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December 6, 2023 41 mins

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Have you ever received an unexpected call from 'tech support', or a message from a 'grandchild' needing bail money? You're not alone. Together, we - Tish and Ellen - take you on a journey exploring the dark abyss of scams that have targeted us, our friends, and countless midlife women across the globe. We'll share our personal stories and experiences, and reveal shocking statistics about the staggering financial losses incurred by our age group due to these scams.

We don't just highlight the problem, we arm you with defenses too. From cultivating healthy skepticism to independently verifying suspicious communication, we're here to guide you on how to keep safe while navigating the digital world. We’ll introduce you to resources like AARP, Nextdoor, and reputable antivirus software that will help you stay a step ahead of the scammers. Plus, we'll discuss the newest threats, including deep fakes and the malicious use of artificial intelligence.

But remember, isolation is a scammer’s best friend, and community is our strongest defense. So, we'll discuss the importance of open communication about scams within your circles. By sharing our stories, we can arm each other with knowledge, prevent more victims, and ensure our midlife journey is safe and positively empowering. Don't let the scammers win. Let's navigate these murky waters together, and safeguard our future.

Obsessions:
Tish: Couch Console tray - perfect for a holiday gift
Ellen:
Carhartt pink beanie 

Support the show

Website: www.thepositivelymidlifepodcast.com
Email: postivelymidlifepod@gmail.com

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tish (00:03):
On today's episode, we're going to dive into a topic that
is unfortunately become all toocommon, but especially targeting
our age group being scammed inmidlife.

Ellen (00:18):
Ouch, I know, you know what Tisha.
It's holiday season and I'mhearing more and more about
scams.
Scams targeting midlife womenseem to be on the rise, so I
think it's essential for us todiscuss how we can protect
ourselves and each other fromscammers, and they can come in

(00:39):
so many forms these days overthe phone, on a social app, at
the gas pump and 40% of romancescams I've not heard that term
before, but now I know what itis target midlife people, so
it's scary how we both know anumber of people who've lost
money and sleep over this.

Tish (01:00):
Absolutely.
You know, it's justdisheartening to hear about
friends and acquaintancesfalling victim to scams.
They are particularlytraumatizing at midlife because
it makes us feel so much morevulnerable out there.
You know, a recent November29th article from the National

(01:24):
Council on Aging said that in2022, there were 88,262
complaints of fraud from peopleage 60 plus, resulting in a
whopping $3.1 billion in losses.

(01:46):
And to add fuel to that, ellen,this is a shocking statistic as
well.
It is showing, from 2021 to2022, a shocking 82% increase.
And that's only the ones thatare being reported.

(02:07):
How many are going unreported?

Ellen (02:11):
Oh, my God, tish, what an increase.
That's insane, insane.
And you know, this is just anour age group.
So I think today we'll walkthrough the main types of scams
targeting us midlifers, and I'llshare about a recent scam that
I was targeted in, as well assome other scams that I know

(02:33):
other friends have been targetedin, and some protective
measures, because I think it'sreally important we understand
how to protect ourselves.
But before we get to that, youknow I love to talk about our
weekly obsessions.
Tish, what do you have for methis week?

Tish (02:50):
Okay, so I have another, since we're all still in this
December mode.
I have a great gift.
You know, I always find that myyou know adult sons are a hard
group to buy for, like, what doyou get for this group, right?
So I found the coolest thingfor them.

(03:10):
It's called a couch console,right, and it's this little
right?
I know it sounds crazy, right,but what do they love more than,
like, being on the computer orgaming or watching movies?
And it's this small box thatthey could put in the bed next
to them or on the sofa, and whatis so cool is where they put

(03:30):
their drink.
It actually has a balancingfeature.
So even if you know how, whenyou're in bed and your body
weight makes things tip andyou're selling things, it won't
spill because it has thisequalizer.
It is so cute, but there's aplace to put their phone.
There's a little storage thingfor the remote controls,

(03:52):
everything.
It is adorable and it'ssomething they would use all
year long.
So that is my obsession.

