DEAR HARRIETTE: I am being bombarded with phone calls from all kinds of companies promising to give me a low-interest loan or suggesting I refinance my house or lower my auto insurance. All of these things sound great, given what’s going on in the world right now, but I am nervous about responding to them. I can’t tell which of these calls are real and which are fake. I have heard that there is a lot of fraud going on. How in the world do I figure out what is fraud and what might be a legitimate way for me to save some money? I am not internet savvy or even phone savvy. I use the computer, but I’m a senior citizen. My grands used to help me with all of this stuff, but they can’t visit now, and I don’t know how to use the smartphone. -- Avoiding Fraud
DEAR AVOIDING FRAUD: You do have to be extremely careful now with random callers and emails that offer deals. Fraud causes are up exponentially, according to many reports.
For starters, if you want to reduce the cost of any of your bills, you should initiate the call. Find the phone number on your bill, and call that. Or look for the email address on your bill. That should get you directly to the source. Do not trust a random caller. Never give your date of birth, Social Security number or address to anyone who calls you. Don’t believe a deal that seems too good to be true, because chances are it isn’t real.
To get help, you can reach out to the AARP. Call its fraud helpline at 877-908-3360. Or go to its website at bit.ly/34BJehI.
(Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)