December 16, 2023 • 29 mins
Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Kathy Stokes, AARP’s Director of Fraud Prevention Programs. Kathy Stokes joins the show to break down some of the top scams to watch out for this holiday season, from gift card fraud to online shopping threats, along with what to do if you fall victim to a scam. Also, Commissioner Kenneth Hodder, National Commander of The Salvation Army, joins the show. Commissioner Hodder checks in to discuss the services provided by The Salvation Army, the Red Kettle campaign, and the need Americans are experiencing nationwide.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks so much for joining us
here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm RyanGorman, and we have a few very
important conversations lined up for you.In a moment, we'll talk to the
national Commander of the Salvation Army aboutthe work they're doing with their Red Kettle
(00:22):
campaign this holiday season and the needacross the country which remains at unfortunately high
levels. But right now, toget things started, I'm joined by Kathy
Stokes, AARP's director of fraud PreventionPrograms, to discuss scams to watch out
for during the holidays. Kathy,thank you so much for coming on the
show. And before we get tosome of the specific types of scams everyone
(00:47):
needs to be aware of, canyou begin by giving us a sense of
how significant this problem has become.Gosh, I'm so glad that you asked
that, Ryan, because we're actuallyin a crisis with fraud. You know,
you look at the data on justwhat we know because it's super underreported
losses reported last year, we're ninebillion dollars with a bow and we're certainly
(01:11):
going to see more next year,and a lot of the fraud that we
see throughout the year, some elementsof those really ramp up around the holidays.
So it's important to understand what's outthere and how to protect yourself.
Have you seen those who are behindthese fraudulent schemes and these scams? Have
(01:32):
you seen them grow in their clevernessand how they're able to trick Americans into
going along with whatever it is they'retrying to do. Well, I think
I'd swap out clever for diabolical.There you go, Yeah, better word,
you're right now, that works.Yeah, we'll see Ryan. What
(01:53):
we're seeing is more and more thefraud industry, if you will, is
run by transnational organized crime, sothey can do everything at scale. The
technology keeps getting better and better andcheaper. And whereas maybe ten or fifteen
years ago we were getting mail andemail and the phone calls, now we
(02:16):
have so much more coming from somany different places. Social media and text
messaging has really really grown in termsof what the fraud is that's happening out
there, and you know, they'rejust at scale, and we're fighting a
battle where we're trying to say,let's make sure consumers know how to protect
(02:36):
themselves, when really that's only partof the solution. You know, it's
every step of the way to aroundthe holidays. It's the potential purchasing of
what you think is a gift forsomeone, to the sending of that gift
to someone, to receiving something that'snot what it was meant to be.
(02:59):
So there are a number different layersto the fraud and scams correct from the
start where you see an online ad, maybe you're on social media and you
see like the best possible gift forDad, and like, awesome, I'm
going to purchase that, and itnever comes, or what comes is actually
inferior to what they were saying itwas going to be. Or then you
(03:22):
have something and you're going to shipit off to mom and you know,
somebody steals it from her front porch, or you know, we're all shipping
and receiving this time of year,the holidays, by and large, and
we've seen a doubling of people who'veexperienced getting a text from FedEx or from
ups it's entirely fake. Seeing there'sa problem with with what we're trying to
(03:46):
ship. Click here, you endup going to, you know, a
copycat page, and quite often it'sdownloading software, malicious software under your device
to steal your credentials and try tohack into all of your accounts. And
it seems to me that form offraud, that particular scam right around this
(04:08):
time of the year, when youhave so many people who are sending so
many different things to different places,you know, you can just click on
that without thinking. You know thatyou had purchased different things and that you're
trying to send different gifts, andyou don't even really pay attention. You're
like, oh, no, whatnow, and you click and there it
(04:28):
is. Yeah, and you knowthat's the thing if you know about it.
So we're talking about it now.The person who just walks away and
checks her text and goes, ohwait, there's a shipping from fedec,
she'll know, you know. Andso it's really important, Like if we
talk about it, if there's morein the media about it, if we
have conversations, we're essentially inoculating ourselves. There are data that suggests if you
(04:53):
know about a specific scam, likethe fake text from feeds, you're eighty
percent less likely to click on thatlink. Anyway, so we really do
have to do a lot more talkingabout it. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined
by arp's director of Fraud Prevention Programs, Kathy Stokes. So let's get into
some of the other things that holidayshoppers should be aware of before purchasing gifts
(05:15):
this year. Yeah. Well,while you know, one of the most
favorite gifts to give and receive isthe gift card. We all love them,
I know I do, but oursurvey shows that twenty seven percent of
us have either given or received agift card that ended up not having any
balance on it when they went touse it. Now, so that could
(05:36):
be an error at the cash register, or it could be oh, I
already used it and I didn't tossit. But a lot of it has
to be linked to fraud because weknow that low tech criminals will send people
into stores, have them take cardsoff the racks, manipulate them so that
(05:56):
they can access the you know,the credentialing on the back, so that
when that card gets scanned, they'repinged and they know the card is now
active and they drain the funds justlike that. And even more concerning is
they have electronic means of doing that. You don't have to step in the
store. They have bots that cango and they can search for gift cards
that have balances on them that areonline and drain them that way. And
(06:20):
I want to ask you about onlineshopping, social media ads that's become more
and more a part of people's purchasinghabits. Is it safe to buy things
online? Or if you click onthose social media ads and it takes you
somewhere to purchase something, is thatsafe? Well? Not. According to
(06:41):
our survey, we have thirty eightpercent of people who have experienced fraud doing
just that. I think really thesafest way to shop online is to go
with big companies that you trust,even if it's small companies and you've done
business with them before. You know, if you do, like say you
do a lot with Etsy, goto etsy dot com. Don't click on
(07:03):
a link from your email or yourdext type it in E T S Y
dot com because if you down't,those links can take you to a site
that looks exactly like where you thinkyou are, and you're just you know,
open to them stealing at least creditcard information, which you have some
protections for, but you know,downloading software and having your credential stolen whole
(07:25):
another ballgame. People are using theseapps like venmo Zell, cash app,
more and more to pay for itemsthat could be really convenient. Are those
safe? Well, the way theyhave come to market, they're really not.
