbors."

Be vigilant!  Don't give out your personal information over the phone.  Below are some useful numbers to call if you think you've been scammed:

FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors:  844 574 3577

Adult Protective Services 800 252 5400

U.S. Postal Inspector  800 654 8896

Securities and Exchange Commission 817 978 3821

Quotes for Summer

The Best Birthday Gift

This year my children gave me the best birthday gift ever, a mason jar labeled 30 Amazing Things About You.  Inside were 30 tiny personalized notes each rolled up and tied with string.  Instructions were to take out one note each day for 30 days.  The notes were about what I'd done as a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, speech pathologist and just as a person.  What a delight to reach into the jar and take out a note each morning.  I've gotten lots of gifts from my kids over the years but this was the most thoughtful, the very best.
Check out TheMasonJarInc on Etsy.

quote for the week

In these times, don't ask the meaning of life.

Life is asking, 

"What's the meaning of you?"

Quote from the beginning of Scott Pelley's book Truth Worth Telling

Daddy's Hats (In Honor of Father's Day)

In the corner of my living room, my family history hangs on a hat rack.  Five generations, from my grandmother to my granddaughter.  

My father's hats are my favorite.  He is the only family member who has two hats in my collection.

One is his crimson Shriner's fez.  He joined the Shriners because it was a good venue for business connections, but as years went by Shriners became more than just a group of business associates.  One of their subgroups, the Caravaneers, planned the annual Shrine parade, and he enthusiastically joined in the fun.  He devoted much time to raising funds for Shriners' support for disabled and burned children, never imagining that someday I would become of those burn victims when my dress caught fire from a gas heater.

His other hat is the one he wore every day, a soft brown fedora.  I never learned why he felt most comfortable in hats, but I always associated him with them, and when he died, I asked for the hat he'd worn to the hospital.  He was my hero, and that is the most personal memory I have of him.

Quote for the Week

Charles and Ray Eames, a husband and wife team, designed the iconic Eames chair.

Here's a quote from Charles:
"Anything I can do, my wife and do better."

What a great guy!

Book of May

Didn't read many books in May.  I saw reviews for this book, one of which billed it as a Handmaid's Tale kind of read.  Since The Handmaid's Tale is one of my favorites, I got this book for my Kindle.  Young immigrant girls who are desperate for money are lured into becoming surrogates for women who are either unable to have children or too busy (Kim Kardashian types, I guess).. They live at Golden Oaks and monitored constantly so their babies will be perfect.  Some of them want to leave, etc. etc. Very pat ending.  B

Update on Game of Thrones.  I am still in book 1, chapter 30.  Only 94 hours left to finish all 5.