September 10, 2025 • 26 mins
September Wallet Warning from the Shelby County Trustee Regina Morrison Newman on The Bev Johnson Show on WDIA Radio.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Don't Memphis probably presents the Ben Johnson Show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Let me you say Beth.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
First, let make you say She's done Emphis gain.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
No matter of the problem.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
She can have me so all the phone and the
Norman on your mind. She understand Jimmy d in the
hair by charming you to just keep the f.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
When a wrangle appecking out them Johnson Show because they.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Have got out.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
You can hear every day w d I Ain't.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, Bell got me a missing? Good morning, good morning,
(01:49):
good morning.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And welcome into w D I A The BEB Johnson Show.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm bev.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
It is indeed a pleasure to have you with us
once again. And on this Wednesday, hop Day, September tenth,
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Enjoyed this fabulous day to day.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Get ready to put your ears on as we share
the good news. First, starting off, we'll talk to our
Shelby County Trustee Regina Marson. Newman's has this month September's
wallet warning.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Listen for that.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Second hour we'll be talking about a taste of Memphis.
What is that all about? Well, stick to state and
find out when it's your turn to talk. You know
you can all you need to do is dial these
numbers nine zero one, five, three, five, nine three four
(02:50):
two nine zero one five three five nine three four
to two eight hundred five zero three nine three four
two eight hundred and five zero three nine three four
to two eight three three, five three five nine three
four two will get you in to me. And if
(03:14):
this day, this day, Wednesday, September tenth, twenty twenty five,
is your birthday like my childhood friend, my sister friend,
my pitiful Happy birthday to Diane Lewis over there in Soulsville, USA,
(03:34):
Happy birthday, Pitiful, Happy birthday, Diane Lewis. Wishing you many
many many, many many many.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
More from our hearts.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, and all of you all out there who may
be celebrating a birthday on this day. You know what
we say, go out and celebrate your life. You better,
you better. When we come back, we'll talk to our
Shelby County Trustee, Regina Morrison Newman. Get September's wallet Morning
(04:08):
next with me Bev Johnson on the Heart and Soul
of Memphis.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
W d I A.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Good morning and welcome back to w d I A.
I'm Bev the Bev Johnson Show. Wednesday, September tenth, twenty
twenty five, humph Day, And as we began and always,
this month, we are getting our September wallet warning from
our Shelby County Trustee, Regina Morrison Newman.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Good morning to you, Regina. How are you. I'm great, Hi, Beth,
Hi good, good good. I know you working hard. System.
We try, we try, I know you do you do
you try hard?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Well?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Regina.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I can't wait because our listeners always wait for these
wallet warnings, So September wallet warning, and we always I
know you deal with those scams.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
So what's this month's scam?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Well, my goodness, it is money protection scams.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Money protection, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Supposedly they're calling you to protect your money and it's
a scam. So we've talked to you before about these
government impersonators and bank impersonators and all these folks. But
we've had a huge growth locally with these scams turning
(06:09):
into a money protection twist okay over the last few years,
and the numbers are actually staggering nationwide. So locally, our
partners at the Better Business Bureau told us there have
been over six hundred scam tracker reports in the last
year and a half from consumers sixty and up, which
(06:30):
is most of us who say they've lost money on
this money protection scam, and six of them lost almost
a million and a half dollars. Wow, this is and
you know, it's just growing and growing and growing.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
And the goal of these particular.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Scammers is to get you on the phone. They may
start a different way. They may shoot a message through
your computer, they may send you in email or a text,
but they want to get you on the phone so
they can make things sound urgent, so they can get
you upset and frustrated.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
In not knowing what to do next and can't.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Get any trusted person on the phone to help you,
and so don't do that.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
That's as the goal.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So these scams start with a fake story, and whether
they start with lie number one, someone's using your accounts,
they start with that one. They're pretending to be your
bank or your credit bureau or something like that, or
Amazon about it unauthorized purchase. So they're pretending to be
(07:44):
someone you might trust, and they the first lie is
someone's using your accounts, not true, okay. The second lie
is your information is being used to commit crime. So
they may pretend to be a government agent or social
security or say that your social security numbers link to
(08:04):
a crime like drug smuggling or money laundering or even
child pornography. So these are lies, but that's how they
get you hooked in because now you want to help, right,
and so line number two, your information is being used
to commit crimes. Line number three, there's a security problem
(08:26):
with your computer, so you should let them in. Don't
do that, okay, don't do that. The Microsoft does not
do this, okay. So it starts with a fake on
screen alert it looks like it's from Microsoft or Apple
with a number to call, and if you call the number,
they'll say your online accounts had been haacked.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Because their goal is to get you on the phone and.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Get you upset and frustrated and thinking something has to
be done right away. But they say that the scammers
could then tell you the only way out of these
fake crisis fake crises is to follow their instructions, and
that includes sending them money.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Right, So they say this will keep your money.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Safe, that will secure your identity, and that will they'll
clear your name and help catch criminals. And so there
are layers of complexity that these various lies and story
but their goal is to drain your accounts, so don't
fall for it, and will tell you how not to.