I mean they're supposed to be usedin at least from what I understand,
(07:48):
all of them, at least initiallysaid. You know, really use
these to send money back and forthwith family and friends, loved ones.
You know, I use zel tosend money to my kids in college,
or you know, to pay thepet sitter. But I would not use
one. I would not use itto buy a product, especially with someone
I had never worked with before.They simply don't have the consumer protections that
(08:13):
you would want to have when makinga purchase. So go to the credit
card. You know that at leastif there's a problem, you can go
back to the vendor. You canthen go to your bank that issued the
card, and you have some protectionsand get your money back. I'm Ryan
Gorman, joined by Kathy Stokes,AARP's director of fraud Prevention Programs. Donating
(08:35):
to charities another big part of theholiday season. What should people be aware
of before doing something like that well, you know, this part of the
year is probably one of the mostimportant times for legitimate charities to get their
end of year fundraising in and thecriminals know that, so they'll set up
(08:56):
fake charities, or you know,they'll make themselves sound like they're from a
legitimate charity and really push at theend of the year to get your donations
in. And I think what issafest to do is stick with the charities
that you currently trust and support.Don't take incoming requests. Don't you know
(09:18):
if someone calls you, someone youknow, walks up to you and tries
to get you to commit funds,just say, you know what, I've
already made my commitments this year.If it sounds something like you're interested in,
look it up. You can goto give dot org or charitynavigator dot
org, do your research and decide, hey, okay, maybe I'll support
them next year. Are there anyother tips you can offer up that we
(09:41):
should be aware of as we're doingsome holiday shopping or anything related to what
everyone's up to this time of theyear. Yeah. A couple of things
that we saw where people were actuallykind of lost knowledge in a fraud quiz
that we do every year, isthat fewer people seem to know that they
(10:01):
did just last year. That it'sreally risky to go and do a web
search to find customer support for anycompany. What you want to do is
go to that company's website and findit or if you have if you can
log into their website, or youhave an app, or you can find
a previous statement. Because criminals arebuying these customer support ads, and when
(10:24):
you think that eight hundred number isgoing to take you to the major retailer
you're having a problem with, you'reactually talking to a criminal and you have
no idea. And if someone endsup being the target of a scam or
they're targeted by fraud, what aresome of the steps that they can take.
Well, importantly, if you've lostmoney, money has been stolen from
(10:46):
you, your identity has been stolen, and you've suffered identity fraud, it's
really important to report it to lawenforcement. We don't do that, and
that's why we don't know really howmuch fraud is out there. We can't
really prioritize going after it. Sothe more people that report, the better
off we are. If you report, then you have a police record,
(11:09):
and who knows a year or twoor five from now, maybe there's a
federal or a state program that seeksto provide some restitution for victims who lose
so much money from these from thisfraud every year. And finally, where
can everyone listening go for more informationor more help on all of this.
(11:31):
So AARP has this tremendous victim supportprogram and it starts with the helpline fraud
Watch helpline is eight seven seven ninezero eight three three six zero. There's
also a victim support program. Youcan learn about that and more by going
to AARP dot org slash fraud WatchNetwork. And this is something that everyone
(11:52):
of all ages can take advantage ofthese resources, correct, right, And
you don't have to be at acertain age, and you don't have to
be a member of AARP. AARP'sdirector of Fraud Prevention Programs Kathy Stokes with
us. Kathy, thank you somuch for ticket a few minutes to come
on the show. Really appreciate it. Thank you for having me Ryan.
(12:13):
Happy holidays. Happy holidays to youas well, Kathy. I'm Ryan Gorman
here on iHeartRadio Communities, and nowI want to bring in our next guest
we're joined by the National Commander ofthe Salvation Army, Commissioner Kenneth Hotter.
You can learn more about all thegreat work this organization does at Salvation ARMYUSA
dot org. That's also where youcan support that work. Commissioner Hotter,
(12:35):
thank you so much for ticket afew minutes to come on the show.
I think just about everybody listening isfamiliar with the Salvation Army, but if
you don't mind, can we startwith the backstories to how this organization came
about. Glad to do so.It's great to be with you today,
Ryan. The Salvation Army was establishedin eighteen sixty five by William and Catherine
Booth. It was established in theEast End of London, which was really
(12:56):
ground zero for the worst poverty ofthe Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom,
and the Booths felt compelled to sharethe gospel of Jesus Christ, and in
so doing they discovered that they hadto also address the physical, the mental,
the psychological, the emotional needs ofthe people that they encountered. They
(13:20):
were in abject poverty, and sothe Salvation Army from its inception was dedicated
not only to spiritual needs but tophysical needs. As well. It came
to this country in eighteen eighty andsince then, the Salvation Army has not
only continued to grow as a denominationof the Christian Church, but it has
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become the largest non governmental provider ofsocial services in the nation. We serve
in every zip code. We haveabout seven thousand centers of operation, all
of them dedicated to proclaiming the Gospeland meeting needs in Christ's name without a
nation. There's so much that youdo, so many different services that you
(14:03):
provide that I think a lot ofpeople might not even be aware of.
