Posts Tagged: theft
New Medicare cards coming: Don't get scammed!
Are you age 65 or older?
If so, you may be targeted by a new Medicare scam.
Medicare is issuing new benefit cards with new benefit ID numbers.
Why?
Look at your Medicare card. Your social security number, which is also your benefits number, is printed on your card. This has led to growing rates of identity theft among those 65 years and older.
Its easy for a thief to get your number. Anyone who stands close to you when you check out at the pharmacy can see the number and use it to steal your identity and may even fraudulently claim benefits in your name. The same thing can happen if someone sees your card when you open your wallet at the cash register, or finds your missing wallet (with your Medicare card inside).
What's changing?
The government redesigned the Medicare card so that it does not reveal your social security number. You will be assigned a new personal benefits number. Here's what the new card will look like:
What do you need to do?
Nothing.
That's important because scammers may try to take advantage of someone who is not aware of the process for receiving their new card.
The new card will be sent to you. You do not need to fill out a form, pay a fee, or give someone your social security number. Here's what the Federal Trade Commission advises to protect yourself:
- If you get a phone call, email, text or letter claiming to be from Medicare and asking for your social security or bank account number...
IGNORE it! That's a scam. Medicare will never call (or send an email, text message, or letter) and ask for this information. - If someone asks you to pay for a new Medicare card...
IGNORE them. That's a scam. Your new Medicare card is free. - If someone threatens to cancel you benefits unless you give them information or send money...
IGNORE them.That's also a scam. There will not be any changes to your benefits.
When will this change happen?
Delivery begins in April 2018 and will be completed by April 2019.
Questions?
Learn more at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/new-medicare-card/nmc-home.html
About Those Bee Hive Thefts
"As bees vanish, bee heists multiply!" screamed a Feb 16th headline in The Washington Post. So...
Honey bee pollinating an almond blossom. California now has a million acres of almonds, and each acre requires two colonies for pollination. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A healthy bee frame. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Raisin Theft Advisory
The last two years, San Joaquin Valley raisin growers experienced a high number of rolled raisin thefts. The majority of the thefts occurred near Biola and the area west of Selma. In past years the Sheriff’s Department has received reports of both bin and rolled raisin thefts. In 2011 thefts consisted primarily of rolled raisins taken from the fields, usually during the evening and late night hours.
PREVENTION TIPS
- Place rolled raisin trays deeper in the vineyard away from main roads. Doing so limits visibility from the roadway.
- Remove raisins and/or bins from fields or unsecured locations as soon as possible.
- Secure tractors, trailers and most importantly forklifts, so the criminals are not able to use your own equipment to perpetrate the theft.
Report any theft and or sighting of suspicious vehicles/persons with descriptions as soon as possible to Fresno Sheriff's Department 559-488-3111 or your local Sheriff's department.
For in-progress crimes or any emergency, please dial 911.
A Case of Identity Theft
Just call it a case of identity theft at the Bohart Museum of Entomology.But wait! Before you ask...
Where's the walking stick? It's the top "twig" in the background. This is a female. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of walking stick. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Latino worker voices in the new economy
Many low-skilled Latino workers, who make up a large share of the low-wage job market, are employed in substandard jobs where they earn below-poverty wages, are denied health and retirement benefits, and are refused paid leave, according to a study by National Council of La Raza (NCRL).
The overrepresentation of Latinos in hazardous occupations and industries, such as construction and agriculture, contributes to their relatively high rates of work-related injuries and fatalities. Even in the midst of the economic recession in 2008, 804 Latinos were killed on the job, the majority of them immigrants. The fatal occupational injury rate for Latinos was 4.0 fatalities per 100,000 workers, compared to 3.7 and 3.5 for White and Black workers, respectively.
In a survey of more than 500 Latinos in the Southeast U.S., 41 percent had experienced wage theft. Two in five Latino workers do not earn sufficient wages to keep their families out of poverty; unpaid wages can be especially damaging to low-income workers and their families whose financial security is already fragile. In 2009, 40 percent of Latino, 33 percent of Black, and 21 percent of White workers earned at or below poverty wages, which were about $10.55 per hour for a family of four.
Due to demographic and labor market shifts, Latinos have emerged as the group most likely to hold jobs with low wages, insufficient benefits, and dangerous working conditions.
In 2010, only 37 percent of Latinos were covered by health insurance sponsored by their employer, and in 2009, only 33 percent of Latinos had access to an employer-based retirement plan. In 2010, 60 percent of the Latino workforce did not receive a single paid sick day. From 1979 to 2006, employer-sponsored health insurance for Hispanics decreased from 60 percent to 37 percent compared to a 10.7-point drop for White and Black workers.
Source: National council of La Raza, “We Needed the Work: Latino Worker Voices in the new Economy”; May 24, 2011.