FUEL AND CONVENIENT SERVICES. LOUISVILLE ZOO ETHNIC IMMIGRANT, IMMIGRANT AND MINORITY LEADERS GATHERED TODAY. THEY TALKED ABOUT SCAMS TARGETING THEIR COMMUNITIES. THEY MET FOR A ROUNDTABLE SPONSORED BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. WLKY IS MARK VANDERHOFF WAS THERE AND EXPLAINS WHAT YOU NEED TO WATCH FOR. ONE SCAM THAT WE LEARNED ABOUT TARGET’S NEW FILINGS FOR CHURCHES AND BUSINESSES. THE SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE, WHICH OUR PUBLIC RECORD. NOW WE SPOKE TO THE PASTOR OF THE LOUISVILLE MYANMAR CHURCH, WHICH MEETS HERE AT GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH, AND HE SAYS THAT WHEN HE FILED PAPERWORK FOR HIS CHURCH, HE STARTED TO RECEIVE SOME SUSPICIOUS BILLS IN THE MAIL. FIRST TIME IS ONE IS COMING. WHEN I LOOK AT, OKAY, I NEED TO PAY, BUT I’M NEXT TO. ANOTHER ONE TO COME IN AGAIN. EXPERTS SAY ANTHONY SONG DID THE RIGHT THING WHEN HE CONSULTED HIS IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY ABOUT THE UNUSUAL BILLS. SHE NOW IS THE FAKE ONE. YEAH, SO WE DIDN’T PAY IT IF THEY TALKED SOMEBODY ELSE. THEY’RE LESS LIKELY TO BE SCAMMED. SONG TOLD HIS STORY WEDNESDAY AT THE MUHAMMAD ALI CENTER FOR, A ROUNDTABLE HOSTED BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. LAPD INVESTIGATOR SCOTT SHAFER SAYS ANOTHER COMMON SCAM INVOLVES FAKE LISTINGS FOR APARTMENTS AND RENTAL HOUSES. PERSON WHO CLAIMS THE ONLY APARTMENT WILL BE LIKE, HEY, YOU KNOW, YOU NEED TO SEND THE FIRST MONTH’S PAYMENT TO THIS. AND THEY DO. AND THEN THEY GO TO THE APARTMENT AND IT’S LOCKED, YOU KNOW. IT WAS A SCAM ARTIST. THEY DIDN’T EVEN OWN THE APARTMENT TO RENT. $5.8 BILLION IN FRAUD CLAIMS WERE REPORTED TO THE FTC IN 2021, A 70% INCREASE FROM 2020. WE SEE LOT OF SCAMS TARGETING COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, INVOLVING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN MAKE MONEY THAT TURN OUT NOT TO BE. SO. JOANIE WAY OF THE FTC OFFERED SOME TIPS DETECT SCAMS SCAMMERS OFTEN WANT YOU TO ACT QUICKLY. A FORM OF PRESSURE THEY CASH WIRE TRANSFERS, GIFT CARDS OR CRYPTOCURRENCY. AND THEY ARE USUALLY SOMEONE DON’T KNOW. SO DON’T WANT TO TELL PEOPLE IS YOU HAVE TO BE VIGILANT AND ALSO NOT EMBARRASSED OR ASHAMED. IF IT HAPPENED TO YOU. AND DON’T FORGET TO REPORT SCAMS TO THE POLICE AND TH
Ethnic, immigrant and minority leaders meet in Louisville to discuss common scams
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Updated: 6:50 PM EST Dec 7, 2022
It was not long after Anthony Sang had registered his church with the secretary of state's office that the suspicious bills began arriving.Experts say Sang, an immigrant from Myanmar, did the right thing by talking the situation over with somebody else – in this case, his immigration attorney. She quickly helped him determine the bills were fake and likely sent by someone who took advantage of the state's public records."I need to be very careful about every bill," he said. Sang was among those telling his story at a Federal Trade Commission roundtable on Wednesday at the Muhammad Ali Center. The topic, "Spotting and Avoiding Scams," centered on Louisville's ethnic, immigrant and minority communities. In 2021, reported fraud cost Americans $5.8 billion, according to the FTC. That figure skyrocketed during the pandemic, growing 70 percent from 2020 to 2021.Here are some tips for detecting fraud:You're being contacted by someone you do not know.That person is pressuring you to act quickly.They are asking for payment via cash, money order, gift certificate or crypto currency. "You have to be vigilant and also not embarrassed or ashamed if it happened to you," said Joannie Wei, an assistant director at the FTC's Midwest regional office.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was not long after Anthony Sang had registered his church with the secretary of state's office that the suspicious bills began arriving.
Experts say Sang, an immigrant from Myanmar, did the right thing by talking the situation over with somebody else – in this case, his immigration attorney. She quickly helped him determine the bills were fake and likely sent by someone who took advantage of the state's public records.
"I need to be very careful about every bill," he said.
Sang was among those telling his story at a Federal Trade Commission roundtable on Wednesday at the Muhammad Ali Center. The topic, "Spotting and Avoiding Scams," centered on Louisville's ethnic, immigrant and minority communities.
In 2021, reported fraud cost Americans $5.8 billion, according to the FTC. That figure skyrocketed during the pandemic, growing 70 percent from 2020 to 2021.
Here are some tips for detecting fraud:
- You're being contacted by someone you do not know.
- That person is pressuring you to act quickly.
- They are asking for payment via cash, money order, gift certificate or crypto currency.
"You have to be vigilant and also not embarrassed or ashamed if it happened to you," said Joannie Wei, an assistant director at the FTC's Midwest regional office.
