Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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8 UCW AUGUST 5-11, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Protect yourself against financial scammers submitted by DEBBIE BEST It's unfortunate but true: During this period of economic uncertainty, one of the busiest "industries" has been financial scamming. It goes on even during normal times, so you'll want to know what to look for and how to defend yourself. For starters, just how widespread is financial fraud? Consider this: In 2019, more than 3.2 million fraud cases were reported to the Federal Trade Commission, with identity theft being the most common type of fraud, accounting for about one-fifth of the overall cases. And fraudulent new accounts — mortgages, student loans, car loans and credit cards — amounted to about $3.4 billion in 2018, according to a study by Javelin Strategy & Research. To prevent yourself from being victimized, consider the following suggestions. They are certainly not exhaustive, but they should prove useful. • Watch out for unsecure web- sites. Make sure a website is secure before entering any payment or personal information. Look for sites that start with HTTPS, rather than those with just HTTP, which are not secure and can be hacked. But even a site with HTTPS can still be used by scammers, so, if you don't recognize the name of the company or group that's requesting your information, do some research to make sure it's legitimate. • Review your credit reports. As mentioned above, the fraudulent opening of new accounts is a big source of financial scams. To be sure nobody has opened new accounts under your name, try to review your credit reports at least once a year. You can get them for free at Annual- CreditReport.com. • Follow up on fraud. If you've already been victimized by hav- ing new accounts opened in your name, contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax or TransUnion) and place a 90-day fraud alert on your credit file. Just how widespread is financial fraud? MONEY America against God The presence of ungodly mobs on the streets of many American cit- ies, every night, is clear proof of the miseducation which has been taking place in our education system. The great sacrifices made by ear- lier generations of Americans have been forgotten by much of the pres- ent generation. Forgotten too, were the great godly principles, this great nation was founded upon. The past great contributions America has made to this world (are) all but forgotten. Without America's contributions in feeding many parts of this world, and in defeating many past evil enemies in the world, this world would be in terrible shape. We need to thank God for this nation, and we also need to thank America for trying to follow God's principles. America needs to get back to God and to the just laws and principles set forth by him. Obviously, rioting, looting, burn- ing, disrespecting and killing law enforcement (and) fellow human beings are just the opposite of what God commands his created human world to do. You should have been taught that at home and in school. Unfortunately, for America, too many ungodly people were placed in the Supreme Court of America, and they voted God out of schools and government places. That was not all their ungodly de- cisions. They also went against God's laws and legalized the killing of un- born babies and other abominations, such as same-sex marriage. Once upon a time, laws required schools to teach about God and his word (the Bible). Now because of Court decisions, they cannot. Now a large part of America does not know about God, eternal life and eternal damnation. Because they do not know, they will eventually spend eternity in hell, and the lake of fire. Two places, one would not want to be in for eternity. Manuel Ybarra Jr. e sacrifices made by earlier generations have been forgotten by much of the present generation. TO THE EDITOR DEBBIE BEST, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones Investments. COM- MENTS? 910-488-7535 Christian music station local your