(09:31):
But reports show that basically, if people think they're fixing
a problem rather than sending a stranger money, they're more
likely to do it. And so if you think you're
helping solve crime or stop crime, or fix.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Your computer or whatever it is, you're.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
More likely to fall for these scams. So just don't
do it, don't call them, don't get on the phone.
And lots of these scams nowadays are happening online, but
this one they really want you on the phone, So
even if it doesn't start with a call, they're going
to try to get you there, and so they dial up.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
The fear and the urgency and you can't think.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Clearly, and it also keeps you from being able to
talk to a friend who can help you decide that
it's a scam. Okay, So one of the worst things
about this particular scam no wanted targeting seniors for the
most part.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And number two.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Now they're pretending to be the Federal Trade Commission, and
they even have names of people at the Federal Trade Commission,
which is a government entity whose goal is to help
consumers and so this is real irony that this is
the nation's consumer protection agency. Now the scammers are pretending
(10:52):
to be them, including the names of.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Real people there.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
So they these scammers with tell you to transfer money
out of your account. They'll they'll tell you to put
it in a bitcoin atm don't do this, uh, or
even hand off a stack attached to a courier they
will send to your house. So they pretend to be
(11:17):
other trusted businesses and agencies like banks and Microsoft, and
social security and the government in general.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Whether it's the I R S or the uh, you know,
law enforcement, anything like that.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And sometimes they'll start with a pop up security alert
on you on your computer and they'll segue into being
the government. It's it's that they don't hesitate to use
two tags or two tries at trying to get.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
You to fall for it.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So how do you protect yourself from these fake feeople,
these scammers who are now claiming they want to help
you protect your money?
Speaker 6 (11:56):
Okay, yeah, don't that.
Speaker 5 (12:01):
Don't put a nickel on that. Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So, because identity we all know, identity theft and losing
money to scammeras is a real concern. But don't give
it to the scammers trying to save your money.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
So steer how do you steer? Clear?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Never move money to protect it at the request to
somebody you don't know. So don't transfer or send money
to anyone, no matter who they say they are in
response to an unexpected caller message, even if they say
it's to protect it. Okay, Number two, hang up and verify.
(12:39):
If they say we got this charge for an unauthorized
Amazon purchase.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
I get these texts all the time.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And go to Amazon, you know, your account online or
on your phone and check and see if anybody's purchasing
and you'll see that it's not there. And or if
they say they're from your credit card company or you're
there from Social Security, go to the real entity. Call
the number on the back of your credit card, verify,
(13:09):
call social Security, or go to your website and verify.
Because most of the time this is going to be false.
It's going to be a scam. And so whatever whoever
they say they're with, they're not. And uh, because most
of those companies you're not going to call you like this,
they're not going to contact you like this. So use
(13:32):
the real website, use their real phone number and something
you know is real, and don't trust what unexpected caller says.
And never use the phone number they give you in
a text or an email or on the phone. You
can contact us here real quick to do this. Don't
use that phone number, it's going to be fake, okay.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Number three.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Block on wanted calls, put that scam alert thing on
your phone. Yes, make sure you're in do not call
registry because it expires after a while, so you might
want to double check it and see how long.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
And make sure you're still in the do not call registry.