But I want to start with reallyone of the things that the Salvation Army
is so well known for, andthat's your red kettle campaign around the holidays.
Tell us about that. The redkettle campaign actually began on the wharves
(14:24):
of San Francisco in about eighteen ninety. Captain Joseph McFee had been a sailor
in the United Kingdom and he recalleda phenomenon that was called Simpson's pot.
People would put a little food intothis pot and make a meal for the
sailors, and he thought, well, he didn't want to actually make a
(14:46):
meal on the wharves of San Franciscothat he could use that as a means
of collecting donations to provide meals toothers. So in Christmas of eighteen ninety
he said, a little Christmas kettledown on the wharves of San Francisco,
and it has since become a nationalicon. The Salvation Army Christmas kettle now
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symbolizes generosity and caring and giving formillions and millions of people every year,
and it's evolved over the years.Right, there are different ways that everyone
can give to those who are therevolunteering on the part of the Salvation Army
with the red kettle outside different retailers. It used to be, you know,
(15:31):
if you had some change or youhad a couple of bucks, that
you would put it in the kettle. But now things have advanced in terms
of technology. Talk to us aboutthe different ways that people can participate.
Oh, you're absolutely right. Whenpeople go up to a Salvation Army kettle
in addition to putting a little moneyin, and we often see children doing
(15:54):
that. It's a great way toteach them how to give from an early
age. But people can also soif they don't have cash, used Google
pay and Apple pay and Venmo andPayPal. Our kettle signs now have QR
codes. The Salvation Army is nowable to receive bitcoin and ethereum. In
(16:15):
addition to online giving at Salvation ARMYUSAdot org, you can also text the
word kettles to five one five fivefive. In short, any way that
you can think of by which donationscould be made can be made to the
Salvation Army. It's incredible. We'rejoined by Commissioner Kenneth Totter, National Commander
(16:37):
for the Salvation Army again. Learnmore and offer your support at Salvation ARMYUSA
dot org. The red Kettle campaignaround the holidays. How important is this
to the Salvation Army for you tobe able to continue doing the work that
you do heading into the next year. It's absolutely essential whenever someone gives it
(16:57):
a Salvation Army kettle that money willstay local. It will stay local because
we're determined that when someone gives,they're giving to help meet the needs of
their neighbors. They're the things thatare at the top of their mind.
So if those needs are going tobe met in the course not only of
(17:18):
Christmas, but of the coming year, those donations are going to be absolutely
vital. Every year across the nation, the Salvation Army raises about one hundred
million dollars through those kettles. Wow, And it's absolutely vital to what we
do. And obviously to make thathappen, the Salvation Army has an army
(17:41):
of volunteers operating those red kettles.Can you break down that aspect of this
important work around the holidays? Oh? Absolutely. Even if someone can't give
because of inflation, and certainly we'reall suffering from that these days, they
(18:02):
can give a little bit of timeat a kettle. And our studies show
that the volunteers who stand at ourkettles will raise about eighty dollars an hour
on average. And when you thinkabout it, that's a massive impact,
because you can, over the courseof a morning, say, raise enough
money to provide about eight hundred mealsor four nights of shelter, or a
(18:29):
number of toys for children. Alittle bit of volunteering time can have a
massive impact. Of course, obtainingthose volunteers and making sure that those volunteers
know of the opportunity is one ofthe big challenges we face because everyone is
stressed, everyone is short on time, everyone is going a thousand different directions,
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but we would want to encourage anyonewho has a little time and has
an inclination to do so, tocome out and have some fun at a
kettle, or alternatively, spend alittle time distributing toys that have been collected
through the Angel Tree or serving mealsto the homeless. What you get back
is beyond measure and the impact thatyou have on other lives is astonishing.
(19:18):
I know it's been a challenging stretchfor many Americans. Going back to the
pandemic, the need was incredible,and the work that you had to do
with the Salvation Army, it wasjust so important. And that has continued
with a variety of different issues fora variety of different reasons. But here
in twenty twenty three, how greatis the need across the country from what
(19:41):
you're seeing. You're absolutely right,Ryan, We know that the pandemic,
much like the recession of eight tonine, is going to have a long
economic tail, and that that taialewill damage the lives of those who are
most in need. For example,right now, if a family is renting
(20:06):
a home and they have difficulty becauseof inflation, paying their utility bill,
they're running a risk of losing thathome, and we know from experience that
it's going to be three times asexpensive to get them back into housing once
they're homeless. So the Salvation Armyramps up its financial assistance programs to help
(20:27):
people pay for their heat and theirwater and their gas. Those kinds of
economic needs are going to be withus for several years post pandemic, and
it's important that people know that normalcytherefore, for a lot of people has
not yet returned. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Commissioner Kenneth Toad, or
(20:48):
National Commander for the Salvation Army.You can learn more and offer your support
at Salvation ARMYUSA dot org. That'sSalvation Army USA org. Giving Tuesday took
place recently, and according to everythingI've seen, donations down a bit this
(21:10):
year. What was your experience likeat the Salvation Army in terms of Giving
Tuesday? What's become such an importantday for so many organizations across the country
to again do the work that you'reaiming to do. Yes, indeed,
the Salvation Army experience the same patternthat you describe, and that the Giving
Giving Tuesday organization has outlined. Givingacross the country on Giving Tuesday was flat
(21:37):
and the participation rate, according tothose figures, was down ten percent.
