Last Week,
1/10: Secret Service- Special Agent Scott Gullie – “Identity Theft
and How to Avoid It.” This Week, 1/17: Terry Ulrich – “The Underground Railroad in Our Area.”
Next Week,
1/24: Jim Murphy –
“Restorative Justice.” Coming Up: 1/24 BOD Mtg. 1/31 Mary Anderson – Trip to 2/14 Annual Dinner at SCCC Invocation: Garry Morrow, Dan Stec
or Bob Youmans Rotary
Minute:
Walter Grattidge Greeter: Garry Morrow Rotary Minute and Announcements
Calendar of Events
Suggestions for future programs may be
given to Linda LeTendre
Rotary Minute: Bill McClary made a touching presentation outlining his
many years of service to Rotary in several clubs, illuminated by the support of
his wife Shirley. Shirley’s devotion to Rotary
was as deep as Bill’s, even unto plotting vacation travels to insure that
make-ups were available en-route. Bill
acknowledged that devotion in a special presentation of a Paul Harris
Fellowship for Shirley. Congratulations
Shirley!
Announcements:
President Rey announced that the club’s Rotary
Foundation giving had reached the level of $2400 against a goal of $4500.
Mary Anderson reported that the Floyd Baker memorial
fund now stands at $710 and we hope to reach $1000. There was discussion of using these funds to
support the CHS van as Floyd donated a significant amount of time to
transporting the frail elderly to their appointments.
Mary also reported on the mentoring project at the
middle school. We currently have six
mentors but it looks like the middle school may have 12 or 18 students in need
of the program. Anyone who may be
interested, please make yourself known to Mary.
Presentation
Identity Theft and How to Avoid It
Special Agent Scott Gullie of the US Secret Service
gave a comprehensive presentation on what identity theft is, how it occurs and
steps to reduce the chances of it happening to you. (As it turns out it had
already happened to two members of the audience!)
The crime is defined as theft or misuse of personal
identifiers for personal gain. It may
involve credit cards, telephone use, and misuse of banking facilities including
check and loan fraud or utility fraud.
Your information may be stolen in many ways as follows:
·
By
bribing employees who have access to your data
·
Mail
theft or change of address forms
·
Dumpster
diving (be careful what you throw away)
·
PHISHING
(e-mails asking you to confirm your identity)
·
Theft
/ loss of wallet or purse
·
Skimming
(hand held credit card readers with data storage)
Of the above the most startling to many in the
audience was skimming. In one simple
swipe the thief captures all of the needed information directly from your
credit card and then sells it to an accomplice who markets it on the Internet.
With your information in hand the thief may charge
to existing accounts, open new accounts, apply for loans or directly withdraw
funds in your name. In some cases he/she
may change the address on your account so that you do not immediately see the
result.
To reduce the risk of identity theft:
·
Don’t
put checks in your mailbox (the thief gets both checking and credit card
account information in one grab!)
·
Don’t
supply identifiers in response to e-mail or phone inquiries
·
Keep
your credit card in sight at all times if possible (take it to the cashier)
·
Don’t
let people see you making ATM or credit card transactions
·
Check
with company if your billing statement is late
A useful publication “When Bad Things Happen to Your
Good Name” was handed out.
As reported by Garry
Morrow