Ellen (04:00):
Well, not only am I in it for my sons, but haven't you
spilled a drink in bed or on?

Tish (04:06):
the couch, oh yeah.

Ellen (04:10):
I totally could use this, so I see a few of those come in
my way, tish.
Well, I've gone in a completelyother direction.
Today my obsession is thissuper cute pink car heart.
You know that brand, thatnobody was wearing.
Until, like a few years ago,nobody's wearing.

Tish (04:30):
Yes, every one of my besties the other night was
wearing car heart.
So cause I was just wearing ityesterday and I kind of just
giggled and I thought the samething when did this become so
trendy?
But it is.

Ellen (04:44):
No, it is our good friend of the show, Ellen Howard.
She has a car heart jacket.
I was like damn girl, you know.
So this is really, reallybecome popular.
But it is a knitted, cuffedbeanie.
It comes in 20 different colors, but my color is pink because
you know how much you and I lovepink and it is just the cutest.

(05:08):
These are great stockingstuffers or gifts and we'll put
links to both of these.
We want to let everyone know wehave so many of our obsessions
up on our website and you cansupport our show, especially
around the holidays, by goingthere and picking up a little
something that you like.
So please go there.

Tish (05:31):
Right.
What is our website address foreveryone who might not have
been there yet.

Ellen (05:35):
That's right, it is thePositivelyMidlifePodcastcom
and of course we will put a linkto it in our show notes.
But check it out.
Things from rings to candles,to a sun lamp and sweaters, you
name it All of our wheelprepping.

Tish (05:55):
It's got something for everybody it really does An
animal lover.

Ellen (05:59):
You name it.
All right, so go to ourobsessions page on our website.

Tish (06:05):
Yep, definitely, and it'll also prompt you to get on our
mailing list, so we're going tostart reaching out to people.
So if you ever thought, oh,there was a really good
obsession about 10 episodes ago,this is how you're going to be
able to find them.
But, ellen, let's dive intothis super important subject,
and I wanted to see can youshare a bit about any personal

(06:29):
experiences that you have hadwith scams?

Ellen (06:33):
Well, I feel like we're going to dive deeply into my
life today because I have hadthree of the big scams attempted
on me.
But you know what Tish?
The first one is the onlinetech support scam and I think,
with three boys, so many laptopsand computers and accounts and
different things in my house Afew years back I got a call from

(06:54):
someone claiming to be from atech company, insisting that my
computer had a virus.
Now I'm protected andeveryone's protected by McAfee.
But you know, I freaked out.
Who knows where my kids had goneand what they downloaded, and
they asked for remote access tofix it and in a moment of panic
I really I almost said yes and Ithankfully just took a

(07:20):
hesitation, you know, a littlebit of a pause and I decided to
double check by texting a techsavvy friend, you know, before I
did anything and it turns outit was a total scam.
I almost gave the person accessto my entire computer system
and they also were talking aboutneeding gift cards to fix it

(07:44):
before I knew it was a scam andthat if anyone's asking you for
a gift card, your radar but youjust go scam, scam, scam, scam,
scam, scam, unless it's your kid.

Tish (07:56):
unless it's your kid, they want gift cards, but otherwise
scam.
Wow Ellen you know that is sofrightening.
You know how convincing thesescammers are, right?
And again, I think it's adultsover 60 are almost 400% more
likely to fall for these techscams, right, Because you think,

(08:19):
oh, the company is reaching outto me.
You know they're beingproactive, they think it's like
this nice thing, but they'rejust counting on one of the
calls that is going.
They're going to sound likesomething that we already have,
so it sounds like something thatwe should do, right?
Yep, but it's just this overthe phone thing, right?

(08:42):
But there are more.
You're going to get scamsthrough emails, You're going to
get scams through social mediaschemes, and there's even
fraudulent investmentopportunities that really target
midlife women.

