March 3, 2024 • 25 mins
Ever had that sinking feeling when you realize someone's trying to pull the wool over your eyes? Join me, Bill Bateman, and the Refuse to be a Victim team as we lay bare the insidious world of scams, especially those that rear their ugly heads during tax season. Anchored in a tale of my critiquing and then laughing at a scammer's "deceitful ploy", this episode shares the value of taking a breath first. We don't just stop at attempted scare tactics; you'll be armed with actionable advice on ramping up your security measures, like the fortification of your passwords, to shield your hard-earned cash from these con artists. Through the story of a friend's wife, ensnared by a scammer's web, we'll explore the distressing aftermath of fraud, reminding you why it's paramount to verify any eyebrow-raising claims with authorities before taking action.
But our vigilance doesn't end with a phone call. The episode transitions into a masterclass in situational awareness, equipping you with the skills to remain unflappable and prepared in any scenario—be it lost in your phone on a bustling street or weaving through an airport crowd. We'll dissect the essence of projecting confidence, honing your intuition, and the art of inconspicuousness in public spaces. As you consider these tips, you'll be reminded that it's not about nurturing fear but fostering a sharp, attentive spirit ready to tackle the unexpected. For every listener eager to transform to self-awareness, this episode isn't just a conversation—it's a gateway to empowering insights that could one day save your life.
Link to Premier Body Armor
(https://premierbodyarmor.com/blogs/pba/6-tips-to-improve-situational-awareness)
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Class Information: Refuse to be a Victim Personal ProtectionTraining
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bill Bateman (00:00):
It has been a very interesting week.
Here at my house, I was givingnotes to a scammer who tried to
do a phone fraud on me.
I've discovered someinteresting things that
situational awareness can beapplied to.
And that's just the tip of theiceberg.
Come on in, get comfortable,let's talk about this.
(00:21):
Hi everybody, I'm Bill Bateman,part of the team here at Refuse
to be a Victim PersonalProtection Training.
We are located in the MedfordWhite City area of southern
(00:41):
Oregon and if you're looking forthe exact address, it's 6800
Kershaw where Kershaw meetsCorey.
At that really sharp turn inthe road, slow down.
We want you to get into therange, but through the gate, not
through the fence.
So, with that said, we have hada busy weekend.
(01:02):
As I mentioned, if you're notfamiliar with film or television
, even media podcasting, thattype of thing a director or a
producer will give notes to theperson performing to help them
improve the performance.
Like Bill, you were kind ofsounding like you needed to
(01:22):
clear your throat.
You want to do that again, orcould you speed up?
Or you jumped one of the point.
It's it's a technical thingthat's done in the business,
this is tax time and it's alsoscam season.
Well, okay, I got two storieson that and how giving notes can
be useful and situationalawareness can also come into
(01:46):
play.
Let's talk about this.
I got my first fraud call in along time.
I'm on a number of lists, Ihave a number of filters and
blockers, but occasionally theyget through and I got a very
official person saying hello, mrBateman, yes, this is with
River, for totallyunintelligible and we've
(02:07):
discovered a problem with youraccount.
It's a $6,200 charge.
We need your accountinformation right now.
Or your accounts are going tobe frozen or the one they went
to next.
Well, we're going to have toseize your accounts as evidence.
If you don't recognize this asa classic phone fraud intro, you
(02:29):
should.
I instantly knew it wasgobbledygook.
I know many people in lawenforcement and, believe me,
they don't mumble.
They are quite clear with whatthey need you to do.
They're also very.
I have never had anybody calland give me an advance warning
that they're going to dosomething.
I'm not in trouble that much,but the history is oh for oh.
(02:53):
It's just not happening.
I realized instantly this was ascam, so I listened.
I said well, who are you with?
Again, I was playing along tosee what happened.
And about 30 seconds in, Irealized this guy was a complete
moron, and so I started tocritique his performance or give
him notes.
And I start you.
(03:14):
Okay, listen, skippy, you'redoing a great job, but you came
in way too early with thethreats.
First you have to build rapportwith the mark, haven't you?
How long you've been doing this?
And he got so frustrated Istarted to laugh and he hung up.
They hate being laughed at.
(03:34):
What this tells us is A there'sa lot of this going on and B
taking a beat.
Having some awareness of what'sgoing on is going to prevent
you from wading into the deepend of the pool right after you
eat.
It's a situation that we wantto respond.
(03:54):
We want to correct this, wewant to prevent problems, and
that's always a good way to be.
But have good information, findout who this person is supposed
to be.
I can go down to my bank very,very quickly and say so, what's
going on here?
And they always just put it ontheir fraud watch and let me
(04:15):
know that somebody's scamming inthis area, and I also find by
changing my email and accountpasswords frequently, I reduce
the likelihood of this happening.
I know that it's a gigantic painin the backside to constantly
be changing your passwords.
(04:35):
It's worth the effort.
Don't reuse the same passwords.
I fluctuate between three orfour.
I do, and we've talked aboutthis before so I won't go into
it in too much detail.
