skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Tips for Avoiding Holiday Shopping Scams

play audio
Play

Monday, December 13, 2021   

DENVER -- With the holiday shopping season in full swing, criminals are seizing upon new online opportunities to separate consumers from their money.

Almost half of adults recently surveyed believe companies and customer-support numbers appearing as ads at the top of an online search can be trusted.

Mark Fetterhoff, program manager for AARP ElderWatch Colorado, countered many are just carefully-constructed traps.

"You need to be very careful when you are trying to contact a customer-service representative," Fetterhoff explained. "Because scammers are smart, and they are putting their phone numbers, and fake websites even, at the top of search-engine browser results."

Legitimate phone numbers can be found in your most recent correspondence with the company, such as a billing statement. If you suspect you are among the 75% of Americans who have fallen victim to scams, report it so others won't, by calling the Colorado Attorney General's Office toll-free at 1-800-222-4444.

Scammers are also taking advantage of the boom in home delivery during the pandemic. They send e-mails and texts posing as UPS or other delivery services, urging you to respond to a shipping problem. But Fetterhoff pointed out it is really just a phishing expedition, designed to siphon off bank account and other personal information.

"The text messages are becoming even more common than they ever have been before," Fetterhoff observed. "So if you receive a notification, and it's telling you something went wrong, think twice before clicking on anything, because it's likely not a shipper."

Coloradans planning to make donations also should be alert to schemes designed to capture money intended for your favorite nonprofit or charity, especially as end-of-year solicitations start to pour in.

"Sometimes scammers will take the names of different charities, to try to make money," Fetterhoff cautioned. "And it's really important that you do research just like any purchase you are going to make, to ensure that your hard-earned monies are going to charities that you want to support."

Disclosure: AARP Colorado contributes to our fund for reporting on Civic Engagement, Health Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families, and Senior Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021