They say “Forewarned is Forearmed!!!!” and “People Don’t Plan to Fail, They Fail to Plan.” So, Plan Ahead and be aware of these current scams calls.

IRS: “You owe back taxes and will be arrested, fined and jailed, if you do not settle this NOW!”

Police: “We are raising money for officers injured in the line of duty. How much will be you donating today?”

Utility Company: “We will be shutting off your electricity TODAY if you don’t pay the past-due amount on your bill now.”

Government Clerk: “You have unclaimed property with the State. Upon payment of a small fee, we will release it to you.”

Jury Duty Clerk: “I’m calling from the Indio Courthouse, and you missed jury duty. Pay $400 or go to Jail.”

Puppy Breeder: “If you are a dog lover you should know we just received a beautiful litter of purebred Poodles.”

Ticket Seller: “We are an affiliate of a major ticket vendor. Therefore, we can get you seats for any major concert at a much-discounted price.”

Bank Verifier: “We have uncovered a major data problem with your checking account. Please verify this information so we can confirm things and fix the error.”

Big Winner Announcement: “I’m from the Canadian Lottery, and you have won $1Million! After you pay the import tax and fee we will send you your winnings.”

Long-distance lover: “During these weeks of chatting I have fallen in love with you. If you send money for a plane ticket, I will catch the next plane, and then the magic will happen.”

Military Rep: “I’m from the VA, and you are entitled, as an ex-soldier, to benefits from this program. I need to know…”

Social Media Scams: With online shopping scams, ads are posted for too-good-to-be-true deals on hot items, like designer eyewear. The ads can show up as a legitimate sponsored post, or in a friend’s Facebook timeline (a sure sign their account has been hacked). The goal is to get your credit card information to charge you for phony goods and steal your personal information for identity theft.

Genealogy site scams: The scammers are trying to trick people with lookalikes of legitimate sites or offering ancestry research for free. The site directs you to submit personal information with the goal of stealing your identity.

If you paid for a product through one of these scam sites, report to your bank, credit card company and the sites below:

Inspector General 1-800-269-0271 or via https://oig.ssa.gov/report.

Fraud alert hotline: 855 303 9470 or http://www.aging.senate.gov/fraud-hotline

FTC ID Theft Hotline 877 ID Theft/ http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft

SS hotline 800 269 0271/www.ssa.gov/oig

Equifax: 800 525 6285/ www.equifax.com

Experian: 888 397 3742/ www.experian.com

Transunion: 800 680 7289/ www.transunion.com

Dale Gribow

Attorney at Law

“TOP LAWYER” Palm Springs Life

73-061 El Paseo, Suite 220

Palm Desert, CA 92260

Office – 760-837-7500

Fax – 760 837-7502

Dale@DaleGribowLaw.com

www.DaleGribowLaw.com