When a person is victimized by a scam, the victim is often portrayed as “falling for” something. This misses the part of the story of how skilled these criminals are at moving us to an emotional state, where our logical thinking takes a backseat. It also neglects how sophisticated many of these scams are.
There are plenty of reputable contests and sweepstakes out there (including some from AARP), and let’s be honest, winning feels great! However, there are questionable characters out there who are trying to hook you on winning to reel in the profits for themselves.
With the tech support scam, you get an online popup or a call from a well-known tech company (like Microsoft or Apple) that a virus has been identified on your computer. The scammer convinces you that he can fix the problem for a fee. Victims who catch on and stop payment are now getting hit with an associated scam.
A law passed in 2015 requires Medicare to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. Beneficiaries will begin to receive their new cards in May, and the rollout will continue into 2019. This is a good move, since Social Security numbers are the key to identity theft, and having them displayed on Medicare cards has long presented risk. Unfortunately, scammers have come up with ways to take advantage of this change.
AARP Oklahoma is recognizing some of the Oklahoma FFA’s best and brightest chapters and students with a video, which launched on AARP social media on April 20. The video features 10 Oklahoma FFA chapters that have achieved Model of Excellence recognition by the FFA. Model of Excellence chapters recognized include Burns Flat-Dill City, Colcord, Elgin, Fairview, Howe, Oologah, Owasso, Perkins-Tryon, Stillwater, and Tulsa-Webster.
As wildfires continue to move across the western portion of our state, AARP Oklahoma stands in solidarity with our friends and neighbors impacted, as well as the first responders working tirelessly to fight the fires.