I haven't found that that helps a lot, but it
may be.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And check with your cell phone provider see if they
offer scam screening, because mine will come up and they'll
stay suspected scam.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, mine too, uh huh, And.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
So that you'll get a spam resk notice when someone
calls in.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
But if you don't know.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
The number and it's not in your phone and it's important,
they'll leave a message so you don't have to answer it,
and it possibly be a scammer who's going to get
you all frustrated and upset. So just block on oneed
calls and if you don't know the number, don't answer
and let it go to voicemail. And when they don't
leave messages and keep calling, you know you shouldn't be
(14:53):
talking to them anyway.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
All those steps can help stop some the scammers before
they reach you on the phone. But the easiest thing
to do is not answer those calls. And if you
do happen to fall victim, please report it to our
partners at the Better Business Bureau on their scam tracker
or call Memphis Police Department. It's called economic crimes and
(15:19):
they have the Economic Crimes Unit and some nice folks
over there who can.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Help you with these situations.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
So helping you try to not lose your money, I hope.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah. So you know it's it always just gets me Regina.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
That you know. I love how you come on let
us know. Every month these scammers are doing something. So
this one is they're calling you, so I listen to
We'll understand telling you, well, we can protect your money.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
That you're a counsel or hacked, but if you give
give us your money, we'll protect it. That you're you've
got an unauthorized purchase, but if you give us your money,
we'll protect it. And we can come pick it up
from you, right.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I love that one. Buy your house and take it.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Up, pick your money up. Okay, come on, y'all. And
this has happened to folks.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Folks are falling.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
That's happened over six hundred people, over sixty in the
past year and a half in Shelby County. And so
we're talking about millions of dollars here, and it is
just sad. You know, I don't know, I don't know
what we're gonna have to do to stop these people,
because we have to protect ourselves.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
So that's what I tell people.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I said, we're gonna have to protect ourselves, and everybody's
just gonna have be a lot smarter and suspicious.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
And that is sad that we all have to be suspicious,
but we do need to be suspicious of people who
we don't.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Know calling us, people who claim they're from the government.
And you can find out online that most of these
agencies and Social Security.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
Will tell you a hot minute, we're not gonna call
you and tell.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You right exactly, whether it's Social Security or Medicare or whoever.
Speaker 6 (17:07):
It's it's just not that kind of situation where you
and and your banks won't. And if you have any questions,
you just call the bank at the regular number.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Exact number, and and they will tell you.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
What's going on or whether they contacted you at all.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Okay, so and they usually they didn't, sew.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yeah, you guys, So that this wallet warning money protection
your money is okay. If someone calls you, as a
Gina said from this saying they're from the Federal Trade.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Comm yeah, we're I'm Joe Spence from the Federal Trade Commission.
And this is just sad because there's the that's the
that's the government office that protects us. And so now
the scammers are pretending to be them, mm hmm. And
and and the worst yet apparently have a list of
the boy's er using the real names of people. Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Wow, I know.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
So you can call back and say what was Joe
Smith there, and they'll say, yeah, we got a jokesman.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah, oh well let me speak to him because he
got he has my money he called me.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah right, exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Okay, So we got that warning, protect yourself and your money.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Don't fall for people trying to protect your money by
taking it exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And I love when Regina, when you when you talked
about the three things that will protect your money.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
One of the things, y'all just hang up and hang
up the phone.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Hang up.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
We say this all the time.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Hang up, walk away, don't Yes, that's good.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, So, lord boy, it's it's always a scam, Regina.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Somewhere, there's a scam.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Somewhere, there's a creative scammer coming up with something new
for next month.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
For me to tell you that exactly right, they're out there.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I don't know how else, but that they are out
there and they are created.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Good good, so and so that is. That's always the
bad news. But you always have good news for us.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
We have a little good news. It's for certain group
of people. So the Federal Trade Commission, the real.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Ones, Yeah, the real ones, y'all.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Are sending out more than six point seven million dollars
to consumers who were defrauded by a company who made
deceptive claims about the money that workers could make working
for them on their platform. So in July of twenty
four there was a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade
(19:48):
Commission and the name of the company was a Rise
Virtual Solutions, and they targeted people who were looking for
opportunities to support their families by working from home, including
stay at home moms, and they gave them misleading promises
about the earnings they could make with this company, Arise
(20:09):
Virtual Solutions, So they used deceptive advertisements and saying they
would have access to jobs that paid up to eighteen
dollars an hour and doing remote concert customer service for
major companies and all this kind of stuff. And it
turned out not to be true, and the company violated
the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Business Opportunity Rules
(20:32):
and didn't truthfully disclose to these people they advertised to.