And that's a great concern to us. And it's of concern to us not
because of the Salvation Army, butbecause of the people whom we serve.
Because the Salvation Army has always beena lean organization, we are very conscious
(21:59):
of our responsibilities for stewardship and maintainingtrust. So when those donations decline,
it has a direct impact on ourability to do something. So, like
our colleagues in the nonprofit sector,we're eager to give people the message that
what they do now from this dayuntil the end of the year is going
(22:23):
to be critical to not only theholiday season, but to twenty twenty four.
How does the Salvation Army adjust andadapt the work that you do depending
on the needs of a particular community. Well, the Salvation Army has never
been a single purpose organization. We'renot just about food, We're not just
(22:48):
about housing, we're not just aboutkids programs. We're about all of it.
When we send a Salvation Army officerinto a community, he or she
will have one instruction and that isis do what needs to be done there
and do it in the name ofChrist. So that officer will go out
into the community meet those who arein touch with needs. That individual,
(23:15):
by wearing his or her uniform willobviously extend an implicit invitation to people to
say, come and tell me whatyour need is that we can address it.
And that kind of information is criticalto helping the Salvation Army develop its
partnerships with other organizations, with localgovernments, with local leaders, with corporations,
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and as a team, the SalvationArmy then tries to become a catalyst
to fill the gaps. The SalvationArmy has never felt that whatever it does
in a community is sacrosanct. Ifanother organization does something better than the Salvation
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Army can do it, God blessthem do that work. Our job is
to fill unmet need. That iswhat we really are trying to say when
we use our phrase doing the mostgood, trying to address areas and needs
that are not yet resolved. Andso that's the way we try locally in
(24:22):
every community where we serve to respondto what we hear, what is going
on. And let's talk about someof the different services you provide. Some
of the areas where you offer helprerant, mortgage and utility assistance, the
food pantries, homeless shelters. Let'sstart there with those three items and the
(24:45):
work that you do on those issues. Well, the Salvation Army, in
terms of its shelters, has aboutfive hundred shelters across the nation. In
terms of food, we provide aboutone hundred and fifty five meals every year,
about eight million nights of shelter.The Salvation Army serves about twenty four
(25:08):
to twenty six million people every year. During the pandemic that ballooned to well
over thirty million. But it certainlykeeps us busy, and we could never
do it, Ryan, were itnot for the generous support of the American
public. It is one of thegreatest gifts that the Salvation Army receives from
(25:33):
God, and we treat it asvery precious. Indeed, I'm Ryan Gorman,
joined by Commissioner Kenne Todd, orNational Commander for the Salvation Army.
You can learn more at Salvation ARMYUSAdot org. That's Salvation ARMYUSA dot org.
Two other areas that you focus onthat I think are really important and
(25:55):
I wanted to spend a moment onveteran services and services for the aging.
Tell us about that work. Veteran'swork is critical for the Salvation Army,
and there's a historical reason for that. In nineteen fifteen, General John Pershing
(26:15):
was a cavalry commander based at thePresidio in San Francisco, and he was
called to the southern border to findPancho Villa with his regiment. And while
he was away there was a firein his quarters. His wife and his
four daughters were killed. When hecame back to San Francisco, the local
(26:37):
Salvation Army officer, a man bythe name of Colonel Henry Lee, wrote
him a little note of condolence,and General Pershing was deeply impacted by that
little note, and he wrote avery kind response that we still have in
our archives. Two years later,Pershing was leading the American Expeditionary Force Ands
(27:00):
and he remembered this the caring thathe had received from the Salvation Army,
and so he called us, calledand he said, would you please send
your people across to France with myboys? And we agreed. So the
Salvation Army sent about two hundred andfifty people, mostly young women with no
(27:21):
military training to the front trenches inFrance. And while they were there,
they read to the men, theycomforted those who were wounded, They wrote
letters home, and they started tomake little fried items that the boys could
enjoy the taste of home. Andthe boys loved them. They were called
(27:44):
doughnuts, and the boys loved themso much they started to call themselves the
dough boys. So they came homeand they told their wives and their mothers
and their sisters about these little friedtreats the Salvation Army had made them,
and the American obsession with the donutwas born. So in that one moment
where we worked with General Pershing tosupport him in his time of need,
(28:11):
two things happened. The donut hada future with the American public, and
the Salvage Army established a relationship withthe military that continues to this day.
That is incredible. Again, we'rejoined right now by Commissioner Kennethtodter, National
Commander for the Salvation Army. Andthe need is great across the country.
(28:33):
A ninety one million people in Americahave had difficulty paying for essential household expenses
just in this last week. Andwe also mentioned before giving Tuesday. Donations
to nonprofits down ten percent this year, So it is more important now than
ever to support organizations like the SalvationArmy so they can provide that vital help
(28:57):
to so many of our fellow America. So you can learn more and find
out all the different ways that youcan help, from donations to volunteering opportunities
at Salvation ARMYUSA dot org. Again, that's Salvation Army USA dot org.
Commissioner Kenneth Hotter, National Commander ofthe Salvation Army. Commissioner Hotter, thank
(29:18):
you so much for the tremendous workyou're doing with this organization, for coming
on the show. Have a verymerry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Thanks Ryan, God bless you andmerry Christmas. All Right, and that's
going to do it for this editionof Iheiradio Communities. As we wrap things
up, I want to offer abig thanks to all of our guests and
of course to all of you forlistening. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman.
