|
White House Blog Features World Elder Abuse Awareness Day to
coincide with National and International Recognition Events
Every American deserves to live his or her golden years with dignity
and respect. Unfortunately, too many of our country's seniors are abused
and neglected, often by the very people responsible for their care.
According to the best available estimates, approximately 700,000 to 3.5
million older Americans are abused, neglected, or exploited each year.
Elders who experience abuse, neglect, or self‐neglect face considerably higher risk of
premature death, up to 300% higher, than elders who have not been mistreated.
Elder abuse can occur anywhere, and it affects seniors across
America, of all socioeconomic groups, cultures, and races. Across these
groups, however, studies show that the majority of victims are female. To
read the rest of the blog, please visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/issues/Seniors-%2526-Social-Security
Get Ready for
National Night Out with the Go Direct ® Campaign
National Night Out
(NNO) is August 3! Go Direct® campaign messages fit well with this annual
event's neighborhood safety theme, so consider handing out Go Direct
campaign and Direct Express® card fliers at NNO events in your area.
Getting federal benefits electronically is a simple way senior citizens and
others can protect their money from financial crimes such as check theft
and fraud.
In addition to fliers,
free
materials that can be easily added to your newsletters, presentations
and other safety-related activities are available, including:
- Talking
points – Include these key messages in presentations,
workshops or meetings.
- Newsletter
copy – Information suitable for an article highlighting the
importance of getting federal benefit payments electronically.
- PowerPoint
slides – These informational slides provide the basics
about direct deposit, the Go Direct campaign and the Direct Express®
card and can be easily added to existing presentations.
- Website
text – A brief message to include on your website about the
benefits of electronic payments.
If you would like to order
printed materials, make sure to place your order by mid-July to
ensure supplies arrive in advance of your NNO events.
Safety Tips For Older
Drivers
STATE — While traffic safety
is important for all drivers, seniors experience physical changes that
can affect their driving abilities. Although some seniors can drive well
into their 70s, 80s and 90s, others cannot. It can be a tough adjustment
for people who are used to using their cars to visit friends and family,
attend doctor appointments and go shopping.
Seniors often equate losing
their driving privileges to becoming dependent and losing control and
spontaneity in their lives. However, there are simple safety steps older
adults can take to ensure they are driving safely.
Vision
The ability to see clearly while driving changes with age. According to
AAA, the amount of light needed to drive nearly doubles every 13 years.
For example, a 45-year-old requires four times as much light as a
19-year-old, and a 60-year-old requires 10 times as much.
Change in vision is a common
reason why many seniors have restricted licenses or have their licenses
revoked. Good vision is crucial to driving and senior drivers should keep
the following in mind:
- Get
an annual eye exam. Your eyes change rapidly and early detection can
slow the progress of many eye problems.
- Limit
driving to the daytime. It takes more time for aging eyes to adjust
to the glare of oncoming headlights.
- Keep
your head and eyes moving. While driving look ahead of your vehicle
for other vehicles, pedestrians, animals or hazards. While
driving in the city look at least one block ahead and on the highway
look 12 to 15 seconds ahead. Glance frequently in your rearview
mirror.
- Keep
your headlights, taillights and the inside and outside of your
windshield clean. Choose a car with a clear windshield as tinted
windows can reduce the amount of light entering the eye.
- Avoid
wearing eyeglasses and sunglasses with wide frames that may restrict
your side vision. Always keep your eyeglasses clean.
Medications
Many senior drivers take medications that may affect safe driving,
leading to drowsiness and confusion. Seniors should talk to their doctors
about the effects their medications may have on their driving abilities
and follow these guidelines:
- Read
the fine print. Many prescription and over-the-counter medication
labels include the message “Do not use while operating heavy
machinery.” Be cognizant of the warnings on your medications before
getting behind the wheel.
- Consult
with your doctor before taking any new medications. The interaction
between certain drugs can affect your ability to safely drive.
- If
any medications cause fatigue or disorientation, stop driving.
Physical and Mental
Fitness
Driving takes strength, flexibility and coordination and seniors should
continue to participate in physical exercise to keep their motor skills
sharp. Mental fitness is also important as older minds sometimes react
more slowly than younger minds. Here are some ways for seniors to enhance
their physical and mental fitness:
- Take
a brisk walk every day or start a garden in your backyard to stay
physically fit.
- Stimulate
your brain. Activities such as crossword puzzles, brain teasers and
card games stimulate your mind and enhance your problem solving,
memory, reasoning and concentration skills.