So the FTC will be sending out checks. No action
required on your part if you were impacted by this
company ninety eight thousand, two hundred and fifty four customers,
(20:54):
and you should cash your check when you get it, Okay,
by all means, don't give it anybody ninety days to cash.
You'll say that on there, and any questions about those
payments can be directed to the FTC website. Okay, Federal
Trade Commission real website, government office and about that whole process.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
But there will be six point.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Or yeah, six point seven million going out to these
ninety eight thousand people because of this lawsuit by the
Federal Trades Mission.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
So I hope they have a lot more.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh wow, hope that people don't get defrauded. But it's
nice that they recovered some money for these folks.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, I love that. I love that. Thank you for
the good news.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
And lastly, as always, have have the mailers gone out yet, Regina,
But telling us about our taxes for next year?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
No, ma'am, But the the brochures are available and we'll
be getting them out to the libraries, et cetera for
the twenty twenty five year because there are some new locations.
We'll have a new location Fraser, have a new location
in Midtown and uh so we've got a couple of
new places.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
But the tax bills will be.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Going out later in September, and so your county tax
bills will be going out later this month, and for
right now, don't forget to pay attention to your city tax.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Bill that was due at the end of August right
exactly that you'll have to deal with the city on that.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
But for Shelby County, our tax bills were coming be
coming out a little later and they have to be
paid by the end of February of next.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Year sounds good. Always love to get all the information
from you. I love, I love when you call us
and get these new scams.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Just we have just a.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Whole, a whole listen. These folks trying to scam people.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Let's their job.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
They are so bad.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
They are so bad, Regina.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
But we thank you for sharing our wallet warnings to
protect our money.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Thank you so very much. Any other last words for
our listeners.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
This day, No, ma'am. That's about it for the day.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Okay, okay, and you can carry on with your usual
lovely business.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Well, thank you so much, and you as well, sister.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Okay, bye, Regina, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Bye bye.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
That is our showby County Trustee Regina Marson Newman telling
us about September's wallet Warning your money protection scams.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
What it is?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Somebody's calling you saying they're from the Trade Commission says
they want to protect your money.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Come on, it's a scam.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Oh and I wanted to give this number of Regina
mention it and you you register your phone number, you all,
and here's where you register where you don't want to
get these these calls and all that register ed. Do
not call dot gov. Do not call dot gov that
(24:10):
do not call dot go O V and that will
help you. You know, these folks calling you all the time,
these scammers, so you can block these phone numbers. So
that's it, okay, all right, when we come back, I'll
open up our phone lines for you to let you
have your say. Don't forget second hour. We have guests
(24:30):
coming in to talk about a Taste of Memphis with
me Bev Johnson on the Bev Johnson Show on w
d i A.