Ellen (08:58):
Oh, exactly, tish.
And today we're going to talkabout almost all of these.
But I just have to go back tothe gift card thing.
You know, I had a friend whofell for this and she ran to
Target to get gift cards andthey told her at Target that it
was a scam.
She got as far as Target to buygift cards for these scammers.

(09:20):
This is a smart lady.
So these scammers, they prey onour trust and they often use
really sophisticated tactics.
But we're going to talk aboutso many ways to protect yourself
and, first and foremost, let'stalk about being a skeptic.
You had said this earlier.

Tish (09:39):
Yeah, absolutely, ellen.
I think we need to adopt ahealthy dose of skepticism,
right, especially when dealingwith unsolicited calls or
messages.
Right, don't be rushing intomaking decisions or sharing
personal information when indoubt.
Don't call the phone numberthat the person has provided for

(10:02):
you, right?
Or the link or whatever, butrather look up this information
yourself.
So, if it's your bank, ifthey're saying this is Wells
Fargo, say I'm going to need toverify, disconnect the call,
look up Wells Fargo's number onyour stuff and then call to
verify.

(10:23):
Any reputable company willunderstand your need to verify.

Ellen (10:30):
You know.
So, true, Tish.
And I have to say, at thecompany I work for, they do
these tests.
They call them phishing.
Oh yeah, I don't know right, Ihave fallen for them so many
times.
I'm so embarrassed at mycompany.
But you know, online they tellyou to look at a logo that's not

(10:50):
right, or misspellings or typos.
You know just those littlethings.
And that's where I think thathealthy dose of skepticism comes
in.
But also, as I said, considerusing a reputable antivirus
software and strong and uniquepasswords for different accounts
and add layers of security.
I really hate all this two stepauthentication and the

(11:13):
passwords that make you changeand change and change, and you
know it's like a lot for usright at this stage, but it
really, really helps withoutsecurity.
And let's not forget aboutsecuring personal information.
Avoid sharing sensitive detailsonline and review those privacy
settings on social mediaplatforms and on your phone.

(11:36):
All of it, just really be aware.

Tish (11:40):
Those are absolutely fantastic suggestions, ellen,
for our listeners.
Remember it's okay to hang upthe phone.
It's okay to delete an email.
It is okay to ignore suspiciouscommunications.
Start trusting your instinctwhen it feels wrong.

(12:02):
Stop.

Ellen (12:05):
Very good.
Don't hesitate really to reportthe scams or specific this
vicious activity to authorities.
I know a lot of times it couldbe embarrassing, but by doing
this we're protecting ourselvesand others from falling victim
to these tactics.
It's really the right thing todo.

Tish (12:28):
That's such a crucial point, Ellen.
Another tip is to stay informed, Keeping up on what the latest
scams are that are circulatingout in our area or online
awareness is the first key, thefirst step to recognizing these

(12:48):
potential threats.

Ellen (12:51):
Tish, I use two great resources.
You're going to crack up on thefirst one because it's next
door.
Are you one next door for your?

Tish (13:01):
neighborhood.
I'm not, and I really should be.

Ellen (13:05):
It's amazing what you can learn on next door, but one of
the things you hear about I hearabout all the time are what
scams are going on and peoplewho've gotten scammed.
Especially there's a couple ofgas stations where they're
scamming at your card.
At the pump, someone else fellprey to somebody calling about a

(13:26):
bench warrant impersonating asheriff recently.
I think it's really great onnext door to just check it out
and have that radar up.
The second one might also crackyou up.

Tish (13:41):
It is AARP and I know we all feel too young for AARP?

Ellen (13:47):
Do you feel too young for AARP?

Tish (13:50):
Yes, I'm guilty.
I'm guilty.
It's a great organization.
It really focuses on protectingpeople in so many different
ways.
I love this.