Alternatives for
Older Drivers
A person’s driving ability is dependent on many factors. Chronological
age is not always the best predictor of one’s ability to drive safely. If
you or your loved one has had a series of minor accidents, is unable to
concentrate, is getting lost on familiar roads or is unable to read or
recognize ordinary road signs, it may be time to step out from behind the
wheel. However, there are alternatives available. In-home care agencies
such as Right at Home offer many companion services including
transportation to doctor’s appointments and recreational activities, as
well as shopping and errand services.
“We know that living
independently has many benefits and we are privileged to help older
adults maintain their independence and enjoy a full life,” said Beth
Sholom, Owner of Right at Home of CNJ, LLC. “All older adults and their
loved ones should be aware of traffic safety.”
Seniors can also utilize
public transportation where available. There are often community agencies
that provide volunteer transportation services for seniors, as well.
These alternatives can give retired drivers the independence they once
had while keeping them out of harm’s way.
Let's work together to
combat Prescription Drug Abuse
Dear Friends,
Prescription drug abuse is
the fastest-growing drug problem in the United States. Because
prescription drugs are legal, they are easily accessible, often from a
home medicine cabinet. Further, some individuals who abuse prescription
drugs, particularly teens, believe these substances are safer than
illicit drugs because they are prescribed by a healthcare professional
and sold behind the counter.
Physicians, law enforcement
officials, teachers, parents, grandparents, and young people need to know
about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. A recent national survey of
high-school students reported that among 12th graders surveyed, 7 of the
top 10 abused substances are pharmaceuticals. Between 1997 and 2007, treatment
admissions for prescription painkillers increased more than 400 percent.
Between 2004 and 2008, the number of visits to hospital emergency
departments involving the non-medical use of narcotic painkillers
increased 111 percent. And we know from the latest National Survey on
Drug Use and Health that most people who abuse these drugs are getting
them from friends and family or from a doctor.
ONDCP is committed to making
efforts to prevent and reduce prescription drug abuse and emergency room
visits resulting from that abuse. You can support this initiative:
- Carefully
monitor prescription drugs in the home;
- If
you have unused or expired prescription drugs, properly dispose of
them at a law enforcement-sponsored take-back event in your
community;
- Support
efforts to educate physicians about opiate painkiller prescribing;
- Share
information about the dangers of prescription drug abuse with your
family, friends, and members of the public through newsletters,
emails, and websites, including adding ONDCP's Prescription Drug
image to your site to raise awareness about the issue (instructions
for adding this image can be found here).
Together, we can help spread
an important message: If you have unused prescription drugs in your home,
dispose of them properly. Don't take medication that isn't prescribed to
you. If you know of a friend, work colleague, or loved one who you think
might be abusing prescription drugs, get them help.
For more information, visit
the webpage,
read the fact
sheet, or check out the Director's
blog post about the ONDCP prescription drug abuse initiative.
If you have a story
about what you or your community is doing to combat prescription drug
abuse, we encourage you to share it with us. We are interested in hearing
from your community and believe great ideas come from inside and outside
government, from large organizations, or a single, small effort. Learning
about your work in prescription drug abuse prevention can help inform
programs and assist us in our policy work. Let's work together to
eliminate this fast-growing drug problem.
Stay Connected with NCJRS!
Register Now! Free registration with NCJRS keeps you informed about new
publications, grant and funding opportunities, and other news and
announcements. To register, visit: http://www.ncjrs.gov/subreg.html
Scammers Cry Wolf
The Attorney General's Office
has recently received reports of an international scam involving con
artists hacking into Hoosiers' personal email accounts to send out crys
for help in hopes they will receive money in exchange. Among those impacted
was State Representative Sandy Blanton (D-Orleans).
In Representative Blanton's
case, the scammer used her personal email account to send out messages
that claimed she was stranded in Malaysia and in desparate need
for people to wire money to her as soon as possible so she could return
home to Indiana.
In another reported case, the
scammer used a victim's email account to request that money be wired
to a foreign county claiming that the victim was on vacation overseas and
had lost their wallet.
Many international scams are
initiated through the Internet; victims range in age from 18 to 81 and
come from all socio-economic backgrounds.
Unfortunately hackers can
sometimes prey upon the most cautious of consumers - those
that safeguard their email accounts by using hard to predict
passwords. While this may be unavoidable, consumers can take precautions
to protect themselves from scams by spotting red flags such as
requests to wire money.
Putting Elderly
Drivers to the Test
Originally printed at
http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/97812584.html
This fall, hitting the road
will be different for elderly drivers. A new law will go into effect
requiring those 75 years and older to pass a vision test every 10 years.
Some locals like the state taking a harder stance on who's getting behind
the wheel
"They're taking someone
else's life in jeopardy," said Terri Bailey of Greenfield.
The Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety says the rate of car accidents people get into starts to
grow when they hit the age of 65 and AAA says at 85 the rate of fatal car
accidents is nearly four times that of teen drivers.
"Older people, I'll be
surprised about the way they drive but sometimes they take their time
when they cross or don't see the crossing light," said Angel Alecea
or Springfield.
Just last Friday in Ware a 95
year old driver hit a person on the crosswalk by Walgreen's on West St.
The driver was cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian, the victim was
OK. This May in East Longmeadow an 87-year old pedestrian wasn't so
lucky. He lost his life after being struck by an 86-year old driver. Some
feel older drivers on the road can be a problem waiting to happen.
"You'd rather be safe
than sorry. You don't want to get into a car accident because and elderly
person doesn't have great site," said driver Elder Gonzalez in
Springfield.
The Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety also says the elderly driver and their passengers are in
the most danger in car accidents. Meaning when this law goes into effect
in 90 days. it's for the safety of elderly drivers as well.
"it's for their own
protection," Alecea said.
Identity Theft Cases
Up 23% 2005-7; 3% Of Households Hit
The number of U.S. households
with at least one member who experienced one or more types of identity
theft increased 23 percent from 2005 to 2007, says the U.S. Bureau of
Justice Statistics. A new compilation from the agency says that in the
period studied, the number of households that experienced credit card
theft increased by 31 percent and the number that experienced multiple
types of theft during the same episode increased by 37 percent.
BJS said that during a six
month period in 2008 which identity theft victimization data was collected
as part of the regular nationa crime victimization survey, 3.3 percent of
households discovered that at least one member had been a victim of one
or more types of identity theft. Households with incomes of $75,000 or
more experienced a higher rate of identity theft than did households in
lower income brackets. Identity Theft Reported by Households, 2007 -
Statistical Tables Katrina Baum, Lynn Langton June 30,
2010 NCJ 230742
Presents data on identity
theft victimization reported by households from the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS). These statistical tables provide 2007
data on rates and types of identity theft, as well as demographic
characteristics of victimized households and their monetary losses.
Tables compare rates of identity theft victimization in 2005 to 2007.
Estimates from the last half of 2008 are also presented and compared to
estimates from the same 6-month period in 2007.
Highlights include
the following:
- The
number of households with at least one member who experienced one or
more types of identity theft increased 23% from 2005 to 2007.
- From
2005 to 2007, the number of households that experienced credit card
theft increased by 31% and the number that experienced multiple
types during the same episode increased by 37%.
- During
the 6-month period in 2008 for which identity theft victimization
data was collected as part of the regular NCVS, 3.3% of households
discovered that at least one member had been a victim of one or more
types of identity theft.
Part of the Identity
Theft Series, PDF(210K),
ASCII
file (8K), Spreadsheets
(Zip format 10K)
A
Novel Twist for Prosecution of Hate Crimes
Queens County District Attorney's Office
Sherry Kaslov, Shirley
Miller, Wando Delmaro and Alexandra Gilmore all were convicted of crimes
against the elderly. A hate crime law is being used to stiffen penalties
for such offenses.
By ANNE
BARNARD
Published: June 22, 2010
In the public’s imagination,
the classic hate crime is an assault born of animus against a particular
ethnicity or sexual orientation, like the case of the Long Island man convicted
in April
of killing an Ecuadorean immigrant after hunting for Hispanics to beat
up.
But in Queens since 2005, at
least five people have been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to,
committing a very different kind of hate crime — singling out elderly
victims for nonviolent crimes like mortgage fraud because they believed
older people would be easy to deceive and might have substantial savings
or home equity.
And this month, Queens
prosecutors charged two women with stealing more than $31,000 from three
elderly men they had befriended separately. The women, Gina L. Miller,
39, and Sylvia Johns, 23, of Flushing, were charged with grand larceny as
a hate crime.
This approach, which is being
closely watched by prosecutors across New York State, has won Queens
prosecutors stiffer sentences, including prison for criminals who could
otherwise go free, even after draining an elderly person’s savings.
Without a hate crime, theft of less than $1 million carries no mandatory
prison time; with it, the thief must serve for a year and may face 25.
The legal thinking behind the
novel method is that New York’s hate crimes statute does not require
prosecutors to prove defendants “hate” the group the victim belongs to,
merely that they commit the crime because of some belief, correct or not,
they hold about the group.
“Criminals that prey on the
elderly, they love the elderly — this is their source of wealth,” said
Kristen A. Kane, a Queens assistant district attorney.
