What To Do When a Con Man Calls – Episode 223

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[00:03] Welcome to the Prosperity Podcast, fresh alternative personal finance talk for independent thinkers who prosper outside of Wall Street. Here’s your host, bestselling author, Kim D.H. Butler, and No BS Money Guy, Todd Strobel. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Prosperity Podcast. This is No BS Money Guy, Todd Strobel. Once again, we have bestselling financial author, Kim Butler, and our co-host with us today. And today we’re going to be talking about an article that I found in AARP Magazine. It’s the October-November 2017 edition, and it’s called When a Con Man Calls. And they interviewed a bunch of people and asked them if they would be susceptible to a con man, and 85% of the people really felt that they would not, that they could

[00:58] pick a con man out. And I got to tell you, my confidence level would be pretty high too, but yet nearly all of them were able to be fooled by one con or another. So I think because of that, it’s well worth sharing with our listeners. What do you think, Kim? I do too. You know, it’s interesting. My reaction would be I probably could be fooled because I feel like I’m pretty trusting and I’m not very like worldly and being on the lookout for that kind of thing because I don’t want to be on the lookout for that kind of thing. And yet at the same time, we have to be wise. We have to be positive. We have to be faithful. We have to be, and I use the word half, we really want to be. And yet at the same time, we want to be wise.

[01:49] We want to be knowledgeable. We want to be educated. And just like we buy car insurance for our cars, we buy life insurance for our human life value, we buy liability umbrella protection because it’s just wise. And so I think this falls into that category. Super. Well, I was going to kind of start at the top. And like I said, we’ve got 12 of them to look at and get your opinion of whether it might catch you or not. The number one is, hi, I’m calling from the courthouse and you missed jury duty. You must pay $400 or go to prison. Interesting. So I guess you’re looking to me to see if I would be conned by that. Is that how we’re handling it? All right. So I’m going to go with no courthouses don’t ever call.

[02:42] They absolutely send things snail mail, which is, I realize, very like 1980s. But I am conscious enough that that’s how they do it, that I wouldn’t be affected by that. Plus, I would be very reticent to even take that call. Like, it’s not going to come through my office. And if it came on my cell phone, I wouldn’t answer it. So I probably wouldn’t ever even get it. Got it. All right. Well, let’s try the second one. The big winner announcer. I’m from the Canadian lottery and you’ve won one million dollars. Pay the import tax and fee and we’ll send you your winnings. I know I wouldn’t be thrown by that one because I do not believe in the lottery. I believe that if you think there’s good luck, then you’re opening the door to thinking

[03:34] that there’s bad luck. And I’m not thinking that way, nor would I ever want to think that way, nor would I ever, ever consider buying a lottery ticket in any form, which includes any kind of activities in Las Vegas. So no, you know, and some of these are pretty specific. But keep in mind now, with Facebook being the way it is, a lot of us release a lot of specific information about ourselves that we probably never would have before. Wouldn’t you agree? Yes. So somebody could know that you’d been to Canada, as an example, and be more on the lookout for those kinds of opportunities. It’s I think something definitely to be aware of. And also, I know Google will track your phone pretty heavily, too.

[04:21] So they could be aware of it from that. So good thing to be aware of. The next one is the puppy breeder. As a dog lover, you should know we just got a beautiful litter of purebred golden retriever puppies, and we just need a two hundred dollar deposit. So my response would be, no, I want a Great Dane again. Oh, wait, no, that’s not the right thing. But what if it was a Great Dane? This is this is this is one I could see would work because, boy, people really talk about their love of dogs on Facebook. The truth isn’t that the truth. And and I will readily admit to being absolutely head over heels in love with Emma dog. But if I wasn’t in the market for a puppy, it would be really easy to set aside. But if I was in the market, I can understand how that would be

[05:13] appealing. And, you know, gosh, what a shame. They’re seriously pulling some heartstrings. Well, yeah, because I mean, if you know, to find a specific dog can be sometimes difficult. I think if I remember in your particular case, it took years to find the exact dog you were looking for, didn’t it? It did. I would say at least a year and maybe a little longer than that. And and we were particular. And, you know, at the same time, I kind of roll my eyes like that’s pathetic. You could have just gone to the pound and gotten one and been fine with it. But nevertheless, it’s something that is is just good for us to be aware when our emotions are at play and our emotions are always at play. You know, people say, oh, you know, it’s just the facts.