Ellen (14:03):
Yes, they have this scam database tool.
You put in your zip code andyou can see all the scams
happening in your area.
We will put this in our shownotes, because this one is a
really great resource that Ithink everyone should just be
aware of.

Tish (14:19):
Ellen.
It was funny because when wewere sharing this information
with each other, I thought I'venever done that.
I went to my area and you couldlook up and it would tell you
what the scams were.
Whether it was somebody comingto someone's house, selling

(14:40):
rehab services, more rooms, overthe phone, it just heightened
again, heightening thatawareness.
We need to be talking aboutwhat scams are happening and we
need to be talking about thiswith our friends and our
neighbors, and by doing thiswe'll keep each other safe.

(15:00):
Here is the hard thing too.
If you've ever fallen victim toa scam and I know, you might be
so embarrassed to tell anyonebut by telling others you're
going to prevent your friendsand your neighbors from falling
victim too.
We're all smart ladies, butthese scammers are getting so

(15:25):
amazingly good they're bloodygood at this.
By making other people awareit's going to stop.
It's really going to help.

Ellen (15:36):
Yeah, I completely agree, tish.
I'm happy today to share thedifferent scams that have come
across my lap, because it'spretty amazing out there.
I think if we asked thisquestion at a dinner party or a
holiday party, almost everybodywould have a story, right?
It's good to share.

Tish (15:56):
Absolutely.
That's why I think we need tostart sparking these
conversations with our friendsgroups.
Ellen, I know that both you andI have had close encounters
when selling a big ticket itemon Facebook Marketplace.
I love Facebook Marketplace,but we need to be cautious when

(16:17):
selling items there or buyingitems.
Explain your experience thathappened to you.

Ellen (16:24):
Sure, this was my first time selling on Facebook
Marketplace.
I know you love it.
I've been the recipient of someof the great things, like the
pickleball and tennis racket andswim fins and stuff you've
gotten.
But when I became an emptynester earlier this fall, I had
a lot of stuff that I wanted tooffload to clear out my garage.

(16:46):
One because I wanted to park inmy garage for the first time in
15 years, thinking, oh, I'd becoming home alone.
It would be nice to park in mygarage.
Prior, my garage was like amini gym for my three boys.
We had a squat rack and a benchand all these free weights and
bands.
So I decided to put those up onFacebook Marketplace and the

(17:10):
first person who contacted mesaid they wanted them, but her
husband would pick them up onhis way home from work but he
didn't have cash and my listingsaid cash only.
Would I do Venmo?
And I should have said no, butI was like, oh OK.
The other thing I didn't do wasI didn't look at the profile of
the person, and I should havedone that as well, but I did

(17:34):
give them my address, which Iwas like.
You know, sometimes they saymeet at a supermarket parking
lot, but I couldn't takehundreds of pounds of weights
from my garage to a supermarketparking lot, so then, oh, he
couldn't get there that day, hewas coming the next day.
Could I give them my phonenumber, in addition to my
address?
Because they only had abusiness, Venmo and I was like,

(17:57):
oh, this is really getting.
Yeah, this is.
I can't even believe.
I gave these people my address,so I know, I called you and I'm
like what to do, and you werelike look at their profile.
And of course it was a bogusprofile.
And I can tell right away I hadalready given my address, close
to giving my phone number, Imean.
But you know, I just thought,holy cow, this was so easy to

(18:22):
get, it would have been so easyto get sucked in, so I reported
it and disconnected from themand did some of my other things
to real people who came by andpicked them up.

Tish (18:34):
You know, those fake profiles are such a dead
giveaway when you go and I'm notsaying like everybody who buys
and sells on Marketplace youknow some people aren't big
posters and they're not going tohave a lot of information, but
typically they're going to havesomething you can.
You can just pull it up.
It's all generic, it's nothingspecific.

(18:56):
There's no personal pictures.
The profiles are like brand new.
There's no history.
That stop, stop, do notcommunicate.
Tell them cash only guaranteedthey will disconnect with you,
right.
So I was selling a big ticketitem.