I have my special high securitypasswords and those are like 21
characters.
Some are computer generated.
I had an account for a time thathad a password that changed
(05:00):
every 40 seconds and I had tolog in.
That's when I was at theuniversity and we were dealing
with some of the enterpriselevel systems.
I guess is the correct term.
That was a gigantic pain in thebackside.
Your email should not be thatdifficult, but don't use the
same things and go back andlisten to the password things.
Don't use your birthday.
(05:21):
Don't use your dog's name, yourson's sports team, that kind of
stuff.
So I'm off the res.
I'm heading in the wrongdirection.
Let's come back on track.
Being aware of what you're doingand not reacting is going to
keep you from jumping in.
I have a personal friend whosewife got one of these calls and
(05:42):
they said we're from theSheriff's Department.
We're going to come and arrestyour husband if you don't do
this.
Well, I know these people.
They are the least likely everto have any problems that would
merit that kind of action.
They took most of her savingsover a two day period.
It's horrifying they never gotit back.
(06:03):
Taking that extra beat.
And, for heaven's sakes, if youand we I live in a mobile home
park and there's a lot of singleseniors we're trying to
establish, if not reach out tothe son or the daughter or the
caregiver or whatever someone inthe park.
We have several attorneys.
We have a law enforcementretiree here.
(06:25):
We have people of I considergood character and say hey, bob,
I just got this call, find out,don't give out information like
that.
Also, talking about scam timeand this one really upset me.
It is tax time.
I'm still waiting to gather allmy information Should be out by
(06:46):
the 31st January, but a lot ofthings should happen that don't.
And I looked in my bank accountand buried in the archives.
Zipcar has been billing me bothinsurance and a renewal fee on
my membership.
They did it for 2024 is how Idiscovered it.
Well, what's the problem, bill?
(07:06):
I have not had a Zipcar accountfor over seven years.
That's when I moved to Oregon.
Well, I called them up and Isaid K-Positoods and they said,
hey, you're a long time member.
And I explained no, I wasn't,and I sent them because I'm that
guy.
I had copies of my cancellation.
Well, oh, we're sorry.
(07:27):
Harumph, harumph, harumph.
They reversed the charges.
To make it extra special, theytook them out again the very
next day.
So I notified the fraud unit atChase Bank and I now have all
my money back.
If you're not keeping a closelook on your finances, they
(07:49):
start with the little stuff.
A five dollar charge here, what, what's this?
And if you get busy and you letit go, that's how they get into
your accounts.
So all of this is about beingaware.
Now we use the term situationalawareness, and that's most
commonly defined as the abilityto perceive and understand the
(08:10):
environment around you,including the people, objects
and events that are occurring.
An example, of course, is beingmindful of your surroundings.
If you're walking through aparking lot, when you're going
back to your car from thesupermarket, coming out of a
club, oh my goodness,anticipating potential risks and
taking appropriate actions tobe safe.
(08:32):
Now I think of situationalawareness when I'm out at the
range.
I'm an RSO range safety officer, I'm part of a team of really
nice volunteers and we areresponsible for both helping
people with technical problems,keeping up with the rules and
how to shoot safely, as well asdiffusing a tense situation.
(08:54):
If people get grumpy, somebodyshoots another person's target
somebody's behaving in aninappropriate way.
We have to work with that.
So situational awareness iscritical, absolutely.
We're trained in that and wework on it on a regular basis
because we are all about safety.
But this also applies, as we'vejust seen, to your day-to-day
(09:18):
banking, your day-to-day phoneactivity.
What's going on in youreveryday life?
We often feel and I hadsomebody describe this to me and
I think it's great they said Ioften feel like I'm being chased
.
There's just so much stuffgoing on, things I have to
respond to Read this, hear this,look at this, do this, do that.
(09:41):
In addition to the importantstuff like going to the store
and putting gas in the car, I,like You've got all of the
different things health issues,family issues, personal issues
and it's you're not being aware.
If you're not staying involvedwith the things in your
(10:03):
day-to-day life that are reallyimportant, that's when stuff's
going to blow up on you.
Let's look at things like cellphones.
I get so angry at people.
I mentioned it probably once amonth People who are walking
along looking down at their cellphones.
We went to New Orleans recently, new Orleans, and had a lovely
time.
(10:24):
I can't tell you the number ofpeople who just walked out into
traffic because they were ontheir cell phone looking for a
location, or looking for a club,or going to meet somebody, or
hey, helen, here's a picture ofme with a horse.
Texts are important, so unlessyou're driving which you
shouldn't text and drive everI've actually pulled over.
(10:45):
I had a thing pop up and itsays you know, this is when my
mother was still alive momemergency.
I got off the freeway, I pulledinto a safe area and I
responded Don't do it whenyou're driving, but being aware
of what's around you, inaddition to, if you're walking,
(11:05):
that all important text comes on, step aside, and don't step
aside in an area like down analley.
Step into a place where nobodycan walk up behind you, and I
like an entrance to a store thatwe've got two sides covered.
