Reshipping, Gift Card and Sweepstake Frauds

Who wants to be scammed?

Absolutely no one, but it keeps on happening.

The proliferation of rip-offs are the work of dishonest people all over the world.

One work-at-home scam involves agreeing to have packages or money orders sent to your home or business address first and then re-shipped by you to another address. The scammers especially like those living in rural areas.

The crooks will order products using stolen credit cards, and the items will come to you. You will be collecting them for shipment, often out of the country and often at your own expense. The destinations can be Russia, Europe, Africa or anywhere.

You will receive instructions that will require you to pay the shipping in order to receive your fee. You will probably never get a penny. And yes, it’s all illegal and you could be arrested for mail fraud, smuggling and other crimes.

Some of the reshipping scams involve contact through dating websites (. hearts). or Internet career sites. Some even claim to be shipping items for a foreign charity. Don’t help them!

Payment to scam victims often involves counterfeit money orders in large amounts. The plan is for you to deposit your share in your checking account and send the excess amount to another person. Before you know it, you’ve lost the full amount of the counterfeit MO from your hard-earned savings

Learn more at https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/raddocs/consumer/reshippingscam.html.

One evening, a call came to John’s home. He was being warned by Deputy Thomas that he had one hour to pay a $1000 fine for missing jury duty in the county recently.

He was to go to a local discount store, purchase a gift card, and call the “official” number back. He was then to give them the card’s account number to avoid being arrested.

John didn’t cooperate after concluding the caller didn’t have the basic information he should have if this were actually an official call, but he realized how easy it is for scammers to penetrate our daily lives.

One of the oldies somehow keeps on working: fake sweepstakes or lottery winnings, even though you don’t recall entering the contest or purchasing a ticket. Some of the worst ones in operation today are coming from Jamaica or Costa Rica.

The phony notification may come by phone, text, email or social media. You will be persuaded to send money for income taxes or a special handling fee. Those amounts are just the come-on, and you haven’t won anything other than the sad honor of being the next victim.

The most notorious sweepstakes scams have earned a lot of attention on the Internet. Search for the company name, and you will see that other victims have reported their bad experiences.

Keep your radar on for any and all frauds and scams. If you’ve been wondering whether you may have been caught in the net of a scam or have other legal concerns, call West Virginia Senior Legal Aid at 800–229–5068. This free service is for West Virginia residents, age 60 and over, and they must make the call on their own behalf.

June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

You can't undo abuse, so prevention is critical. We can all do more to prevent elder abuse in our communities and in our families. One place to learn more about elder abuse and what you can do for prevention is the National Council on Aging

2018 West Virginia Legislative Highlights for Seniors

Yes, the 2018 West Virginia legislature passed the Fiscal Year 2019 budget before adjourning. That felt good after earlier years in which that process so crucial to the state’s welfare was such a struggle.

All links below are to the bill language in a pdf document from the legislature's website.

House Bill 4279 Thanks to this new law, there are now more specific protections for incapacitated adults and nursing home and facility residents against financial exploitation by facility staff, family, caregivers, or others. The Department of Health and Human Resources Adult Protective Services’ staff is authorized to investigate exploitive or fraudulent financial situations for those persons.

It seems that we hear more and more about financial abuse of so many, whether through intentional scams or family schemes.

This law means that those, friend or foe, who are preying on incapacitated adults or those in nursing homes by scamming them out of their money and property will face another hurdle in getting away with it. Adult Protective Services is now charged with initiating investigations and working with other entities, including county prosecutors, to stop the exploitation.

The legal definition of financial exploitation is the unlawful expenditure or unlawful willful dissipation of the funds or other assets owned or paid to or for the benefit of an incapacitated adult or facility resident.

For those who are concerned about someone suffering from financial exploitation or similar abuse, contact the APS staff at the county level or call 800-352-6513.

House Bill 4150 A new law prohibits West Virginia telemarketers from misleading you about their company’s identity when calling and from collecting your identifying information with their electronic resources. That information can be used for further scams.

So if your caller ID screen shows Tiffany‘s NY as the caller (but it is actually from Big Time Rip-off, Inc.), the company has violated the law.

The new law does not appear to apply to out-of-state telemarketers but hopefully will have a deterrent effect on such deceptive practices anyway.

An upcoming government study authorized during the session will evaluate ways to improve palliative medical care practices. Also, an assessment of whether changes to the taxation of Social Security income would be appropriate in West Virginia was discussed but did not pass.

House Bill 4035 Palliative care is specialized medical treatment for those with a serious illness, focusing on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of what is often the most significant illness the person has faced. The overall goal of the care is to improve the quality of life for patients and families. A Palliative Care Advisory Council will be made up of healthcare professionals in this field, consumer advocates and other end-of-life professionals.

House Concurrent Resolution 115 Currently, a majority of states do not tax their residents’ Social Security benefits. Others tax them at a lower rate. Only West Virginia and four other states tax the benefits like the federal government does. Recognizing that those collecting Social Security may face many serious financial concerns, especially a lessened ability to earn extra income, a joint committee would discuss retirement security issues and evaluate the impact of any taxation change on future budgets.

Senate Bill 397 One other new law--it is illegal now to claim that a pet is a service animal unless it has been certified or claim to be a handicapped or disabled person if that is not true. Violation of the law is a misdemeanor.

If you have questions about how any of the new laws will impact you or have other legal concerns, feel free to contact West Virginia Senior Legal Aid for assistance. To be eligible for this service, you must be a West Virginia resident at least 60 years old and must be the one to call 800-229-5068. We’re here to help!