Led by Ms. Kane, who runs a
specialized elder
fraud unit, the efforts have made the Queens district attorney, Richard
A. Brown, a leader in finding new uses for hate crime laws,
prosecutors in other jurisdictions say. Scott Burns, executive director
of the National District Attorneys’ Association, said he had not heard of
another office using hate crimes as Queens does.
Neither had Kathleen B.
Hogan, president of the State District Attorneys Association. But she
looked into the efforts after hearing about it from a reporter, called it
“an epiphany” and said she would suggest it to the group’s committee on
best practices. Some New York prosecutors, who asked not to be named
because they did not intend to criticize colleagues, said that while the
approach intrigued them, they were waiting to see if convictions were
overturned on appeal before considering it.
The strategy has never been
tested in appellate court; many of those charged have pleaded guilty,
waiving their right to appeal. But Queens trial judges have allowed it
against defense lawyers who argue that the hate crime charges are
inappropriate.
Some people concerned about
the prevalence of more classically understood bigotry say that new uses
of the hate crime law could ultimately dilute its power. The main purpose
of the law, said Steven Freeman, legal affairs director at the Anti-Defamation
League, is to stiffen penalties for crimes that inflict additional
fear on marginalized groups like ethnic or religious minorities or gays.
New
York’s law is ambiguous. It says prosecutors must prove only a crime
was committed “because of a belief or perception regarding the race,
color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice,
age, disability or sexual orientation of a person.”
But the language that opens
the legislation clearly focuses on hate: “Crimes motivated by invidious
hatred toward particular groups not only harm individual victims but send
a powerful message of intolerance and discrimination to all members of
the group to which the victim belongs.”
For Ms. Kane, there is no
debate. “We don’t have a whole lot of tools,” she said. “We should
utilize what the legislature has given us.”
It all started with Sunshine.
That was the nickname of Nancy Jace, who bilked five elderly men out of
$250,000, pretending to romance them and persuading them to pay for
fictitious family emergencies. Ms. Kane was frustrated when Ms. Jace, 37,
pleaded guilty in 2004 and served just six months in jail.
When a similar defendant came
along, Ms. Kane had an idea. Shirley Miller, 43, who hoodwinked four
elderly men out of $500,000, became the first New Yorker charged with
grand larceny as a hate crime against the elderly. She pleaded guilty and
served four months, but would have faced one to three years if she had
not paid $175,000 in restitution. In 2006, Sherry Kaslov, 30, pleaded
guilty to similar charges; she served four months and was hit with 10
years of probation.
Those sentences may not sound
huge, Ms. Kane said, but the hate charge gave her extra leverage in plea
bargaining. By winning felony pleas and probation, prosecutors ensured
that repeat offenders would receive strong sentences.
The cases kept coming. In
2006, Natasha
Marks, 20, was convicted of swindling more than $1 million from an
86-year-old man as a hate crime, including taking out a $550,000 mortgage
on his house; a fugitive, she faces two to six years. Wando Delmaro was
sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty to a hate crime: posing as a water-company
employee and distracting elderly people while accomplices burglarized
them.
The next year in Brooklyn, a
high-profile case bolstered Ms. Kane. Michael Sandy, a gay man, died
after robbers chased him into traffic. One defendant testified that he
was gay. The judge ruled that he could still be charged with a hate crime
since prosecutors said he went after Mr. Sandy believing gay men were
easier to rob. Jurors convicted him but later complained that they did
not think the hate crime applied.
Then there was Alexandra
Gilmore, 37, who took $800,000 from Artee McKoy, 93, a retired barber and
old friend of her late father who had Alzheimer’s disease. She stole his
house and tricked him into refinancing another. She pleaded guilty last
year and is serving two to six years.
Maria Thompson, Mr. McKoy’s
daughter, wanted Ms. Gilmore to get even more time. Her father died in
2008, and she is still struggling in court to get control of his estate.
In the meantime, the house where she grew up is foreclosed and padlocked.
She cannot enter to sort her father’s possessions or find a photograph to
remember him by. She has no idea if she and her four siblings will
ultimately inherit any equity in the home, which had been fully paid off
before the scheme.
Mr. McKoy’s own kindness
inspired the scheme, said Ms. Thompson, 69, who works as a greeter at
Wal-Mart. When Ms. Gilmore’s father died, he lent her money to avoid
foreclosure of her own house, revealing that he had savings, “and then
she ripped him off,” Ms. Thompson said.
Ms. Kane got another crack at
Ms. Jace. She is now serving 8 to 24 years for defrauding a series of
landlords, a sentence stiffened by her plea to the earlier hate crime.
Ms. Kane did not charge one this time.
“Most victims were elderly,”
she said a bit ruefully, “but not all.”
