Scam Squad

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Scam Squad Host Kristina Perkins Returns from FBI Training in Quantico Virgina by Hub for Podcasting

Banker discusses various imposter scams - impersonating the FTC, Pay Pal,

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SCAM SQUAD TOLL ROAD SCAMS 3-8-25 by Hub for Podcasting

SCAM SQUAD TOLL ROAD SCAMS 3-8-25 by Hub for Podcasting

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Shawn Dyer, Fraud Specialist at Montecito Bank & Trust discusses phishing, followed by an important discussion about Check Fraud, which is on the rise. Learn how to spot and stop check fraud by diligently monitoring your account. And if you are a victim of check fraud, learn how altered checks and counterfeit checks are handled differently by banks.

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Investigator Greg Hons from the Santa Barbara County DA's office reports that there has been a drastic increase in theft that's taking place inside mail sorting facilities. While we understand that most postal workers are honest, a small percentage are stealing--and they're stealing a lot. Criminal syndicates are recruiting postal workers to move narcotics, and to steal checks, credit cards and gift cards from the mail. Be sure to listen to this episode and incorporate the valuable tips to reduce the likelihood of having your mail stolen. If you ever do suspect that your mail has been stolen, contact the US Postal Inspector at 877-876-2455.

Criminologist, Judy Christman Yates, delivers a serious warning about uploading medical records on AI apps. She also reviews Red Flags that indicate you're dealing with a scammer. Then, in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires, Inspector Greg Hons talks about giving wisely and how to ensure you're not contributing to a scam.

Inverstigator, Greg Hons, gives tips to avoid being scammed in the New Year. Tip One: Leave your valuables in the trunk of your car when you go to work out. When you are done working out, look through your purse or wallet to make sure everything is there. Tip Two: Get your free credit report at https://www.annualcreditreport.com You don't have to get all three at once. Greg recommends getting one in Jan, another in in June, and the third one in December. (The three main credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.) Tip Three: Consider getting rid of your debit card in favor of an old-fashioned ATM card.

Host Patti Teel and Deputy D.A. Krinstina Perkins inform us about digital pickpocketing and other current scams affecting the nation and how to spot and avoid them.

This week Patti and Kristina tell you about a tricky vintage car scam, followed by some recent new scams as well as anti-scam methods you can use.

Scam Squd - Dec 14 - Insuarance Fraud by Hub for Podcasting

This week, Patti and Kristina have special guest, Crimnologist Judy Yates who will explain some very clever computer scams.

The Holidays are here and Patti and Kristina are here to tell you all about the latest Christmas Shopping scams, as well as the old standard ones, that you're likely to encounter this holiday season.

This week hosts Patti Teel and Deputy District Attorney Kristina Perkins interview a recent victim of a credit card scam during her wedding brunch. Learn how to protect yourself from being scammed by phony travel agencies you find on internet searches.

Patti and Kristina discuss a reoccurrence of the Process Warrant Scam in Santa Barbara. Learn how to detect and deal with it.

This week, hosts Patti Teel and Deputy District Attorney Kristiana Perkins tells us about two old scams that are making the rounds again. The IRS Scam and the Magazine Subscription Scam. It can be very easy to be taken by either of these scams, so please do not miss this episode.

This week Patti and Kristina interview a person who had the old Summons Scam tried on them, with some interesting new twists. Fortunately, she didn't fall for it. Find out exactly what saved the person from becoming a victim of the scammer. Very interesting show.

This week, hosts Patti Teel and Deputy District Attorney Christina Perkins interview Shawn Dyer, Chief Fraud Specialist at Montecito Bank and Trust, about Check Fraud and how to spot and prevent it.

This week, Host Patti Teel and Deputy District Attorney Christina Perkins introduce us to the D.A.'s County Consumer Protection Unit. The local County Consumer Protection Unit mostly deals with consumer complaints from local businesses that falsely advertise or defraud customers. This type of consumer protection is different from most of the typical online, phone, text, and email scams that Scam Squad talks about. You won't want to miss hearing about this great consumer complaint resource. In this episode, the County of Santa Barbara DA’s Consumer Protection Unit won a default judgment against the company, Sun Fire Defense, who were ordered to pay 2.5 million in penalties and 2.5 million dollars in restitution. In an injunction, the company was also ordered to stop making a number of claims which were proven false. Sun Fire Defense claimed that its exterior coating product, SPF 3000, would protect homes from fires and also claimed that the coating could extinguish flames. Experts tested both treated and untreated wood and found that the untreated wood and the treated wood performed about the same. The product also contains chemicals that California law presumes to be hazardous because they are toxic. The false claims were particularly egregious because it triggered people’s fear following the Thomas Fire in December 2017.