[06:01] Don’t don’t make the decision emotionally. Well, of course, you make the decision emotionally. The next one is the doctor representative. Research shows conclusively that these new capsules will stop your disease in its tracks, which I know is wasted on you because you’re not going to be fooled by any type of medication. But I will say that a lot of people with certain conditions now tend to join certain chat rooms and certain Facebook groups. So it would be easy to pull a list and target them. Yeah, yeah, that’s a shame. And you are right, I wouldn’t be swayed by it at all. And yet I can. Absolutely. Way more than puppies. I think people want their health. And so that’s just something that we need to be aware of.

[06:51] If it’s not coming from your doctor, plus good grief, like you said, as much information on Facebook, they could even play your doctor’s office, I guess. So this is probably something I’ll say a million times on this podcast, and that’s trust, but verify. The next one is the utility company. Well, we will be shutting off your electricity in 24 hours if you don’t pay the past due amount on your bill immediately. Yeah. So you got to know that electricity companies don’t leave you with that little a time. There would have been four statements in the mail, possibly another phone call, a warning on your meter. I mean, there’s a whole host of things that should have happened before an electrical company would be down to the last 24 hours.

[07:39] And yet I’m sure people that are not super conscious of their mail, afraid, concerned that maybe they are late in their payments already. That could cause somebody to stand up and pay attention. And again, trust, but verify, go hang up the phone, say, OK, I’ll take all your information down and then call the utility company and confirm it. You know, if I added one thing to this, it would become much more realistic. And that would be one of your children. Ah, interesting. Like your children’s electricity. Because you wouldn’t have gotten the notices and, you know, you know, that would be boy, that would be tempting. Well said. The police or fire department, we’re raising money for officers or firefighters injured in the line of duty.

[08:33] How much would you be willing to donate today? Wow. That happens a lot. Yeah, that’s unfortunate, unfortunate for sure. And I tend to be very focused in my charitable donations. I have two, maybe three charities that I give to, and I give a lot to them. At least what I think is a lot. And that’s all I give to. I feel like more money to one or two places is better than a whole bunch of little checks to a whole bunch of places. And it enables me to withstand that type of request or even just, you know, walking into somewhere. You know, there’s a table out front. Hey, will you donate here? I just say, you know, we we have a company charity or we have our own personal charity or whatever I need to say

[09:27] to keep me focused on that and not get taken either. Even if it is a good cause, again, not get taken up by emotions and or potentially a false raising environment where somebody is not being truthful. I would also like to mention that there are now professional fundraising organizations that will go to some place like the Red Cross or maybe they’ll go to the police department or whatever, and they will say, can we raise money in your name and give it to you? And the idea is, is any money that we didn’t have before in our charity is good. So this is a positive thing. But some of the contracts negotiated allow the fundraising company to keep as much as 90 percent of the money that they collect

[10:26] and only 10 percent actually ending up where it start, where it was supposed to go. Absolutely. I think there’s a website where you can check the percentage of a donation that a charity is actually getting. And we’ll have to dig that out, maybe, and put it in the show notes, because that should be your first step at a minimum to confirm that kind of thing. Super, because I know, you know, with the hurricanes and all of the things going on, there’s an there’s an awful lot of need out there. And I think it’s admirable the way that we want to reach out. But we want as much of what we give to go to where it’s supposed to go. Absolutely. The government clerk, you have unclaimed property with our state.

[11:08] Simply pay this fee and we will release it to you. Interesting. So the whole unclaimed property thing has become fairly big in the last maybe 10, 15 years. I got some checks one time when my bookkeeper checked it for me, you know, little $60 checks that had gotten lost in the mail when I moved or what have you. And so that was kind of cool. Utility deposits end up being held by the state. I still have one being held in North Carolina or something. OK. Yeah. But again, trust, but verify, say, OK, thanks for the information. You know, let me write down your name and number and I’ll call you back and then get online and confirm that information, because all of that type of thing is public to you.

[11:53] It’s not that somebody else could maybe go see, although maybe maybe the unclaimed property other people can see, I can’t remember. But nevertheless, you can verify it. So don’t just take their word for it. And I same deal. I wouldn’t ever even get that kind of phone call. So I wouldn’t be tempted by it. But I’m so glad you’re bringing these up because I know that people do. The Internal Revenue Service, you owe taxes and are at grave risk of large fines or jail time if you do not settle this situation immediately. Yeah. Hopefully people know that the IRS does not phone and they do not email. All they use is snail mail. And I know a lot of the snail mail pieces we get have even a piece of paper in them that says don’t take a phone call from the IRS.

