As year 2020 bows out, among other things it will be known as the year of scams, notes Grumpy Editor.
The Federal Trade Commission tallies consumers lost an estimated $1 billion in schemes during the pandemic since January.
Officials figure only a small fraction of ripped-off customers report losses to authorities.
Main targets are seniors and retirees, Blacks and Latinos, immigrants, military families and students.
“There are people out there whose job it is to steal your money, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh tells Associated Press.
Frosh points out a growing number of cases involve affinity fraud that is a form of pyramid scheme in which consumers are urged to tap friends, family and members of their church or ethnic community for money in addition to their own payment.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...
ARMY CANNON HITS DISTANT TARGET. A U.S. Army cannon hits a target 43.5 miles away, marking a milestone in the push to develop longer range artillery. Service leaders have said long-range precision fires from ground forces are an important part of a modernization effort to give forces “a decisive advantage” in future battles. Design work on a final version of the cannon could be finished next year.
AFGHANISTAN BEATS U.S., SAYS TRUMP. President Donald Trump, tweeting from his vacation in Florida on Friday, says that the United States isn’t as good as war-torn, Taliban-infested Afghanistan, reports Mediaite.
D.C. MEMORIAL HONORS JOURNALISTS KILLED. President Donald Trump signs a bill authorizing a monument honoring journalists killed while reporting the news. The Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, which passed through Congress with bipartisan support earlier this month, permits the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation to plan and raise funds for the construction of a memorial in Washington, D.C.
GEN. LEE STATUE REMOVED. A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, that represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol for 111 years is removed, following the request from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. It follows a decision that Lee is not a fitting symbol for the state.
FINANCIAL TIMES CUTS STAFF. The Financial Times, an international daily newspaper, reportedly is cutting 64 jobs, including 20 editorial positions.
U.S. AIRBORNE SOLDIERS AID GERMAN MOTORIST. Five U.S. 101st Airborne Division soldiers flying over rural Germany near Fabrikschleichach, a Bavarian town, spot a while puff of smoke on the ground, the result of a car rolling over three times. The aircraft lands in a nearby muddy farm field and one of the soldiers runs to the vehicle and aids a German man on the ground beside the vehicle.
WOMAN TO COMMAND NUCLEAR-POWERED AIRCRAFT CARRIER. Navy Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, is selected to be the first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, the fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier in the Navy. Bauernschmidt previously served from 2016 to 2019 as the Lincoln’s executive officer, another first for a woman. She is a 1994 graduate from the Naval Academy.
Comments