2015-07-29, Rick Jackson, Identity Theft

Pres. Alex Keatts rang the bell to begin our meeting at 12:10 p. m. Bill Wheeler gave the invocation, and Alex led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Paul Comeau led the club in singing “America, the Beautiful.” We circulated in the room and greeted one another.  Janet Green was selected as the mystery greeter as she was walking in the door. 

We had no visiting Rotarians, but Dinus Briggs brought Glenn Duff as his guest.

Happy Bucks

John Hernandez was again “mighty glad to be here.” Bob Seaton reported that Elaine Szalay is out of the hospital and is in rehab. Bob was happy to have his son in town for a visit. Jim Parks returned home from a cruise trip in which they visited Greece.  He was happy that they did not get into the middle of the riot going on at the time. Harry Hansen was happy for a fun trip in the Caribbean.  Ross Ramsey was happy that he is retired as the high schools are preparing to open for the fall semester. Ross has been helping some students with their music, “but as soon as the teachers arrive, it’s bye-bye.”

The Program:  Rick Jackson on Identity Theft

Jodie Brdecko introduced Rick Jackson, a former member of our club. She noted that Rick has been in the document storage business for 14 years.

In his opening remarks, Rick asked us to remember a couple of statistics 1,800 and 43,200. The first number reports how many identity thefts are taking place in one hour.  The second statistic is the number of identity thefts taking place each day. Identity theft and its prevention is a big business today.

The speaker suggested that we don’t buy into solicitations which guard our identities.  “Lifelock “is such a company.  They keep track of your identity alright, but they don’t do anything until you have an attack on your identities.  Then it is too late.  Rick recommends keeping your own records and trusting banks that are vigilant in fighting off unauthorized charges to your accounts. Banks will take care of you.

In terms of keeping your own records, he means writing down your entire credit/debit card numbers, with expiration dates included.  Place this document in a safe place away from your wallet and purse. Even your name and address is something you should protect.  Junk mail is a good example.  Don’t just toss your junk mail. Destroy it.  His company offers free shredding of personal junk mail.

In a proactive sense, there are things you can do to protect yourself.  Check your credit bureau reports regularly to be sure that your credit has not violated.  You can also use RFID blockers to prevent criminals from getting data from your wallet as it sits in your pants or in your purse.

After the Program:  The can collected $68 for Hospice. Jay Jordan won the raffle. The meeting was closed with the 4-way test.

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Student Guests-none for the summer

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Birthdays-August

Wedding Anniversaries-August

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Submitted by Blaine Goss