Take a quick look around, lookat it, see what has to happen
(11:26):
and boom.
You can then make decisions onhow to deal with it.
That's the key part.
Don't react.
Think clearly.
Another place you've got to lookat awareness is restaurants,
clubs, bars, restaurantsspecifically and this is going
to happen more when the weathergets warm.
But due to heat, employeestaking breaks especially some of
(11:47):
the bigger venues back doorscan be open.
So I use the three-second rule.
When I walk into and out of aplace, as I'm doing that, I'm
taking a few seconds to observethe room, the area, who's there,
where the people are anypotential threats.
It's 114 degrees and there'stwo guys in heavy long coats and
(12:12):
watch caps.
I mean that's almost a movietrope at this point.
Where are the entrances, whereare the exits and are you near
the back where those peoplecould come walking in through
the kitchen?
I'm not talking about beingparanoid.
I'm not talking about being.
It's like John Belushi and thatone scene in Animal House when
(12:34):
he's looking around all overeverything like that A
hysterical scene if it doesn'tspring to mind.
Let's look at ways that we youand I can keep situational
awareness a part of our dailylife.
Basically, pay attention, lookat what's going on around you,
(12:55):
look at who is making eyecontact and look at who is not.
Now I found, in more serioussituations when it's a safety
issue a really good website andit's Premiere Body, harmer.
They have some good products.
This is not an endorsement,this is just where I found the
information and I'm givingcredit to my source.
(13:17):
But they have a couple ofthings on situational awareness
and let's talk about that, andthey and I share some good ideas
.
Look at possible exit routesand hiding places when you
arrive in an area.
Look at the what if?
Situation.
I'm going to include the linkto this site and to this actual
(13:39):
article so you can go throughand review it in depth.
But perceive, prepare, processand responding is not
unreasonable.
You're not being a cartooncharacter.
You're not looking paranoid orall twitchy.
You are becoming aware ofwhat's going on around you.
(13:59):
Now there's six basic tips I'mgoing to share with you.
First, reduce and avoid thedistractions, and that's the
cell phone.
Or listen to the music.
I've seen people.
I can hear their music asthey're approaching me, so I
know they're not in the zone.
They're not watching me.
Be a hard target.
(14:20):
Now what does that mean?
Those are always looking forquick and easy targets.
Don't walk alone.
Never walk into a dark alley orback yourself into a tight
corner.
Just look like you know whatyou're doing and where you're
going, even if you don't.
That old fake it till you makeit.
And for heaven's sakes, peopleand I saw this on my trip last
(14:42):
time guy standing in the airportcrowded people all over, not
actually in the airport, he'sout going to get a cab.
That area, that no man's landbetween your car, the parking
lot, the rental car carrier yeah, don't show off expensive items
and consider how you'recarrying your purse, your bag.
(15:03):
Keep it close to the body anddon't flash cash.
Honey, yeah, here's $200.
Take that from this a massiveamount of cash.
I cannot believe anybody wouldactually do that.
But in the airport, oh, he setoff bells all over.
Everybody's looking at him now.
Fortunately, there's a policeofficer nearby and you can't
(15:28):
always count on that good luck.
So be a hard target.
I like to take the extra step.
Before we went to New Orleans,I went on Google Maps and I took
a look at the area we weregoing.
I found out about the crimereports.
I found out about the dead ends, the alleyways, the narrow
(15:48):
streets, the places you couldn'tgo after a certain time.
This is not paranoid, this islistening to your gut, and
that's another tip.
Instincts are a powerful weaponand loading yourself up with
some good information in advance.
If something seems wrong, getout of there.
If you see somebody that givesyou that little feeling in the
(16:13):
pity of your stomach with meit's the back of my neck, oh, my
hair actually will go up on end.
I thought it was a movie thing,but it happens Walk away and
then tell somebody yeah, you canbe afraid you're overreacting,
but wouldn't you rather be wrongthan right, good judgment,
(16:33):
intuition, and you also want tobe prepared for the unexpected.
I have seen this in severalinstances.
When a perfectly calm,perfectly quiet situation.
Somebody says something andboom, it's on.
They throw down, they'rethrowing furniture, they're
hitting, they're knifing,they're shooting, they're
stabbing, they're running,jumping, climbing trees.
(16:56):
It's.
That's when knowing your exitoptions should already be in
your memory bank.
And this could be a theater.
Nobody goes to the mall anymore, I'm told, but there's a lot of
good places that you still aregoing to be out in public
restaurants.
That couple of minutes you'regoing to spend observing.
That's important.
(17:17):
And, as we like to find out onairlines unless you're on
certain flights where the doorcould just appear magically,
your nearest exit may be behindyou Make a quick plan on how to
get out there.
Well, mass shootings yeah, thatcomes up first and foremost.
There are other type of threats.
(17:37):
This could be a fire, thiscould be two people getting
angry, a husband, wife, adomestic disturbance, boyfriend,
girlfriend hey, who she?
That type of thing.
And that's going to help youmake your fight flight or freeze
response.
