March 26, 2025 • 29 mins
Carmen Million, President of the Better Business Bureau of South Louisiana, shares critical insights on protecting ourselves from financial predators targeting our money through sophisticated scams and identity theft tactics.
• Grandparent scams are resurging with AI voice cloning technology that makes scammers sound like real family members in distress
• The IRS will never call demanding immediate payment or gift cards - they always send official mail correspondence first
• Tax identity theft is increasing, with criminals filing fraudulent returns to steal refunds before legitimate taxpayers file
• When choosing tax preparation services, avoid those promising unusually large refunds or same-day payments through loans
• Vacation scams often feature too-good-to-be-true deals - always verify reservations directly with hotels and cruise lines
• Identity thieves can reconstruct documents torn into pieces, making professional cross-shredding essential
• The BBB hosts a free document shredding event on April 5th at the Baton Rouge Police Department from 9am-12pm
• Anything containing personal information should be properly disposed of, including bank statements, tax documents, and credit card offers
To stay protected, be skeptical of unexpected calls and emails, verify before making payments, choose trusted financial service providers, and stay updated on scams through resources like the BBB Scam Tracker.
Have an idea for a show or a question for Kim? Send us a text message
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want – brought to you by Neighbors Federal Credit Union.
The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that
focuses on how to use the moneyyou have, make the money you
need and save the money you want.
Now here is your host, ms Kim.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Chapman, welcome to another edition of Money Matters
.
You know, one of the mostimportant things we can do with
our money is to keep it secure.
So what I have done is broughtback our resident specialist for
keeping us in the know forscams.
President of the local BBB ofSouth Louisiana.
Miss Carmen Million, that was amouthful Thank you, Kim, for
(00:34):
having me.
So you know, every quarter Iwant to have you come back
because the scammers never stop.
It's always something.
And of course, with tax season,you know, on the horizon, I
wanted you to come by and justtalk about.
You know, what are the latestscams going on?
Before we even start talkingabout tax scams, what do you see
(00:54):
popping up right about now?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Well, you know, there are a couple of things.
I just heard one yesterday andI was kind of surprised that
it's really on the rise andthat's a grandparent scam.
And I was kind of surprisedthat it's really on the rise and
that's the grandparent scam andI was kind of surprised that
it's coming back again.
But you know, that's where theycontact people.
They call you on the phone andwith AI they can, of course,
make the voice sound reallyfamiliar, and then they tell you
that they're a grandchild andthey need help.
(01:17):
And you know they need yourmoney, they need your personal
financial information and that'ssad.
We see that a lot, but that isapparently another one that's on
the uptick and so we wantconsumers to understand that if
they receive a phone call, don'tassume that it's their
grandchild or somebody they know, especially if they're asking
for money.
Hang up the phone and callsomebody you know that will be
(01:39):
able to tell you if this is thetruth or not.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I tell you it's.
You know we love technology.
It can really make our lives alot better, but at the same time
, it can make it so much worse,it can make it a nightmare, and
so, yeah, ai is really making ittough.
So, grandparent scam, and maybe, for those that are not aware
of it, let's just talk a littlebit about exactly what that is.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
You know the grandparent scam has been going
around for years.
But essentially, you'll get acall and they will call
thousands of people and theywill say, hey, grandma, this is
your grandson.
And you know they're expectingyou to say oh, is this John?
Yeah, grandma, this is John.
Look, I need you to help me.
I'm in a foreign country.
I took a trip.
(02:21):
I got in a wreck.
This is the most popularscenario.
I got in a wreck and the girl Ihit was pregnant.
She's in the hospital.
I'm in jail and I need yourhelp.
Look, don't tell Mom and Dad,because you know how they are,
of course, but if you help mewith the money, you know, pay my
fine so I can get out of jailand get back home.
When I get back home, we'lltalk to mom and dad together and
(02:43):
we'll pay you back.
And then, of course, they maysend money.
And the most popular thing theyask for now is a gift card,
which is really weird.
But they do Put money on a giftcard and then you give them the
number on the gift card andthen, of course, they remove
every penny.
The next day you'll get the callfrom the same grandson saying
that, hey, look, the lady died.
(03:04):
Now I'm in jail.
I need you to talk to my lawyer.
I have a lawyer and then theyhave a foreign-speaking lawyer
that gets on.
We're going to put him in jail.
He's going to go away forever.
Blah, blah, blah.
And I've had actually the veryfirst time I did a speech in
Baton Rouge.
A guy lost $15,000 on this.
That is not unusual.
(03:26):
And the sad thing is is theythink they're talking to their
grandchild.
I have no grandkids, so if theytry with me, it's not going to
happen.
My mother-in-law had eightgrandsons.
She would have been a reallygood potential victim.
So and we tell people this allthe time If the timing is right,
if the situation is right,anybody can be a potential
victim.
So and we tell people this allthe time If the timing is right,
if the situation is right,anybody can be a potential
(03:47):
victim.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So true.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
So don't assume that you're never going to be a
target.
It's you have to be your firstline of defense.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Anything in particular somebody should look
out for.
You know when they get thatcall.
Is it just the fact that it's ayou know, an unknown number?
Because even now they scramblenumbers and they can make it
look like a number in your area.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Well, you know, the first thing is one if you don't
recognize the number, don't pickup the phone.
Okay, just let them leave amessage.
If it's important, they willleave you a message.
But any time they contact you,whether it's on the phone,
(04:41):
whether it's email text, youknow whatever.
If they're asking for personalinformation, whether it's
personal financial information,if they're asking you just
personal questions that seem notcorrect, you should stop right
then Hang up, disconnect andcontact.
Hang up, disconnect and contact.
You know, in a lot of casesthey'll say they're your bank or
they're the IRS or whatever,and they'll ask you for personal
information.
Give me the last four digits ofyour social security number.
Whatever it is they're asking,don't assume that you're talking
to the right agency.
Hang up the phone and call theagency from a number that you
(05:02):
know is accurate before you givethat information.
But you have to assume if theyask you for personal financial
information, if they ask you tosend money, if they ask you for
banking information, whatever,assume that it's not kosher.
I don't want to say a scam, butmost of those are scams.
They're on the side of caution,exactly, and so investigate
(05:25):
before you give any information.
Nobody who's going to call you,whether they're telling you you
owe taxes or whether they tellyou that you owe money.
Anything is going to happenovernight.
You have time to investigateand that's the other thing.
They'll rush you.
You have to make the decisionnow thing.
They'll rush you.
You have to make the decisionnow.
