Sid Kirchheimer - Scam-Proof Your Life: 377 Smart Ways to Protect You & Your Family from Ripoffs, Bogus Deals & Other Consumer Headaches

SCAM-PROOF
Your Life

377 SMART WAYS
To Protect You & Your Family
From Ripoffs, Bogus Deals
& Other Consumer Headaches

B Y S ID K IRCHHEIMER
AARPS SCAM ALERT EXPERT

S TERLING P UBLISHING C O ., I NC .

AARP Books publishes a wide range of titles on health, personal finance, lifestyle, and other subjects to enrich the lives of older Americans. For more information, go to www.aarp.org/books

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The AARP name and logo are registered trademarks of AARP, used under license to Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

The recommendations and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of AARP. The mention of a company by name should not be construed as an endorsement of its products or services by AARP.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kirchheimer, Sid.

Scam-proof your life : 377 smart ways to protect you & your family from ripoffs, bogus deals & other consumer headaches / by Sid Kirchheimer.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4027-3041-2
ISBN-10: 1-4027-3041-1

1. Consumer protection. 2. Consumer education. 3. Finance, Personal. 4. Swindlers and swindling. 5. FraudPrevention. I. Title: Smart ways to protect you & your family from ripoffs, bogus deals, & other consumer headaches. II. Title.

HC79.C63K57 2006

362.88dc22

2006042349

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 AARP 2006

Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing c/o Canadian Manda Group, 165 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3H6

Distributed in the United Kingdom by GMC Distribution Services Castle Place, 166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England BN7 1XU Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

P.O. Box 704, Windsor, NSW 2756, Australia

Manufactured in the United States of America
All rights reserved

Sterling ISBN-13: 978-1-4027-3041-2

ISBN-10: 1-4027-3041-1

For information about custom editions, special sales, or premium and corporate purchases, please contact the Sterling Special Sales Department at 800-805-5489 or specialsales@sterlingpub.com

To my parents...
and the lovely Christine Jane.

I HAD JUST FINISHED speaking with another scam victima retired salesman from Georgia bilked out of $4,500 in a fraudulent work-at-home schemewhen my telephone rang.

Hello, said a pleasant voice. Im calling from your mortgage company. And I see from our records that you may qualify for a lower loan rate.

Interestingly, she did not mention the name of the company that gets my monthly mortgage check. Even more telling was the fact that I had refinanced just two months earlierand mortgage-interest rates had climbed since then.

Really? I replied, glancing at the caller ID gizmo on my desk. Tell me more. The incoming call was marked Private. It was about 8 in the evening, a time when most mortgage-loan officers are home digesting dinner.

Well, sir, she said, based on your excellent credit history, I think we can save you hundreds of dollars a month with our much more attractive rate.

Is that right? I encouraged her. Whats the rate?

Before I can answer, she replied, I just need to verify some informationyour Social Security number and bank-account numbersto make sure they match our records and that you really qualify for this great mortgage rate.

Hmm. Do you know my name? I asked her, since she hadnt used it yet.

She gave the one listed in the phonebookwhich is not Kirchheimer. To spot telemarketerswho continue to phone my home, despite my enrollment on the National Do Not Call RegistryI use a pseudonym as my White Pages listing.

Seriously, I said, do you expect me to fall for this?

She gave a harsh little laugh. Youd be amazed how many people do, she sneered. And then she hung up.

Actually, I wouldnt be amazedand neither should you. Every year, tens of millions of Americans are cheated in a range of scams:

Theres the artist in Pennsylvania whose car literally fell apart two weeks after she bought it. The vehicle had been damaged by hurricane flooding, but its title was doctored to hide that factfrom both the car dealership and the buyer.

Theres the self-employed insurance agent in New Hampshire whose bank account was emptied in a debit-card skimming scam a week before she had to pay her quarterly income taxes. The 88-year-old retired teacher in Florida who lost $8,000 in a sweepstakes scam. The soldiers wife in California victimized by a perfectly legal scaman additional $300 per month in credit-card fees because her payment arrived a few days late. (The reason for the delay: She was saying goodbye to her husband, deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11.)

These are not stupid people. Rather, they were simply unaware of the numerous consand their consequencesthat occur every day, whether they originate in boiler rooms or boardrooms, in some back alley or right at their front door.