And I do always recommenddiscussing these things with the
(17:58):
people you're likely to be with.
Both my wife and my son, wehave a code word.
If I start talking about acertain subject, they know I
feel I have identified something.
That doesn't mean we're allgoing to jump up and run for the
door, but it allows us, in anon hysterical manner, to say,
(18:19):
hey, banana peels are on themenu.
Ha ha well, banana peels, themagic word for this example.
It's not, but you get the idea.
It should be a word that fitsinto the conversation, but not
real easy.
It should be a word that fitsinto the conversation but not
too easily, and this alerts thepeople you're with.
I've talked about it with mywife.
(18:39):
We said what if I've talkedabout it with my sons?
So, if the three of us are outin Portland, there's an
evening's entertainment andsomething comes up, we're all on
the same page.
We don't look like the threestooges when chimp needs cheese.
I believe in carrying personalprotection.
That is a personal decision.
(19:00):
I, my goodness, we have a nonballistic self defense class.
I've talked about it before.
I think it's outstanding tohave made a decision and have
practiced with whatever you'regoing to do.
That could be pepper spray,that could be a kubaton, that
(19:21):
could be a high power strobingflashlight, you could have
bulletproof body armor,backpacks, firearms, knives.
There's a lot of things youcould do as long as you
understand the legalimplications and I cannot stress
this enough and yes, we are inthe training business I want you
(19:42):
to get trained with whateveryou're doing, whether it's hand
to hand, whether it's firearms,whether it's having anything
with you, don't think that'sgoing to protect you.
That is your last stop.
So if you carry personalprotection as part of your self
awareness program, do that andbe good at what you do, don't
(20:07):
just.
I've seen way too many peopletake a class.
I've got my concealed carry andyou never see them again.
I train weekly at the range.
In addition to giving classes,my wife and I work through
different exercises only becauseit's our responsibility to be
safe and effective shooters,because you're responsible for
(20:29):
every round that comes out ofthat barrel, even if you miss
your target.
Finally, see something, saysomething.
That goes part of listening toyour gut.
Don't be afraid to alertsomebody.
Use your best judgment here,please.
You don't want to go aroundaccusing everybody, but being
observant is going to preventthings from happening in the
(20:52):
first place.
How many times have we heardabout all the clues leading up
to a tragic accident or a tragicact of violence?
Hopefully they'll be able Tointervene.
And yes, workplaceself-awareness and situational
awareness is just as important,just as important as it's going
(21:12):
to be with you out on your wayfrom the supermarket or leaving
or entering the restaurant.
Talk to your company, find outwhat the policies are on
situational awareness training.
Observe, obsess, be aware and,before we get out of the topic,
let's talk about teachingsituational awareness to your
(21:33):
kids, to your young ones.
It's not just something foradults.
Children need to practice thistoo.
I've written a lot of stuff forthis podcast about the different
things we can do to stay aware.
Look at the information online.
Talk to your school and findout what they have for code red
(21:57):
drills or lockdown drills, orsee something, say something.
Telling an adult is important.
Knowing what to expect isimportant, and not making it a
big, scary, horrifying subject.
Making it something that youand your family, your young ones
or your grandchildren Talk tomom and dad, as well as
(22:20):
including the grandchildren,cause if they're at your house
and something happens, you arethe first responder.
So all of these things we talkabout all blend together Staying
alert to who's calling you andwhat they're wanting.
Take that extra minute.
Wrapping it up, looking at howto diffuse a cell phone call
(22:43):
that's bogus.
I laughed at them.
They hung up how to deal withbank frauds getting charged for
things you shouldn't do.
At my bank, if I see a chargethat doesn't like, there's a
button I can click and disputethat charge.
It shouldn't be hard.
Know where these tools are, andthis is the same thing.
This is the same thing withyour backpack, your go bag, your
(23:07):
emergency supplies.
Look in advance as to whereyour tools are going to be.
Get out of your comfort zone.
We're gonna talk about that indepth next week, because getting
out of your comfort zone can bevery off-putting.
You can feel a littledisoriented.
Let's talk about that next weekand, as always I like to
(23:27):
encourage, I'm trying to buildthis podcast beyond what we have
.
If you please, share this withsome friends at work, at church,
at your club.
I try and be really nonPolitical.
I've talked to a number ofpeople who say you know, I
didn't, I used to like to listento so-and-so, but they've
become so political.
(23:47):
I'm not here to tell you who tovote for.
I have my own opinions, believeme, I've got my own opinions,
but Everybody deserves to besafe.
So if you'd like to share whatwe're laying down here, and
that's prepared, rational,logical solutions to
life-threatening problems andhow to deal with them, share
(24:10):
this with your friends, share itwith your co-workers, subscribe
, download and If you've gotquestions or comments, the
addresses right up front.
I'm also, as a promise, goingto put the link to the website
on the situational awarenessworkshop web page.
Actually, and we'll talk morenext week with Getting out of
(24:33):
your comfort zone and as we'removing in.