And a funny not really funny athing that they tell people is
(05:51):
they'll say hey, if you don'tmake arrangements to pay right
now or give me that informationright now, we'll have a bench
warrant for your arrest.
And that you know.
Fear is a tactic that they use.
They want to rush you, theywant to put you in a situation,
in a corner, where you make abad decision, but they also want
to scare you into making a baddecision.
So never let anybody pin youdown like that.
Take a deep breath, take a stepback, hang up, disconnect and
(06:15):
then call somebody.
Call the Better Business BureauIf it's concerning your banking
information.
Call your bank.
Call somebody that you know andtrust and that you have a
relationship with.
Call your bank.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Call somebody that you know and trust and that you
have a relationship with.
So let's talk about the uglywords, those ugly letters, IRS,
you know, it's that time of theyear and you would think of all
the things that a scammer wouldwant to do.
Taxes, you know, because therest of us taxpaying citizens
are scared of Uncle Sam.
We want to make sure we'repaying everything right, dotting
our I's, crossing our T's.
So what should people belooking out for in terms of tax
(06:46):
scams?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well, the first thing and this is probably the
scariest one to me is, if you,especially if you know you're
going to get a refund, you mightwant to consider filing as
early as you possibly can,because the most common scam now
with your taxes is that ascammer will get your
information and file a return inyour name and get the refund.
(07:10):
So then when you go to file,irs is telling you no, we
already have a claim.
You've already been paid Exactly, and so what they started doing
was the IRS started giving aPIN number, and once you get
that PIN number I think theyrenew it every year.
But you use that to protectyourself, and if you've signed
up for the PIN number andsomebody tries to file in your
(07:31):
name and they don't have the PIN, they can't get to it.
So that's something to consider.
But that's the scariest to me,because you go to file your
taxes and then somebody'salready done it in your name.
The other thing is you get thecall.
Of course, we've all receivedthis.
This is the Internal RevenueService.
We noticed that you didn't payyour taxes in the past and we
(07:52):
need you to pay immediately.
And the funny thing about thatis people fall for it, even
though they're asked to give agift card, and that's.
You know you should never, ever.
Irs is never going to call youand ask you for money
immediately.
They're going to send you thatbig yellow envelope in the mail
telling you what you need to doand who you need to contact.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I'm afraid of yellow.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Exactly.
When you get that big yellowenvelope, you know you're
probably in trouble, there'ssome questions, but you want to
investigate it.
Don't just assume that you owethose things.
Anytime somebody calls you andtells you that you owe something
doesn't mean it's fact.
You have a right and you havetime to investigate it and
always check on it before youagree to make any payments.
(08:36):
The other thing is the IRS isnever going to call you and I
always tell people it's kind offunny.
Have you ever tried to call theIRS?
It's like insane, you can't getto somebody.
You're going to call you and Ialways tell people it's kind of
funny.
Have you ever tried to call theIRS?
It's like insane.
You can't get to somebody.
You're going to be on holdforever and I promise you, the
reason you're on hold is notbecause they're trying to call
hundreds of thousands of peopleand threaten them.
That's not how they work.
(08:57):
They're going to send you aletter and, of course, they're
going to confiscate your nextyear taxes if.
But you still have time todispute it.
But don't assume that it's theIRS.
And, of course, caller ID.
You can't trust caller ID andscammers can actually put the
IRS phone number and the IRS onyour caller ID.
(09:21):
So you can't trust that Again,let them leave a message, give
you time to investigate and calla number that you know and
trust is valid.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And speaking of leaving a message, I'll tell you
, years ago, many, many yearsago, I got one of those calls.
I was at work and I think whatreally scared me was that they
left a message because when youthink about 20 years ago, they
didn't have the technology andmost scammers it was that one
time call.
They didn't have the technologyto leave voicemails and so they
(09:51):
actually left the voicemailmessage on my voicemail.
The agent left a ID number andactually before I could call
them back, they called me backand, just like you said, they
had the threatening you know, ifyou don't do anything, we've
been sending you notices, andI'm thinking I hadn't gotten any
notices and of course, camewith yeah, you know, we're going
(10:14):
to be sending an agent to pickyou up.
And all I could picture wasthem taking me out in handcuffs
in front of all my co-workersand I was like, oh my goodness,
but of course I still.
The red flags were going off andI'm trying to hurry up and type
in IRS and get the number andput them on hold to call and
verify because they are veryintimidating.
And I think what really threwme way back then was the fact
that they actually had a numberyou could call back.
(10:35):
They gave that badge number andthis was right about the time
that IRS started having to givethose badge numbers.
So of course they are alwayskeeping up with technology and
going above and beyond to makeit seem so realistic.
So it is very easy.
But, like you said, don'tanswer the phone.
Call the IRS directly and ifyou're lucky to get a person on
(10:56):
the phone then you can confirmif they're looking for you.
But you say there's a bigyellow envelope, right?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Absolutely and understand that scammers are
very intelligent.
They know what trigger pointsto get your attention.
They know what to say the badgeattention.
They know what to say the badgenumber.
How do you determine if thebadge number is valid?
It sounds so good and they'reso intimidating and of course
we've talked about AI a littlebit.
They make it even harderbecause it really sounds valid,
(11:23):
but they can spoof the phonenumber and make it look like
they're actually calling youfrom the Internal Revenue
Service.
Don't trust it, don't trustyour phone.
Hang up and call them directly.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
So what should you do if you think you've been a
victim of you know, fraud orscam, especially when we're
talking about our taxes?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Well, the first thing is, if you feel like you've
been a victim whether you've hadyour taxes stolen or you know
somebody has called you andgotten information you need to
report it to the IRS, of course.
And of course, the other thingwe have, better Business Bureau
has a scam tracker.
You go to bbborg backslash scamtracker and you can log it in
there.
(11:59):
The importance of logging it atthe Better Business Bureau is
it lets us see the patterns,what's hitting the areas, so
that we can do alerts.
There's also a governmentwatchdog it's ic3.gov.
You can report it there.
They also investigate onlinescams.
But the first thing, of course,is to contact the IRS and
(12:20):
notify them that you've been avictim so that they can put a
halt and help you not continueto be a victim, because once
they have your information, it'svery hard to stop it.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
So what about somebody that's scamming you and
they're posing to be a taxpreparer?
What are some red flags thatyou should look for there?
Because of course, you knowwe're talking about somebody
that may steal your informationout the mail or get it out of a
phishing tactic.
But if you go to what you thinkis a legitimate tax preparer,
you know what are some of thosered flags you should look for.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Well, first of all, I'm going to tell you this If
you're considering hiringsomebody to do your taxes, you
need to investigate that personbefore you give them all your
personal information.