(29:40):
We'll talk to you again real soon.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks so much for joining us
here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm RyanGorman, and we have a few very
important conversations lined up for you.In a moment, we'll talk to the
national Commander of the Salvation Army aboutthe work they're doing with their Red Kettle
(00:22):
campaign this holiday season and the needacross the country which remains at unfortunately high
levels. But right now, toget things started, I'm joined by Kathy
Stokes, AARP's director of fraud PreventionPrograms, to discuss scams to watch out
for during the holidays. Kathy,thank you so much for coming on the
show. And before we get tosome of the specific types of scams everyone
(00:47):
needs to be aware of, canyou begin by giving us a sense of
how significant this problem has become.Gosh, I'm so glad that you asked
that, Ryan, because we're actuallyin a crisis with fraud. You know,
you look at the data on justwhat we know because it's super underreported
losses reported last year, we're ninebillion dollars with a bow and we're certainly
(01:11):
going to see more next year,and a lot of the fraud that we
see throughout the year, some elementsof those really ramp up around the holidays.
So it's important to understand what's outthere and how to protect yourself.
Have you seen those who are behindthese fraudulent schemes and these scams? Have
(01:32):
you seen them grow in their clevernessand how they're able to trick Americans into
going along with whatever it is they'retrying to do. Well, I think
I'd swap out clever for diabolical.There you go, Yeah, better word,
you're right now, that works.Yeah, we'll see Ryan. What
(01:53):
we're seeing is more and more thefraud industry, if you will, is
run by transnational organized crime, sothey can do everything at scale. The
technology keeps getting better and better andcheaper. And whereas maybe ten or fifteen
years ago we were getting mail andemail and the phone calls, now we
(02:16):
have so much more coming from somany different places. Social media and text
messaging has really really grown in termsof what the fraud is that's happening out
there, and you know, they'rejust at scale, and we're fighting a
battle where we're trying to say,let's make sure consumers know how to protect
(02:36):
themselves, when really that's only partof the solution. You know, it's
every step of the way to aroundthe holidays. It's the potential purchasing of
what you think is a gift forsomeone, to the sending of that gift
to someone, to receiving something that'snot what it was meant to be.
(02:59):
So there are a number different layersto the fraud and scams correct from the
start where you see an online ad, maybe you're on social media and you
see like the best possible gift forDad, and like, awesome, I'm
going to purchase that, and itnever comes, or what comes is actually
inferior to what they were saying itwas going to be. Or then you
(03:22):
have something and you're going to shipit off to mom and you know,
somebody steals it from her front porch, or you know, we're all shipping
and receiving this time of year,the holidays, by and large, and
we've seen a doubling of people who'veexperienced getting a text from FedEx or from
ups it's entirely fake. Seeing there'sa problem with with what we're trying to
(03:46):
ship. Click here, you endup going to, you know, a
copycat page, and quite often it'sdownloading software, malicious software under your device
to steal your credentials and try tohack into all of your accounts. And
it seems to me that form offraud, that particular scam right around this
(04:08):
time of the year, when youhave so many people who are sending so
many different things to different places,you know, you can just click on
that without thinking. You know thatyou had purchased different things and that you're
trying to send different gifts, andyou don't even really pay attention. You're
like, oh, no, whatnow, and you click and there it
(04:28):
is. Yeah, and you knowthat's the thing if you know about it.
So we're talking about it now.The person who just walks away and
checks her text and goes, ohwait, there's a shipping from fedec,
she'll know, you know. Andso it's really important, Like if we
talk about it, if there's morein the media about it, if we
have conversations, we're essentially inoculating ourselves. There are data that suggests if you
(04:53):
know about a specific scam, likethe fake text from feeds, you're eighty
percent less likely to click on thatlink. Anyway, so we really do
have to do a lot more talkingabout it. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined
by arp's director of Fraud Prevention Programs, Kathy Stokes. So let's get into
some of the other things that holidayshoppers should be aware of before purchasing gifts
(05:15):
this year. Yeah. Well,while you know, one of the most
favorite gifts to give and receive isthe gift card. We all love them,
I know I do, but oursurvey shows that twenty seven percent of
us have either given or received agift card that ended up not having any
balance on it when they went touse it. Now, so that could
(05:36):
be an error at the cash register, or it could be oh, I
already used it and I didn't tossit. But a lot of it has
to be linked to fraud because weknow that low tech criminals will send people
into stores, have them take cardsoff the racks, manipulate them so that
(05:56):
they can access the you know,the credentialing on the back, so that
when that card gets scanned, they'repinged and they know the card is now
active and they drain the funds justlike that. And even more concerning is
they have electronic means of doing that. You don't have to step in the
store. They have bots that cango and they can search for gift cards
that have balances on them that areonline and drain them that way. And
(06:20):
I want to ask you about onlineshopping, social media ads that's become more
and more a part of people's purchasinghabits. Is it safe to buy things
online? Or if you click onthose social media ads and it takes you
somewhere to purchase something, is thatsafe? Well? Not. According to
(06:41):
our survey, we have thirty eightpercent of people who have experienced fraud doing
just that. I think really thesafest way to shop online is to go
with big companies that you trust,even if it's small companies and you've done
business with them before. You know, if you do, like say you
do a lot with Etsy, goto etsy dot com. Don't click on
(07:03):
a link from your email or yourdext type it in E T S Y
dot com because if you down't,those links can take you to a site
that looks exactly like where you thinkyou are, and you're just you know,
open to them stealing at least creditcard information, which you have some
protections for, but you know,downloading software and having your credential stolen whole
(07:25):
another ballgame. People are using theseapps like venmo Zell, cash app,
more and more to pay for itemsthat could be really convenient. Are those
safe? Well, the way theyhave come to market, they're really not.