It's very bizarre because it'scurrently snowing outside, but
we're moving into hot weatherpretty soon and Looking at
things you can do around thehome as the weather changes.
So that's it for this week.
We you know what to do aboutthe classes.
I do need to tell you that theclass for this month in March is
(24:56):
full.
We actually have a waiting list.
So it it behooves you I lovethat word, it behooves you to
get out and Get registered assoon as you can.
We also have private lessons ifit's important.
We'd really like to see outthere one way or the other, fun
day of family shooting, gettinglearned up or just come out and
(25:18):
say hi, see what we're doing.
It's pretty darned interesting.
We've been there.
The white camp, white range hasbeen there since World War two.
So that's enough for this time.
Be safe out there.
Be good to one another.
See you next week.
The preceding program is apresentation of retired guy
(25:46):
productions.
I.
It has been a very interesting week.
Here at my house, I was givingnotes to a scammer who tried to
do a phone fraud on me.
I've discovered someinteresting things that
situational awareness can beapplied to.
And that's just the tip of theiceberg.
Come on in, get comfortable,let's talk about this.
(00:21):
Hi everybody, I'm Bill Bateman,part of the team here at Refuse
to be a Victim PersonalProtection Training.
We are located in the MedfordWhite City area of southern
(00:41):
Oregon and if you're looking forthe exact address, it's 6800
Kershaw where Kershaw meetsCorey.
At that really sharp turn inthe road, slow down.
We want you to get into therange, but through the gate, not
through the fence.
So, with that said, we have hada busy weekend.
(01:02):
As I mentioned, if you're notfamiliar with film or television
, even media podcasting, thattype of thing a director or a
producer will give notes to theperson performing to help them
improve the performance.
Like Bill, you were kind ofsounding like you needed to
(01:22):
clear your throat.
You want to do that again, orcould you speed up?
Or you jumped one of the point.
It's it's a technical thingthat's done in the business,
this is tax time and it's alsoscam season.
Well, okay, I got two storieson that and how giving notes can
be useful and situationalawareness can also come into
(01:46):
play.
Let's talk about this.
I got my first fraud call in along time.
I'm on a number of lists, Ihave a number of filters and
blockers, but occasionally theyget through and I got a very
official person saying hello, mrBateman, yes, this is with
River, for totallyunintelligible and we've
(02:07):
discovered a problem with youraccount.
It's a $6,200 charge.
We need your accountinformation right now.
Or your accounts are going tobe frozen or the one they went
to next.
Well, we're going to have toseize your accounts as evidence.
If you don't recognize this asa classic phone fraud intro, you
(02:29):
should.
I instantly knew it wasgobbledygook.
I know many people in lawenforcement and, believe me,
they don't mumble.
They are quite clear with whatthey need you to do.
They're also very.
I have never had anybody calland give me an advance warning
that they're going to dosomething.
I'm not in trouble that much,but the history is oh for oh.
(02:53):
It's just not happening.
I realized instantly this was ascam, so I listened.
I said well, who are you with?
Again, I was playing along tosee what happened.
And about 30 seconds in, Irealized this guy was a complete
moron, and so I started tocritique his performance or give
him notes.
And I start you.
(03:14):
Okay, listen, skippy, you'redoing a great job, but you came
in way too early with thethreats.
First you have to build rapportwith the mark, haven't you?
How long you've been doing this?
And he got so frustrated Istarted to laugh and he hung up.
They hate being laughed at.
(03:34):
What this tells us is A there'sa lot of this going on and B
taking a beat.
Having some awareness of what'sgoing on is going to prevent
you from wading into the deepend of the pool right after you
eat.
It's a situation that we wantto respond.
(03:54):
We want to correct this, wewant to prevent problems, and
that's always a good way to be.
But have good information, findout who this person is supposed
to be.
I can go down to my bank very,very quickly and say so, what's
going on here?
And they always just put it ontheir fraud watch and let me
(04:15):
know that somebody's scamming inthis area, and I also find by
changing my email and accountpasswords frequently, I reduce
the likelihood of this happening.
I know that it's a gigantic painin the backside to constantly
be changing your passwords.
(04:35):
It's worth the effort.
Don't reuse the same passwords.
I fluctuate between three orfour.
I do, and we've talked aboutthis before so I won't go into
it in too much detail.
I have my special high securitypasswords and those are like 21
characters.
Some are computer generated.
I had an account for a time thathad a password that changed
(05:00):
every 40 seconds and I had tolog in.
That's when I was at theuniversity and we were dealing
with some of the enterpriselevel systems.
I guess is the correct term.
That was a gigantic pain in thebackside.
Your email should not be thatdifficult, but don't use the
same things and go back andlisten to the password things.
Don't use your birthday.
(05:21):
Don't use your dog's name, yourson's sports team, that kind of
stuff.
So I'm off the res.
I'm heading in the wrongdirection.
Let's come back on track.
Being aware of what you're doingand not reacting is going to
keep you from jumping in.
I have a personal friend whosewife got one of these calls and
(05:42):
they said we're from theSheriff's Department.