You can start with BBBorg.
You can also look at theirindustry licensing information.
But you want to do yourhomework.
Ask them for references.
The other thing you want tomake sure is if they make
(13:18):
promises like oh, I can get youthe biggest refund, I can get
you more money.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
And that's what we're listening for.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
right, right Well yeah and it sounds good, but you
want to be cautious If itsounds too good to be true, if
it sounds like it's too much,like you want to make sure when
they do your taxes, hire isgoing to be around, because if
you get audited by the IRS, youwant somebody to back you up.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
The person and if they're not?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
there, then you're on your own and you don't know
what they did or what they sent.
So you want to make sure youinvestigate that company.
Also, if they tell you I lovethe ads that, oh, we can get
your money the same day you fall, well people have to understand
what that really means.
If you fall and you get arefund, it's not really coming
(14:18):
from the Internal Revenue.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Service Right, because they're not even
processing that information thatquickly.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Exactly what they're doing is you're essentially
getting a loan on your own moneythat you so.
I know you may be desperate.
I know you may need the money,but you have to take into
consideration what you're goingto lose if you take advantage of
their nice offer.
But you want to make sure youinvestigate.
If they start asking youquestions that make you feel
(14:44):
uncomfortable, then just stop it.
But remember that you're givingthem your full personal
financial identity.
You have to be cautious.
If it sounds too good to betrue and I always tell people it
sounds stupid.
But if you have that littlefunny feeling in your stomach
when you're dealing withsomebody, when you're talking
with them over the phone oryou're meeting with them, listen
(15:07):
to it.
It's never going to steer youwrong.
But investigate, investigate,investigate.
If you're not sure how to dothat, contact the Better
Business Bureau or a financialadvisor, a bank or a credit
union that you trust and getsome advice from them.
But don't just assume thatbecause they say that they're
tax prepared, that they'rehonest and valid.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, you drove down the street and you saw a sign
that says Kim's tax preparationand you stop by and I tell you,
doing taxes probably has seemsto be one of the most vulnerable
circumstances you could get in,because not only are you giving
them your social securitynumber, the social security
number of your family members,your banking information, your
employment information so, yeah,definitely be very cautious out
(15:51):
there in terms of doing taxes.
But on the flip side, hey, whenwe get those refunds, what do
we want to do?
We want to go on vacation.
So I'm going to segue and let'stalk about it, because, you
know, right after taxes, youknow it's spring, summer's on
the horizon, people are going tobe planning for vacations, but
you know the scammers don't stop.
I mean, it's I guess it's a 24hour a day, 12 month a year job,
(16:14):
and that they're always lookingto see how they can beat
somebody of their money.
So what have you seen, or whatare the common scams that are
going on in terms of peopleplanning vacations?
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Well, of course you know we see all the commercial
commercials, all the ads, thepop-ups that tell you you can
get this great vacation and youcan save all this money, it's
all inclusive or whatever thecase may be.
You know you're going to hear acommon theme here.
Do your homework, investigate.
If the offer sounds too good tobe true it generally is.
You also want to make sure ifit's one of these things that
(16:46):
tell you that you can get avacation for a low, low price
and you know whatever.
You want to find out whatcompanies they're dealing with,
what hotels, what if it's acruise, what cruise lines
they're dealing with.
Check with those agencies tomake sure that they do.
They are involved in these othercompany, with these other
(17:06):
companies.
If they have relationships withthem, go to the Better Business
Bureau.
Investigate that company beforeyou agree to it.
And the most important thingthat you want to remember is to
consider travel insurance.
I know it sounds like, oh, onemore thing of insurance, but if
you have to cancel, if you havean emergency in your family or
(17:31):
if there's a weather disaster orwhatever, you have to cancel,
you want to make sure you getyour money back.
So that's something to consider.
It's not for everybody, butit's something to consider.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
OK, definitely, that's a really, really good tip
.
I will definitely tell you thecalls.
You know I get calls all thetime.
Oh, you know, we have you for aspecial vacation three nights,
four nights.
You know, hilton Grand Vacation.
Some of those calls arelegitimate.
Some of those are scams.
I'd love to take advantage ofall the ones that are legitimate
, but what are some red flags?
What should we be looking forwhen we get those calls for
(18:03):
those vacation packages?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Well, first of all, again, you want to make sure if
the offer sounds valid.
If the offer they're giving youis too good to be true, then
you know it probably is.
Is it connected with somethingelse?
Are there conditions, like doyou have to listen to a
timeshare?
Okay, what does that entail?
What are the restrictions?
(18:27):
Are there any other fees thatthey're not telling you about?
You want to make sure you askall of those questions.
Whatever offer they're givingyou, you want to make sure that
they can submit it to you inwriting so that you can
investigate it first.
But again, the main thing, andof course, if they ask for a
substantial amount of money upfront, those are all warning
signs.
If they ask you to pay with agift card, which is the theme
(18:50):
now, you know those are warningsigns.
But if the main thing is is ifit sounds too good to be true,
it generally is Investigatebefore you invest.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Is there any aspect of booking travel, whether it be
the hotel, the airline or evenjust the destination, in terms
of you know if it's Disney thatyou see more scams prevalent
than others?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Well, I mean, the biggest thing is that is where
people book and then they get toa hotel that they think may be
valid and it's not in the bestneighborhood, it's sketchy.
There are some cases wherepeople get to their destination
and there are no reservationsmade for them.
So you want to make sure thatyou take a moment and, once you
(19:36):
get into it, even before youleave, call and confirm those
reservations.
Call and confirm that they'rein your name and what the
cancellation fees are, what thecancellation rules are.
You want to make sure that yoube your first line of defense.
You have to make sure, eventhough somebody else planned it
for you, you still have theopportunity and actually the
responsibility to check on itbefore you get involved.
(19:59):
You want to make sure you knowwhere it's located, if it
confirmed your reservation, whatare the aspects, how do you get
to the hotel, how do you get tothe cruise or whatever, and
what's required.
But the main thing is you don'twant to get there and be in a
sketchy place, but then, on theother hand, you don't want to
(20:21):
get to a nice place and thenrealize that there are
additional fees.
So you want to make sure youcall and confirm what all the
requirements are, what areexpected, and if you can get it
in writing beforehand, you'rebetter off.
But you don't want to get to adestination and there be no
reservation, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And you've paid all the money that can really really
ruin a vacation.
So we can be vulnerable, ofcourse, even today, with all the
paperwork and documents that wehave laying around our house,
even today, with all thepaperwork and documents that we
have laying around our house, Imean we could be sometimes our
own worst enemies, in that weget things in the mail and you
know I try and tear it up, butI'm thinking to myself am I
really doing myself a favor byactually opening up for that
(21:00):
criminal versus leaving itsealed, because then maybe you
know they're breaking a mail law?