I mean they're supposed to be usedin at least from what I understand,
(07:48):
all of them, at least initiallysaid. You know, really use
these to send money back and forthwith family and friends, loved ones.
You know, I use zel tosend money to my kids in college,
or you know, to pay thepet sitter. But I would not use
one. I would not use itto buy a product, especially with someone
I had never worked with before.They simply don't have the consumer protections that
(08:13):
you would want to have when makinga purchase. So go to the credit
card. You know that at leastif there's a problem, you can go
back to the vendor. You canthen go to your bank that issued the
card, and you have some protectionsand get your money back. I'm Ryan
Gorman, joined by Kathy Stokes,AARP's director of fraud Prevention Programs. Donating
(08:35):
to charities another big part of theholiday season. What should people be aware
of before doing something like that well, you know, this part of the
year is probably one of the mostimportant times for legitimate charities to get their
end of year fundraising in and thecriminals know that, so they'll set up
(08:56):
fake charities, or you know,they'll make themselves sound like they're from a
legitimate charity and really push at theend of the year to get your donations
in. And I think what issafest to do is stick with the charities
that you currently trust and support.Don't take incoming requests. Don't you know
(09:18):
if someone calls you, someone youknow, walks up to you and tries
to get you to commit funds,just say, you know what, I've
already made my commitments this year.If it sounds something like you're interested in,
look it up. You can goto give dot org or charitynavigator dot
org, do your research and decide, hey, okay, maybe I'll support
them next year. Are there anyother tips you can offer up that we
(09:41):
should be aware of as we're doingsome holiday shopping or anything related to what
everyone's up to this time of theyear. Yeah. A couple of things
that we saw where people were actuallykind of lost knowledge in a fraud quiz
that we do every year, isthat fewer people seem to know that they
(10:01):
did just last year. That it'sreally risky to go and do a web
search to find customer support for anycompany. What you want to do is
go to that company's website and findit or if you have if you can
log into their website, or youhave an app, or you can find
a previous statement. Because criminals arebuying these customer support ads, and when
(10:24):
you think that eight hundred number isgoing to take you to the major retailer
you're having a problem with, you'reactually talking to a criminal and you have
no idea. And if someone endsup being the target of a scam or
they're targeted by fraud, what aresome of the steps that they can take.
Well, importantly, if you've lostmoney, money has been stolen from
(10:46):
you, your identity has been stolen, and you've suffered identity fraud, it's
really important to report it to lawenforcement. We don't do that, and
that's why we don't know really howmuch fraud is out there. We can't
really prioritize going after it. Sothe more people that report, the better
off we are. If you report, then you have a police record,
(11:09):
and who knows a year or twoor five from now, maybe there's a
federal or a state program that seeksto provide some restitution for victims who lose
so much money from these from thisfraud every year. And finally, where
can everyone listening go for more informationor more help on all of this.
(11:31):
So AARP has this tremendous victim supportprogram and it starts with the helpline fraud
Watch helpline is eight seven seven ninezero eight three three six zero. There's
also a victim support program. Youcan learn about that and more by going
to AARP dot org slash fraud WatchNetwork. And this is something that everyone
(11:52):
of all ages can take advantage ofthese resources, correct, right, And
you don't have to be at acertain age, and you don't have to
be a member of AARP. AARP'sdirector of Fraud Prevention Programs Kathy Stokes with
us. Kathy, thank you somuch for ticket a few minutes to come
on the show. Really appreciate it. Thank you for having me Ryan.
(12:13):
Happy holidays. Happy holidays to youas well, Kathy. I'm Ryan Gorman
here on iHeartRadio Communities, and nowI want to bring in our next guest
we're joined by the National Commander ofthe Salvation Army, Commissioner Kenneth Hotter.
You can learn more about all thegreat work this organization does at Salvation ARMYUSA
dot org. That's also where youcan support that work. Commissioner Hotter,
(12:35):
thank you so much for ticket afew minutes to come on the show.
I think just about everybody listening isfamiliar with the Salvation Army, but if
you don't mind, can we startwith the backstories to how this organization came
about. Glad to do so.It's great to be with you today,
Ryan. The Salvation Army was establishedin eighteen sixty five by William and Catherine
Booth. It was established in theEast End of London, which was really
(12:56):
ground zero for the worst poverty ofthe Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom,
and the Booths felt compelled to sharethe gospel of Jesus Christ, and in
so doing they discovered that they hadto also address the physical, the mental,
the psychological, the emotional needs ofthe people that they encountered. They
(13:20):
were in abject poverty, and sothe Salvation Army from its inception was dedicated
not only to spiritual needs but tophysical needs. As well. It came
to this country in eighteen eighty andsince then, the Salvation Army has not
only continued to grow as a denominationof the Christian Church, but it has
(13:41):
become the largest non governmental provider ofsocial services in the nation. We serve
in every zip code. We haveabout seven thousand centers of operation, all
of them dedicated to proclaiming the Gospeland meeting needs in Christ's name without a
nation. There's so much that youdo, so many different services that you
(14:03):
provide that I think a lot ofpeople might not even be aware of.
