November 19, 2025 • 10 mins
Rod Davis, Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida & the Caribbean, joins us to share tips for shopping and donating to charities this holiday season.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm for WJ and O dot com and
the Florida News Network. Stress free holiday shopping. That is
what the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the
Caribbean is talking about this time of the year, how
to avoid scams and shop smart this holiday season. And
we are speaking with the CEO of the BBB Southeast
(00:22):
Florida and the Caribbean, Rod Davis. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you, Joel. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And so there are a lot of different prongs attached
to this and so and I know that at the
there's a press conference coming today as well, and I
know that you'll have some experts first, give us like
a little heads up of the two or three people
that are going to be speaking besides you know folks
with the BBB.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, we have Marty Jacobson. He's with Seniors Versus Crime.
They do a lot of great work educating our seniors.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
He's a good guy. Yeah, we've chatted before for I
protecting the Palm Beaches stories in the past as well.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Excellent. Yeah. And Eric Keane he's the owner of a
technology company that really focuses on cybersecurity and trying to
make sure people are protecting themselves and not falling victim
to fishing scams.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So because I'm I don't feel like waiting for the
presser and I've got you, let me get some some
like bullet points. If I was to ask you, you know,
what are the top three holiday scams to watch for?
What would you say? There are?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, no, great, great question. And you know, one of
the things that really picks up in the holidays are
the phishing scams that are tied to packages things being
sent because you're getting gifts from other people, you know,
and so you get a link and people will click
on it and then they have a virus deployed on
(02:00):
their computer. So you'll see a lot of that. So
be very cautious.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Let me ask you rod before you before you move on.
Is that the thing? And I've gotten this to like,
say a text. I know it could go on emails too,
but I've gotten a text before that says, you know,
United States Postal Service or UPS or whatever. It'll say,
we're unable to verify your address. Please click here. And
I'm like, I'm not waiting on a package. Is that?
(02:27):
Is that what we're talking about with regard to.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
That yes it is my friend, and please don't click
and no I have to tell my parents that all
the time. So you're ahead of the game there, Joel.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How important is it to look out for our elderly
loved ones?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh, it's it's so important. You know. My parents know
their son works here and they still call me all
the time, and I say, you should know better. But
it's good to have them alert and aware and ask,
you know, ask you ask somebody ask their grandkids, the
grandkids and the tech better than we do, so that's
always helpful. And always go to the source. You know,
(03:06):
if you've got something coming from a legitimate retailer, all
call and make sure that that email or that communication
is from them.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
What are the other I know I stopped you in
your tracks. So the phishing, shipping, phishing scams and what
else are some of the other top ones to watch
out for.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We get a lot of pop up businesses that are
lookalikes or they'll try to sell something that looks nice,
but it actually isn't going to be what you get
when you receive it. So shop with legitimate businesses. Go
to the ones that you know, go to the ones
that you trust. Go to the ones that have a
track record. You can you know, check on BBB dot
(03:49):
org to see if they're a legitimate business. You can
see if they've earned the BBB Seal. You can also
check out reviews on that business. That's another or a
good way to vet them. So all of those things.
If you're working with a good business, the likelihood that
you're going to get scammed is very very small, and
(04:10):
thinks the time to check them out.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And these are the ones you talk about, like if
you're on social media on Facebook, Instagram or whatnot, and
you'll see these and oftentimes they'll say, you know, they'll
show you a product that you know is a lot
more expensive and they'll be promoting it at a really
low price.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Oh, super discount. You're going to save so much money.
And that's one of the other hooks they try to use,
Joel is they try to tell you you're getting a
great deal, or it's going away, this is your last
chance to buy at this price because prices are going up.
All of those things that they're trying to get you
to not do your due diligence and think you have
(04:48):
to buy it right then. And it's important to stop
think and then make a decision.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Is the fear that you won't get the product or
that it will be in an inferior product to what
you were expecting, which which happens more often.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Well, I think they both happened a lot. And you know,
just as an example, my father was checking on a
medical supplement and it's one of the ones where he
called me about and he said, yeah, this famous person
took it and look what it did for them. And
I had to tell him that famous person wasn't cured
(05:27):
and they're still doing very poorly. So you know, they
will make those claims. They'll tie to data that may
not be validated. They'll time to movie stars or somebody
like that that will let you think it's authentic and
it really isn't.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Let's talk about you know, this is the time of year.
We're getting into the holidays and and and people like
to be charitable, but not all charitable donations are equal.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Correct, That's correct, And there's lots of resources out there
for you to check. You can go to the Wise
Giving Alliance. Just put that in Google. They have reports
on charities and they let you know how much of
their dollars go toward the cost, whether they're legitimate, whether
they have a good board that makes sure that they're
(06:17):
delivering impact for the dollars that you're giving to them.
So again, check them out before you give your money.