So let's talk about shredding,how important that is, and then
tell us a little bit about anevent that can help individuals
that have some documents outthere that they want to be able
to get rid of, but they'reafraid to just stick it in their
trash can.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yeah, let me start with.
I think I have some statisticshere.
Let's see.
Okay, okay, yeah, okay.
So this is what I wanted toshare.
It's very, very important thatyou properly dispose of any
information, any paperwork thatyou have that has your personal
(21:41):
financial information 1,942,000cases of ID theft just reported
to the FTC through the firstthree quarters in 2024.
So that's not the total, andthose are just the people that
actually called to report a scam.
(22:02):
A lot of people don't report itbecause they're embarrassed.
It's very, very important.
Dumpster divers is a real thing.
People will dig through yourtrash.
They will get your information.
Even if you've torn it in acouple of pieces, they can piece
it together If you think aboutit.
It may take them a couple ofhours to put your information
together, but it is going to beworth their time because they
(22:24):
can get so much information andso much money before you even
realize it.
So you again, you have to beyour first line of defense.
That's my favorite sayingAlways shred it properly and
it's always best to cross-shredit.
That way they can't piece ittogether.
So you want to make sure youdispose of it properly and don't
(22:47):
just leave your personalfinancial information laying
around your house.
Just leave your personalfinancial information laying
around your house Becauseunfortunately, we find that the
perpetrators of identity theftand most often are people you
know which is scary, but it isthey will take that information.
Because what do you need tosteal somebody's identity?
(23:09):
You need their social securitynumber, you need their bank
account information, they needyour mother's maiden name, you
need your birth date.
You know, those things are easy, and so leaving that
information to somebody whopasses through your house is not
the best way to protectyourself.
So keep your personalinformation locked up and when
(23:30):
you're going to dispose it, makesure you properly shred it.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Okay, so tell us about the shred event.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
We have a shredding event that we do every April and
I'll tell you when I got herein Baton Rouge in 2018, we were
doing a shredding event there ata different location, and we
were getting about 125 vehiclesgoing through in four hours.
Getting about 125 vehiclesgoing through in four hours.
And just to tell you, right nowwe get between 600 and 800 in
(23:56):
three hours.
And what the event is?
Essentially, it's held at theBaton Rouge Police Department
parking lot On airline Onairline and this year we're
going to have it on April 5thand it's going to be from 9 to
12.
And what we do is we have aprofessional shredder on site.
We have the police departmentwho actually works our traffic
(24:18):
detail, because we've blockedairline a couple of times.
So it goes very fast.
It's very organized, butessentially you drive through
this line.
We have a group of people thatwill unload up to three boxes or
three bags.
People always ask us what thesize is.
As long as we can pick it up,that's the right size.
(24:39):
We will take the boxes and bagsand we will place the
information into a dumpster onsite and as soon as that
dumpster is full, the shredderstarts shredding it on site, and
as soon as that dumpster's full, the shredder starts shredding
it on site.
And so the purpose of the eventis to teach people how to
(25:02):
properly dispose of theirpersonal financial information,
and we have the attorneygeneral's offices actually
working with us this year.
We have several sponsors, butthe police department and the
shredding company are the onesthat are the most important
pieces of it, because they aregoing to make sure that your
information is properly shredded, that nobody can steal your
(25:22):
identity from that information.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Okay, so April 5th Airline Highway 9 to 12.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
You can drive through Highway 9 to 12.
You can drive through.
You know people say that it'sbeen the easiest drive-thru
they've ever had because we haveit well organized.
You drive through, you don'tget out of your vehicle.
We literally unload it for youand shred it on the spot.
We have two, actually we havethe shredding company has two
shredding trucks going at thesame time, so we're shredding it
(25:51):
on the spot.
When we leave that location atnoon it is all shredded and so
people do not have to worryabout their information.
And then we'll also be givingout information to each person
that goes through on how toproperly shred their documents
on their own.
We also give them informationon the shredder so that they can
(26:12):
use that shredder.
But we also provide them withinformation.
And it's so important how longto keep your documents, because
we have people that havedocuments for centuries.
You know it's like you need tostop this.
You can't keep personalfinancial information in your
attic forever.
One, it's a fire hazard.
But two, you know so many years.
(26:32):
I think seven years is like themaximum, except for certain
things.
And we have all of thatdocumented.
We give that out to each personwho goes through All right, so
definitely bank information.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I would imagine the solicitation from all the banks
that offer you credit cards.
What are some other documentsthat you would recommend people
shredding?
Solicitation from all the banksthat offer your credit cards.
What are some other documentsthat you would recommend people
shredding?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Anything that has your personal financial
information, social securitynumber, anything that you don't
want to get into the wrong hands.
You need to bring, and it canhave staples, it can have
paperclips all of that It'llshred it.
Just make sure you go throughthe paperwork before you bring
it.
Make sure it's not wet and itcan't be in binders or anything
(27:15):
like that.
But they will shred it.
But just make sure that.
Oh, bank statements, oh checksyou know people don't really use
checks anymore like they usedto.
All of that information.
And we do get a lot of peoplethat are cleaning out their
attic from a deceased elderlyfamily member.
We get a lot of those you don'twant, even though they passed
(27:36):
away.
That doesn't mean theiridentity can't be stolen, but
you want to make sure youdispose of that properly.
So bring it in.
We will shred it on the spotand we'll give you some
information to help you makewise decisions in the future.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
All right, tell us that time and location one more
time.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
It is April 5th, it's a Saturday morning, it's from 9
to 12.
It's at the Baton Rouge PoliceDepartment.
On Airline.
You do not have to get out ofyour vehicle.
We will accept up to threeboxes or three bags per vehicle.
And also one other thing we'regoing to have the food bank out
there, so we don't take moneyfor this event.
It's a free event.
But if you'd like to bringcanned goods or donate to the
(28:15):
food shelter, they'll be outthere as well.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, as we know, crime willnever go away, so we'll keep
having you come back, definitelyto keep our listeners in the
know, to know what scams and redflags to watch out for.
So thank you, carmen to watchout for.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
So thank you, carmen, and until next time.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Thank you, kim, I appreciate it.
It's time for BlueprintBuilding Blocks Small changes
that lead to big financial wins.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Let's stack up for success.
Be skeptical of unexpectedcalls and emails.
The IRS won't call or emailasking for immediate payments.
If you receive one of thosecalls, hang up and report it.