RSVP is here to serve
seniors
Janet McNeely
The Retired & Senior
Volunteer Program sponsored by the City of Natchez as part of the Natchez
Senior Citizen Center has served the community well for the past 36
years.
Frances Trosclair became the
first RSVP director in 1974; Barbara Byrne continued as director in 1977
when Mrs. Trosclair took over as director of the Natchez Senior Center.
Mrs. Byrne served as RSVP director for 15 years until she became the next
director of the senior center in 1992. At that time, I moved up from
assistant director to director of RSVP. Then, when Mrs. Byrne retired in
2000, Mrs. Sabrena Bartley took over as executive director of the senior
center.
In my 20.5 years with the
RSVP program, much change has occurred over the years. In 1974, 50
volunteers joined up at RSVP. The last charter member, who died a couple
of years ago, was Johnnie Craig. Today, we have 400 senior volunteers
serving 60,283 hours at 18 volunteer agencies and organizations in our
community.
That Natchez Children’s Home,
Natchez Community Hospital, Natchez Regional Medical Center, Natchez
Retiree Partnership, AARP, Natchez Senior Center and American Red Cross
are just a few of our volunteer stations where our RSVP volunteers serve.
Since 1996, RSVP has been a
part of the Senior Corps under the federal agency, the Corporation for
National Community Service. Since then, great strides have been made to
improve and increase performance measures in many of the RSVP volunteer
stations.
Beginning in 2013, all RSVP organizations
around the state and country will be competing for federal dollars
according to how well each RSVP program successfully performs. Currently
there are 500,000 senior volunteers serving at more than 400 RSVP
projects around the country. The state of Mississippi has 12 RSVP
projects, plus Senior Companion and Foster Grandparent programs.
TRIAD, one of RSVP’s
successful volunteer stations, is currently in its 12th year of
operation. Our Natchez, Adams County TRIAD consists of the Adams County
Sheriff’s Office, the Natchez Police Department and RSVP. TRIAD is
governed by an advisory council — Seniors and Lawmen Together.
TRIAD provides the
opportunity for the exchange of information between law enforcement and
senior citizens. This is done through a series of mini-seminars around
the community, such as Neighborhood Watch meetings, church groups, senior
groups and civic organizations.
TRIAD’s mission is to educate
seniors. By communicating with senior citizens about their needs and
concerns on crime prevention, both the community and law enforcement can
develop solutions in reducing crime in our area.
TRIAD also concentrates on
safety at home and away from home, heat safety and storm safety. TRIAD
recently purchased weather radios and personal assistance security
systems. These items will be given away upon request from a senior
citizen over the age of 50. To be able to get a weather radio, the senior
must live outside the city limits. Sirens can be heard in the city.
Furthermore, the Senior Alert
pendants with dialing voice consoles will be given away to any senior who
lives alone or who is disabled. There is no service fee; the unit is
connected to a land line phone. When the button is pressed by the senior
a message contacts up to four responders letting whoever answers the
phone know of a potential emergency.
If you are interested in
these items, contact me at 601-442-5082 or come by the RSVP office on the
second floor of the senior center at 800 Washington St.
Finally, the Natchez Retiree
Partnership, formerly under the management of the Economic Development
Authority, is one of RSVP’s volunteer stations. Since its inception in
1994, our volunteers have successfully recruited 228 retired families to
live in Natchez. Our RSVP volunteers are directly responsible for
recruiting the retirees from all over the country over the years. This is
the equivalent economic impact of 2.1 industrial jobs for each family;
that is, an economic impact equal to 500 jobs for the Natchez-Adams
County area.
If you are 50 or older and
desire to become an RSVP volunteer, contact me at the Natchez Senior
Center. RSVP provides the opportunity to channel your skills, experience,
mature and caring judgment to local community needs. You are assured of a
volunteer assignment that matches your talents and interests.
Volunteering with RSVP will enrich your life personally and physically,
as well as improve services and overall life in our community.
I would like to thank the
businesses who make generous donations for door prizes.
Janet McNeely is the RSVP
director at the Natchez Senior Citizen Center.
Work-at-home job
scams thrive on economic trouble
By Jayne
O'Donnell and Jillian Berman, USA TODAY
Work-at-home opportunities
were supposed to help Chester Mazzoni, Susan Reid and Terry Yeast make
ends meet.
The only one who made money
was Mazzoni — and that stopped when a court-appointed receiver shut him
down. He used a work-at-home medical billing scam, EDI Healthclaims
Network, to help fund his other businesses by persuading thousands of
people to pay up to $6,000 for training and materials to start allegedly
lucrative businesses.
