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Senate committee to consider companion bill Monday

Volunteers lobby legislators on caregiving and the cost of prescription drugs.

Winter is upon us and with temperatures plummeting in many areas, keeping the heat on is critical — a fact that fraud criminals try to take advantage of. Each winter, utility scams spike as scammers claiming to be from the utility company say you haven’t been paying your bill and they threaten to cut off service if you don’t make an immediate payment. The goal of these crooks is to create a sense of panic – when we react first with emotion, it’s hard to access logical thinking, and the criminals are adept with using this tactic. Their hope is that we stay in that state of panic long enough to complete a payment.

One key to shopping online is reading the fine print, including who you’re actually buying from. While we often think of giant online retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target as a store they can be more like a mall or flea market where you are buying products from a variety of sellers. However, some of those sellers are more reputable than others.

The annual program aims to make communities in Virginia more livable for people of all ages

AARP Virginia advocates will fight for a prescription drug affordability board, ask lawmakers to give family caregivers a tax break and work to improve the quality of care for nursing home residents when legislators come to town on Wednesday.

If you’re like a lot of people, you spent a lot this holiday season and you might be in the mood to tackle your debt in the New Year. Getting yourself out of debt is hard work. It takes time and discipline. Be wary of offers of guaranteed quick fixes.

Virginia’s nursing homes are beset by inadequate staffing levels and mediocre quality, according to a new AARP scorecard on long-term care. Addressing these deficiencies will be a top priority for AARP Virginia during this year’s state legislative session, which gets underway in January.

It’s New Year’s Resolution time. Time to make a commitment to be fraud aware in 2024. For the next 52 weeks, like clockwork, scammers will be on the prowl looking to steal our money or sensitive information. Instead of making one pledge this New Year make a resolution to remember these three words: stop, think and verify.

If there is one thing we know, it’s that criminal scammers are not stupid. They often use cutting-edge technologies to make their schemes more sophisticated and harder to detect. However, these same technologies can – and should – be used to protect people as well.