Verify before you pay.
If someone contacts youclaiming you owe them money,
always verify through officialchannels before making any
payment.
Choose a trusted tax preparer.
Check credentials and look forreviews before handing over your
(29:09):
personal financial informationand then stay updated on scams.
Check with the BBB scam trackerand sign up for alerts to stay
ahead of fraudsters.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building
Blocks.
Stay on track with yourfinancial journey.
Subscribe to the Money Matterspodcast and visit
neighborsfcuorg slash financialwellness for more tools to help
you build a strong financialfuture.
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that
focuses on how to use the moneyyou have, make the money you
need and save the money you want.
Now here is your host, ms Kim.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Chapman, welcome to another edition of Money Matters
.
You know, one of the mostimportant things we can do with
our money is to keep it secure.
So what I have done is broughtback our resident specialist for
keeping us in the know forscams.
President of the local BBB ofSouth Louisiana.
Miss Carmen Million, that was amouthful Thank you, Kim, for
(00:34):
having me.
So you know, every quarter Iwant to have you come back
because the scammers never stop.
It's always something.
And of course, with tax season,you know, on the horizon, I
wanted you to come by and justtalk about.
You know, what are the latestscams going on?
Before we even start talkingabout tax scams, what do you see
(00:54):
popping up right about now?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Well, you know, there are a couple of things.
I just heard one yesterday andI was kind of surprised that
it's really on the rise andthat's a grandparent scam.
And I was kind of surprisedthat it's really on the rise and
that's the grandparent scam andI was kind of surprised that
it's coming back again.
But you know, that's where theycontact people.
They call you on the phone andwith AI they can, of course,
make the voice sound reallyfamiliar, and then they tell you
that they're a grandchild andthey need help.
(01:17):
And you know they need yourmoney, they need your personal
financial information and that'ssad.
We see that a lot, but that isapparently another one that's on
the uptick and so we wantconsumers to understand that if
they receive a phone call, don'tassume that it's their
grandchild or somebody they know, especially if they're asking
for money.
Hang up the phone and callsomebody you know that will be
(01:39):
able to tell you if this is thetruth or not.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I tell you it's.
You know we love technology.
It can really make our lives alot better, but at the same time
, it can make it so much worse,it can make it a nightmare, and
so, yeah, ai is really making ittough.
So, grandparent scam, and maybe, for those that are not aware
of it, let's just talk a littlebit about exactly what that is.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
You know the grandparent scam has been going
around for years.
But essentially, you'll get acall and they will call
thousands of people and theywill say, hey, grandma, this is
your grandson.
And you know they're expectingyou to say oh, is this John?
Yeah, grandma, this is John.
Look, I need you to help me.
I'm in a foreign country.
I took a trip.
(02:21):
I got in a wreck.
This is the most popularscenario.
I got in a wreck and the girl Ihit was pregnant.
She's in the hospital.
I'm in jail and I need yourhelp.
Look, don't tell Mom and Dad,because you know how they are,
of course, but if you help mewith the money, you know, pay my
fine so I can get out of jailand get back home.
When I get back home, we'lltalk to mom and dad together and
(02:43):
we'll pay you back.
And then, of course, they maysend money.
And the most popular thing theyask for now is a gift card,
which is really weird.
But they do Put money on a giftcard and then you give them the
number on the gift card andthen, of course, they remove
every penny.
The next day you'll get the callfrom the same grandson saying
that, hey, look, the lady died.
(03:04):
Now I'm in jail.
I need you to talk to my lawyer.
I have a lawyer and then theyhave a foreign-speaking lawyer
that gets on.
We're going to put him in jail.
He's going to go away forever.
Blah, blah, blah.
And I've had actually the veryfirst time I did a speech in
Baton Rouge.
A guy lost $15,000 on this.
That is not unusual.
(03:26):
And the sad thing is is theythink they're talking to their
grandchild.
I have no grandkids, so if theytry with me, it's not going to
happen.
My mother-in-law had eightgrandsons.
She would have been a reallygood potential victim.
So and we tell people this allthe time If the timing is right,
if the situation is right,anybody can be a potential
victim.
So and we tell people this allthe time If the timing is right,
if the situation is right,anybody can be a potential
(03:47):
victim.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So true.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
So don't assume that you're never going to be a
target.
It's you have to be your firstline of defense.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Anything in particular somebody should look
out for.
You know when they get thatcall.
Is it just the fact that it's ayou know, an unknown number?
Because even now they scramblenumbers and they can make it
look like a number in your area.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Well, you know, the first thing is one if you don't
recognize the number, don't pickup the phone.
Okay, just let them leave amessage.
If it's important, they willleave you a message.
But any time they contact you,whether it's on the phone,
(04:41):
whether it's email text, youknow whatever.
If they're asking for personalinformation, whether it's
personal financial information,if they're asking you just
personal questions that seem notcorrect, you should stop right
then Hang up, disconnect andcontact.
Hang up, disconnect and contact.
You know, in a lot of casesthey'll say they're your bank or
they're the IRS or whatever,and they'll ask you for personal
information.
Give me the last four digits ofyour social security number.
Whatever it is they're asking,don't assume that you're talking
to the right agency.
Hang up the phone and call theagency from a number that you
(05:02):
know is accurate before you givethat information.
But you have to assume if theyask you for personal financial
information, if they ask you tosend money, if they ask you for
banking information, whatever,assume that it's not kosher.
I don't want to say a scam, butmost of those are scams.
They're on the side of caution,exactly, and so investigate
(05:25):
before you give any information.
Nobody who's going to call you,whether they're telling you you
owe taxes or whether they tellyou that you owe money.
Anything is going to happenovernight.
You have time to investigateand that's the other thing.
They'll rush you.
You have to make the decisionnow thing.
They'll rush you.
You have to make the decisionnow.
And a funny not really funny athing that they tell people is
(05:51):
they'll say hey, if you don'tmake arrangements to pay right
now or give me that informationright now, we'll have a bench
warrant for your arrest.
And that you know.
Fear is a tactic that they use.
They want to rush you, theywant to put you in a situation,
in a corner, where you make abad decision, but they also want
to scare you into making a baddecision.
So never let anybody pin youdown like that.
Take a deep breath, take a stepback, hang up, disconnect and
(06:15):
then call somebody.
Call the Better Business BureauIf it's concerning your banking
information.
Call your bank.
Call somebody that you know andtrust and that you have a
relationship with.
Call your bank.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Call somebody that you know and trust and that you
have a relationship with.
So let's talk about the uglywords, those ugly letters, IRS,
you know, it's that time of theyear and you would think of all
the things that a scammer wouldwant to do.