There's a lot of people who will tuggle on your
art strings, tying it to supporting our first responders or
helping kids who need food. Some businesses or some charities
do it a lot more effectively than others, and some
(06:38):
are outright scams.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
How frequent is it that you hear at the Better
Business Bureau that you hear about fake charities, just complete
fake charities that people get duped, You know, we.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Hear about it periodically. It's not the biggest thing. Hopefully,
people are getting smarter because they're listening to you, Joel,
and they're about before they give their money. And a
lot of people don't like to share that they've been
duped because they think it makes them look stupid. And
we've all made mistakes. We've all had people who played
(07:17):
on our want to do good during the holidays and
given something and then we find out that that charity
either really doesn't exist or the money is going into
the pockets of the head of that organization. And not
really helping the cause.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Being the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the
Caribbean and focusing on the Southeast Florida part. Here for
a minute. Something that you do promote is shopping small,
shopping local. What is the There is a date coming
up where that's promoted nationwide, right shopping local. It's right
around shopping local.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
And you know, we try to tell people shop local
all the time. You know, your your local businesses are
part of your community and they're supporting your athletic clubs,
they're supporting local charities, they're helping make our where we
live better and you can you can find them on
BBB dot org. You can go down to your main
(08:17):
street area. You've got some great things that are sold locally.
Go out to the all the Christmas markets that are
going to come up and you can shop there and
find really good businesses. Get to know the business owners.
You know, We've got one lady that imports her crab
cakes or her crab from Maryland and she makes crab
(08:40):
cakes and you can buy those crab cakes. I'm like,
how cool is that? And you've got a lot of
great businesses that deserve your support.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
And I should I should mention the day I was
for a Hobbys, So you say every day. That's great advice.
Small business Saturday is what it's called. It is the
Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it will be easy for me to
remember because it's my birthday, November twenty.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Ninth, So well, happy birthday a little bit early.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, I don't know how happy fifty six is, but
we'll take it, all right. Any other tips before we wrap.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Up, No, just spread good cheer, you know. Again, I
think we've got a lot of great businesses in our
area that are here and make this a great place
to live. Find them, support them, get something unique, something
that others may not have seen. The other thing I
do want a caution to get. You know, you get
a lot of pop up shops. If you buy from them,
(09:37):
they may not be there down the road, so be
a little bit leary of that. And if you're buying
something that you're gifting and somebody doesn't like it, you
may not be able to return it. So that's one
other bit of caution I would share.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
All right, good advice there, all of it. Good advice,
all right, and we'll be checking out the presser as well,
Rod Davis, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Southeast
Florida and the Caribbean. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Thank you, Joe appreciate it.
Hey, Joel Malcolm for WJ and O dot com and
the Florida News Network. Stress free holiday shopping. That is
what the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the
Caribbean is talking about this time of the year, how
to avoid scams and shop smart this holiday season. And
we are speaking with the CEO of the BBB Southeast
(00:22):
Florida and the Caribbean, Rod Davis. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Thank you, Joel. It's great to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And so there are a lot of different prongs attached
to this and so and I know that at the
there's a press conference coming today as well, and I
know that you'll have some experts first, give us like
a little heads up of the two or three people
that are going to be speaking besides you know folks
with the BBB.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, we have Marty Jacobson. He's with Seniors Versus Crime.
They do a lot of great work educating our seniors.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
He's a good guy. Yeah, we've chatted before for I
protecting the Palm Beaches stories in the past as well.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Excellent. Yeah. And Eric Keane he's the owner of a
technology company that really focuses on cybersecurity and trying to
make sure people are protecting themselves and not falling victim
to fishing scams.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
So because I'm I don't feel like waiting for the
presser and I've got you, let me get some some
like bullet points. If I was to ask you, you know,
what are the top three holiday scams to watch for?
What would you say? There are?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, no, great, great question. And you know, one of
the things that really picks up in the holidays are
the phishing scams that are tied to packages things being
sent because you're getting gifts from other people, you know,
and so you get a link and people will click
on it and then they have a virus deployed on
(02:00):
their computer. So you'll see a lot of that. So
be very cautious.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Let me ask you rod before you before you move on.
Is that the thing? And I've gotten this to like,
say a text. I know it could go on emails too,
but I've gotten a text before that says, you know,
United States Postal Service or UPS or whatever. It'll say,
we're unable to verify your address. Please click here. And
I'm like, I'm not waiting on a package. Is that?
(02:27):
Is that what we're talking about with regard to.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
That yes it is my friend, and please don't click
and no I have to tell my parents that all
the time. So you're ahead of the game there, Joel.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
How important is it to look out for our elderly
loved ones?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh, it's it's so important. You know. My parents know
their son works here and they still call me all
the time, and I say, you should know better. But
it's good to have them alert and aware and ask,
you know, ask you ask somebody ask their grandkids, the
grandkids and the tech better than we do, so that's
always helpful. And always go to the source. You know,
(03:06):
if you've got something coming from a legitimate retailer, all
call and make sure that that email or that communication
is from them.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
What are the other I know I stopped you in
your tracks. So the phishing, shipping, phishing scams and what
else are some of the other top ones to watch
out for.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
We get a lot of pop up businesses that are
lookalikes or they'll try to sell something that looks nice,
but it actually isn't going to be what you get
when you receive it. So shop with legitimate businesses. Go
to the ones that you know, go to the ones
that you trust. Go to the ones that have a
track record. You can you know, check on BBB dot
(03:49):
org to see if they're a legitimate business. You can
see if they've earned the BBB Seal. You can also
check out reviews on that business. That's another or a
good way to vet them. So all of those things.