Speaker 7 (24:43):
Don't go away. The Bev Johnson Show returns after these messages.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
The Bev Johnson Show.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
We are getting ready to go to the other side
of the BEB Johnson Show to learn about the Taste
of Memphis next right here on the Heart and Soul
of Memphis, w d i A.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Whether you're in Arkansas, Tennessee, or Mississippi on Facebook, Twitter
or Instagram, thank you for listening to The Bev Johnson
Show on w d i A Memphis.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
The Bev Johnson showing over the pict
Speaker 2 (26:23):
In Ny to pis
Don't Memphis probably presents the Ben Johnson Show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Let me you say Beth.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
First, let make you say She's done Emphis gain.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
No matter of the problem.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
She can have me so all the phone and the
Norman on your mind. She understand Jimmy d in the
hair by charming you to just keep the f.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
When a wrangle appecking out them Johnson Show because they.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Have got out.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
You can hear every day w d I Ain't.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Well, Bell got me a missing? Good morning, good morning,
(01:49):
good morning.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And welcome into w D I A The BEB Johnson Show.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm bev.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
It is indeed a pleasure to have you with us
once again. And on this Wednesday, hop Day, September tenth,
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Enjoyed this fabulous day to day.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Get ready to put your ears on as we share
the good news. First, starting off, we'll talk to our
Shelby County Trustee Regina Marson. Newman's has this month September's
wallet warning.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Listen for that.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Second hour we'll be talking about a taste of Memphis.
What is that all about? Well, stick to state and
find out when it's your turn to talk. You know
you can all you need to do is dial these
numbers nine zero one, five, three, five, nine three four
(02:50):
two nine zero one five three five nine three four
to two eight hundred five zero three nine three four
two eight hundred and five zero three nine three four
to two eight three three, five three five nine three
four two will get you in to me. And if
(03:14):
this day, this day, Wednesday, September tenth, twenty twenty five,
is your birthday like my childhood friend, my sister friend,
my pitiful Happy birthday to Diane Lewis over there in Soulsville, USA,
(03:34):
Happy birthday, Pitiful, Happy birthday, Diane Lewis. Wishing you many
many many, many many many.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
More from our hearts.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Yeah, and all of you all out there who may
be celebrating a birthday on this day. You know what
we say, go out and celebrate your life. You better,
you better. When we come back, we'll talk to our
Shelby County Trustee, Regina Morrison Newman. Get September's wallet Morning
(04:08):
next with me Bev Johnson on the Heart and Soul
of Memphis.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
W d I A.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Good morning and welcome back to w d I A.
I'm Bev the Bev Johnson Show. Wednesday, September tenth, twenty
twenty five, humph Day, And as we began and always,
this month, we are getting our September wallet warning from
our Shelby County Trustee, Regina Morrison Newman.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Good morning to you, Regina. How are you. I'm great, Hi, Beth,
Hi good, good good. I know you working hard. System.
We try, we try, I know you do you do
you try hard?
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Well?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Regina.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
I can't wait because our listeners always wait for these
wallet warnings, So September wallet warning, and we always I
know you deal with those scams.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
So what's this month's scam?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Well, my goodness, it is money protection scams.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Money protection, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Supposedly they're calling you to protect your money and it's
a scam. So we've talked to you before about these
government impersonators and bank impersonators and all these folks. But
we've had a huge growth locally with these scams turning
(06:09):
into a money protection twist okay over the last few years,
and the numbers are actually staggering nationwide. So locally, our
partners at the Better Business Bureau told us there have
been over six hundred scam tracker reports in the last
year and a half from consumers sixty and up, which
(06:30):
is most of us who say they've lost money on
this money protection scam, and six of them lost almost
a million and a half dollars. Wow, this is and
you know, it's just growing and growing and growing.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
And the goal of these particular.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Scammers is to get you on the phone. They may
start a different way. They may shoot a message through
your computer, they may send you in email or a text,
but they want to get you on the phone so
they can make things sound urgent, so they can get
you upset and frustrated.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
In not knowing what to do next and can't.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Get any trusted person on the phone to help you,
and so don't do that.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
That's as the goal.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So these scams start with a fake story, and whether
they start with lie number one, someone's using your accounts,
they start with that one. They're pretending to be your
bank or your credit bureau or something like that, or
Amazon about it unauthorized purchase. So they're pretending to be
(07:44):
someone you might trust, and they the first lie is
someone's using your accounts, not true, okay. The second lie
is your information is being used to commit crime. So
they may pretend to be a government agent or social
security or say that your social security numbers link to
(08:04):
a crime like drug smuggling or money laundering or even
child pornography. So these are lies, but that's how they
get you hooked in because now you want to help, right,
and so line number two, your information is being used
to commit crimes. Line number three, there's a security problem
(08:26):
with your computer, so you should let them in. Don't
do that, okay, don't do that. The Microsoft does not
do this, okay. So it starts with a fake on
screen alert it looks like it's from Microsoft or Apple
with a number to call, and if you call the number,
they'll say your online accounts had been haacked.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Because their goal is to get you on the phone and.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Get you upset and frustrated and thinking something has to
be done right away. But they say that the scammers
could then tell you the only way out of these
fake crisis fake crises is to follow their instructions, and
that includes sending them money.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Right, So they say this will keep your money.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Safe, that will secure your identity, and that will they'll
clear your name and help catch criminals. And so there
are layers of complexity that these various lies and story
but their goal is to drain your accounts, so don't
fall for it, and will tell you how not to.
