There’s only one reason why someone is coaching you to lie to your bank about your reason for making a significant withdrawal from your account — they are scamming you. Period. It doesn’t matter what claims, promises or threats they’ve made. Every red alarm should be blaring when someone tells you to lie to your […]
A headline in The Wall Street Journal recently caught my eye: “Selling gold is not as easy as it seems.” It turns out that super-popular big-box retailer Costco is now selling gold — specifically 1-ounce gold ingots at $2,000 each — online, not in its stores. Even with limits on how many a member can […]
Some say it’s an ugly name — the “Pig Butchering” scam. But it’s the scammers’ own description of the ugly crime they’re committing and how they view their victims. “Pig Butchering” is a new-ish COVID-era scam. It’s happening all over the country and it’s absolutely happening in metro Boston and even right here in Canton. […]
Many people have heard of the “dark web.” Most have no idea of what it is, and given the potential dangers, they aren’t inclined to go looking. According to online security company Norton 360, “The dark web is a part of the internet that’s made up of hidden sites you can’t find through conventional search […]
Late last year, the news came out that Intuit was shutting down its budgeting app, Mint. One news report said it was because most people are not much interested in managing their money — supposedly because personal money management is not “fun.” Although Mint was referred to as “beloved,” the reality was that this free […]
Canton is a town that has been serious about helping residents avoid becoming victims of scams for many years. Those efforts took another step forward recently with the formation of the Canton Anti-Scam Task Force. The Canton Anti-Scam Task Force is a new working group put together by Diane Tynan, director of the Canton Department […]
Recently a gentleman who writes about the history of the governors of South Dakota got curious about what the latest internet sensation — ChatGPT — might say about the oldest and youngest governors of South Dakota. Tony Venhuizen of the SoDak Governors blog published what he got back from ChatGPT regarding South Dakota’s youngest governor, […]
Someone posted recently on a financial discussion forum asking about what people thought were best practices for paying their household bills. The responses were all over the place. The wide variety of methods for handling this common task was actually quite impressive. Technology has given people so many different ways to monitor and manage their […]
In his new bestselling book titled The Power of Regret, author Daniel Pink explores what he calls our “most misunderstood emotion” and how it can be the pathway to our best life. Apparently there are a lot of different kinds of regret. Pink writes about one woman who deeply regretted not spending more time as […]
Right now, bankers nationwide are seeing a surge of the “You can’t trust your bank” scam. It’s everywhere. The other day on the Bogleheads.org forums, a gentleman posted about a family friend who fell for that scam. He was asking if there was any way to help the victim get their money back. (There wasn’t.) […]