This week, Patti and Christina tell us all about FTC Scams and Jury Duty Scams, how to spot them and what to do with them.

This week, Patti and Christina explore the dangerous world of QRC Scams. QRC scanning is so new and is so rapidly coming on everywhere and changing so much that Patti and Christiana want to warn you as much as they can about them. It is so easy nowdays to lose your personal information and get scammed out of thousands of dollars, so don't miss this QRC episode of Scam Squad.

This week, host Patti Teel and Deputy District Attorney Christina Jenkins discuss unsolicited text messages that try to get you to do something, such as go to a link or download software. Learn how to avoid these scams and more in this episode of Scam Squad

This week, Host Patti Teel and Deputy District Attorney Christina Perkins review Political Election Scams. They will discuss the three major election scams attacking voters this election cycle which are Voter Registration Scams, Political Donation Scams, and Fake Surveys and Polls. Learn how to avoid falling victim to these scams and stay safe.

This week on Scam Squad, hosts Patti Teel and Christina Perkins discuss the latest Fake Social Media Scams currently happening in Santa Barbara County and the nation, as well as how to guard yourself from being taken in by them.

Today, Host Patti Teel introduces Scam Squad’s newest co-host, Chief Investigator, Christina Perkins , from the Bureau of Investigations at the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office. Together, Patti and Inspector Perkin discuss the duties of the Investigators, as well as the latest scams currently affecting the Santa Barbara area and the nation in general. This week, Inspector Perkins alerts us to a recent scam called the, Hacking Scam, which has just started to plague our area. You won’t want to miss this episode.

To begin with, we meet Patti Teel's new co-host, Christina Perkins, from the District Attorney's Office. This week's Scam Squad's guest is Montecito Bank's Senior Securites Expert, Doris M. Roof, who will tell us about the latest ways we might get scammed at the bank. Recently, there has been a rise in the Altered Paper Check scams as well as a a brand new, rather sophisticated version of the standard P to P bank scam. Doris explains how these new twists on old scams work so well and how to try to protect ourselves from them as well as attempt to recover funds from the bank if you are scammed by them.

This week, Patti Teel and Deputy D.A. Vicki Johnson, host their favorite Criminologist, Judy Yates, who will update us on the major scams currently afflicting us now. She will also explain how many of these scams have been altered or evolved into much more sophisticated and complex scams that are making it much more difficult for all of us to spot and determine whether or not they are scams or whether they are legitimate contacts. Yates will also tells us how to avoid them.

This week, Patti and Vicki interview Deputy DA, Casey Nelson about his recent court case prosecuting an Affinity Scammer. Affinity Fraud is an investment fraud in which a scammer targets members of a common identifiable group based on things such as attending the same church or being members of the same country club. This is a very, very exciting episode you definitely can't miss.

This week, host Patti Teel and co-host Deputy District Attorney, Vicki Johnson, discuss the latest new weight loss drugs that have been all the rage of the world. due to their very, highly effective results. Unfortunately, there is a huge problem with floods of scammers advertising and selling fake, phony, and dangerous imposters of these very popular weight loss drugs, that can cause great sickness, hospitalizations, and even death. Learn how to avoid purchasing these scam fake weight loss drugs. You won't want to miss this episode if you are interested in the latest news about these highly effective weight loss medications.

Impersonation Scams have become the most lucrative scam for scammers. The most impersonated company that scammers impersonate is Best Buy and often say they are from Best Buy's tech support experts the Geek Squad. The second most impersonate company scammers use is Amazon. Patti and Vicki will tell you all about it on this weeks episode of Scam Squad. Don't miss it.

This week, Patti and Vicki are warning all of us about new scams to especially watch out for this year. As we know, scammers are getting more resourceful and convincing every day for three basic reasons. Patti and Vicki with explore in depth these three basic reasons and tell us how to guard ourselves against being scammed with these new scammer tricks and methods.

This is one of Scam Squad's most exciting and best episodes ever. The Fake Vince Gill Romance Scam. Patti and Vicki interview the daughter of a Romance Scam Victim who thought she was in an online romance with famous Country singer songwriter, Vince Gill. It turned out to be a Nigerian Romance Scam that swindled this 72 year old woman out of her life's savings of nearly a half million dollars. Runtime: aprox 21 mins

This week hosts Patti Teel and Vicki Johnson have special guest Criminologist Judy Yates tell us all about the latest technology that is causing huge increases in imposter scams with Social Security, Medicare, Banks, fake employers, and many common agencies and services. The gals will tell you how to protect yourself from these scams as well as what to do if you have been scammed by a fake employer or imposters pretending to be from Social Security, Medicare, Sherriff's Office, and other agencies and businesses. You won't want to miss this episode.