(09:31):
But reports show that basically, if people think they're fixing
a problem rather than sending a stranger money, they're more
likely to do it. And so if you think you're
helping solve crime or stop crime, or fix.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
Your computer or whatever it is, you're.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
More likely to fall for these scams. So just don't
do it, don't call them, don't get on the phone.
And lots of these scams nowadays are happening online, but
this one they really want you on the phone, So
even if it doesn't start with a call, they're going
to try to get you there, and so they dial up.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
The fear and the urgency and you can't think.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Clearly, and it also keeps you from being able to
talk to a friend who can help you decide that
it's a scam. Okay, So one of the worst things
about this particular scam no wanted targeting seniors for the
most part.
Speaker 5 (10:29):
And number two.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Now they're pretending to be the Federal Trade Commission, and
they even have names of people at the Federal Trade Commission,
which is a government entity whose goal is to help
consumers and so this is real irony that this is
the nation's consumer protection agency. Now the scammers are pretending
(10:52):
to be them, including the names of.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Real people there.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
So they these scammers with tell you to transfer money
out of your account. They'll they'll tell you to put
it in a bitcoin atm don't do this, uh, or
even hand off a stack attached to a courier they
will send to your house. So they pretend to be
(11:17):
other trusted businesses and agencies like banks and Microsoft, and
social security and the government in general.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Whether it's the I R S or the uh, you know,
law enforcement, anything like that.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
And sometimes they'll start with a pop up security alert
on you on your computer and they'll segue into being
the government. It's it's that they don't hesitate to use
two tags or two tries at trying to get.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
You to fall for it.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So how do you protect yourself from these fake feeople,
these scammers who are now claiming they want to help
you protect your money?
Speaker 6 (11:56):
Okay, yeah, don't that.
Speaker 5 (12:01):
Don't put a nickel on that. Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
So, because identity we all know, identity theft and losing
money to scammeras is a real concern. But don't give
it to the scammers trying to save your money.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
So steer how do you steer? Clear?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Never move money to protect it at the request to
somebody you don't know. So don't transfer or send money
to anyone, no matter who they say they are in
response to an unexpected caller message, even if they say
it's to protect it. Okay, Number two, hang up and verify.
(12:39):
If they say we got this charge for an unauthorized
Amazon purchase.
Speaker 5 (12:44):
I get these texts all the time.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
And go to Amazon, you know, your account online or
on your phone and check and see if anybody's purchasing
and you'll see that it's not there. And or if
they say they're from your credit card company or you're
there from Social Security, go to the real entity. Call
the number on the back of your credit card, verify,
(13:09):
call social Security, or go to your website and verify.
Because most of the time this is going to be false.
It's going to be a scam. And so whatever whoever
they say they're with, they're not. And uh, because most
of those companies you're not going to call you like this,
they're not going to contact you like this. So use
(13:32):
the real website, use their real phone number and something
you know is real, and don't trust what unexpected caller says.
And never use the phone number they give you in
a text or an email or on the phone. You
can contact us here real quick to do this. Don't
use that phone number, it's going to be fake, okay.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Number three.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Block on wanted calls, put that scam alert thing on
your phone. Yes, make sure you're in do not call
registry because it expires after a while, so you might
want to double check it and see how long.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
And make sure you're still in the do not call registry.