But I want to start with reallyone of the things that the Salvation Army
is so well known for, andthat's your red kettle campaign around the holidays.
Tell us about that. The redkettle campaign actually began on the wharves
(14:24):
of San Francisco in about eighteen ninety. Captain Joseph McFee had been a sailor
in the United Kingdom and he recalleda phenomenon that was called Simpson's pot.
People would put a little food intothis pot and make a meal for the
sailors, and he thought, well, he didn't want to actually make a
(14:46):
meal on the wharves of San Franciscothat he could use that as a means
of collecting donations to provide meals toothers. So in Christmas of eighteen ninety
he said, a little Christmas kettledown on the wharves of San Francisco,
and it has since become a nationalicon. The Salvation Army Christmas kettle now
(15:09):
symbolizes generosity and caring and giving formillions and millions of people every year,
and it's evolved over the years.Right, there are different ways that everyone
can give to those who are therevolunteering on the part of the Salvation Army
with the red kettle outside different retailers. It used to be, you know,
(15:31):
if you had some change or youhad a couple of bucks, that
you would put it in the kettle. But now things have advanced in terms
of technology. Talk to us aboutthe different ways that people can participate.
Oh, you're absolutely right. Whenpeople go up to a Salvation Army kettle
in addition to putting a little moneyin, and we often see children doing
(15:54):
that. It's a great way toteach them how to give from an early
age. But people can also soif they don't have cash, used Google
pay and Apple pay and Venmo andPayPal. Our kettle signs now have QR
codes. The Salvation Army is nowable to receive bitcoin and ethereum. In
(16:15):
addition to online giving at Salvation ARMYUSAdot org, you can also text the
word kettles to five one five fivefive. In short, any way that
you can think of by which donationscould be made can be made to the
Salvation Army. It's incredible. We'rejoined by Commissioner Kenneth Totter, National Commander
(16:37):
for the Salvation Army again. Learnmore and offer your support at Salvation ARMYUSA
dot org. The red Kettle campaignaround the holidays. How important is this
to the Salvation Army for you tobe able to continue doing the work that
you do heading into the next year. It's absolutely essential whenever someone gives it
(16:57):
a Salvation Army kettle that money willstay local. It will stay local because
we're determined that when someone gives,they're giving to help meet the needs of
their neighbors. They're the things thatare at the top of their mind.
So if those needs are going tobe met in the course not only of
(17:18):
Christmas, but of the coming year, those donations are going to be absolutely
vital. Every year across the nation, the Salvation Army raises about one hundred
million dollars through those kettles. Wow, And it's absolutely vital to what we
do. And obviously to make thathappen, the Salvation Army has an army
(17:41):
of volunteers operating those red kettles.Can you break down that aspect of this
important work around the holidays? Oh? Absolutely. Even if someone can't give
because of inflation, and certainly we'reall suffering from that these days, they
(18:02):
can give a little bit of timeat a kettle. And our studies show
that the volunteers who stand at ourkettles will raise about eighty dollars an hour
on average. And when you thinkabout it, that's a massive impact,
because you can, over the courseof a morning, say, raise enough
money to provide about eight hundred mealsor four nights of shelter, or a
(18:29):
number of toys for children. Alittle bit of volunteering time can have a
massive impact. Of course, obtainingthose volunteers and making sure that those volunteers
know of the opportunity is one ofthe big challenges we face because everyone is
stressed, everyone is short on time, everyone is going a thousand different directions,
(18:51):
but we would want to encourage anyonewho has a little time and has
an inclination to do so, tocome out and have some fun at a
kettle, or alternatively, spend alittle time distributing toys that have been collected
through the Angel Tree or serving mealsto the homeless. What you get back
is beyond measure and the impact thatyou have on other lives is astonishing.
(19:18):
I know it's been a challenging stretchfor many Americans. Going back to the
pandemic, the need was incredible,and the work that you had to do
with the Salvation Army, it wasjust so important. And that has continued
with a variety of different issues fora variety of different reasons. But here
in twenty twenty three, how greatis the need across the country from what
(19:41):
you're seeing. You're absolutely right,Ryan, We know that the pandemic,
much like the recession of eight tonine, is going to have a long
economic tail, and that that taialewill damage the lives of those who are
most in need. For example,right now, if a family is renting
(20:06):
a home and they have difficulty becauseof inflation, paying their utility bill,
they're running a risk of losing thathome, and we know from experience that
it's going to be three times asexpensive to get them back into housing once
they're homeless. So the Salvation Armyramps up its financial assistance programs to help
(20:27):
people pay for their heat and theirwater and their gas. Those kinds of
economic needs are going to be withus for several years post pandemic, and
it's important that people know that normalcytherefore, for a lot of people has
not yet returned. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Commissioner Kenneth Toad, or
(20:48):
National Commander for the Salvation Army.You can learn more and offer your support
at Salvation ARMYUSA dot org. That'sSalvation Army USA org. Giving Tuesday took
place recently, and according to everythingI've seen, donations down a bit this
(21:10):
year. What was your experience likeat the Salvation Army in terms of Giving
Tuesday? What's become such an importantday for so many organizations across the country
to again do the work that you'reaiming to do. Yes, indeed,
the Salvation Army experience the same patternthat you describe, and that the Giving
Giving Tuesday organization has outlined. Givingacross the country on Giving Tuesday was flat
(21:37):
and the participation rate, according tothose figures, was down ten percent.
