Desert Messenger

10 www.DesertMessenger.com May 4, 2016 School board opening QUARTZSITE COMMUNITY THRIFT STORE 177 W. Main St. (end of Showplace Lane) Behind Silly Al's Pizza SUMMER HOURS April thru October Thurs. Fri. Sat. 9am-1pm Call us and schedule a donation pickup 928-927-6039 or 928-916-7338. 100% of our proceeds remain here in Quartzsite! WINTER HOURS November thru March Mon- Sat 9am-1pm READER'S OASIS BOOKS 690 E. Main - Quartzsite (one block east of Family Dollar) 928-927-6551 The La Paz County School Super- intendent, Jacque Price, announced the opportunity for residents of Quartzsite Elementary School Dis- trict #4 to apply to serve as a mem- ber of the Governing Board. There is one Board seat available for appoint- ment. The board appointment is for a term that ends on December 31, 2016. If the appointee for this posi- tion wants to stand for reelection at the next regularly scheduled election, the position will appear on the Gen- eral Election Ballot in November, 2016, as a regular two year term, up for re-election in November 2018. The District is governed by a five-person board. Quartzsite Board members attend one regu- larly scheduled Board meeting per month (Monday evenings) dur- ing the year and other meetings or events, as needed. Applications may be picked up at the following locations: • La Paz County Education Service Agency, Monday through Thurs- day, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; • Quartzsite School District Office Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; • or by downloading the application from the La Paz County ESA web- site, www.lapazschools.org . The application process includes a completed application form and notarized affidavit of qualification. Completed applications must be received at the La Paz County Edu- cation Service Agency, 1112 Joshua Ave., Ste. 205, Parker, AZ 85344, no later than 5 p.m., April 27, 2016. Eligibility requirements to serve on a School District Governing Board: • A citizen of the United States and resident of Arizona. • Be 18 years of age at the time of appointment. • Be a registered voter of the State of Arizona. • Be a resident of the Quartzsite Elementary School District for one year prior to the date of appoint- ment. • Employees of the District and their spouses are not eligible. If you have any questions, please contact (928) 669-6183 By Elaine Cullen, BBB One of the saddest things I deal with at Better Business Bureau (BBB) is helping consumers who lost money to scammers, es- pecially seniors. While I try to reach as many consumers as pos- sible through presentations, event booths, and the media, it's impos- sible to reach everyone. Sadly, some consumers fall victim to scammers more than once. Local Scams There are many ways to detect scams, but one of the first red flags is "it sounds too good to be true". For example, you get a let- ter stating you've won a portion of a $10 million prize and in order to remain in "good standing" for payout, you need to send money. Scammers will claim the amount to send is for taxes or fees, rang- ing from twenty to thousands of dollars. You send the money and wait…..and wait…and wait. The truth is, you won't hear from them again because there is no prize and there are no winners - the money sent became income for the scam- mer. Whatever reason the scam- mers give for sending the money, don't do it! You should never have to pay to collect a prize. Imposter scams are another way consumers lose money. For exam- ple, you receive a call stating you've won a $5 million dollar prize in a contest entered years ago. You be- lieve the call to be legitimate since the caller does not ask for money or personal information, at least not on the first or second call. The scammer tries to build trust by call- ing multiple times before request- ing money to claim the prize. How- ever, once they gain your trust, the requests for you to send money to claim the prize will follow. Once again, remember you should not have to pay to collect a prize. Another imposter scam being re- ported locally is from consumers receiving calls or voice mails from the "IRS". These scammers state you are in trouble for back taxes, fraud or tax evasion and you must pay them now or a warrant will be issued for your arrest. These calls are from imposters hoping to scare you into sending them money. The IRS will not call you or send an email to collect back taxes; again, do not send money to anyone you do not know! Work-at-home scams are popular in Mohave and La Paz Counties. A local consumer reported the secret- shopper-scam to BBB after receiv- ing two checks, both over $1,000, with detailed instructions on how to deposit the checks and then for- ward funds to other entities. The scam here is the checks; they are fake so any money sent to others (the scammers) will be lost. Another work-at-home scam in- volves advertising on your car. Even though BBB has not received any local reports on the car-wrap- ping scam, I have seen local ads for this type of "job." Consumers in Arizona reported losing thousands of dollars to the car-wrapping scam. You get an offer to be paid hundreds of dollars each month if you "wrap your car" and advertise whatever business the scammer suggests. You accept and receive a check, usually $3,500 to $4,500, to cover the cost of the wrap and to pay for your first month or two. After, you are instructed to depos- it the check, and send a personal check to a company to pay for the wrap. As with the secret-shopper scam, the check received is fake, so money sent from your personal ac- count to pay for the wrap went to the scammer and the two months pay you received is non-existent. There are many other scams be- ing reported to BBB. Remember to visit BBB's Scam Tracker at bbb. org/scamtracker/phoenix to view and report scams. Please check on seniors you know and share this in- formation, encouraging them to al- ways check before sending money to anyone they don't know. If you are interested in a free BBB presentation or need additional in- formation, contact the BBB Mohave County Campus at 928-302-3701 or email ecullen@arizonabbb.org. Watch out for these scams!

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