If you're working with a good business, the likelihood that
you're going to get scammed is very very small, and
(04:10):
thinks the time to check them out.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And these are the ones you talk about, like if
you're on social media on Facebook, Instagram or whatnot, and
you'll see these and oftentimes they'll say, you know, they'll
show you a product that you know is a lot
more expensive and they'll be promoting it at a really
low price.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Oh, super discount. You're going to save so much money.
And that's one of the other hooks they try to use,
Joel is they try to tell you you're getting a
great deal, or it's going away, this is your last
chance to buy at this price because prices are going up.
All of those things that they're trying to get you
to not do your due diligence and think you have
(04:48):
to buy it right then. And it's important to stop
think and then make a decision.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Is the fear that you won't get the product or
that it will be in an inferior product to what
you were expecting, which which happens more often.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Well, I think they both happened a lot. And you know,
just as an example, my father was checking on a
medical supplement and it's one of the ones where he
called me about and he said, yeah, this famous person
took it and look what it did for them. And
I had to tell him that famous person wasn't cured
(05:27):
and they're still doing very poorly. So you know, they
will make those claims. They'll tie to data that may
not be validated. They'll time to movie stars or somebody
like that that will let you think it's authentic and
it really isn't.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Let's talk about you know, this is the time of year.
We're getting into the holidays and and and people like
to be charitable, but not all charitable donations are equal.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Correct, That's correct, And there's lots of resources out there
for you to check. You can go to the Wise
Giving Alliance. Just put that in Google. They have reports
on charities and they let you know how much of
their dollars go toward the cost, whether they're legitimate, whether
they have a good board that makes sure that they're
(06:17):
delivering impact for the dollars that you're giving to them.
So again, check them out before you give your money.
There's a lot of people who will tuggle on your
art strings, tying it to supporting our first responders or
helping kids who need food. Some businesses or some charities
do it a lot more effectively than others, and some
(06:38):
are outright scams.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
How frequent is it that you hear at the Better
Business Bureau that you hear about fake charities, just complete
fake charities that people get duped, You know, we.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Hear about it periodically. It's not the biggest thing. Hopefully,
people are getting smarter because they're listening to you, Joel,
and they're about before they give their money. And a
lot of people don't like to share that they've been
duped because they think it makes them look stupid. And
we've all made mistakes. We've all had people who played
(07:17):
on our want to do good during the holidays and
given something and then we find out that that charity
either really doesn't exist or the money is going into
the pockets of the head of that organization. And not
really helping the cause.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Being the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the
Caribbean and focusing on the Southeast Florida part. Here for
a minute. Something that you do promote is shopping small,
shopping local. What is the There is a date coming
up where that's promoted nationwide, right shopping local. It's right
around shopping local.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
And you know, we try to tell people shop local
all the time. You know, your your local businesses are
part of your community and they're supporting your athletic clubs,
they're supporting local charities, they're helping make our where we
live better and you can you can find them on
BBB dot org. You can go down to your main
(08:17):
street area. You've got some great things that are sold locally.
Go out to the all the Christmas markets that are
going to come up and you can shop there and
find really good businesses. Get to know the business owners.
You know, We've got one lady that imports her crab
cakes or her crab from Maryland and she makes crab
(08:40):
cakes and you can buy those crab cakes. I'm like,
how cool is that? And you've got a lot of
great businesses that deserve your support.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
And I should I should mention the day I was
for a Hobbys, So you say every day. That's great advice.
Small business Saturday is what it's called. It is the
Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it will be easy for me to
remember because it's my birthday, November twenty.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Ninth, So well, happy birthday a little bit early.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, I don't know how happy fifty six is, but
we'll take it, all right. Any other tips before we wrap.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Up, No, just spread good cheer, you know. Again, I
think we've got a lot of great businesses in our
area that are here and make this a great place
to live. Find them, support them, get something unique, something
that others may not have seen. The other thing I
do want a caution to get. You know, you get
a lot of pop up shops. If you buy from them,
(09:37):
they may not be there down the road, so be
a little bit leary of that. And if you're buying
something that you're gifting and somebody doesn't like it, you
may not be able to return it. So that's one
other bit of caution I would share.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
All right, good advice there, all of it. Good advice,
all right, and we'll be checking out the presser as well,
Rod Davis, CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Southeast
Florida and the Caribbean. Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Thank you, Joe appreciate it.
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