Consumers got neither the
clients nor the money they were promised, the FTC says. Last month,
Mazzoni pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Northern District
of Ohio to criminal charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud related to
the work-at-home scheme. He faces up to five years in prison when he is
sentenced in August.
RED FLAGS: How
to avoid being scammed
Reid, who can't work outside
the home because she cares for her terminally ill father, paid $1.95 to
learn how to make money online. Then she was charged another $49.95 but
never received anything for the money. Reid is one of more than a dozen
people scammed by a company that goes by the names Search Profit System
and Money Mastery, the Better Business Bureau says.
Terry Yeast, who suffers from
debilitating arthritis and has two disabled children, decided to try
working at home after her husband got laid off from his welding job. She
was already making crafts in a basement studio when she saw information
online about Darling Angel Pins. The company said individuals could earn
up to $500 a week by making the pins at home. Yeast sent in nearly $600
to register and purchase supplies, but when she sent in her pins, the
company always rejected them, citing quality problems.
Work-at-home scams have been
around for decades, but the economic downturn has given them a new
urgency for both businesses and the unemployed. While some work-at-home
offers, such as home-based customer service agents, can be legitimate,
the FTC and consumer advocates say most that promise generous profits
from the comfort of home are not. Complaints to the FTC about
work-at-home scams are increasing faster than fraud complaints overall,
up from 4,004 in 2006 to 7,955 last year.
RECOVERY WATCH:
Tracking
the economy
JOBS OUTLOOK:
Latest
data for all states, 384 metros
Implausible offers are
flourishing. There have also been big changes in how they're advertised,
largely online. Scam artists know that many people are aware that
work-at-home opportunities are often questionable, so the most egregious
frauds "advertise that they are 100% scam-free," says Lois
Greisman, the FTC's associate director of marketing practices. "With
unemployment hovering around 10%, more people are susceptible," says
Greisman, noting that the FTC is going after those "targeting people
in dire need."
The Internet has also allowed
scam artists to move beyond more mundane envelope-stuffing and home
assembly scams.
"What we see now is
people paying for information to learn how to make money on the
Internet," says Better Business Bureau spokeswoman Alison Southwick.
"The downturn in the economy provides a lot of great opportunities
for scammers to take advantage of a lot of people who are
vulnerable."
Southwick says one of the
more common Internet schemes offers consumers the opportunity to sell
Google ads, but recently she's also seen scams that claim to teach consumers
how to make money from Twitter and other social-networking tools.
Preying on the
vulnerable
Reid and her husband, Brian,
a disabled veteran who has been unemployed since 1999, researched Search
Profit System only after their debit card had been charged an additional
$49.95.
"We figured this may not
be so bad, and if we lose anything, it's only going to be $1.95,"
says Brian Reid.
When they did their research,
the couple found numerous complaints about Search Profit System and Money
Mastery, another name the company used. On the company's website, which
uses both the Search Profit System and Money Mastery logo, Reid noticed
in very small print that those who don't cancel their subscriptions
within 24 hours would be charged $49.95. Reid says it took several calls
to get his refund a month later, so he filed a complaint with the BBB.
Alan Williams, chief
executive manager of Money Mastery, says his company licensed Mars Hill
Media to sell his products. But once he found out about the company's
tactics — such as setting up the Search Profit System website — he ended
Money Mastery's licensing agreement with Mars Hill Media.
"They had an obligation
to operate legally and ethically and take care of the clients and all of
that," he says.
But Jane Diggs of the Utah
BBB says Money Mastery was complicit in the scheme. "Obviously,
Money Mastery knew about it and could've stopped those kinds of
sales," she says.
Messages left for Mars Hill
Media were not returned. Rosalind Jones, an administrative assistant in
New York, was charged another $149.95 by Search Profit after she paid
$1.95. Jones says she'll never fall for a work-at-home scam again.
"I said, 'Wait a minute,
you're giving in more than you're actually making,' " she says.
"Why should I have to give you money to make money?"
And that, says the FTC, is a
key tip-off that a work-at-home offer might be a scam.
"One of the biggest red
flags is requiring an upfront payment," says the FTC's Greisman.
When her disabled mother also
paid nearly $600 to Angel Pin Creations and failed to sell any pins back
to the company, Yeast filed a complaint with the FTC, the BBB and the
federal Internet Crime Complaint Center. After the company was contacted
by the BBB, Yeast got a check for $29.80 from the company. Her complaint
led to an FTC investigation and lawsuit filed last February. After a
court granted a temporary restraining order and asset freeze requested by
the FTC, the company shut down. Company officials could not be reached
for comment.
In a sworn statement filed
for the FTC's case, Yeast wrote, "Every time I walk into my craft
studio, I see all the Angel Pin supplies, and my heart drops to the
floor." She noted her family could have used the money "to pay
next month's mortgage."
