“Why can’t we ‘zap’ them to death?”
Last month, the first week of March was designated “National Consumer Protection Week” by the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I ask all Vegas Voice readers: Did you know?
Did you attend or participate in the various events or zoom webinars?
Of course, you didn’t. Anybody with an ounce of sense passed on these BS bureaucratic talking heads pontificating on (and on) about how “they” are protecting the public.
Only a complete fool would tune in – so naturally, I did.
It’s been the goal of The Vegas Voice to provide all information concerning the latest scams facing seniors. Our now five year plus mission is to do so with our articles, podcasts, scam videos and seminars.
Since we started our campaign, the scam industry has sadly exploded. Listening to these government “experts” it’s clear that they can’t stop it.
Making things worse, the advent of AI has provided scammers a wealth of ways to capitalize on their schemes. I’m not talking about that Nigerian Foreign Minister but rather a sophisticated and realistic scheme to separate you from your money and bank accounts.
While the CFPB can offer “statistics” and pamphlets citing the various scams by telephone, text and email, I kept asking how the government can stop it.
After all, if the Feds can land a man on the moon and chase the mob out of Las Vegas, (by the way, still debating if that was a good or bad thing, but will save that rant for another time) how come they cannot come up with a plan to stop or at least limit scammers?
My suggestion? Devise a gizmo that sends an electronic zap of some kind that seniors can use to respond to the telephone calls. Sort of like what Israel did to Hezbollah when they blew up all their telephone pagers.
“If you electrocute a couple of these guys, just watch how fast the scam industry decreases” I proudly suggested. Their stunned silence made it clear that my revolutionary idea would not be presented to their supervisors.
And that’s one of my issues with these federal and state “consumer protection agencies.” They’ll lecture on the problems but have no solutions.
Even worse, when The Vegas Voice offered to host these agencies at an event/expo, they made it clear that it had to be during the week since they’re off on weekends. I thought it was preposterous since most (if not all) consumers cannot attend weekday events.
Unfortunately, I was not able to hide my disgust and opinions. “If you want to help, help. Don’t just go through the motions as you pat yourself on the back.”
I guess that’s why you don’t see their information in our publication.
Anyway, until my idea takes hold, let’s be very clear: Like opposing teams’ game day planning against basketball legend Michael Jordan, “you can’t stop him, you can only contain him” there is only one way to protect yourselves from these SOBs. Trust nobody.
If you don’t know who they are – hang up. If they text or email you, delete. That’s it.
Believe me, if the phone message is legit, they’ll call back. Same for that unknown text.
And if it’s an email, no matter how perfect it is, delete it. Never click on their attachment or link. If you are that concerned about that credit card charge, call the telephone number on the back of the card to follow-up.
I admit that “trusting nobody” is
not the friendliest way to go about life. But it’s no different than advising your children (and grandchildren) not to trust strangers.
Until we get to zap these bad guys, better to always suspect than to lose your life savings.
