Michelle Singletary

And so the score, if you will, is larger with them than with a young adult who may only have, you know, a couple thousand dollars. And that's why we see the large dollar amounts in the elderly community. So we have to change our language of that. It's not because they're old. It's because they got the money that they are targeting.

And so the score, if you will, is larger with them than with a young adult who may only have, you know, a couple thousand dollars. And that's why we see the large dollar amounts in the elderly community. So we have to change our language of that. It's not because they're old. It's because they got the money that they are targeting.

It's going to take efforts from everybody, the police, the technology companies. There's got to be more effort to prevent spoofing of calls so people can't change ID numbers and show that they're from the Rockville Police Department when it really is a call center in India.

It's going to take efforts from everybody, the police, the technology companies. There's got to be more effort to prevent spoofing of calls so people can't change ID numbers and show that they're from the Rockville Police Department when it really is a call center in India.

It's going to take efforts from everybody, the police, the technology companies. There's got to be more effort to prevent spoofing of calls so people can't change ID numbers and show that they're from the Rockville Police Department when it really is a call center in India.

The police need more resources to be able to go out to the communities for fraud prevention, but also put people on these cases because we tell people to file a police report. But that doesn't necessarily mean somebody is going to be assigned to look into that. It just helps the data collection more than anything. And I think in terms of prevention, we have to be as persistent as the scammers.

The police need more resources to be able to go out to the communities for fraud prevention, but also put people on these cases because we tell people to file a police report. But that doesn't necessarily mean somebody is going to be assigned to look into that. It just helps the data collection more than anything. And I think in terms of prevention, we have to be as persistent as the scammers.

The police need more resources to be able to go out to the communities for fraud prevention, but also put people on these cases because we tell people to file a police report. But that doesn't necessarily mean somebody is going to be assigned to look into that. It just helps the data collection more than anything. And I think in terms of prevention, we have to be as persistent as the scammers.

For example, in my family group, I regularly send text messages or emails like, hey, this new scam is out, or hey, I got this. Don't click on anything in this because I got something similar to that. So we have to have conversations. We have friend groups or you're meeting for the holidays now. Make this part of the family dinner.

For example, in my family group, I regularly send text messages or emails like, hey, this new scam is out, or hey, I got this. Don't click on anything in this because I got something similar to that. So we have to have conversations. We have friend groups or you're meeting for the holidays now. Make this part of the family dinner.

For example, in my family group, I regularly send text messages or emails like, hey, this new scam is out, or hey, I got this. Don't click on anything in this because I got something similar to that. So we have to have conversations. We have friend groups or you're meeting for the holidays now. Make this part of the family dinner.

I know it doesn't sound so festive, but just say, hey, did you read that seven-part series in the Washington Post? Let's talk about that. How would you respond? What can we do to protect each other? I was on another program and one of the hosts said that her and her husband have a code word so that if someone calls pretending to be one of them, they have to tell them the code word. I love that.

I know it doesn't sound so festive, but just say, hey, did you read that seven-part series in the Washington Post? Let's talk about that. How would you respond? What can we do to protect each other? I was on another program and one of the hosts said that her and her husband have a code word so that if someone calls pretending to be one of them, they have to tell them the code word. I love that.

I know it doesn't sound so festive, but just say, hey, did you read that seven-part series in the Washington Post? Let's talk about that. How would you respond? What can we do to protect each other? I was on another program and one of the hosts said that her and her husband have a code word so that if someone calls pretending to be one of them, they have to tell them the code word. I love that.

I'm going to actually institute that with my own husband because I tell people the other thing is don't trust anything, no text. email, nothing, just blanket, nobody. I don't believe anybody. If my husband called me, I don't believe you. If he walked in my door right now and said something, I said, baby, I'm going to check that.

I'm going to actually institute that with my own husband because I tell people the other thing is don't trust anything, no text. email, nothing, just blanket, nobody. I don't believe anybody. If my husband called me, I don't believe you. If he walked in my door right now and said something, I said, baby, I'm going to check that.

I'm going to actually institute that with my own husband because I tell people the other thing is don't trust anything, no text. email, nothing, just blanket, nobody. I don't believe anybody. If my husband called me, I don't believe you. If he walked in my door right now and said something, I said, baby, I'm going to check that.

And it's sad that we have to do that, but you have to just say, I don't believe anything. I got a text message from my bank that said my credit card had been compromised. And the text came in under other texts, legitimate texts from my bank. So previous texts, absolutely legitimate. But I said, you know what? I don't know. They might have figured out a way to tap into this. So I called them.

And it's sad that we have to do that, but you have to just say, I don't believe anything. I got a text message from my bank that said my credit card had been compromised. And the text came in under other texts, legitimate texts from my bank. So previous texts, absolutely legitimate. But I said, you know what? I don't know. They might have figured out a way to tap into this. So I called them.

And it's sad that we have to do that, but you have to just say, I don't believe anything. I got a text message from my bank that said my credit card had been compromised. And the text came in under other texts, legitimate texts from my bank. So previous texts, absolutely legitimate. But I said, you know what? I don't know. They might have figured out a way to tap into this. So I called them.