hello today are our podcast chitchat we're going to talk about seniors versus crime welcome to another infrequent podcast known as chitchat today I'm here with Incredible folks from the Florida Attorney General's office program called seniors versus crime I have Joyce here and Tony here and we're going to go through some questions and let them explain what a Wonder program this is you know one of the great special things about Valia county is you know we have a lot of incredible seniors here who really make this County move we really want them to know their victim of crime what is out there for us so when was the SVC formed okay um in 1989 the Florida Attorney General's office of Florida legislator and AARP uh they all got together and decided there's something that needs to be done help our citizens and actually it's not just for seniors we also help any adult that's good to know that's good to know any adult uh and then one time somebody asked how about how about a child and I said well that's when I started saying any adult first I would say any Valia County citizen uh it's all over the state so we have um all the counties always 67 counties covered so all 67 counties are covered and here in Valia we're blessed Tony to be set up right here right here we have a wonderful office on Big Tree Road 724 Big Tree Road which is part of uh the church here uh which is Holy Cross Lutheran Church Holy Cross Luther Church South Daytona room number seven and you know and and we've seen one another here a million times the church is very very active in our community whether it's Veteran Day Veterans Day services Memorial Day services and of course what we're doing here with this program with seniors versus crime um they have I also just add in there um the senior's Today newspaper is through this location also and Bonnie in the office is wonderful she puts ads in the paper you do an article in that paper and they give us that room back there which I'll show you later yeah thank you for bringing that up like I said they are very very engaged but but the seniors today is a great I think to said that I'm a senior now have been for a little bit of time so I've had some articles done for on me as well as the ones we submit but thank you for saying that so Services I'm sure everybody's going to wonder what kind of services do you guys offer basically what we offer is we are not first of all let me say that senior versus crime project was formed in 1989 by the legislature of Florida uh it is administered through the Attorney General's office State of Florida we are not a law enforcement agency we are simply an agency or actually an entity that works with not just seniors but everyone trying to bring together if it's a scam or feels it's a scam we try to bring together the scammer and the scammy if they are if not we try to at least work with the parties to reach an agreement that's mutually accepted if it's not then it's moved on through either legal law enforcement or some other type of Remedy so I I I know we would all agree especially in today's world with cyber crime and internet crime this is clearly something that's probably needed more than ever tell us about some of the things that are coming through the door that you're seeing what are some of the yeah you know it's and Joyce and I have been working uh quite a bit on it on a variety of scams I was sitting by by my computer trying to write up a list of scams that we work with by means not all of them but and I ended up with a dozen and I was trying to title this this particular document for us lecturing and I turned on the television and there was a television program called The Dirty Dozen and I said my God what a beautiful title so so we have the dirty dozen scams and I'll just quickly go through them we do lost parel scams healthc care Medicare Medicaid scams Roofing problems banking scams credit card check washing ID theft construction scams solar scams moving company scams entrepreneurial scams that's where an ENT an entrepreneurial problem where contractor and the person who buys a product romance swindling scams family tragedy scams which in many cases in our profession that's called grandmother or grandfather scams automobile deer scams and password reset scams this just some of them and I'll tell you I think you've covered just in those 12 the big ones that we see all the time from our end of of it in in many cases what we try to do is to educate are populace that scammers work in in often times with the calendar that we live by for instance we just got finished with one of the highest lost parcel scams from Black Friday right through until the end of January when all the returns for the holiday so there there's a spike in scams like that Medicare Medicaid there's always a spike during the time when there's transition which October 15th to December 7th was Medicare enrollment so there were scams associated with that and of course romance scams we are very close to Valentine's Day and it's on its way Cemetery scams which is not listed here we have during the times of the year Veterans Day Easter Mother's Day there's so many scams going on on and scam artists are ingenious so we have to be a step ahead if possible you know it's funny I ran into Joyce up on A1A at a at a uh they were trying to collect toys for our shop with a deputy program and one of the things that we talked about was those just what you just said you have that en open enrollment with Medicare and Medicaid and I cannot think of who the celebrity was that was making the pitch to call this number if you want additional dinner if you want additional Dental or Optical here's what you do and you had said to me oh my go scammers are watching that yeah as well to to duplicate that to try to scam you out so what kind of who's on your staff what folks do you have on staff here we have uh you know retired law enforcement and um Administrative Office clerical business people that you know want to go out there and help help everyone um in our office now we're all volunteers M we don't get paid for this any monies we recoup go directly to the person um nothing comes to us nothing goes up to attorney general it goes directly to them uh we have six volunteers now uh above that we have a deputy director and a director and then the uh attorney general um I guess that pretty much covers so I think one of the things that we see and you know this hav been in law enforcement is as we get older in life there is that sense of I don't want to make that phone call yes I know I was scammed I don't want to make that phone call the family will'll think I'm losing my mind they'll