Taxes, you know, because therest of us taxpaying citizens
are scared of Uncle Sam.
We want to make sure we'repaying everything right, dotting
our I's, crossing our T's.
So what should people belooking out for in terms of tax
(06:46):
scams?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well, the first thing and this is probably the
scariest one to me is, if you,especially if you know you're
going to get a refund, you mightwant to consider filing as
early as you possibly can,because the most common scam now
with your taxes is that ascammer will get your
information and file a return inyour name and get the refund.
(07:10):
So then when you go to file,irs is telling you no, we
already have a claim.
You've already been paid Exactly, and so what they started doing
was the IRS started giving aPIN number, and once you get
that PIN number I think theyrenew it every year.
But you use that to protectyourself, and if you've signed
up for the PIN number andsomebody tries to file in your
(07:31):
name and they don't have the PIN, they can't get to it.
So that's something to consider.
But that's the scariest to me,because you go to file your
taxes and then somebody'salready done it in your name.
The other thing is you get thecall.
Of course, we've all receivedthis.
This is the Internal RevenueService.
We noticed that you didn't payyour taxes in the past and we
(07:52):
need you to pay immediately.
And the funny thing about thatis people fall for it, even
though they're asked to give agift card, and that's.
You know you should never, ever.
Irs is never going to call youand ask you for money
immediately.
They're going to send you thatbig yellow envelope in the mail
telling you what you need to doand who you need to contact.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I'm afraid of yellow.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Exactly.
When you get that big yellowenvelope, you know you're
probably in trouble, there'ssome questions, but you want to
investigate it.
Don't just assume that you owethose things.
Anytime somebody calls you andtells you that you owe something
doesn't mean it's fact.
You have a right and you havetime to investigate it and
always check on it before youagree to make any payments.
(08:36):
The other thing is the IRS isnever going to call you and I
always tell people it's kind offunny.
Have you ever tried to call theIRS?
It's like insane, you can't getto somebody.
You're going to call you and Ialways tell people it's kind of
funny.
Have you ever tried to call theIRS?
It's like insane.
You can't get to somebody.
You're going to be on holdforever and I promise you, the
reason you're on hold is notbecause they're trying to call
hundreds of thousands of peopleand threaten them.
That's not how they work.
(08:57):
They're going to send you aletter and, of course, they're
going to confiscate your nextyear taxes if.
But you still have time todispute it.
But don't assume that it's theIRS.
And, of course, caller ID.
You can't trust caller ID andscammers can actually put the
IRS phone number and the IRS onyour caller ID.
(09:21):
So you can't trust that Again,let them leave a message, give
you time to investigate and calla number that you know and
trust is valid.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And speaking of leaving a message, I'll tell you
, years ago, many, many yearsago, I got one of those calls.
I was at work and I think whatreally scared me was that they
left a message because when youthink about 20 years ago, they
didn't have the technology andmost scammers it was that one
time call.
They didn't have the technologyto leave voicemails and so they
(09:51):
actually left the voicemailmessage on my voicemail.
The agent left a ID number andactually before I could call
them back, they called me backand, just like you said, they
had the threatening you know, ifyou don't do anything, we've
been sending you notices, andI'm thinking I hadn't gotten any
notices and of course, camewith yeah, you know, we're going
(10:14):
to be sending an agent to pickyou up.
And all I could picture wasthem taking me out in handcuffs
in front of all my co-workersand I was like, oh my goodness,
but of course I still.
The red flags were going off andI'm trying to hurry up and type
in IRS and get the number andput them on hold to call and
verify because they are veryintimidating.
And I think what really threwme way back then was the fact
that they actually had a numberyou could call back.
(10:35):
They gave that badge number andthis was right about the time
that IRS started having to givethose badge numbers.
So of course they are alwayskeeping up with technology and
going above and beyond to makeit seem so realistic.
So it is very easy.
But, like you said, don'tanswer the phone.
Call the IRS directly and ifyou're lucky to get a person on
(10:56):
the phone then you can confirmif they're looking for you.
But you say there's a bigyellow envelope, right?
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Absolutely and understand that scammers are
very intelligent.
They know what trigger pointsto get your attention.
They know what to say the badgeattention.
They know what to say the badgenumber.
How do you determine if thebadge number is valid?
It sounds so good and they'reso intimidating and of course
we've talked about AI a littlebit.
They make it even harderbecause it really sounds valid,
(11:23):
but they can spoof the phonenumber and make it look like
they're actually calling youfrom the Internal Revenue
Service.
Don't trust it, don't trustyour phone.
Hang up and call them directly.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
So what should you do if you think you've been a
victim of you know, fraud orscam, especially when we're
talking about our taxes?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Well, the first thing is, if you feel like you've
been a victim whether you've hadyour taxes stolen or you know
somebody has called you andgotten information you need to
report it to the IRS, of course.
And of course, the other thingwe have, better Business Bureau
has a scam tracker.
You go to bbborg backslash scamtracker and you can log it in
there.
(11:59):
The importance of logging it atthe Better Business Bureau is
it lets us see the patterns,what's hitting the areas, so
that we can do alerts.
There's also a governmentwatchdog it's ic3.gov.
You can report it there.
They also investigate onlinescams.
But the first thing, of course,is to contact the IRS and
(12:20):
notify them that you've been avictim so that they can put a
halt and help you not continueto be a victim, because once
they have your information, it'svery hard to stop it.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
So what about somebody that's scamming you and
they're posing to be a taxpreparer?
What are some red flags thatyou should look for there?
Because of course, you knowwe're talking about somebody
that may steal your informationout the mail or get it out of a
phishing tactic.
But if you go to what you thinkis a legitimate tax preparer,
you know what are some of thosered flags you should look for.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Well, first of all, I'm going to tell you this If
you're considering hiringsomebody to do your taxes, you
need to investigate that personbefore you give them all your
personal information.
You can start with BBBorg.
You can also look at theirindustry licensing information.
But you want to do yourhomework.
Ask them for references.
The other thing you want tomake sure is if they make
(13:18):
promises like oh, I can get youthe biggest refund, I can get
you more money.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
And that's what we're listening for.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
right, right Well yeah and it sounds good, but you
want to be cautious If itsounds too good to be true, if
it sounds like it's too much,like you want to make sure when
they do your taxes, hire isgoing to be around, because if
you get audited by the IRS, youwant somebody to back you up.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
The person and if they're not?
Speaker 3 (13:57):
there, then you're on your own and you don't know
what they did or what they sent.
So you want to make sure youinvestigate that company.