(19:19):
I was selling a big treadmill,right?
What I realized later is thesescammers.
They target big ticket items.
They have alerts on theirphones.
They're the first ones at you.
I got inundated with requestand all of these had let's Venmo

(19:44):
, let's PayPal, let's Cash App.
They wanted the phone numbers.
They did and I just kept sayingno, catch, well, I don't have
it.
I'll wait for you, I'll waitfor you to go to the bank and
we'll arrange this.
Again, it was a heavy item.
They were going to have to comeand get it.
The lady who ended up actuallybuying it we had somebody on

(20:06):
Facebook in common and I let herknow right away.
I'm not really friends with thatperson.
I'm Facebook friends with them,but I do know them through
another friend.
If they ever went back to thatmutual friend, I didn't want her
to think like I was claimingthat we were besties or anything

(20:27):
like that.
We just connected through amutual friend as well and we've
been Facebook friends.
The woman we connected throughhad a photography thing, so I
always follow up her beautifulphotography.
When they start wanting toconnect with you on other apps,

(20:47):
different payment methods, theyget pushy, they get stop, just
stop.
It's not worth it.

Ellen (20:55):
It's true.
I ended up telling that personyou'll drive by a bank and a
7-Eleven, both have ATMs.
If you want the stuff, bringcash.
And of course I never heard ofthem again, from them again.
But here's another personalexperience.
I had Tish, and this one was ascam targeting our age group,
but really more grandparents,although I know some of us are

(21:18):
grandparents.
A few years back myfather-in-law called me really
early in the morning to tell memy oldest son was in jail and I
was like what?

Tish (21:29):
What, oh my God, you must have absolutely freaked out.
He was calling to tell you Jackwas in jail.

Ellen (21:36):
Yes, yes, I mean I was like what?
I mean you just start breakingout in a cold sweat, partially
because it was like 8.30 in themorning and he had just left,
like 45 minutes earlier, forhigh school in his car and I was
like, why do you think Jack'sin jail?

Tish (21:59):
So why did your father-in-law think that Jack
was actually in jail?

Ellen (22:05):
He got a call from someone claiming to be Jack and
the person was panicked andsaying grandpa, grandpa, I'm in
jail and I need $500 for bail.
Please don't tell mom and dad,can you help me?
I'm desperate.
So that was the thing, and youcan see.
Every little thing about thatwould make a grandparent want to

(22:27):
help their grandchild rightJump into action before they did
anything.
Exactly now.
My father-in-law was in adifferent state, so it wasn't
like he would be like where areyou, where are you, let me come
and get you.
No, it was more like okay.
He said okay, you're in trouble, I will pay your bail, but I

(22:47):
won't keep it a secret from yourmom and dad, jack.
And as soon as he said that,the person hung up.

Tish (22:56):
Because, of course, now that when you get other people
involved, they're gonna stop theaction, they're gonna stop.
Exactly.
They're gonna start questioningthings.

Ellen (23:07):
Yes, and this Jack alleged Jack air quotes.
Jack on the other end wascrying and begging his
grandfather, and so I mean,obviously I knew this really
couldn't be true, but myfather-in-law was so insistent
that it was Jack that I calledJack, and I was like, hey, are

(23:27):
you okay?
And he said yes, and I said,are you in jail?
And he was like what have you?
Have you been drinking?
It's 8.30 in the morning.
Like what the hell, mom?
No, I'm not in jail.
And I was like, okay, I justhad to, you know, just had to
check.
Grandpa got this call and anyway, I let him get off and I
Googled it, and what I found isthis is one of the number one

(23:50):
scams targeting grandparents allaround the country, and these
scammers make so much money.
The hardest part, though, wascalling my father-in-law and
telling him that it was a scam.
He did not wanna believe it,and he didn't wanna believe it,
Mostly like for the same reasonwe're saying a lot of us feel

(24:12):
really stupid, we feelvulnerable.
He was like I couldn't bescammed.
You know, those kinds of thingscome up, and it was really a
hard lesson, and thank God hedidn't give any money and but it
hurt his pride and I think alot of these things hurt our
pride.