I haven't found that that helps a lot, but it
may be.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And check with your cell phone provider see if they
offer scam screening, because mine will come up and they'll
stay suspected scam.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, mine too, uh huh, And.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
So that you'll get a spam resk notice when someone
calls in.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
But if you don't know.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
The number and it's not in your phone and it's important,
they'll leave a message so you don't have to answer it,
and it possibly be a scammer who's going to get
you all frustrated and upset. So just block on oneed
calls and if you don't know the number, don't answer
and let it go to voicemail. And when they don't
leave messages and keep calling, you know you shouldn't be
(14:53):
talking to them anyway.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
All those steps can help stop some the scammers before
they reach you on the phone. But the easiest thing
to do is not answer those calls. And if you
do happen to fall victim, please report it to our
partners at the Better Business Bureau on their scam tracker
or call Memphis Police Department. It's called economic crimes and
(15:19):
they have the Economic Crimes Unit and some nice folks
over there who can.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Help you with these situations.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
So helping you try to not lose your money, I hope.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah. So you know it's it always just gets me Regina.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
That you know. I love how you come on let
us know. Every month these scammers are doing something. So
this one is they're calling you, so I listen to
We'll understand telling you, well, we can protect your money.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
That you're a counsel or hacked, but if you give
give us your money, we'll protect it. That you're you've
got an unauthorized purchase, but if you give us your money,
we'll protect it. And we can come pick it up
from you, right.
Speaker 5 (16:05):
I love that one. Buy your house and take it.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Up, pick your money up. Okay, come on, y'all. And
this has happened to folks.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Folks are falling.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
That's happened over six hundred people, over sixty in the
past year and a half in Shelby County. And so
we're talking about millions of dollars here, and it is
just sad. You know, I don't know, I don't know
what we're gonna have to do to stop these people,
because we have to protect ourselves.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
So that's what I tell people.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I said, we're gonna have to protect ourselves, and everybody's
just gonna have be a lot smarter and suspicious.
Speaker 6 (16:45):
And that is sad that we all have to be suspicious,
but we do need to be suspicious of people who
we don't.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Know calling us, people who claim they're from the government.
And you can find out online that most of these
agencies and Social Security.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
Will tell you a hot minute, we're not gonna call
you and tell.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
You right exactly, whether it's Social Security or Medicare or whoever.
Speaker 6 (17:07):
It's it's just not that kind of situation where you
and and your banks won't. And if you have any questions,
you just call the bank at the regular number.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
Exact number, and and they will tell you.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
What's going on or whether they contacted you at all.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
Okay, so and they usually they didn't, sew.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yeah, you guys, So that this wallet warning money protection
your money is okay. If someone calls you, as a
Gina said from this saying they're from the Federal Trade.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Comm yeah, we're I'm Joe Spence from the Federal Trade Commission.
And this is just sad because there's the that's the
that's the government office that protects us. And so now
the scammers are pretending to be them, mm hmm. And
and and the worst yet apparently have a list of
the boy's er using the real names of people. Wow.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Wow, I know.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
So you can call back and say what was Joe
Smith there, and they'll say, yeah, we got a jokesman.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah, oh well let me speak to him because he
got he has my money he called me.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Yeah right, exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Okay, So we got that warning, protect yourself and your money.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Don't fall for people trying to protect your money by
taking it exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
And I love when Regina, when you when you talked
about the three things that will protect your money.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
One of the things, y'all just hang up and hang
up the phone.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
Hang up.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
We say this all the time.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Hang up, walk away, don't Yes, that's good.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, So, lord boy, it's it's always a scam, Regina.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
Somewhere, there's a scam.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Somewhere, there's a creative scammer coming up with something new
for next month.