We're going to come and arrestyour husband if you don't do
this.
Well, I know these people.
They are the least likely everto have any problems that would
merit that kind of action.
They took most of her savingsover a two day period.
It's horrifying they never gotit back.
(06:03):
Taking that extra beat.
And, for heaven's sakes, if youand we I live in a mobile home
park and there's a lot of singleseniors we're trying to
establish, if not reach out tothe son or the daughter or the
caregiver or whatever someone inthe park.
We have several attorneys.
We have a law enforcementretiree here.
(06:25):
We have people of I considergood character and say hey, bob,
I just got this call, find out,don't give out information like
that.
Also, talking about scam timeand this one really upset me.
It is tax time.
I'm still waiting to gather allmy information Should be out by
(06:46):
the 31st January, but a lot ofthings should happen that don't.
And I looked in my bank accountand buried in the archives.
Zipcar has been billing me bothinsurance and a renewal fee on
my membership.
They did it for 2024 is how Idiscovered it.
Well, what's the problem, bill?
(07:06):
I have not had a Zipcar accountfor over seven years.
That's when I moved to Oregon.
Well, I called them up and Isaid K-Positoods and they said,
hey, you're a long time member.
And I explained no, I wasn't,and I sent them because I'm that
guy.
I had copies of my cancellation.
Well, oh, we're sorry.
(07:27):
Harumph, harumph, harumph.
They reversed the charges.
To make it extra special, theytook them out again the very
next day.
So I notified the fraud unit atChase Bank and I now have all
my money back.
If you're not keeping a closelook on your finances, they
(07:49):
start with the little stuff.
A five dollar charge here, what, what's this?
And if you get busy and you letit go, that's how they get into
your accounts.
So all of this is about beingaware.
Now we use the term situationalawareness, and that's most
commonly defined as the abilityto perceive and understand the
(08:10):
environment around you,including the people, objects
and events that are occurring.
An example, of course, is beingmindful of your surroundings.
If you're walking through aparking lot, when you're going
back to your car from thesupermarket, coming out of a
club, oh my goodness,anticipating potential risks and
taking appropriate actions tobe safe.
(08:32):
Now I think of situationalawareness when I'm out at the
range.
I'm an RSO range safety officer, I'm part of a team of really
nice volunteers and we areresponsible for both helping
people with technical problems,keeping up with the rules and
how to shoot safely, as well asdiffusing a tense situation.
(08:54):
If people get grumpy, somebodyshoots another person's target
somebody's behaving in aninappropriate way.
We have to work with that.
So situational awareness iscritical, absolutely.
We're trained in that and wework on it on a regular basis
because we are all about safety.
But this also applies, as we'vejust seen, to your day-to-day
(09:18):
banking, your day-to-day phoneactivity.
What's going on in youreveryday life?
We often feel and I hadsomebody describe this to me and
I think it's great they said Ioften feel like I'm being chased
.
There's just so much stuffgoing on, things I have to
respond to Read this, hear this,look at this, do this, do that.
(09:41):
In addition to the importantstuff like going to the store
and putting gas in the car, I,like You've got all of the
different things health issues,family issues, personal issues
and it's you're not being aware.
If you're not staying involvedwith the things in your
(10:03):
day-to-day life that are reallyimportant, that's when stuff's
going to blow up on you.
Let's look at things like cellphones.
I get so angry at people.
I mentioned it probably once amonth People who are walking
along looking down at their cellphones.
We went to New Orleans recently, new Orleans, and had a lovely
time.
(10:24):
I can't tell you the number ofpeople who just walked out into
traffic because they were ontheir cell phone looking for a
location, or looking for a club,or going to meet somebody, or
hey, helen, here's a picture ofme with a horse.
Texts are important, so unlessyou're driving which you
shouldn't text and drive everI've actually pulled over.
(10:45):
I had a thing pop up and itsays you know, this is when my
mother was still alive momemergency.
I got off the freeway, I pulledinto a safe area and I
responded Don't do it whenyou're driving, but being aware
of what's around you, inaddition to, if you're walking,
(11:05):
that all important text comes on, step aside, and don't step
aside in an area like down analley.
Step into a place where nobodycan walk up behind you, and I
like an entrance to a store thatwe've got two sides covered.
Take a quick look around, lookat it, see what has to happen
(11:26):
and boom.
You can then make decisions onhow to deal with it.
That's the key part.
Don't react.
Think clearly.
Another place you've got to lookat awareness is restaurants,
clubs, bars, restaurantsspecifically and this is going
to happen more when the weathergets warm.
But due to heat, employeestaking breaks especially some of
(11:47):
the bigger venues back doorscan be open.
So I use the three-second rule.
When I walk into and out of aplace, as I'm doing that, I'm
taking a few seconds to observethe room, the area, who's there,
where the people are anypotential threats.
It's 114 degrees and there'stwo guys in heavy long coats and
(12:12):
watch caps.
I mean that's almost a movietrope at this point.
Where are the entrances, whereare the exits and are you near
the back where those peoplecould come walking in through
the kitchen?