Tish (24:33):
Absolutely.
And so many of these scams,alan, play on this idea of
secrecy and the older generationthey're much better with the
secrets than we are at theyounger.
The younger we are, we just letit all hang out, right.
But the older generation iswhen somebody told them I'm just

(24:55):
going to share this with you,don't share it with anyone else.
You know they held to theirword.
So these scams do play onsecrecy and they count on the
person that they scam being soembarrassed that they're not
going to say anything.

Ellen (25:14):
That's right.
Yeah, that's right, and it'shappening so much.

Tish (25:19):
You know, alan, let's talk about another type of scam,
right, the romance scam.
They count on people at midlifebeing lonely, so hence comes in
the romance scam.

Ellen (25:37):
Oh, I mean, this one is horrible tish.
It's both emotionally andfinancially devastating.
I'm going to say for women, I'msure if it happens to men too,
but we're talking to our tribehere.
Yeah, the median individualloss from romance scams for
people 50 and over was $9,000 in2021, compared to 2400 across

(26:01):
all age groups.
So that's more than three timesthe amount of money that they
scam from us 50 plus population.

Tish (26:11):
You know, again, there are many people being taken
advantage of here.
But what it is is sofascinating to me is that the
reports show that romancescammers often use dating apps
to target people looking forlove.
So they know these people don'thave somebody in their life

(26:33):
right?
But reports of romance scamsthat start with unexpected
private messages on social mediaplatforms are even more common.
I know, I get them all the timeI do too.

Ellen (26:51):
I'm laughing because I shared them with my boys when I
first got out.
I'm like, look at all theseguys and they're like, do you
not get their scammers?
I was like, well, I get theirweirdos, because who would find
somebody that way?
But yeah, they're all the timeon Instagram and Facebook, so
let's think about it.

Tish (27:10):
Somebody who's isolated and lonely and some handsome
gentleman reaches out and says Iwant to know you, you know.
In fact, they say 40% of peoplewho said that they lost money
to a romance scam last year saidthey were.
The contact had started onsocial media.

(27:32):
Oh well, 19% said it started ona website or an app.
So more of these are comingfrom social media sites.
I know it was so funny.
Somebody contacted me from myInstagram.
I knew it was false.
I knew it was, but you know mycuriosity, alan.

(27:52):
I had to draw him in and I saidI know you're not who you say
you are.
Just tell me who you are andsure enough he comes clean.
He's some 19-year-old somewherein Africa.
Please can I help him get aneducation?
Blah, blah, blah.
And I said I'm already payingfor education.

(28:13):
Sorry about that, but it justreally speaks to the point of
they're out there and they'reworking 8, 10 hours a day just
finding, just looking for thatone person who's so lonely that
they need to believe this right.

Ellen (28:34):
Oh yeah, yeah, it's so true, and I think what that kind
of data says to me is that thedating apps are screening these
folks more, because it's 50%less than on a social media app.
So I think anyone who justcontacts you out of the blue be
suspicious, excuse me.

Tish (28:56):
Now, my big thing here is one of the big, huge red flags.
Like major, major red flags iswhen somebody contacts you and
now they want to go from one appto another app.
Like you're chatting on onedating app, or you're chatting
on Facebook or something likethat.

(29:17):
Now they want you to go toWhatsApp, google Chat or even
Telegram.
Right yeah, it speaks to me andthis should speak to everybody.
They're not from the UnitedStates, they're from a foreign
country, and that's why theyneed these different apps to be
able to contact you and haveregular you know correspondence

(29:40):
that's not going to cost a lotof money.