Also, if they tell you I lovethe ads that, oh, we can get
your money the same day you fall, well people have to understand
what that really means.
If you fall and you get arefund, it's not really coming
(14:18):
from the Internal Revenue.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Service Right, because they're not even
processing that information thatquickly.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Exactly what they're doing is you're essentially
getting a loan on your own moneythat you so.
I know you may be desperate.
I know you may need the money,but you have to take into
consideration what you're goingto lose if you take advantage of
their nice offer.
But you want to make sure youinvestigate.
If they start asking youquestions that make you feel
(14:44):
uncomfortable, then just stop it.
But remember that you're givingthem your full personal
financial identity.
You have to be cautious.
If it sounds too good to betrue and I always tell people it
sounds stupid.
But if you have that littlefunny feeling in your stomach
when you're dealing withsomebody, when you're talking
with them over the phone oryou're meeting with them, listen
(15:07):
to it.
It's never going to steer youwrong.
But investigate, investigate,investigate.
If you're not sure how to dothat, contact the Better
Business Bureau or a financialadvisor, a bank or a credit
union that you trust and getsome advice from them.
But don't just assume thatbecause they say that they're
tax prepared, that they'rehonest and valid.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yeah, you drove down the street and you saw a sign
that says Kim's tax preparationand you stop by and I tell you,
doing taxes probably has seemsto be one of the most vulnerable
circumstances you could get in,because not only are you giving
them your social securitynumber, the social security
number of your family members,your banking information, your
employment information so, yeah,definitely be very cautious out
(15:51):
there in terms of doing taxes.
But on the flip side, hey, whenwe get those refunds, what do
we want to do?
We want to go on vacation.
So I'm going to segue and let'stalk about it, because, you
know, right after taxes, youknow it's spring, summer's on
the horizon, people are going tobe planning for vacations, but
you know the scammers don't stop.
I mean, it's I guess it's a 24hour a day, 12 month a year job,
(16:14):
and that they're always lookingto see how they can beat
somebody of their money.
So what have you seen, or whatare the common scams that are
going on in terms of peopleplanning vacations?
Speaker 3 (16:23):
Well, of course you know we see all the commercial
commercials, all the ads, thepop-ups that tell you you can
get this great vacation and youcan save all this money, it's
all inclusive or whatever thecase may be.
You know you're going to hear acommon theme here.
Do your homework, investigate.
If the offer sounds too good tobe true it generally is.
You also want to make sure ifit's one of these things that
(16:46):
tell you that you can get avacation for a low, low price
and you know whatever.
You want to find out whatcompanies they're dealing with,
what hotels, what if it's acruise, what cruise lines
they're dealing with.
Check with those agencies tomake sure that they do.
They are involved in these othercompany, with these other
(17:06):
companies.
If they have relationships withthem, go to the Better Business
Bureau.
Investigate that company beforeyou agree to it.
And the most important thingthat you want to remember is to
consider travel insurance.
I know it sounds like, oh, onemore thing of insurance, but if
you have to cancel, if you havean emergency in your family or
(17:31):
if there's a weather disaster orwhatever, you have to cancel,
you want to make sure you getyour money back.
So that's something to consider.
It's not for everybody, butit's something to consider.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
OK, definitely, that's a really, really good tip
.
I will definitely tell you thecalls.
You know I get calls all thetime.
Oh, you know, we have you for aspecial vacation three nights,
four nights.
You know, hilton Grand Vacation.
Some of those calls arelegitimate.
Some of those are scams.
I'd love to take advantage ofall the ones that are legitimate
, but what are some red flags?
What should we be looking forwhen we get those calls for
(18:03):
those vacation packages?
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Well, first of all, again, you want to make sure if
the offer sounds valid.
If the offer they're giving youis too good to be true, then
you know it probably is.
Is it connected with somethingelse?
Are there conditions, like doyou have to listen to a
timeshare?
Okay, what does that entail?
What are the restrictions?
(18:27):
Are there any other fees thatthey're not telling you about?
You want to make sure you askall of those questions.
Whatever offer they're givingyou, you want to make sure that
they can submit it to you inwriting so that you can
investigate it first.
But again, the main thing, andof course, if they ask for a
substantial amount of money upfront, those are all warning
signs.
If they ask you to pay with agift card, which is the theme
(18:50):
now, you know those are warningsigns.
But if the main thing is is ifit sounds too good to be true,
it generally is Investigatebefore you invest.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Is there any aspect of booking travel, whether it be
the hotel, the airline or evenjust the destination, in terms
of you know if it's Disney thatyou see more scams prevalent
than others?
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Well, I mean, the biggest thing is that is where
people book and then they get toa hotel that they think may be
valid and it's not in the bestneighborhood, it's sketchy.
There are some cases wherepeople get to their destination
and there are no reservationsmade for them.
So you want to make sure thatyou take a moment and, once you
(19:36):
get into it, even before youleave, call and confirm those
reservations.
Call and confirm that they'rein your name and what the
cancellation fees are, what thecancellation rules are.
You want to make sure that yoube your first line of defense.
You have to make sure, eventhough somebody else planned it
for you, you still have theopportunity and actually the
responsibility to check on itbefore you get involved.
(19:59):
You want to make sure you knowwhere it's located, if it
confirmed your reservation, whatare the aspects, how do you get
to the hotel, how do you get tothe cruise or whatever, and
what's required.
But the main thing is you don'twant to get there and be in a
sketchy place, but then, on theother hand, you don't want to
(20:21):
get to a nice place and thenrealize that there are
additional fees.
So you want to make sure youcall and confirm what all the
requirements are, what areexpected, and if you can get it
in writing beforehand, you'rebetter off.
But you don't want to get to adestination and there be no
reservation, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And you've paid all the money that can really really
ruin a vacation.
So we can be vulnerable, ofcourse, even today, with all the
paperwork and documents that wehave laying around our house,
even today, with all thepaperwork and documents that we
have laying around our house, Imean we could be sometimes our
own worst enemies, in that weget things in the mail and you
know I try and tear it up, butI'm thinking to myself am I
really doing myself a favor byactually opening up for that
(21:00):
criminal versus leaving itsealed, because then maybe you
know they're breaking a mail law?
So let's talk about shredding,how important that is, and then
tell us a little bit about anevent that can help individuals
that have some documents outthere that they want to be able
to get rid of, but they'reafraid to just stick it in their
trash can.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Yeah, let me start with.
I think I have some statisticshere.
Let's see.
Okay, okay, yeah, okay.
So this is what I wanted toshare.