I'm not talking about beingparanoid.
I'm not talking about being.
It's like John Belushi and thatone scene in Animal House when
(12:34):
he's looking around all overeverything like that A
hysterical scene if it doesn'tspring to mind.
Let's look at ways that we youand I can keep situational
awareness a part of our dailylife.
Basically, pay attention, lookat what's going on around you,
(12:55):
look at who is making eyecontact and look at who is not.
Now I found, in more serioussituations when it's a safety
issue a really good website andit's Premiere Body, harmer.
They have some good products.
This is not an endorsement,this is just where I found the
information and I'm givingcredit to my source.
(13:17):
But they have a couple ofthings on situational awareness
and let's talk about that, andthey and I share some good ideas
.
Look at possible exit routesand hiding places when you
arrive in an area.
Look at the what if?
Situation.
I'm going to include the linkto this site and to this actual
(13:39):
article so you can go throughand review it in depth.
But perceive, prepare, processand responding is not
unreasonable.
You're not being a cartooncharacter.
You're not looking paranoid orall twitchy.
You are becoming aware ofwhat's going on around you.
(13:59):
Now there's six basic tips I'mgoing to share with you.
First, reduce and avoid thedistractions, and that's the
cell phone.
Or listen to the music.
I've seen people.
I can hear their music asthey're approaching me, so I
know they're not in the zone.
They're not watching me.
Be a hard target.
(14:20):
Now what does that mean?
Those are always looking forquick and easy targets.
Don't walk alone.
Never walk into a dark alley orback yourself into a tight
corner.
Just look like you know whatyou're doing and where you're
going, even if you don't.
That old fake it till you makeit.
And for heaven's sakes, peopleand I saw this on my trip last
(14:42):
time guy standing in the airportcrowded people all over, not
actually in the airport, he'sout going to get a cab.
That area, that no man's landbetween your car, the parking
lot, the rental car carrier yeah, don't show off expensive items
and consider how you'recarrying your purse, your bag.
(15:03):
Keep it close to the body anddon't flash cash.
Honey, yeah, here's $200.
Take that from this a massiveamount of cash.
I cannot believe anybody wouldactually do that.
But in the airport, oh, he setoff bells all over.
Everybody's looking at him now.
Fortunately, there's a policeofficer nearby and you can't
(15:28):
always count on that good luck.
So be a hard target.
I like to take the extra step.
Before we went to New Orleans,I went on Google Maps and I took
a look at the area we weregoing.
I found out about the crimereports.
I found out about the dead ends, the alleyways, the narrow
(15:48):
streets, the places you couldn'tgo after a certain time.
This is not paranoid, this islistening to your gut, and
that's another tip.
Instincts are a powerful weaponand loading yourself up with
some good information in advance.
If something seems wrong, getout of there.
If you see somebody that givesyou that little feeling in the
(16:13):
pity of your stomach with meit's the back of my neck, oh, my
hair actually will go up on end.
I thought it was a movie thing,but it happens Walk away and
then tell somebody yeah, you canbe afraid you're overreacting,
but wouldn't you rather be wrongthan right, good judgment,
(16:33):
intuition, and you also want tobe prepared for the unexpected.
I have seen this in severalinstances.
When a perfectly calm,perfectly quiet situation.
Somebody says something andboom, it's on.
They throw down, they'rethrowing furniture, they're
hitting, they're knifing,they're shooting, they're
stabbing, they're running,jumping, climbing trees.
(16:56):
It's.
That's when knowing your exitoptions should already be in
your memory bank.
And this could be a theater.
Nobody goes to the mall anymore, I'm told, but there's a lot of
good places that you still aregoing to be out in public
restaurants.
That couple of minutes you'regoing to spend observing.
That's important.
(17:17):
And, as we like to find out onairlines unless you're on
certain flights where the doorcould just appear magically,
your nearest exit may be behindyou Make a quick plan on how to
get out there.
Well, mass shootings yeah, thatcomes up first and foremost.
There are other type of threats.
(17:37):
This could be a fire, thiscould be two people getting
angry, a husband, wife, adomestic disturbance, boyfriend,
girlfriend hey, who she?
That type of thing.
And that's going to help youmake your fight flight or freeze
response.
And I do always recommenddiscussing these things with the
(17:58):
people you're likely to be with.
Both my wife and my son, wehave a code word.
If I start talking about acertain subject, they know I
feel I have identified something.
That doesn't mean we're allgoing to jump up and run for the
door, but it allows us, in anon hysterical manner, to say,
(18:19):
hey, banana peels are on themenu.
Ha ha well, banana peels, themagic word for this example.
It's not, but you get the idea.
It should be a word that fitsinto the conversation, but not
real easy.
It should be a word that fitsinto the conversation but not
too easily, and this alerts thepeople you're with.
I've talked about it with mywife.
(18:39):
We said what if I've talkedabout it with my sons?
So, if the three of us are outin Portland, there's an
evening's entertainment andsomething comes up, we're all on
the same page.