"When I discovered that
they had been in business since 1986, and they had been able to defraud
so many people for so long, I had to do something," says Yeast, who
is working a temporary accounting job that ends Thursday. "I lost
the rest of my savings that I thought I was going to turn into an income
for my family."
Funding other
businesses
Mazzoni used his work-at-home
scam to keep four businesses, including a frozen-drink franchise company
called Breeze Freeze, afloat, the FTC says. The Livonia, Mich.,
businessman, who did not return calls seeking comment, told Crain's
Detroit Business in 2005 that he invested more than $2 million in Breeze
Freeze over the previous two years for equipment and a new headquarters.
From 1997 to 2006, Mazzoni
and Leo Lepo, an officer of EDI, told consumers that EDI Healthclaims
Network would help them set up a medical billing business after they paid
a "licensing fee" of $4,985 to $5,985, the FTC said in its
lawsuit. Consumers, who were promised they would earn at least $1,200 a
month, often made nothing and lost their upfront fee, according to the
FTC's lawsuit. Company representatives also presented themselves as
satisfied customers when consumers asked questions, the FTC said.
The FTC obtained a judgment
against Mazzoni and others for more than $17 million in 2008, according
to the U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Ohio. But
Mazzoni declared bankruptcy after the FTC filed its lawsuit in 2006, and
the government was able to recover only $50,000 from EDI or its related
companies to distribute to consumers who were victimized by the scheme.
After more assets were turned over, an administrator working for the FTC
last month was able to send checks totaling $95,000 to 3,500 people
defrauded by the scam.
"Thousands of innocent
consumers have already paid the price for the alleged fraud described in
today's charges," U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach said when he
announced the mail fraud charges in April. "Now, perhaps, those who
perpetrated (the) fraud will pay a price at long last."
EDI victim Noel Tufele-Jones
of Wichita recently received a $29 check as part of the restitution. It
was a small token given the $5,900 she invested in EDI in the early
2000s. Tufele-Jones says she drove from Kansas to Michigan for EDI
training, which was in such a run-down building and so cursory that she
immediately suspected fraud. Worse yet, the salesman who persuaded her to
sign up told her she'd be supplied with a list of clients, but Mazzoni
told her at the training that it wasn't true, she says.
"It was like a
nightmare," says Tufele-Jones. "I'm still struggling, but even
more so with that setback."
Mazzoni's is but one of a
rash of medical billing scams pitched in recent years. Those who respond
to such pitches rarely find clients or make any money, much less the
earnings they are promised in the promotions, says the FTC.
Even if the medical billing
deals weren't scams, the FTC says there's barely a market for small
start-up billing companies because many doctors' offices process their
own medical claims. Those that don't typically contract out their medical
billing to established firms, not people working out of their homes.
"We find the scam
artists follow the headlines and count on victims knowing a little bit
about what they're offering," say Jon Steiger, the FTC's regional
director for the East Central region. "With the changes in health
care, we will see more of these frauds."
Christine Frietchen, editor
in chief of the blog ConsumerSearch, which reviews products and services,
says not all work-at-home deals should be written off. While, she says,
"home assembly and stuffing envelopes is a total and complete
scam," and "mystery shopping is a mixed bag," home-based
customer service agent pitches are typically "the real deal."
The jobs, when advertised by
major companies, involve taking orders, answering questions and fixing
shipping problems. And anyone with "a clean record, a good head,
moderate computer skills and a quiet place to work can do it,"
Frietchen says.
"Some of these
work-at-home schemes can be really positive, and it is possible with
careful research to eke out a pretty decent side business,"
Frietchen says.
"But just like people
have been advising us for years, there's no easy answer and no
get-rich-quick" guarantees.
Show brings crime
fight to catwalk
Seniors given uniform lesson to identify impostors
Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
More than a dozen
telecommunications, utility, postal service, fire department, law
enforcement and other workers who routinely interact with the public
appeared at the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday in the name of safety.
Their message: Take a long,
hard look at what I'm wearing.
Like runway models, about 20
workers posed on the catwalk, asking visitors to scrutinize them closely.
Impostors sometimes pose as
public workers, and the Hinds County Sheriff Department TRIAD unit wants
residents not to misidentify the legitimate workers.
A legitimate public employee
or representative usually wears an official uniform, has an official
identification badge and usually travels in an official vehicle.
"We want to educate
citizens and be proactive," said Sgt. Lou Ann Jackson of Hinds
County Sheriff's Department's Crime Prevention Unit. "Be aware of
who is at your doorstep."
