Scams

I realize the blog is about health – but watching out for scams can certainly help keep you healthy!

It seems like everyday there is a new crook out there looking to scam seniors and in this economy it is only going to get worse.

The latest that I have learned about is a jury duty ploy. Apparently it is spreading fast so be prepared should you get this call. Most of us take a summons for jury duty seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous kind of fraud has surfaced.

The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just stolen.The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma ,Illinois , and Colorado.  This swindle is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they are with the court system. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

 

 

 

 

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We are getting very close to the deadline of switching Medicare plans.

 

It is my understanding that there are some strict rules now that say plans and brokers cannot knock on your door or send you sales materials without your request.

It is also stated that they can not give free meals. As I write this I am looking at five mailers sent to me without me requesting them. More than one offers a free seminar at various restaurants. I decided to check this out. What they had was rolls, muffins, desserts and the like; of course one could say that was

not a meal.  One plan was no co-payments to your personal doctor, however if you want to see a specialist there would be a charge . I ask what that amount would be and I was told it would depend on what the reason would be! The plan had 0 monthly premiums.  However, there was a $200.00 a month charge for Part D.

 

I found all of the information very misleading. It seemed like the more questions I ask the less time they had for me.  So, I will stay with what I have, it works for me.

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Strange how in my autumn years the simple things in life became so enjoyable. I very much enjoy the paper with my morning coffee. I find it more entertaining then news worthy.

 

I found a recent article regarding colds a good read.

 

Would you believe it took researches and a study to tell us cold virus and other viruses were all over door knobs, keyboards, phone, and…. well you get the picture.

 

As I read the article I found (to my surprise – just kidding of course) that the study was sponsored by Reckitt- Benckiser Inc. the makers of Lysol.

 

It so happens I use Lysol at home and when I travel so I have no real issue with that. 

 

I just got a good laugh out of the fact it took a research study to tell me how to catch a cold. And of course that it was again someone trying to market their product with this so called “research”.

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