By E.J. Smith

Does this burn your biscuits? You ordered an item or a service from the internet because the ad said it was a free trial. “Free trial” used to mean just that, but now-a-days, if you do not cancel the “free trial” within 7 days and send back the “free” stuff, you will be paying for a worthless product for at least the next 12 months. This can get very expensive if one does not understand the details of the 7 day trial or forgets to let them know if you do not want the item or service. This method of advertising is very misleading for seniors especially, since “free” still means “free” to us. This happened to a friend; he actually had ordered by mistake and called the company and asked for a cancellation and a refund of almost $100 they had taken out of his bank account to pay for the “free” bottle of whatever it was he had ordered. They cancelled the order, but refused to refund his money. Outrageous! You cannot tell me that this is not done intentionally to scam people into purchasing something they do not really want or understand. They count on seniors not understanding and/or forgetting to cancel. These companies don’t care if you want their products or not, they just devise a way that you cannot say no to them before they can take money from you. Do not order off the internet if you are not familiar with these not quite honest details in ordering. If it seems internet companies will do anything to take your money, you are right, at least most of the time, so please use extreme caution and read all instructions before ordering to avoid getting cheated out of your hard earned money.

We all hear about the scams that are so clever and widespread today. We must exercise great caution when dealing with salespeople, whether online or in person (one who comes to your house to sell you something, i.e. vacuum cleaners, driveway cleaning, house repairs, etc.). Also, do not ever give out any of your personal numbers such as Social Security or your bank account number over the telephone. It is best to call the company they say they are calling from and verify the claim. Know too that Social Security and the IRS do not call you, they send a letter and ask you to get in touch with them.

If you are an AARP member, your monthly newsletter will keep you up to date on scams, new and old, so that you will learn to stay safe from the crooks that on the rampage today. Your local newspaper also lets the public know about scams because the scammers don’t care how old you are, they just know that seniors are the most susceptible to their lies than others. We can fight this!

All comments and ideas welcome at burnsmybiscuit@gmail.com.

You are in my prayers,

E.J.