Speaker 5 (18:57):
For me to tell you that exactly right, they're out there.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
I don't know how else, but that they are out
there and they are created.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
Good good, so and so that is. That's always the
bad news. But you always have good news for us.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
We have a little good news. It's for certain group
of people. So the Federal Trade Commission, the real.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Ones, Yeah, the real ones, y'all.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Are sending out more than six point seven million dollars
to consumers who were defrauded by a company who made
deceptive claims about the money that workers could make working
for them on their platform. So in July of twenty
four there was a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade
(19:48):
Commission and the name of the company was a Rise
Virtual Solutions, and they targeted people who were looking for
opportunities to support their families by working from home, including
stay at home moms, and they gave them misleading promises
about the earnings they could make with this company, Arise
(20:09):
Virtual Solutions, So they used deceptive advertisements and saying they
would have access to jobs that paid up to eighteen
dollars an hour and doing remote concert customer service for
major companies and all this kind of stuff. And it
turned out not to be true, and the company violated
the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Business Opportunity Rules
(20:32):
and didn't truthfully disclose to these people they advertised to.
So the FTC will be sending out checks. No action
required on your part if you were impacted by this
company ninety eight thousand, two hundred and fifty four customers,
(20:54):
and you should cash your check when you get it, Okay,
by all means, don't give it anybody ninety days to cash.
You'll say that on there, and any questions about those
payments can be directed to the FTC website. Okay, Federal
Trade Commission real website, government office and about that whole process.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
But there will be six point.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Or yeah, six point seven million going out to these
ninety eight thousand people because of this lawsuit by the
Federal Trades Mission.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
So I hope they have a lot more.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Oh wow, hope that people don't get defrauded. But it's
nice that they recovered some money for these folks.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, I love that. I love that. Thank you for
the good news.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
And lastly, as always, have have the mailers gone out yet, Regina,
But telling us about our taxes for next year?
Speaker 1 (21:48):
No, ma'am, But the the brochures are available and we'll
be getting them out to the libraries, et cetera for
the twenty twenty five year because there are some new locations.
We'll have a new location Fraser, have a new location
in Midtown and uh so we've got a couple of
new places.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
But the tax bills will be.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Going out later in September, and so your county tax
bills will be going out later this month, and for
right now, don't forget to pay attention to your city tax.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
Bill that was due at the end of August right
exactly that you'll have to deal with the city on that.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
But for Shelby County, our tax bills were coming be
coming out a little later and they have to be
paid by the end of February of next.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Year sounds good. Always love to get all the information
from you. I love, I love when you call us
and get these new scams.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Just we have just a.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Whole, a whole listen. These folks trying to scam people.
Speaker 5 (22:50):
Let's their job.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
They are so bad.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
They are so bad, Regina.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
But we thank you for sharing our wallet warnings to
protect our money.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Thank you so very much. Any other last words for
our listeners.
Speaker 5 (23:05):
This day, No, ma'am. That's about it for the day.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Okay, okay, and you can carry on with your usual
lovely business.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Well, thank you so much, and you as well, sister.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Okay, bye, Regina, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Bye bye.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
That is our showby County Trustee Regina Marson Newman telling
us about September's wallet Warning your money protection scams.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
What it is?
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Somebody's calling you saying they're from the Trade Commission says
they want to protect your money.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Come on, it's a scam.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Oh and I wanted to give this number of Regina
mention it and you you register your phone number, you all,
and here's where you register where you don't want to
get these these calls and all that register ed. Do
not call dot gov. Do not call dot gov that
(24:10):
do not call dot go O V and that will
help you. You know, these folks calling you all the time,
these scammers, so you can block these phone numbers. So
that's it, okay, all right, when we come back, I'll
open up our phone lines for you to let you
have your say. Don't forget second hour. We have guests
(24:30):
coming in to talk about a Taste of Memphis with
me Bev Johnson on the Bev Johnson Show on w
d i A.
Speaker 7 (24:43):
Don't go away. The Bev Johnson Show returns after these messages.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
The Bev Johnson Show.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
We are getting ready to go to the other side
of the BEB Johnson Show to learn about the Taste
of Memphis next right here on the Heart and Soul
of Memphis, w d i A.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
Whether you're in Arkansas, Tennessee, or Mississippi on Facebook, Twitter
or Instagram, thank you for listening to The Bev Johnson
Show on w d i A Memphis.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
The Bev Johnson showing over the pict
Speaker 2 (26:23):
In Ny to pis
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