take away my car keys they'll take away my ability to have Financial Freedom what message would you like to give to those folks let me just say that you know our Prime purpose is to educate the public and that's what we're trying to do with you that's what we're trying to get more speaking engagements some people don't even know we exist and that's kind of sad um because we're here to help so I'm going to just about trying to hit all the vucha county libraries go through that way and they're very receptive um you went to the rotary and uh even uh homeowners associations you know we we'll talk to anybody that wants us to talk to them um we're trying to get our our pamphlets that we have in all you know as many places as we can all the libraries Willa County Libraries have these like to get them in all the police departments but that's kind of hard to do facilitate that for you I might know somebody to make sure we get some with you too that would be great um so our Prime purpose is to educate people and let them know you know we're here to help don't I mean I I'm afraid sometimes when I answer the phone that I might be targeted because you're so quick to respond don't be so quick to respond to that person on the other end especially if you don't know who they are or what they're calling about um take some time think about it let them know don't let don't be pushed pressured into anything um if it's a legitimate offer if it's a legitimate business they don't mind you asking them questions or saying I have to call you back I have to check with my daughter my son my my Sheriff you know um cuz you're open too to get in touch with people can get in touch with you uh so education is our Prime purpose and that leads to prevention and spreading the word and then we mediate um then once it's gotten to that point you know we try to work out um a good resolve between the two the one thing that really helps being a white cap and what I mean by that is I'm a senior mhm and seniors feel very comfortable in sitting with another senior yeah when they are discussing something that's embarrassing MH and it is embarrassing and scammers understand that so yes education is so important seniors have to realize that education in the especially when it comes to a media that a lot are unfamiliar with they are still using and as I love the phrase we have smartphones this still using flip phones MH so computers are kind of foreign not to all but to many and there are a dozen two dozen or 10 dozen strategies that they need to learn about what not to do and that's one of the things we try to do when we lecture well you bring up some really really good points both these number one as a senior you should be more comfortable in reaching out to other seniors because hey you're this you're not the only one that's happened to and what you brought up with the cell phones is I try to tell everybody if you don't know the number don't answer it number one and number two think of this what is so important you have to make a decision right then and there and you mentioned it the pressure and that's what happen some people succumb to the pressure we just had it where uh with the United States Marshall service call and a woman I think it was a woman $8,100 they got her for and we had somebody else who said it was a lieutenant from the Sheriff's Office you didn't show up for jury duty you have to pay us $5,000 you're going to get arrested and they're good but they pressure you and remember what we always tell folks is nothing is that important you can't say give me your number I'll call you back because they don't want that they don't want you to hang up and have time to think and that's one of the most important things so how how what's the best way for folks to reach out to you guys what's a good number email number we have on our and we'll put it on the bottom of what okay um I don't have my reading glasses on this I'll give it to you it's well let me give you our 800 first 1800 23399 our office number is 407 53795 n and our email address is vusa as in vusa County vusa SVC project.org and our website seniors versus crime.com excellent we'll scroll that at the seniors vs right seniors vs crime versus vs seniors vs crime.com you can also reach us through the Attorney General's office she has a link there my Florida Legal my Florida Legal Florida Legal perfect.com we'll clear that up yeah so do you guys want to share with us any types of success stories or stories that you got that you're like if I have the opportunity I really like to share this with the public well I what I can say is that we're pretty fortunate in that many of our contractors many of our companies in that locally here in phoa County are very sensitive to their reputation MH and when a senior comes in to file a complaint about in what they feel is a scam uh in many cases it may be a misunderstanding and just to really lay it out for you a gentleman had come in and he had bought a machine a tractor type machine uh that he wanted to use on his property and he did get the machine and the machine was not the power that he thought it should be that he bought and when he came into our office and sat with us one of the first things that we did was to turn around and ask him for the flyer that he bought it from and sure enough the flyer had listed the power that the machine came with and when we went back to that Contra to that purchas the company that sold that to him there were very quick to turn around and give it back so if there's anything to be learned what's important is when you buy something keep the literature that you bought it with because we can then sit and work with the contractor or work with the company and try to reach an agreement that the senior or anyone is happy with but more important I don't think any company would like their reputation smashed MH and it's important and they want to do the right thing and together we can help many Joyce the other the other good point is when you um when you sign a contract um make sure you have a hard copy of that contract don't just sign on a on a pad and believe that it's that it's okay we've seen ones that have come in they didn't have a CO they didn't have a hard copy of their contract and they said that they said one thing and the other person said something else but when the um business showed us you could actually tell that there was copy and pasting sure on there sure uh signatures can be manipulated and and it's it's sad that when that happens because a lot of our older adults and even me well I guess I am a senior now too but anyway a lot of a lot of people want to believe and trust