Keep in touch with others in your groups
Part of the joy of working in the Gladstone Senior Center is seeing the fun,
camaraderie and the friendships you develop in the various activities you attend.
I hope you have been able to keep in touch with others from Gladstone even
though you aren’t meeting weekly as in the past. If you are not, but would like to,
there are various technologies available to help you achieve this. The simplest is
conference calling. Free Conference Call and Go to Meeting are two platforms that
are easy to set up and enable you to have up to 100 callers on the line. You give
the members the call-in number and the time of the call, then they call to join in
the visit. You can also conference call a small number of people using your own
cell phones. If you have questions please call the office at 651-748-7250.
Free Conference Call www.freeconferencecall.com
Go to Meeting www.free.gotomeeting.com
Six Coronavirus Scams to Avoid
Scammers are quick to exploit emergencies to cheat people out of money, and the
coronavirus pandemic unfortunately is no exception. Follow and share these six
tips to ensure you or an older adult you serve is not among their victims!
Fraudulent products
claiming a cure
From special teas to essential oils to
silver lozenges, numerous companies
have been touting that their products
have the ability to prevent or treat
coronavirus. Remember: there
currently are no approved vaccines,
drugs, or investigational products
available to prevent or cure the virus.
You can report suspected scams to the
National Center for Disaster Fraud
hotline at 866-720-5721.
1
Don’t give money to
charities you don’t know
Whenever a crisis occurs, scammers
will try to draw on individual goodwill
to seek “donations” for a worthy cause.
It’s very easy for anyone to set up an
account on crowdsourcing platforms to
request support from the public.
2
If you would like to contribute to
efforts to support those affected by
the coronavirus pandemic, be sure
to research a charity first. Sites like
Charity Navigator, Guidestar, and the
Better Business Bureau Wise Giving
Alliance provide comprehensive, vetted
reviews of top charities.
Impostor callers
Phony callers pretending to
represent a government agency were
one of the top-reported scams in
2019. As more Social Security offices
temporarily close and the IRS offers
leniency on tax filing, you can bet that
scammers will take advantage of these
to cold call older adults and convince
them to release personal information
or face discontinuation of benefits.
3
Get a call like this? Hang up!
Government agencies rarely contact
persons by phone unless you have
ongoing business with them and they
never make threats about arrest or
legal action.
Report suspicious calls to the SSA
Office of the Inspector General by
calling 1-800-269-0271, and report
instances of IRS-related fraud to the
Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration at 1-800-366-4484.
Investment scams
A biotech company you’ve
never heard of is working hard
on developing a vaccine for the
coronavirus. If you buy company stock
now, you’re sure to get a windfall when
the markets go up, right? If this sounds
too good to be true, it probably is. If
you are looking to invest in a company,
be sure to do your research and
remember that investment scammers
often exploit the latest crisis to make
themselves rich.
4
Stimulus check fraud
Fraudsters have been
contacting consumers to ask for their
personal information, telling them
it is needed before individuals can
receive the stimulus checks that many
consumers will receive as a result of
recent legislation. The FTC notes that
the government will not call and ask
for information, nor require you to
submit any upfront payment to receive
these checks, which will be mailed in
the coming weeks.
5
Social Security scams
Social Security reports that
some people who receive benefits are
getting fraudulent letters claiming
their benefits will be suspended due
to COVID-19 related office closures.
Social Security is not suspending any
benefits and never requests people to
pay a fee to receive their benefits.
6