[12:46] It’s not us. Don’t accept an email from the IRS. It’s not us. And boy, the emails can be tricky as well. Absolutely. How about the ticket seller as an affiliate? Of a major ticket vendor, we can get you seats for your dream concert for a discount, but only if you act quickly. Wow, that’s an interesting one. And same deal. They’d know because you were fan clubbing and, you know, maybe being excited about a new album out and that kind of thing. I I think I’ve only been to one concert my whole life, so I’m sorry. This is prude and boring, Kim coming out. But I wouldn’t be persuaded by it. But again, I can absolutely see why somebody would. And that’s a toughie, a very tempting offer, I’m sure. The long distance lover in these weeks of chatting,

[13:40] I’ve fallen so in love with you, send money for a plane ticket and oh, the magic that will happen. Wow, that’s scary. Really? No, thank you. Now, I’ll be curious to see if we come to the one thing that I am aware I have been persuaded about in the past. So you keep going. It’s similar to that one. The next is the bank verifier. There’s a data problem with your checking account. Please verify this information so we can confirm things and fix the error. This one, it looks like one of the most dangerous ones to me. Yeah, that is interesting. And I will admit I get tired sometimes from our bank, which is a fairly small bank, calling us about credit card transactions. I mean, they know we travel.

[14:33] Seems like every time I go anywhere, I’m getting calls about five different credit card bills that they’re curious about. And I guess I’d rather have it that way than them taking things that they shouldn’t be on my credit card. But it’s when it’s the bank and it’s your checking account. And if you know your balances are close, etc., that can get pretty scary. So just hang up the phone, call them back. You can verify that information. You don’t have to accept it firsthand. And our last one is the military rep. I’m from the Veterans Administration, and you are entitled as an ex-soldier to benefits from this program. I just need to know dot dot dot. Interesting. Yeah. I’m sure if I was an ex-soldier, that that would potentially be appealing.

[15:24] And you as a military person, you know, the government has a ton of your information. So it would be sort of weird that they were asking for it, actually. And maybe that would be a tip. I don’t know. So so we got through the list. I’m going to share the one thing that did happen to me that I was tempted by. And it was a while back. And I wouldn’t be tempted by now because people are aware that this kind of thing happens. But somebody had hacked a friend’s email. And so I got what appeared to be an email from my friend saying, I’m stuck out of the country and my credit cards have been shut down. Like, can you help me? I need to get back home. And I have to admit that really threw me for a loop.

[16:05] And I called and said, like, really? And they’re like, oh, no, you know, my email got hacked. So that’s one that people need to be aware of as well, I think. You know, now that you mentioned that, I did have that happen to me as well. And again, from when it’s from an individual and you know them and you even email with them regularly, it is. Yes. Right. All right. Well, the takeaway that MoneySaver magazine has is never accept a pitch or give any information to a stranger on the phone, in person or over the Internet without first independently verifying that it’s legitimate. There you go. Awesome. Well, good information. I hope this has been beneficial to the listeners. And many times, I think we think for ourselves

[16:58] that we wouldn’t be duped. But what about adult children? What about parents that may be not super sharp and paying attention on the phone if somebody calls or what have you? Those are people that maybe this podcast could be shared with. Super. And maybe one of our listeners has a story they’d like to share as well. What would be the best way for them to do that? Great idea. That email specifically for our listeners that we pay close attention to in case we can be of help is hello at partners. Number four prosperity dot com. So hello at partners, number four prosperity dot com. Happy to entertain questions. Happy to accept some stories that might also shed some light. And maybe a listener has one in addition to what you’ve listed here

[17:51] that they want to make everybody aware of. Super. Yeah. Could you imagine if, you know, one person shared their story and just helped even one other person avoid the same tragedy? So once again, this is the Prosperity Podcast. I’m No BS Money Guy Todd Strobel. Special thanks to Kim Butler. And we’ll talk to you all again real soon. Thank you for listening to the Prosperity Podcast. To take control of your money and have it work for you. Visit us at partners for prosperity dot com. If you liked this episode, make sure you subscribe and leave a review.