in people and sometimes you just can't I mean it's it's sad um with the computers uh when we were talking about the different stuff on the computers and how things could be manipulated it brought up uh something that I remember from my dad I would always be tell him don't be quick to click there there you go oh man he was always so quick oh it's not working oh I want to go here he's so quick to click and I said don't do that don't do that you know you'll go someplace where you don't want to be always look up the website yourself don't rely on uh a link what's also important when you're talking computers if we leave you with anything when you are looking up one of your accounts on a computer and after you have negotiated the transaction you'll get a popup that will say do you wish to save the password that's in there don't do that because anyone that gets on that computer the computer would automatically get the password so please don't do that I know it's difficult and I know it's hard to look up keep yourself a little composition book buy your computer and then take it with you and save it with all your passwords in it and then you can make sure that anyone that's on that computer will not have access to anything specific to your account that is a great point I was just on my account the other day and you logged in and that thing popped right up do you wish to save your password I just never save it anyway because I don't I don't remember them even I do I do your advice I have a little book especially when it comes to my ticket master account and I'm like now I have a little wait a minute I know I changed that I forgot to change it in the book and I get to redo it all over again so you know that's part of that's a senior moment for the sheriff and that one last one if for any parent that is having a child identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America mhm and I would suggest that and there's a song that came out name your child Sue Frank or anything try not to give it the exact name that you have even though it's a great thing but they get mixed up all the time Social Security numbers a company will automatically if you give a last name it'll pop up so try to name your child or at least make sure that the middle initial is different if it's a junior make sure they use that Junior and if they don't you may be having problems not so much that it's a theft problem but a problem in the first thing that'll pop up is that name so think about that before you name a child very true you should have told my parents that 60 years ago I don't use Junior stuff that comes through for him and vice versa it's pretty good exactly Joyce you got anything you want to add uh just to be alert you know just be on the lookout and avoid be aware avoid problems in the in the beginning of it then you won't have to do a a request for assist is what we call it and uh I don't know if we mentioned it you can um go on you can go online and it has a place where you can uh I believe it's called request for assistance or file a complaint you could do that right online uh if you do it on our website it goes up to the attorney general and then depending on what county you're in uh she sends it out it they can work on it they do they she has her own uh they have a senior Protection Team up there that's full of lawyers uh once it gets to uh in our end once it gets to uh a lawyer or judgments we can't do anything with it um because now it's in the hands of the law and if it's criminal that that's your bag we can't we can't touch anything criminal and most of the time it's just miscommunication between uh it's not just only scams it's just uh somebody felt they were treated unfairly in business so just and uh you know they start yelling each other so we kind of get in there we try to communicate back and forth again and most of the times we we can very good so uh yeah prevention is the key before you get to us try to try to be aware I guess that's the biggest thing and through your office I must say you're doing a great job it's a safe County well thank you I was just going to say to you when you started your law enforcement career what year we'll bleep it so nobody knows so we won't date you it was in so you started around this when my dad started my dad started in 1964 that's exactly when I started would you ever I mean I know how it's changed just in my 36 years did you ever Envision the technology that exploded because as good as it is obviously we're having this conversation because there's a lot of bad that goes with it the one most important thing of all is the fact that there was a time years ago we had no radios in early 60s and we had no clue of who we were stopping they knew who we were we did not know that who they are so technology is a blessing and has saved so many lives over the years and today I I remember the first radio it weighed nine lbs I couldn't carry it around but today God bless technology we're a lot safer and the populace is a lot safer as well very good thank you that and and working with our police officers and the valua County Sheriff's Office and Daytona Beach police officers is there's so much more communication with people and police there's more respect I believe and I think that's the key whatever we do communication is the key no matter what it is there has to be communication I mean you know I was watching Adam 12 the other night oh my gosh I know old I wasn't feeling good I'm laying on a couch I couldn't sleep and they were talking about Community Rel relations Community engagement and communication and that was the N what it was it 68 to 72 Adam 12 was on so here it is all these years later we're still talking about the same thing but from our perspective we just want to salute you for what you folks are doing here because I think you know the most treasured treasured possession we have in valuchi County are our seniors and God knows somebody has to look out for for them and for us for that matter so thank you so much for your all adults I mean we all adults yeah absolutely absolutely everybody needs to have that and that's great to know that here's a resource that you can email or pick up the phone you're going to talk to a peer and they'll get you to where you need to go so I hope that fuchia County you learned a lot from this that you'll take advantage of this wonderful program and the wonderful people volunteering their time to protect our community thank you for tuning in to this episode of chitchat may God bless the United States of America may God continue to bless and guide this great country and our great County thank [Music] [Applause] you