We don't look like the threestooges when chimp needs cheese.
I believe in carrying personalprotection.
That is a personal decision.
(19:00):
I, my goodness, we have a nonballistic self defense class.
I've talked about it before.
I think it's outstanding tohave made a decision and have
practiced with whatever you'regoing to do.
That could be pepper spray,that could be a kubaton, that
(19:21):
could be a high power strobingflashlight, you could have
bulletproof body armor,backpacks, firearms, knives.
There's a lot of things youcould do as long as you
understand the legalimplications and I cannot stress
this enough and yes, we are inthe training business I want you
(19:42):
to get trained with whateveryou're doing, whether it's hand
to hand, whether it's firearms,whether it's having anything
with you, don't think that'sgoing to protect you.
That is your last stop.
So if you carry personalprotection as part of your self
awareness program, do that andbe good at what you do, don't
(20:07):
just.
I've seen way too many peopletake a class.
I've got my concealed carry andyou never see them again.
I train weekly at the range.
In addition to giving classes,my wife and I work through
different exercises only becauseit's our responsibility to be
safe and effective shooters,because you're responsible for
(20:29):
every round that comes out ofthat barrel, even if you miss
your target.
Finally, see something, saysomething.
That goes part of listening toyour gut.
Don't be afraid to alertsomebody.
Use your best judgment here,please.
You don't want to go aroundaccusing everybody, but being
observant is going to preventthings from happening in the
(20:52):
first place.
How many times have we heardabout all the clues leading up
to a tragic accident or a tragicact of violence?
Hopefully they'll be able Tointervene.
And yes, workplaceself-awareness and situational
awareness is just as important,just as important as it's going
(21:12):
to be with you out on your wayfrom the supermarket or leaving
or entering the restaurant.
Talk to your company, find outwhat the policies are on
situational awareness training.
Observe, obsess, be aware and,before we get out of the topic,
let's talk about teachingsituational awareness to your
(21:33):
kids, to your young ones.
It's not just something foradults.
Children need to practice thistoo.
I've written a lot of stuff forthis podcast about the different
things we can do to stay aware.
Look at the information online.
Talk to your school and findout what they have for code red
(21:57):
drills or lockdown drills, orsee something, say something.
Telling an adult is important.
Knowing what to expect isimportant, and not making it a
big, scary, horrifying subject.
Making it something that youand your family, your young ones
or your grandchildren Talk tomom and dad, as well as
(22:20):
including the grandchildren,cause if they're at your house
and something happens, you arethe first responder.
So all of these things we talkabout all blend together Staying
alert to who's calling you andwhat they're wanting.
Take that extra minute.
Wrapping it up, looking at howto diffuse a cell phone call
(22:43):
that's bogus.
I laughed at them.
They hung up how to deal withbank frauds getting charged for
things you shouldn't do.
At my bank, if I see a chargethat doesn't like, there's a
button I can click and disputethat charge.
It shouldn't be hard.
Know where these tools are, andthis is the same thing.
This is the same thing withyour backpack, your go bag, your
(23:07):
emergency supplies.
Look in advance as to whereyour tools are going to be.
Get out of your comfort zone.
We're gonna talk about that indepth next week, because getting
out of your comfort zone can bevery off-putting.
You can feel a littledisoriented.
Let's talk about that next weekand, as always I like to
(23:27):
encourage, I'm trying to buildthis podcast beyond what we have
.
If you please, share this withsome friends at work, at church,
at your club.
I try and be really nonPolitical.
I've talked to a number ofpeople who say you know, I
didn't, I used to like to listento so-and-so, but they've
become so political.
(23:47):
I'm not here to tell you who tovote for.
I have my own opinions, believeme, I've got my own opinions,
but Everybody deserves to besafe.
So if you'd like to share whatwe're laying down here, and
that's prepared, rational,logical solutions to
life-threatening problems andhow to deal with them, share
(24:10):
this with your friends, share itwith your co-workers, subscribe
, download and If you've gotquestions or comments, the
addresses right up front.
I'm also, as a promise, goingto put the link to the website
on the situational awarenessworkshop web page.
Actually, and we'll talk morenext week with Getting out of
(24:33):
your comfort zone and as we'removing in.
It's very bizarre because it'scurrently snowing outside, but
we're moving into hot weatherpretty soon and Looking at
things you can do around thehome as the weather changes.
So that's it for this week.
We you know what to do aboutthe classes.
I do need to tell you that theclass for this month in March is
(24:56):
full.
We actually have a waiting list.
So it it behooves you I lovethat word, it behooves you to
get out and Get registered assoon as you can.
We also have private lessons ifit's important.
We'd really like to see outthere one way or the other, fun
day of family shooting, gettinglearned up or just come out and
(25:18):
say hi, see what we're doing.
It's pretty darned interesting.
We've been there.
The white camp, white range hasbeen there since World War two.
So that's enough for this time.
Be safe out there.
Be good to one another.
See you next week.
The preceding program is apresentation of retired guy
(25:46):
productions.
I.
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