Ellen (29:42):
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
Radar should go up.
You know what, tish?
There are some common factorsthat are present in romance
scams.
I'm just going to go through afew of them, but we can put
these on.
I think one the relationship isonly online.
You're unlikely to meet.
They could be far away, youknow they will always ask you

(30:05):
for money, even if it's just tobe left in your will.
Can you believe that Somebodywould ask to be left in your
will?
They also big thing, tragedystrikes and they'll pry you for
money.
Oh, I need a flight.
Or someone died and you know weneed to bury them, or all of
that, or a relativistic, andmoney's needed for medical care.

(30:27):
And of course, they may becharming.
They may be younger and veryattractive.
So, you know, don't let thosethings, or at least how they're
presenting themselves online.

Tish (30:39):
I was going to say or they're using somebody who's
really attractive pictures.

Ellen (30:44):
Exactly.
I mean, I have to say I thoughtyou were going to bring up here
the guy that said he was an oilrigged driller from like the
middle of the US.

Tish (30:55):
Ellen, they're always petroleum engineers.
That's right they all arealways there.
I'm a petroleum engineer andI'm from Charlotte, North
Carolina.
I don't think we have thosehere, you know.

Ellen (31:08):
Yeah.

Tish (31:09):
But it's always right.
So they're preying on people'sloneliness and I know I've had
quite a few attempts at beingcatfished, right.
They love to use militaryprofiles, pictures of people in
the military, because we arejust conditioned to trust them.

(31:29):
They're there to protect us,right?
So it's very common.
But you'll always notice whenthere's a picture of a military
person.
You know they always have theirlast name on a tag on their
uniform, but in the picturesthey share it's very
conveniently blurred out.
That is a huge red flag, youknow.

Ellen (31:55):
I know.

Tish (31:56):
Or they're telling you they're from the US and the
wording that they use is justoff.
It's not the right wording thatsomebody who grew up here and
I'm not saying that youshouldn't meet people from other
places you know, I love peoplefrom all over the world, but no
matter where you are, if thewording isn't customary to where

(32:19):
you're from and the person saysthat is where they're from, big
red flag, just don't evencommunicate anymore.

Ellen (32:27):
Oh, it's so true.
And in addition to like theromance scams, a couple kinds
are they ask you to, they'regonna Venmo you money and then
could you cash app it to someoneelse, but after you cash app it
, there's no money in your Venmo, right?
It's kind of like a checkkiting thing.
Or they have some.

(32:49):
You know great crypto I thinkthis was a few years ago when
crypto was on fire and then youopen up accounts and then you
don't realize until it's toolate that it's really all gone.
So you know romance and beingasked for money or to be left in
a will or to you know depositchecks.

(33:10):
You know they don't go together.
They don't go together, yeah.

Tish (33:13):
And so I think this is a great segue, Ellen, to talk
about the banking scams that areout there.

Ellen (33:20):
Oh yeah, I mean these are so many and I've gotten them
too.
My bank is Bank of America andyou get emails and you have to
really look at those to knowthey're not from Bank of America
.
Like you and I said earlier,with our like fishing, you know
attacks at work where they testus and I think it's really,
really important you know whatdo you do.

(33:42):
If you think you're beingscammed from a bank.
Don't send money, hang up.
Like you said earlier.
I mean you know these folks mayhave misused the brand name.
They may have jimmied with alogo.
The web access has an extraletter right, so you have to be
aware of all of those things.

Tish (34:03):
Let's.
So let's go again one more time.
I can't stress how important itis to independently verify with
the company directly fromnumbers that you obtain on your
own, not through them, notthrough their links, but did you
obtain before you move forward.
So if the bank is reaching outand they're saying there's

(34:25):
something wrong and you contactyour bank through your own phone
numbers that you found and thebank says, yes, there's an issue
, then you have an issue, butI'm gonna guarantee that it's
not you know Right, right, andyou know what.

Ellen (34:40):
You can also get these pitches over the phone, like we
said earlier, via email, and youknow what?
Listen, treat everything as ascam until proven otherwise.
I have to say.
There's a stat here thatvictims of banking fraud lost an
average of $20,000.