It's very, very important thatyou properly dispose of any
information, any paperwork thatyou have that has your personal
(21:41):
financial information 1,942,000cases of ID theft just reported
to the FTC through the firstthree quarters in 2024.
So that's not the total, andthose are just the people that
actually called to report a scam.
(22:02):
A lot of people don't report itbecause they're embarrassed.
It's very, very important.
Dumpster divers is a real thing.
People will dig through yourtrash.
They will get your information.
Even if you've torn it in acouple of pieces, they can piece
it together If you think aboutit.
It may take them a couple ofhours to put your information
together, but it is going to beworth their time because they
(22:24):
can get so much information andso much money before you even
realize it.
So you again, you have to beyour first line of defense.
That's my favorite sayingAlways shred it properly and
it's always best to cross-shredit.
That way they can't piece ittogether.
So you want to make sure youdispose of it properly and don't
(22:47):
just leave your personalfinancial information laying
around your house.
Just leave your personalfinancial information laying
around your house Becauseunfortunately, we find that the
perpetrators of identity theftand most often are people you
know which is scary, but it isthey will take that information.
Because what do you need tosteal somebody's identity?
(23:09):
You need their social securitynumber, you need their bank
account information, they needyour mother's maiden name, you
need your birth date.
You know, those things are easy, and so leaving that
information to somebody whopasses through your house is not
the best way to protectyourself.
So keep your personalinformation locked up and when
(23:30):
you're going to dispose it, makesure you properly shred it.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Okay, so tell us about the shred event.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
We have a shredding event that we do every April and
I'll tell you when I got herein Baton Rouge in 2018, we were
doing a shredding event there ata different location, and we
were getting about 125 vehiclesgoing through in four hours.
Getting about 125 vehiclesgoing through in four hours.
And just to tell you, right nowwe get between 600 and 800 in
(23:56):
three hours.
And what the event is?
Essentially, it's held at theBaton Rouge Police Department
parking lot On airline Onairline and this year we're
going to have it on April 5thand it's going to be from 9 to
12.
And what we do is we have aprofessional shredder on site.
We have the police departmentwho actually works our traffic
(24:18):
detail, because we've blockedairline a couple of times.
So it goes very fast.
It's very organized, butessentially you drive through
this line.
We have a group of people thatwill unload up to three boxes or
three bags.
People always ask us what thesize is.
As long as we can pick it up,that's the right size.
(24:39):
We will take the boxes and bagsand we will place the
information into a dumpster onsite and as soon as that
dumpster is full, the shredderstarts shredding it on site, and
as soon as that dumpster's full, the shredder starts shredding
it on site.
And so the purpose of the eventis to teach people how to
(25:02):
properly dispose of theirpersonal financial information,
and we have the attorneygeneral's offices actually
working with us this year.
We have several sponsors, butthe police department and the
shredding company are the onesthat are the most important
pieces of it, because they aregoing to make sure that your
information is properly shredded, that nobody can steal your
(25:22):
identity from that information.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Okay, so April 5th Airline Highway 9 to 12.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
You can drive through Highway 9 to 12.
You can drive through.
You know people say that it'sbeen the easiest drive-thru
they've ever had because we haveit well organized.
You drive through, you don'tget out of your vehicle.
We literally unload it for youand shred it on the spot.
We have two, actually we havethe shredding company has two
shredding trucks going at thesame time, so we're shredding it
(25:51):
on the spot.
When we leave that location atnoon it is all shredded and so
people do not have to worryabout their information.
And then we'll also be givingout information to each person
that goes through on how toproperly shred their documents
on their own.
We also give them informationon the shredder so that they can
(26:12):
use that shredder.
But we also provide them withinformation.
And it's so important how longto keep your documents, because
we have people that havedocuments for centuries.
You know it's like you need tostop this.
You can't keep personalfinancial information in your
attic forever.
One, it's a fire hazard.
But two, you know so many years.
(26:32):
I think seven years is like themaximum, except for certain
things.
And we have all of thatdocumented.
We give that out to each personwho goes through All right, so
definitely bank information.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
I would imagine the solicitation from all the banks
that offer you credit cards.
What are some other documentsthat you would recommend people
shredding?
Solicitation from all the banksthat offer your credit cards.
What are some other documentsthat you would recommend people
shredding?
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Anything that has your personal financial
information, social securitynumber, anything that you don't
want to get into the wrong hands.
You need to bring, and it canhave staples, it can have
paperclips all of that It'llshred it.
Just make sure you go throughthe paperwork before you bring
it.
Make sure it's not wet and itcan't be in binders or anything
(27:15):
like that.
But they will shred it.
But just make sure that.
Oh, bank statements, oh checksyou know people don't really use
checks anymore like they usedto.
All of that information.
And we do get a lot of peoplethat are cleaning out their
attic from a deceased elderlyfamily member.
We get a lot of those you don'twant, even though they passed
(27:36):
away.
That doesn't mean theiridentity can't be stolen, but
you want to make sure youdispose of that properly.
So bring it in.
We will shred it on the spotand we'll give you some
information to help you makewise decisions in the future.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
All right, tell us that time and location one more
time.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
It is April 5th, it's a Saturday morning, it's from 9
to 12.
It's at the Baton Rouge PoliceDepartment.
On Airline.
You do not have to get out ofyour vehicle.
We will accept up to threeboxes or three bags per vehicle.
And also one other thing we'regoing to have the food bank out
there, so we don't take moneyfor this event.
It's a free event.
But if you'd like to bringcanned goods or donate to the
(28:15):
food shelter, they'll be outthere as well.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
Awesome, awesome.
Well, as we know, crime willnever go away, so we'll keep
having you come back, definitelyto keep our listeners in the
know, to know what scams and redflags to watch out for.
So thank you, carmen to watchout for.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
So thank you, carmen, and until next time.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Thank you, kim, I appreciate it.
It's time for BlueprintBuilding Blocks Small changes
that lead to big financial wins.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Let's stack up for success.
Be skeptical of unexpectedcalls and emails.
The IRS won't call or emailasking for immediate payments.
If you receive one of thosecalls, hang up and report it.
Verify before you pay.
If someone contacts youclaiming you owe them money,
always verify through officialchannels before making any
payment.
Choose a trusted tax preparer.
Check credentials and look forreviews before handing over your
(29:09):
personal financial informationand then stay updated on scams.
Check with the BBB scam trackerand sign up for alerts to stay
ahead of fraudsters.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
That's a wrap on today's Blueprint Building
Blocks.
Stay on track with yourfinancial journey.
Subscribe to the Money Matterspodcast and visit
neighborsfcuorg slash financialwellness for more tools to help
you build a strong financialfuture.
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