Grumpy Editor

2020 ALSO KNOWN AS THE YEAR OF SCAMS

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...

 

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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.

 

 

 

SCAMMERS BEHIND SOME APPEALING ONLINE ADVERTISEMENTS

 

 

Some appealing online advertisements are turning out to be routes to scammers, observes Grumpy Editor.

 

For them, it works out better than the long-used telephone calls and emails.

 

Official-looking websites along with fake consumer reviews, pitching everything from sports events to assorted products, are being run by aggressive scammers.

 

The findings are from a survey, based on interviews of 1,408 consumers conducted by the Better Business Bureau, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Stanford Center on Longevity.

 

The survey finds 91 percent of respondents say they failed to recognize fraudulent ads as scams and 53 percent eventually lost money.  Median loss was about $600.

 

The study finds the people are victims of “online purchase” scams stemming from direct seller-to-buyer sites.

 

Scammers pretend to purchase items, send sellers bogus checks, then seek refunds of "accidental" overpayments.

 

Other scammers, posing as sellers, never deliver the promised goods or send fake or inferior items.

 

Consumers last year filed 372,000 fraud complaints, representing a loss of $1.5 billion, with the Federal Trade Commission.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HITS HALF CENTURY LOW.   While Wall Street talks “slowdown” about every other day, triggering gyrations in the stock market, the U.S. unemployment rate drops to 3.5 percent in September, lowest since December, 1969.  Job growth, meanwhile, continues at a modest pace.

 

NEWSEUM BUILDING SET TO CLOSE AT YEAR END.  The Newseum, a Washington, D.C. museum dedicated to journalism, the First Amendment and a free press, closes on Dec. 31.  The Freedom Forum, the museum's primary funder and creator, says it can't afford to continue operating the building, which covers more than 400,000 square feet on coveted real estate near the National Mall. 

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED STAFF CUT.  Maven, now managing the 65-year-old Sports Illustrated magazine covering college and professional sports, plans to cut more than 40 jobs from a staff of 150.

ANOTHER FLYING FORTRESS GONE.  Nine-O-Nine, a vintage B-17 Flying Fortress that crashed last week in Connecticut killing seven of the 10 passengers and three crew members aboard, is among 13,000 of that model produced in the buildup to and during World War II.  The workhorse bombers helped the Allies win World War II. 

 

MOUSE SHAKES UP WHITE HOUSE PRESS ROOM.  White House press room attendees are startled when a mouse falls from the ceiling onto the lap of Peter Alexander, NBC News White House correspondent.  Reporters, producers and cameramen search the room, but the mouse remains on the loose.

TRUMP COMMERCIALS REJECTED BY CNN.  CNN rejects two campaign commercials from President Donald Trump’s campaign committee, claiming they weren’t factual.

PITTSBURG DAILY CUTS PRINT DAYS.  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, with its first issue off the presses in July, 1786, now delivers print editions only on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, with electronic editions published on other days. 

JAPAN UPS TAXES ON GOODS, SERVICES.  Japan raises taxes on goods and services to 10 percent from 8 percent, hitting consumers who help sustain the country's economy.

CHINA BREEDS GIANT PIGS.  A farm in the southern region of China is breeding pigs that are as heavy as polar bears.  An 1,100-pound giant swine can fetch as much as $1,400. 

MAN SPENDS WEDDING DAY IN JAIL.  In Groveton, Texas, a man pulls off a bank robbery Friday in efforts to pay for his wedding the next day.  But he is nabbed and spends his wedding day behind bars.