Smishing

 Smishing, a new form of phishing:

Text:

You failed to pay a toll charge on the Interstate Freeway. Please pay $8.50 on the link below within three days.

E-mail:

You failed to pay a parking ticket from the 1st of February. To avoid having your car towed please pay $15 at the linked below within 48 hours.

Except:

You were not on the freeway and you never received a traffic ticket.

DELETE! 

This blog is for consumer information only, and is not an attempt to provide accounting, tax, insurance, investment or medical advice.

Professional advice should be obtained from qualified/certified/licensed professionals.

Disclaimer

 This blog is for consumer information only, and is not an attempt to provide accounting, tax, insurance, investment or medical advice.

Professional advice should be obtained from qualified/certified/licensed professionals.

Work the Phones, Work the Internet

 

How to get the Covid vaccine?

Work the phones, work the Internet if you are able.

Watch local media and make notes on vaccine sites and schedules.

Call the county health department (they may have a special line).

Call your pharmacy. Regularly.

Be polite and persistent.

Deferred Health Care

 

Due to the pandemic many Americans, and especially many seniors, are delaying and deferring diagnostic and preventative health care.

There is natural concern about walking into a health care setting.

There is very little indication that using routine health care services is a risk for contracting Coronavirus.

Talk to your physician or the office staff about the safety versus risk of routine health care services.

cross posted: healthcarethinktank@blogspot.com

Medicare Danger and Trumpcare Farce

 

Lots of private companies use "Medicare" in their names and websites.

These companies have nothing to do with Medicare other than possibly supplemental insurance for Medicare recipients. Be very careful with any communications you have with them. Better to go through a live insurance agent in your community, or an association or fraternal group with very clean reputations.

As to "Trumpcare," it does not exist, it is a marketing gimmick. Be very careful with private insurance plans.

And as always, do not give information over the phone to cold callers. Ask for their name, hang up, and do some research.

protectingseniorcitizens@gmail.com

Disaster in the Making - Pharmacy via United States Postal Service

 

As the Trump administration has now admitted to sabotaging the postal service in the run up to the election, many seniors may find their pharmacy-by-mail is no longer reliable or timely.

It is critical to find alternatives just in case, and to understand that you may pay more for your prescriptions.

Veterans who receive prescriptions via mail should anticipate problems and look for alternate sources.

 

Back Up Everything

We live in a world of files.

Paper files and digital file. Documents and photos.

Lots of things can destroy our files - fire, flood, wind, power surges, theft - all of these can destroy our files.

Fortunately there are lots of ways to back up our files - copiers, scanners, digital copies, safe deposit boxes, home vaults - all of these can back up critical files.

So the key is good habits and the effort to back up the files.

We can buy a home printer/scanner/copier for under $100. For bulk copying there are office supply stores.

For really critical documents, email it to yourself as an attachment, or take a photo with your camera and email it to yourself.

Always back up your files! 

No No No (Social Security edition)

No, your Social Security number has not been suspended.

Despite the emails and phone calls you are receiving.

The Social Security Administration does not suspend your number, even if your identity has been stolen.

Your earnings records are still there. Your benefits will still be paid.

NEVER give anyone your Social Security number over the phone, unless you initiated the call and you are certain who you are talking to.

Capitol One Hack

Major banking and credit card company Capitol One was recently hacked.

Time to panic?

Not really, because:

1. they stole so much data the odds of yours being used is pretty low
2. if you have an Internet presence you have probably been hacked many times already

So what to do? What you should do all of the time anyway!

Watch your bank statements. Better yet get online and check daily.

Watch your snail mail. If you get correspondence that does not fit your finances check on it.

Be vigilant all of the time regardless of where you bank.

Ambush Medical Billing

A hospital has many units but they are all the same company, right?

Wrong.

These days a hospital can be a building with lots of contractors and subcontractors. This is often the case with the Emergency Department.

So although the hospital has a contract with your insurance company at a set rate, the Emergency Department may not have such a contract. And the Emergency Department can bill you whatever outrageous amount they want to bill you. And you are on the hook.

Both federal and state politicians are looking at this issue and trying to find a fix.

Buyer beware.

Sketchy Fund Raisers

A group that raised more than $20 million online to "build the wall" for President Trump bought a yacht and apparently partied through much of the money.

Some "charities" spend 85-95% of their funds on administration and fund raising.

Daily there are on-line charity appeals for specific cases and various on-going charities. And then there are the political pitches. Some are outright phony, and some are deceptive.

Many smaller political action committees (PACs) and some charities burn up most of their money on administration and more fund raising, so they can then pay themselves bigger salaries.

Charities in particular use "words" to pull at your wallet. "Veterans" and "cancer" are two of the best magic words for sketchy fund raisers.

Do some homework before giving money to charity or political causes, especially smaller and lesser known charities.

