Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting you. This week, here's Ryan Gorman. Thanks so much for joining us here on Ihear Radio Communities. I'm Ran Gorman, and we have a few very important conversations lined up for you. In just a bit, we'll check in with our friends over at Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. But right now, to get things started, let me bring in two experts from the Federal Trade
Commission for some valuable information on scams and frauds. I'm joined by Maria Mayo, Associate director for the FTC's Division of Consumer Response and Operations, and Larissa Bungo, Senior Attorney with the FTC's Division of Consumer and Business Education. I want to thank both of you so much for coming on the show. And Maria, let me begin with you. How many scams are reported to the FTC and what does the data show? Sure by Ryan, thanks for having
me. The big story this year is that, for the first time ever, reported losses to scams reached ten billion dollars, even though the number of reports was about the same as last year at roughly two point six million, and this year one in four people reported losing money once again. The most frequently reported scams involve impostors, people pretending to be someone you know. A scammer might pretend to be from a well known company or government agency, or
even a friend or family member. These impostors are after your money or personal information. When they reach out by phone, email, text, or even message you on social media. They say you have to act quickly, trying to make sure you don't have time to stop and think. These imposters scams cost people. Are reported two point seven billion dollars last year, and those are just the losses that people reported. We know they're actually much higher.
That is a lot of money. Now, what kinds of impostors are we talking about and how can we recognize them? There are so many variations, so let me give you a few examples of these scams. Maybe you get an email from what looks like your bank warning about an unauthorized transfer, or someone calls saying they're from a tech company like Microsoft or Apple telling you your computer was hacked and offering to fix it. Of course, that's a scammer,
not your bank or real tech company. Some scammers pretend to be from the government calling to say you're in trouble with the law, and some even pretend they're a loved one who supposedly needs urgent help. That scam is even trickier to the spot now that voice cloning can make it sound like your real loved one when it's really a scammer. While the stories may change, scammers are always after your money or personal information. For example, they might tell
you to buy a gift card and give them the pin code. They might say to get cash or cryptocurrency and send it to them, or they might tell you to click a link or call a number. These are all scams. But here's how you can spot the scam. Let's say they insist you pay by cash, cryptocurrency, a wire transfer service like Western Union or money Gram, a payment app, or a gift card. The minute they do, you know is a scam period. Nobody legitimate will ever tell you to
pay that way. Anyone who does is a scammer. So what were some of the most common impostor scams reported to the FTC last year? Business impostors top the list. People reported US staggering seven hundred and fifty two million dollars in losses last year in a new twist, people are losing big money to
scammers running complicated scams. These scams usually involve someone claiming there's a there's fraud or criminal activity on one of your accounts, and offering to help protect your money, sometimes asking you to share verification codes, and always telling you to move money from your bank, investment or retirement account, and every bit of it is a scam. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Maria Mayo, Associate Director for the FTC's Division of Consumer Response and Operations, and Larissa Bungo,
seeing your attorney for the FTC's Division of Consumer and Business Education. Maria, can you tell us a little bit more and maybe share an example. In one variation of the scam, you get a text alert that says it's from your bank about fraud on your accounts. They give you a number to call, and if you do, the person on the phone, who by the way, is a scammer, not your banker. That person will try to
scare you about all the bad things supposedly going on. Then they transfer you to someone who can help that might be supposedly a US marshall or even the Federal Trade Commission. Of course, it's not, but that's what they'll say. The fake Marshall or fake FTC official will keep talking about the supposedly terrible things happening and tell you the only way to protect your money is to withdraw all of it right away. To protect your money, they'll tell you to
transfer it to a secure crypto wallet that they've set up. Some scammers even tell people to put cash in a box and drop it off with someone to legalize it. But all of this is a scam that could cost you your life savings. That is awful. Now, what should people know to spot this kind of a scam? Never move or transfer money to protect it. Your money is fine where it is, no matter what someone says or how urgently they say it. Moving your money means you'll lose it, not protect
it. Someone who says you have to move your money to protect it is a scammer. Period. If you're worried that something might be wrong with your financial accounts, stop and check it out with your bank, broker or investment advisor. But use the number on your statement, never the number the caller gave you, which will take you to the scammer. That's really good advice. Now, where can people learn more about imposter scams and how to protect
themselves. Learn more about protecting yourself and your loved ones. Visit FTC dot gov slash impostors. There you'll find articles, consumer alerts, and videos to help you spot, avoid, and report these scammers. One thing I'm hearing a lot about these days are romance scams. What are consumers telling the FTC about that? The headline is that people are still losing big money to romance
scammers. Millions of people use online dating apps and social networking sites to meet someone, but all too often the person they meet is a scammer trying to trying to trick them into sending money. While they try to quickly make a connection with you, they always have a reason why they can't meet you in person. Maybe they're out of the country working on an oil rig or in the military. And of course, the minute your online interest ask you for
money, that's a sign of a scam. They might say they need your help pay medical expenses, buying a ticket to visit you, or helping them get out of some kind of trouble. Others even claim to be a successful cryptocurrency investor will teach you how it's done but that's a scam and any money you invest goes straight into their wallet. Again, I hope red flags start flying as soon as someone you never met in person ask you for money.
