·         AARP Tax Aide Site Locator:  http://www.aarp.org/applications/VMISLocator/searchTaxAideLocations.action

 ·         IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs: http://irs.treasury.gov/freetaxprep/

 resource information provided by:

Elizabeth Lough, MPH, Benefits Access Specialist
AgeOptions
1048 Lake Street, Suite 300
Oak Park, Illinois 60301
phone (708)383-0258  fax (708)524-0870
elizabeth.lough@ageoptions.org
ageoptions.org

Medicare ‘Open Enrollment’ scams

by Colleen Tressler Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

The 2015 Medicare open enrollment period runs from October 15 to December 7. It’s the time when Medicare recipients can comparison shop and make changes to their plans. It’s also a time when scammers take advantage of older consumers with ruses like these.

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by Cristina Miranda
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Haunted by debt collectors? Here’s a chilling thought: some debt collectors are calling about debts that aren’t real. The FTC says a company calling itself “Delaware Solutions” and “Clear Credit Solutions,” did just that.

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Secretary of State’s Office Suspends Mailing of Vehicle Registration Renewal Reminders

Post Date: 10/28/2015

Due to the budget stalemate Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced recently that his office will suspend mailing out vehicle registration renewal reminder notices to the public effective immediately.

Normally notices are sent to vehicle owners several weeks before license stickers expire. The last batch of renewal reminders was sent in early September for people whose license stickers had to be renewed in October. People whose stickers expire in November and beyond will not be getting a renewal reminder.

Vehicle owners are encouraged to be mindful of their vehicle registration status to ensure they renew in a timely manner and avoid driving on expired vehicle stickers.

People can still get notices by email if they register online. They need to do that through the secretary of state’s website, www.cyberdriveillinois.com. Those people will also have the information needed to renew their license stickers online. Those who don’t have access to email or a computer will have to go to a driver’s license facility in order to renew their stickers.

To register online for renewal reminders, please visit www.cyberdriveillinois.com.

by Carol Kando-Pineda
Counsel, FTC’s Division of Consumer & Business Education

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, so the FTC and the National Credit Union Administration are teaming up on a live Twitter chat to talk about tips to protect your information. During the chat, the FTC will share tips and tools from Consumer.FTC.gov and OnGuardOnline.gov. NCUA will share resources from MyCreditUnion.gov on how consumers can protect their finances.

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25th International Day of Older Persons: Sustainability and Age Inclusiveness in the Urban Environment

The 2015 celebration of the 25th anniversary of International Day of Older Persons (IDOP), in anticipation of the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) to be held in 2016, will focus not only on the impact of the new urban environment on older persons, but also the impact of older persons on the new urban environment. Already, the move of people worldwide to cities is happening at a record pace, with 6 out of every 10 people in the world expected to reside in urban areas by 2030. Consistent with the phenomenon of urbanization, the number of older persons is increasing most rapidly in urban areas of developing countries. The combined effect of both phenomena means that the number of people over 60 living in cities may grow to over 900 million by 2050 – making up a quarter of the total urban population in developing countries .   In principle, these trends offer older persons prospects for improving their quality of life. Well planned cities are more likely to provide income generating and education opportunities, in addition to housing and urban environments that are more accessible and safe for older persons, including the incorporation of age-friendly features in public facilities. This includes access to affordable, reliable, safe and physically accessible transportation, which is one of the cornerstones of older persons’ participation, independence and social inclusion. The 2015 IDOP celebration seeks to demonstrate that an age inclusive agenda is crucial for sustainable urban environments to promote equity, welfare and shared prosperity for all.

• Mission Statement
• Flyer of the event

Message from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon English | Français | Español | Русский | عربي | 汉语

Statement by Kornfeld-Matte, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons.

Spread the Word!

• Follow us on twitter @UN4Ageing

Use #UNIDOP #ForPeople and #60PLUS for all you tweets on the 25th International Day of Older Persons (1 October 2015

This week’s Fraud Alert features tips for lowering prescription drug cost, a seven year prison sentence for health care fraud, and tips for stopping unwanted calls.

published by Age Options… read more

Published by AgeOptions, the Fraud Alert contains helpful information for all.

read the current issue.

by Lisa Weintraub Schifferle Attorney, Division of Consumer and Business Education, FTC

Financial abuse can be a devastating form of elder abuse. If you’re concerned about an older friend or relative, here are some things to consider.

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Avoiding Money Wiring Scams

by Alvaro Puig Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Imposters. Impersonators. Fakes. Frauds. Phonies. You might call them by different names but these scam artists have one thing in common: they pretend to be someone they aren’t and tell you a bogus story to con you into wiring them money.

read more.

by Preston Reisig Consumer Education Intern, FTC

Got a question about a product or an account from a big-name online retailer that makes you want to speak directly to their customer service representative? What do you do first? Go to their website, of course. Can’t find a phone number there? Then you may do what seems like the next best thing and just type the company name into a search engine.

But the FTC warns consumers that it’s a mistake to assume that all toll-free numbers that pop up in a search are legitimate customer service lines. Some are run by scammers out to hijack your credit card number or install malware on your computer.

read more.

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No hay mal, que por bien no venga,” as we say in Spanish. There’s nothing bad through which good doesn’t come.

It’s an appropriate phrase to describe the FTC’s settlement with Centro Natural – a telemarketing company that the FTC says deceived and harassed Spanish-speaking people into paying debts they didn’t owe. Thanks to the settlement, announced recently, the company is now banned from telemarketing and debt collecting. It’s an important case, because fraud really does affect every community. The case also aligns with the FTC’s work on how debt collection and credit reporting issues affect Latino consumers.

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Whether in a hotel or airport across the world, or in the coffee shop just down the street, chances are you’ve used free Wi-Fi hotspots. While convenient, they’re often unsecure. So how can you reduce your risk? Encryption — having your information scrambled into code — is key to staying secure online.

Watch this video from OnGuardOnline.gov to learn the signs that a site and hotspot are encrypted so you can protect your personal information when using public Wi-Fi hotspots.

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We’ve all heard the ads saying that 15 minutes can save you 15%. Some ads claim to save you more in even less time. Well, the FTC can save you lots of headaches in about a minute and a half. We recently released new short videos explaining the basics about three topics that affect millions of us:

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As always, the alert contains helpful information.

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