Tish (34:59):
None of us can afford to lose that, and I think there's
this misconception that whenyou're scammed, the bank is
going to give you your moneyback.
But if you have allowedyourself to transfer somebody
money, you're on your own.
Yeah, yeah, they're not gonnaref.

(35:20):
The bank is not refunding thatmoney.
You willingly transferred themoney out of your account to
someone else.
So again, just kind of, youknow, be very careful.
You know, I know I havefrequently been targeted with
shipping scams.
I get them constantly, me tooTesh, yeah, me too I get a text

(35:43):
message that is supposedly fromthe United States Postal Service
that says a USPS package hasarrived at the warehouse and
cannot be delivered due toincomplete address information,
and the first thing you think ofis I want my package.
I want my package.
So they asked you to confirmyour address in the link within

(36:06):
12 hours.
That's sense of urgency, right?
Well, what's gonna come next isyou're gonna have to send, like
money or banking information orwhatever.
This is the first step atgetting more information out of
you.
Don't do it.
I actually one time, when thefirst one I got, went down to

(36:29):
the post office and they go yeah, there's nothing here for you.
That's a scam.
That's what I'm saying, right?
Yeah, it's.
I'm always getting packagesdelivered, of course.

Ellen (36:43):
Right, and I want my packages.
I want my packages.
So.

Tish (36:48):
I just wanna say, Ellen, they're getting trickier and
trickier and as we go into 2024,they're gonna become much more
sophisticated with theirattempts at scams.
So, Ellen, have you heard aboutthe newest scam called the Deep
Fake?

Ellen (37:06):
Tish.
Is that the one used with ElonMusk?

Tish (37:10):
Yes, so in November just last month a deep fake of Elon
Musk, who's the CEO of Tesla andSpaceX.
His image was used to promote acryptocurrency scam.
Everyone knows Elon Musk wasdeep into the cryptocurrency, so

(37:31):
it shouldn't be a surprise,right?
Well, this Deep Fake videoshowed Musk endorsing a fake
cryptocurrency called Elon Coin,and it was shared widely on
social media before it was takendown.
The incident highlighted thepotential for deep fakes to be

(37:54):
used to manipulate markets anddeceive investors.

Ellen (37:59):
Yeah, that's insane and with this increase of AI out
there and the explosion of ithere at the end of 2023, moving
into 2024, we all need to bemuch more aware of these next
year.
I think they're just going tokeep going and going.
So, really, the Deep Fake, Idon't know.

(38:23):
That could be the end of it,right.

Tish (38:28):
So, again, you just have to be cautious, even when you
see stuff on social media.
Again, the use of AI.
We need to be that much morecautious, wow.
Well, ellen, as we wrap uptoday's episode, let's really
think about empowering eachother to stay vigilant and share

(38:50):
tips with our friends andfamily and our communities.

Ellen (38:55):
Well said, tish.
And you know what?
Together we can make it saferfor us and really navigate
midlife with confidence andresilience.
I think the first thing is totake that pause right.
Feel free to hang up, neversend money right.
And again, when you are gettingthat feeling that something

(39:19):
isn't right, you really need tolisten to your intuition around
this Again.
Go to the AARP site.
Look for scams that arehappening in your area.
Check out next door.
In addition to scams, you get awhole lot of stuff about what's
happening in your neighborhood.
That's awesome, I'm gonna goback to our head as well, so I

(39:42):
really think this was superinformative, tish.

Tish (39:47):
And I just wanna thank everybody for tuning into the
Positively Midlife Podcast.
We so love you coming along forthe ride.
Tune into our website, interactwith us.
We wanna hear from you.
So until next time, stay safe,stay positive and we'll see you

(40:09):
at the next episode.

Ellen (40:11):
Thank you so much for watching.
We hope you enjoyed this.
We've got this.
Thank you.
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