fraud

Celebrating Everyday Heroes in Denver

Posted on 08/16/2012 by Jen Martin | Volunteering | Comments

VolunteeringEvery week, volunteer Joe Pells goes to the AARP Foundation Colorado Consumer Fraud Prevention Call Center in Denver and makes about 90 phone calls to warn seniors about financial scams. He’s done this for three years, spoken to nearly 5,000 people and performed more than 500 hours of service. He’s an amazing super-volunteer. Denver’s ABC7 TV station recognized Pells’s dedication, naming him a “7Everyday Hero” earlier this month. The station gives the weekly award to Coloradans who initiate solutions, motivate …

Supreme Court Won’t Review Madoff Payment Plan

Posted on 06/25/2012 by Carole Fleck | Money and Work | Comments

Bulletin Today | Your LifeBernard Madoff’s victims, some of them older investors who lost their life savings, can look forward to a payout sooner rather than later. But the amount won’t be what some were hoping for. The U.S. Supreme Court Monday declined to review how the trustee for Madoff’s victims calculated their losses, a decision that could help speed a payout of nearly $2 billion, reports Bloomberg news. “After more than two years, this is excellent news for the hundreds of victims who have not …

Crime Does Pay When It Comes to Nigerian Scam Letters

Posted on 06/22/2012 by Carole Fleck | Money and Work | Comments

Bulletin Today | Money & SavingsThe following is a guest post from Sid Kirchheimer, a frequent contributor to the AARP Media News team The Nigerian scam letters that pop up so often in your inbox have become the Rodney Dangerfield of email cons: They get no respect, just laughs. Who in their right mind would fall for a stranger’s misspelled offer of millions of dollars of loot for essentially doing nothing? Who would believe someone claiming to be in the very country that’s become synonymous with …

Weight Loss with These Schemes? Fat Chance!

Posted on 06/21/2012 by Carole Carson | Fat to Fit | Comments

Personal HealthDesperate to lose weight? You’re not alone. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are overweight or obese, according to recent statistics. Although some of us accept our expanding girth, others of us are so discouraged by the number on the scale that we’ll try anything that promises quick results. Protect yourself by familiarizing yourself with popular schemes designed to lighten your wallet more so than your body: Fat-Burning Injections: Weekly shots of fat-burning injections costing about $20 a pop, usually consist …

White House Announces Coordinated Effort To Combat Elder Financial Abuse

Posted on 06/18/2012 by Carole Fleck | Money and Work | Comments

Bulletin Today | Home & Family | Money & Savings | Your LifeHealth and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Thursday that a coordinated federal effort has been put in place to address the devastating and increasing problem of elder financial abuse. At a White House forum on elder abuse and financial exploitation, Sebelius says a $5.5 million grant under the Affordable Care Act will be used to create a federal elder justice coordination team, including officials from the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). That team will examine previously “fragmented” elder abuse initiatives …

33 Tons of Paper – Shredded!

Posted on 06/15/2012 by Jen Martin | Volunteering | Comments

Money & Savings | Your LifeThis is a guest post by Becky Squires, staff writer for AARP Foundation Consumers gathered in four places around Colorado — Denver, Black Forest/Colorado Springs, Ft. Collins and Pueblo – at special “Fight Fraud – Shred Instead” paper-shedding events organized by AARP Foundation Colorado, June 9. “Not only do old documents contain information that identity thieves can use, but shredding all this paper is good for the environment, too,” said Amy Nofziger, AARP Foundation manager. Loaded with boxes of out-of-date …