Asset Planning, Inc Blog

As you know, all of us at Asset Planning put our clients personal and financial well-being as our number one priority. One of the ways we do this is by keeping you updated on any potential dangers when it comes to fraud and scams that we hear about. While doing research on a scam we were alerted to, I came across the Federal Trade Commission website. Along with many other self-help topics, there are two sections dedicated to privacy, identity & online security and scams. There you can find useful tips and recent information on scams going around. I found this website to be a useful tool in my research and I was even able to sign up for email notifications to alert me to any new scams they have been notified of. If you are interested in keeping up with the latest news on these sorts of things click on this link and sign up for email updates.

It’s a known fact that people are living a lot longer than they used to. Do you have a plan in place for your aging parents? I came across an interesting article in Financial Advisor Magazine about the toll being a care taker for your aging parents can put on you financially and emotionally. If you are facing the prospect of being the caretaker for your parents as they get older, the time is now to start having the important conversations with your family about getting an action plan together for their care.

Click here to read the full article

We've come across a few more scams that we thought you should be aware of...

The first one is a scam where an unknown number will call you and only ring once or twice and not leave a message. Your first instinct is to call them back to see who it is. It turns out that it is a 900 number you are calling back and you get charged for the call. The phone companies are not reversing the charges for these calls so be weary on calling back unusual numbers. My thought is if it's important whoever is calling you will leave a message.

Next, a client alerted us to a company that is offering free cell phones to seniors with low income. They ask for all your personal information such as social security numbers, drivers license numbers, etc. There are some legit companies out there that do offer these programs but there are also scammers out there trying to steal identities. Before giving out your personal information be sure to do your research on the company or person who you're dealing with. You don't want your information getting in the wrong hands.

Lastly, stay vigilant with people calling or emailing you and asking for your personal information. Legitimate companies will never call or email you to get passwords or social security numbers. One way to tell in an email is by looking at the grammar. More times than not on a scam email the grammar will be wrong. Also, NEVER click on a link sent to you in an email from someone you don't recognize. If you are in doubt about whether a request for information is legitimate or not, always call the company back on a number that you have looked up yourself, so you know that you're actually calling the right place.

If you have any scams that you would like to tell us about, so we can alert our clients, please email me at melani@assetplanninginc.com

We hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Melani

When browsing the internet and logging into certain sites, it's become almost habit to look for the little green padlock to make sure that you are entering a secure website. well, unfortunately a lot of phishing sites have started using the green padlock as well to try to fool the average user. These phishing sites try to copy a legitimate site, pose as an online retailer or other trusted site. Their goal is for you to trust them and enter your personal information, so it can be sold on the dark web and used for identity theft. It's important to always remember to look for the https:// displayed in front of the web address. The padlock by itself means nothing.

Apparently there is a new scam going around in Orange County. Imposters are calling and claiming that they are from the Orange County Superior Court. They are claiming that you will be facing prosecution for missing jury duty and attempt to obtain your social security number. Read here for more details

The bottom line is, never ever under any circumstances give out any of your personal information such as social security number, birth date etc. to anyone who is calling you that you do not recognize. No reputable company is going to call you out of the blue to ask you for this information. Scammers will stop at nothing to get this valuable information from you so be vigilent in protecting it.

I just found out about a very useful service that the United States Postal Service offers and one that Sandy has been using for a while. It is called Informed Delivery and it sends you a daily email with an image of the mail you will be receiving each day. It is completely free and easy to sign up. I went to USPS.com, logged into my existing account (If you do not already have an account you will need to create one) and under user preferences you can opt into the service. They do verify your identity so no one else can sign up to see your mail. They ask specific questions about you, where you have previously lived etc. This is a great way to know if anything ever goes missing from your mailbox. They even have a link in your daily email to report a piece of missing mail.

Here's an example of my dashboard on the site.

Signing up for this service is another way to stay one step ahead of identity theft that is so prevalant right now.

Have a great Holiday Weekend!

Melani

We've come to the realization that not everyone knows what gap insurance is and why it may be a good idea to get it when purchasing a brand new car. Gap insurance is an insurance policy you buy to cover the amount your insurance company will pay out vs. the amount you owe on your car loan, in the case of an accident where your car is totaled. This is an important coverage to consider especially if you are purchasing a brand new car. Car values drop drastically once you drive the vehicle off the lot. By not purchasing the gap insurance you run the risk of owing a lot more than what the car is worth after an insurance payout. That means you would either have to pay off the loan balance yourself or roll it into another vehicle loan which would most likely leave you upside down. Definitely not a good place to be in. Here is an article, written by Joshua Caucutt from Money Crashers, that goes into further detail about gap insurance, how to get it and helps you decide if you need it.

https://www.moneycrashers.com/gap-insurance-cars-worth-it/

Have a great weekend!

Melani

Here is a great article with lots of information on the dangers of using public wi-fi. There are some interesting facts that I never even thought of. For example, hackers are not only looking for your personal identifying information but they also are looking at your browsing history to be able to target you in phishing scams based on your interests. These phishing scams come in the form of robocalls, free apps and targeted ads. As always we want you to take every precaution to safeguard yourself from identity theft. This article is definitely worth the read.

https://lifelockunlocked.com/tips/lowdown-public-wi-fi/?cid=em_eNews_vol5_onboardingdbm_readmore_-_

Happy Mother's Day weekend to you all!

Samantha

Even though tax season is is behind us you may still be going through important documents or filing them away. We thought now was a good time to let you know that we offer free document back up for our clients. We will take your important documents, scan them, keep them in your electronic client file here and also save them to a password protected flash drive for you to keep. We're always sending out reminders of the importance of having your documents in a safe place and backed up in case of a fire or other emergency and now it's easier than ever to get it done with this free service.

Examples of items you may want to have scanned are; birth certificates, medical records, insurance policies, bank and investment account information, identification cards etc.

Having this USB drive with you while traveling could be especially useful if there is an emergency while you're away from home.

If you would like to take advantage of this offer, feel free to give me a call to set up a time to drop your documents off.

Have a great weekend!

Melani

There's been a lot of recent reports on how much information Facebook really has on you and it is scary. When is the last time you looked to see how many of your apps are connected to your Facebook profile? Even if youre not using the app anymore, once you grant them permission to your Facebook profile they will continue to collect your data, including your friends list, pictures, browsing history etc, until you revoke their access.

We found a really good article on CNBC that gives you a step-by-step guide on how to check your privacy settings, see who has access to your information and how to remove them. Follow the link below to check it out.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/20/how-to-see-which-facebook-apps-have-access-to-your-data.html