Miracle Cures

Advertisements abound for miracle cures for seniors.

Stem cells:

Stem cell clinics are popping up everywhere promising cures and possibly a fountain of youth.

There is scant valid evidence that stem cells cure much of anything in seniors, especially aging. They will make your wallet skinny.

Cheap surgery:

Several Florida plastic surgery clinics are losing licenses due to killing and mutilating patients.

The lure was cheap plastic surgery. Cheap and surgery are not really compatible.

Some of the clinics were owned by felons with no medical background. Oops.

Medical Tourism:

Travel to Mexico or India and get surgery for less money.

Sometimes this works very well, sometimes it is a disaster.

Buyer beware.



 

I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.......

Scammers posing as employees of the Internal Revenue Service or the Social Security Administration are  running scams on people searching for anything from Social Security numbers to wire transfers of funds.

Often they are aided by phone spoofing, your caller ID with pop up with phony information.

The Internal Revenue Service will never initiate an inquiry via phone, they always start with a letter and they will usually only talk to you if you call them.

The Social Security Administration will rarely call you unless you have called them first. If you are suspicious hang up and call the number listed in your phone book, preferably for a local office.Never give anyone your SSN unless you have initiated the call and are 100% certain you are talking to a genuine person.

Neither agency will ever ask for wire transfers, or gift cards or Green Dot cards to be done immediately.

If pressured on the phone ask for a number and say "I am going to talk to my CPA" or "I am going to talk to my lawyer" and then hang up the phone! HANG UP THE PHONE.

Medicare, Obamacare, Trumpcare

Mailers, email ads, tv ads - all blaring out notices about the next great thing in health care insurance.

Most are at least some degree of fraud and many are outright fraud.

There is absolutely no such thing as Trumpcare, technically there is no such thing as Obamacare, and just about anybody can thrown the word Medicare into an ad without being legitimate.

Buyer beware, very very beware.

Scams Galore

Tis the season.

The scammers are out in full force. They have all sort of clever ways to scare old people.

One tip off is when they need immediate payment, by Western Union, Green Dot cards, or now gift cards. This is not how anyone legitimate works.

If you get a call that a grandchild has been kidnapped, or arrested, or the IRS needs payment today * , ask for a call back number and hang up. Then make calls to find out where your family is really at.

Do not be alarmed into making a terrible mistake.



*the IRS never initiates contact via telephone, always by mail

"Tis the Season - Scams

This year gift card scams seem to be the hot, hot thing.

Buy your gift cards from reputable stores or well known websites. Be careful of "too good to be true" sales.

Cash can be a Problem Part I

As a result of the "war on drugs" and attempts to thwart international money laundering the federal government has created a problem for ordinary people. Using cash can be a problem.

Cash transactions of $10,000 or more are reported to the IRS by your bank.

Cash transactions less than $10,000 can be reported to the IRS if your bank suspects you of "structuring," that is, structuring deposits to consistently stay below the $10,000.

Some senior citizens prefer to deal in cash, but just understand that cash is viewed as a problem.

If you are stopped by a police officer and are found to be carrying a large amount of cash, the police may seize the cash even if they find no evidence of any criminal activity. These "civil asset forfeitures" have been a legal but controversial funding source for many local governments. If you are a minority the odds of having your cash seized are higher. Some courts have recently rediscovered the Constitution, so there is hope.

Going out of the country? There are special rules for cash and funds transfers, so check before you fly.

Use common sense and check the rules ahead of time.

Medicare, Trumpcare, Obamacare

Anyone over the age of 55 gets a steady stream of insurance advertising materials, and anyone who watches television sees a steady stream of commercials for health care insurance.

Just because an advertising uses the word Medicare does not make it anything official, in fact most such advertising is suspicious. There are legitimate advertisements for Medicare supplements.  Be careful.

There is no such thing as "Trumpcare" and legally there is no such thing as "Obamacare," just a nickname.

And remember, cheap insurance is.......cheap, which means not good.

Paying for Tax Cuts

The Republicans passed massive tax cuts that will explode the deficit for the next decade (at least).

How to minimize the damage?

The House Republicans are proposing significant changes to Medicare, which will increase the out-of-pocket costs of most beneficiaries.

But didn't President Trump promise to protect Medicare?  This is now defined as "protecting Medicare."

Stay tuned.

Passwords

Too many people still have such passwords as "Password" or "12345" or names readily available on your Facebook.

There is a new theory about a safe password you can remember.

Take the first line from your favorite hymn, a Bible verse, a favorite song, a play you enjoy, or a book you treasure.

So if you like Amazing Grace:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound becomes "Aghsts2018"

The 23rd Psalm becomes  Tlimsisnw2018.

Change the year annually, and change the password to another favorite at least annually.

It will be more difficult for hackers to guess these passwords, but the passwords can still be hacked from the web sourced.