The goal was to arm senior
citizens and others with what to look for to stop ruse burglaries -
offenders posing as a worker from different jobs, including utility
workers and city water department employees, in an effort to burglarize
homes.Criminals do so because residents let them into their homes,
Jackson said.
Jackson and Capt. Susan
Craig, also of the Crime Prevention Unit, said the idea of the fashion
show came from a March story in The Clarion-Ledger about a couple
impersonating city water employees to gain entry into senior citizens'
homes in Gulfport.
Patricia Collins, a U.S.
Postal Service employee, modeled her mail carrier uniform with black
shoes and mail satchel.
Postal Service employees are
not allowed to go inside houses.
Collins said her grandmother
in Terry was a victim of a ruse several years ago when two people
pretending to be with Hinds County said they were there to help repair
homes.
Collins said one gave her
grandmother a tape measure to hold to distract her while the other went
into the house.
Bernice Lee, among those in
the audience, said the program reinforces to seniors that they should
remain alert at all times.
"They prey on senior
citizens because they think our mind isn't sharp," Lee said.
"My mind is sharp."
Bono Mack, Rogers
Launch Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse
Washington, Jun 3 -
Today, Representatives Mary Bono Mack (CA-45) and Hal Rogers (KY-05)
launched a bi-partisan Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse.
As the Co-Chairs of the Caucus, Bono Mack and Rogers are long-time
advocates for multi-tiered solutions to the ever-growing epidemic that
has wrought havoc on communities large and small throughout the United
States. The new Congressional Caucus on Prescription Drug Abuse aims to
unite like-minded policy-makers to raise awareness of abuse, and to work
towards innovative and effective policy solutions incorporating
treatment, prevention, law enforcement and research. Representatives Bill
Delahunt (MA-10), Stephen Lynch (MA-09) and Connie Mack (FL-14) are also
original caucus members.
“Prescription drug abuse is
on the rise, threatening the lives of more and more of our young people
every day,” said Bono Mack. “Far too many Americans have the
misconception that prescription drugs are ‘safer’ because they’re
prescribed by a doctor, but the fact is that prescription drugs, when
abused, can be just as addictive and as deadly as street drugs. Like
millions of people across our country, I have seen firsthand the
devastation that prescription drug abuse can cause, and I am proud to
launch this Caucus with some of my colleagues who share my passion and
dedication to ending this cycle of abuse that is destroying the lives and
futures of too many of our young people.”
“For decades, I’ve witnessed
the devastation wrought by the diversion and abuse of otherwise legal
prescription drugs in Southern and Eastern Kentucky. The formulation of
this bi-partisan caucus is proof that this epidemic knows no boundaries –
geographic, socio-economic or otherwise. Prescription drug abuse is
overwhelming our local law enforcement community, challenging our health
practitioners and worst of all, is an easy predator on our young people,”
stated Rogers. “In Kentucky, we’ve employed a three-pronged approach to
combat the scourge of abuse – law enforcement, treatment and education –
and today we’re applying this strategy, with the input of research, to
tackle drug diversion. I look forward to collaborating with these and
other colleagues who are similarly dedicated to tackling prescription
drug abuse from the bottom-up and the top-down.”
“Prescription drug abuse
across America can only be described as an epidemic,” said Delahunt.
“Between 2002 and 2007, my home state of Massachusetts lost 42 times as
many residents to opioid-related overdoses than in the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars and the Commonwealth is currently seeing 2 deaths per
day. I am proud to join today with my colleagues in forming this
bipartisan caucus which makes addressing this crisis a national
priority.”
“Too many families and
communities have felt firsthand the devastation caused by prescription
drug abuse,” said Lynch. “The Prescription Drug Caucus will help raise
awareness of this terrible epidemic while developing effective policies
to combat abuse. I am proud to be an original member of the Caucus and
look forward to working with my colleagues on this important issue.”
“I have seen firsthand how
families are impacted by prescription drug abuse. We need to work
together to help the victims and their families cope with a problem that
has no social, economic or geographic bounds,” stated Mack. “I’m looking
forward to working with my colleagues on this Caucus to find solutions
and hope for so many Americans struggling with this addiction.”
According to the National
Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly 7 million people are utilizing
prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. Nearly one-third of
individuals who began abusing drugs in the past year reported their first
drug was a prescription drug, and one out of every five new drug abusers
is initiating use with potent narcotics, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone
and methadone. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) indicates illegal
prescription drug diversion is the fastest growing drug threat
nationwide.
The Caucus will
conduct periodic events to educate Members of Congress, congressional
staff, relevant government officials and the general public about the
dangers of prescription drug abuse and policies aimed at reducing the
diversion and misuse of these drugs.
|