And that's a great concern to us. And it's of concern to us not
because of the Salvation Army, butbecause of the people whom we serve.
Because the Salvation Army has always beena lean organization, we are very conscious
(21:59):
of our responsibilities for stewardship and maintainingtrust. So when those donations decline,
it has a direct impact on ourability to do something. So, like
our colleagues in the nonprofit sector,we're eager to give people the message that
what they do now from this dayuntil the end of the year is going
(22:23):
to be critical to not only theholiday season, but to twenty twenty four.
How does the Salvation Army adjust andadapt the work that you do depending
on the needs of a particular community. Well, the Salvation Army has never
been a single purpose organization. We'renot just about food, We're not just
(22:48):
about housing, we're not just aboutkids programs. We're about all of it.
When we send a Salvation Army officerinto a community, he or she
will have one instruction and that isis do what needs to be done there
and do it in the name ofChrist. So that officer will go out
into the community meet those who arein touch with needs. That individual,
(23:15):
by wearing his or her uniform willobviously extend an implicit invitation to people to
say, come and tell me whatyour need is that we can address it.
And that kind of information is criticalto helping the Salvation Army develop its
partnerships with other organizations, with localgovernments, with local leaders, with corporations,
(23:37):
and as a team, the SalvationArmy then tries to become a catalyst
to fill the gaps. The SalvationArmy has never felt that whatever it does
in a community is sacrosanct. Ifanother organization does something better than the Salvation
(23:59):
Army can do it, God blessthem do that work. Our job is
to fill unmet need. That iswhat we really are trying to say when
we use our phrase doing the mostgood, trying to address areas and needs
that are not yet resolved. Andso that's the way we try locally in
(24:22):
every community where we serve to respondto what we hear, what is going
on. And let's talk about someof the different services you provide. Some
of the areas where you offer helprerant, mortgage and utility assistance, the
food pantries, homeless shelters. Let'sstart there with those three items and the
(24:45):
work that you do on those issues. Well, the Salvation Army, in
terms of its shelters, has aboutfive hundred shelters across the nation. In
terms of food, we provide aboutone hundred and fifty five meals every year,
about eight million nights of shelter.The Salvation Army serves about twenty four
(25:08):
to twenty six million people every year. During the pandemic that ballooned to well
over thirty million. But it certainlykeeps us busy, and we could never
do it, Ryan, were itnot for the generous support of the American
public. It is one of thegreatest gifts that the Salvation Army receives from
(25:33):
God, and we treat it asvery precious. Indeed, I'm Ryan Gorman,
joined by Commissioner Kenne Todd, orNational Commander for the Salvation Army.
You can learn more at Salvation ARMYUSAdot org. That's Salvation ARMYUSA dot org.
Two other areas that you focus onthat I think are really important and
(25:55):
I wanted to spend a moment onveteran services and services for the aging.
Tell us about that work. Veteran'swork is critical for the Salvation Army,
and there's a historical reason for that. In nineteen fifteen, General John Pershing
(26:15):
was a cavalry commander based at thePresidio in San Francisco, and he was
called to the southern border to findPancho Villa with his regiment. And while
he was away there was a firein his quarters. His wife and his
four daughters were killed. When hecame back to San Francisco, the local
(26:37):
Salvation Army officer, a man bythe name of Colonel Henry Lee, wrote
him a little note of condolence,and General Pershing was deeply impacted by that
little note, and he wrote avery kind response that we still have in
our archives. Two years later,Pershing was leading the American Expeditionary Force Ands
(27:00):
and he remembered this the caring thathe had received from the Salvation Army,
and so he called us, calledand he said, would you please send
your people across to France with myboys? And we agreed. So the
Salvation Army sent about two hundred andfifty people, mostly young women with no
(27:21):
military training to the front trenches inFrance. And while they were there,
they read to the men, theycomforted those who were wounded, They wrote
letters home, and they started tomake little fried items that the boys could
enjoy the taste of home. Andthe boys loved them. They were called
(27:44):
doughnuts, and the boys loved themso much they started to call themselves the
dough boys. So they came homeand they told their wives and their mothers
and their sisters about these little friedtreats the Salvation Army had made them,
and the American obsession with the donutwas born. So in that one moment
where we worked with General Pershing tosupport him in his time of need,
(28:11):
two things happened. The donut hada future with the American public, and
the Salvage Army established a relationship withthe military that continues to this day.
That is incredible. Again, we'rejoined right now by Commissioner Kennethtodter, National
Commander for the Salvation Army. Andthe need is great across the country.
(28:33):
A ninety one million people in Americahave had difficulty paying for essential household expenses
just in this last week. Andwe also mentioned before giving Tuesday. Donations
to nonprofits down ten percent this year, So it is more important now than
ever to support organizations like the SalvationArmy so they can provide that vital help
(28:57):
to so many of our fellow America. So you can learn more and find
out all the different ways that youcan help, from donations to volunteering opportunities
at Salvation ARMYUSA dot org. Again, that's Salvation Army USA dot org.
Commissioner Kenneth Hotter, National Commander ofthe Salvation Army. Commissioner Hotter, thank
(29:18):
you so much for the tremendous workyou're doing with this organization, for coming
on the show. Have a verymerry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Thanks Ryan, God bless you andmerry Christmas. All Right, and that's
going to do it for this editionof Iheiradio Communities. As we wrap things
up, I want to offer abig thanks to all of our guests and
of course to all of you forlistening. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman.
(29:40):
We'll talk to you again real soon.
Host
Manny Munoz
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