Scam Squad's guest this week is Fraud Expert, Shawn Dyer, from Montecito Bank & Trust. In this episode you'll learn about the Tech Support Scam that is still being used to manipulate our computers and steal our money. Dyer also tells listeners about the Altered Check Scam. Learn how the scam is pulled off and what you can do to safeguard yourself. Runtime 21 mins

Summer is approaching and soon it will be time to go on vacations. The Scammers are out in full force, especially with the phony B&B booking scams. Learn how to avoid these scams and others in this week's episode of Scam Squad. Don't let a scammer ruin your summer vacation. Learn how to get you money back if you have been scammed by booking your B&B.

This week, Retried Senior Deputy District Attorney Vicki Johnson tells us about how many of the old scams that sort of died out awhile ago which are now making a comeback resurgence in a huge way. You won't want to miss this episode about these tricky Resurrected Scams.

This week's guest is Criminologist Dr. Judy Yates who tells us the ten most common lies that scammers tell their victims in order to drain out their entire life savings accounts and perform other devastating and heart wrenching scams. This is a super packed anti-scam episode you will not want to miss nor can afford to miss. Learn what the government is doing to stop scams and a clue as to why more victims are needed to report scams to law enforcement to help make a difference.

This week, Doris Roof from Montecito Bank and Trust tells us all about the Tech Support Scam, the latest scam terrorizing and affecting the bank's customers, . Patti, Vicki, and Doris all join in to provide you with all you need to know about this very tricky and sneaky scam. Also, Vicki tell us how to get monetary restitution through the FBI if you've been scammed by a scammers that got caught. Don't miss it.

This week, Vicki and Patti focus on the Scam Victims. We need to realize that people who have been scammed are "VICTIMS." All too often, American society treats Scam Victims as Idiots, Old Fools, Airheads, and Morons. The facts are that Scammers are generally highly skilled, trained and well experience professional thieves that prey upon honest, innocent victims. Too many Americans will blame and criticize the poor Victim for being scammed. They will say things like, "How could you ever be so stupid to fall for a scam like that," or "You Idiot, you moron, how could you believe and be taken in by a scammer." or boast, "I'd never ever fall for an obvious scam like that. Victims need to be treated like Victims and not be lectured to by critical family members and friends.

Criminologist Judy Yates is back this week with a whole load of dangerous new scams to tell us about such as the all new Apple products scam that is affecting all types of Apple devices and products. If you have Apple, you definitely should not miss this episode. Judy Yate is one of the best Criminologists in the USA.

This week Vicki talks about the Virtual Kidnapping Scam, which seems to be on the rise in our area. Essentially, a scammer calls you on your phone, claiming to have kidnapped a loved one of yours. They try to get you to pay ransom, but most often, the call is fake and your love one has not bee kidnapped. However, of course you don't want to take the chance of risking. Listen for full details.

This week, Vicki tells us all about the horrible destruction that Romance Scams play on entire families. It's not just the victims of Romance Scans that get their lives totally ruined. Even the most intelligent of people get sucked into these cruel scams and lose all their money, sometimes becoming homeless on the streets.

A.I., or Artificial Intelligence, is seriously increasing the success rate of many types of fraud and scams this year. Most people, especially seniors, do not know how Artificial Intelligence can easily fool them into being scammed out of thousands of dollars by a variety of old and new scams. In today’s episode, host Patti Teel and Senior Deputy District Attorney Vicki Johnson ask special guest scam fighter Shawn Dyer from Montecito Bank about how A.I. scams and frauds can fool you into losing huge amounts of money and how to help prevent it. RUNTIME aprox 14 mins

TAX SEASON SCAMS - This week we have one of our most popular returning Scam Squad guest, Criminologist Judy Yates. Because tax season is here, criminologist Judy Yates will focus on all of the latest new tax scams, as well as new changes in the old standard types of ruthless Tax Scams and frauds the scammers and fraudsters are throwing at us now. She will also give us sound tips on how to discover, prevent, and resolve these frauds.

CONFESSIONS OF A NIGERIAN ROMANCE SCAMMAR. You really don’t want to miss this episode about a Reformed Nigerian Romance Scammer who once scammed fifty women out of more than $85,000.00 by using a 40 page bible especially for Nigerian Scammers titled “How to Make a White Women Fall in Love with You from Online Chat.” He spent five years as a romance scammer posing as an American Army man with rippling biceps, short blond hair, and a military uniform. He now works as a consultant at a fraud busting group called, Social Catfish. He tells the whole shocking story about his exploits and adventures as a Nigerian romance scammer in South Africa.