Protecting yourself from scammers

Dianne Thomson

The Scam Squad, a unit of the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers, evolved from the Neighborhood Watch program. Lou Sampson of the Pima County Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers saw the need for a program to protect citizens who are targeted by scammers. She believes that education is the best crime prevention tool that we have. Acting on her belief in information and education, she developed the program that is now available to clubs and organizations like ours.

Since many of today’s scams come to us on our home computers and phones, the Computer Club has invited Lou to offer her informational program to the Quail Creek community. Join us at our February monthly program on Tuesday evening, February 16 at 7:00 p.m. in the ballroom of the clubhouse. She will describe several popular scams so that you can recognize the signs so you can protect yourself from them.

For example, the program will explain how robo-calls work against you. “Robo-calls are made by a computer program known as spamming software. A computer robot makes multiple calls at one time. If you hear clicks before you receive an answer, hang up! These recordings are often illegal unless it is your doctor or pharmacy calling with a message. Do nothing to indicate that you no longer wish to get this information. If you do, this will record the time that you answered the phone. You will likely receive scam calls the next day at the same time. Just hang up! Don’t converse with the scammers. Do not tell them that you are on the do-not-call list. They are criminals and will not honor your request. Don’t give them a piece of your mind as this will serve to put you on a list of people who will converse. Your name is sold to other scammers with the hope you will believe a more convincing scam and the calls will just keep coming. Just hang up!” (Political calls are legal at election time.)

Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend.