I was sad to hear that a friend’s husband was recently taken for a ride by some guys wandering their neighborhood selling pressure washing services. All the red flags were there. Read more
Next Time, Just Say “No!”
Posted on July 27, 2021 by Chris Bjorklund
Posted in: Home Maintenance, Safety, Bay Area, Consumers, Home Tips, Personal Stories, Savvy Tips
Tags: consumer advice, scams, red flags, consumer tips, door to door sales
Don’t Let Your Guard Down!
Posted on September 24, 2020 by Chris Bjorklund
It’s easy to get complacent when we’re all so distracted by what’s going on in the world. Unfortunately, distracted people can be easy targets for all kinds of scams, especially online scams. Here’s a case in point.
About three weeks ago, I received an email from an acquaintance asking me if I had an Amazon account (red flag). Nancy said she was having trouble with her credit card and wanted to buy a $200 Sephora gift certificate on Amazon to surprise her niece for her birthday, which was the next day (red flag). Read more
Posted in: Consumer News, Personal Stories, Savvy Tips
Tags: scams, online security, online scams, phishing, email, internet safety
Robocalling: It’s Truly an Epidemic
Posted on January 30, 2019 by Chris Bjorklund
Robocalls are out of control at my house. First, the landline rings. I don’t answer because I have Caller ID and don’t recognize the number. Then my cellphone rings with a similar number, and within a few minutes, my cable telephone line also rings. Did I mention my husband often gets a call on his cellphone around the same time? Calls to my landline sometimes start before 7am and continue as late as 10pm. We’ve had as many as 15 calls in a day. I’m not surprised by one estimate that says about one-third of all phone calls are now robocalls and scams.
I’ve done everything that’s recommended. I use the call-blocking feature on my iPhone after getting a spam call. Read more
Posted in: Consumers, Personal Stories
Tags: consumer tips, technology, robocalls, spam calls, scams, cellphone, iPhone, smartphone, telecom