Is the problem getting worse? We've seen an increase in the number of reports and losses to romance scams over the last three years. To give you an idea of the impact, reports to the FTC show that romance scammers stole more than one billion dollars from people last year alone. That's nearly double the losses reported in twenty twenty one, and that increase comes mainly because of the huge
losses to cryptocurrency investment mixed with romance scams. Speaking of investments, let me bring in Larissa Bungo, now senior attorney with the FTC's Division of Consumer and Business Education. Larissa, what can you tell us about investment scams? These scams start with a promise that you can make a lot of money quickly with little or no risk. You might hear about the so called investment opportunity when someone reaches out by phone, email, and text, as well as on
social media. Unfortunately, these big promises seem to be working for scammers because last year people reported losing four point six billion to investment scams. That's more than twenty percent higher than the previous year. That is awful. Larissa, tell me a little bit more about how scammers are reaching people. Scammers will try any way they can to reach you, but our data shows some interesting findings. For the first time ever, people reported email as the top contact
method for scams. That said, when scammers got in touch by phone, people reported losing more money. On the other hand, the highest overall loss for any contact method, one point four billion, was to scams that started on social media. A takeaway is that we need to be vigilant about unexpected emails and calls, as well as about what seems like amazing deals and ads on social What should people do if someone does get in touch out of the
blue asking for money or personal information. The short answer is do nothing. Nobody legitimate will ever get in touch out of the blue demanding money or information. If they do, slow down and talk to someone you trust. We know that talking about scams is one of the best ways to avoid them. We also know that scammers can be good at what they do, so it can help to remember that legitimate businesses and government agencies will never call, email,
text, or message you on social media to demand money. They also won't ask for personal information like your Social Security or bank account numbers, and they won't insist that you pay by gift card, money transfer, or cryptocurrency. If someone does, that's a scam every time, since scammers can be convincing, check it out. If you're worried, get in touch with the real agency, person or company, but make sure you look up their phone
number, email, or website yourself. If you use the contact info the scammers give you, you'll just be led right back to them. And of course, if you think you've spotted a scam, let the FTC know at Report Fraud dot FTC dot gov. When you report a scam, the FTC can use the information to build cases against scammers, spot trends, educate the public, and share data about what is happening in your community, just like
we're doing here today. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined now by Larissa Bungo, Senior Attorney with the FTC's Division of Consumer and Business Education, and Maria Mayo, Associate Director for the FTC's Division of Consumer Response and Operations. We're talking scams and frauds Larissa, do you have advice for those out there who just heard you and Maria talking about these scams and realize they paid a scammer.
What steps should they take? The important thing is to act quickly. Contact whoever you use to pay the scammer, whether that's your bank, credit card issuer, the gift card for wire transfer company, or the cryptocurrency platform. Tell them that you've been scammed and ask them if they can reverse the payment. There's a chance you can get your money back. But again, it's so important to act quickly. Maria, let me turn back to you because
i want to talk more about reporting fraud. I'm sure reports help the FTC find scammers to sue, but why else should people report scams? And can you tell us how to report them to the FTC? Yes, every report matters at the FTC, and we absolutely use reports to build investigations and bring cases. We also use them to help target education and outreach, and we
hope that stopping bad guys is bretting the word. Are good reasons to report scams, but telling your story can also help your friends, family, and community avoid scams. Both research and experience tell us that the more we talk about scams that target our communities, the more likely we are to spot and avoid them. That keeps money in people's pockets and information out of the hands
of criminals. We recognize that not everyone feels comfortable sharing information that goes into a government database, but you can always submit the report anonymously or work with an advocate or someone else who can help report on your behalf. In English, share your story at report fraud dot FTC dot gov and in Spanish visit report tefrauday dot FTC dot gov. I also want to share an exciting update. You also can report fraud in other languages by calling and talking with an
interpreter in your language. To do that, call eight seven seven three eight two four three five seven and press three to select your preferred language. Phone lines are open between nine am to five pm East time. Once you make a report, you'll get advice on how to recover from the scam and how to protect yourself against fraud. Larissa, let me turn back to you. What are some key takeaways you can share with all of us to help us
spot and avoid scams. Scammers tell different stories to steal money or personal information, but you'll often see three common tactics. Scammers contact you unexpectedly, they create a sense of urgency, and they give you a specific way to pay or send money. Any one of these is a sign of a scam, so to steer clear, never share money or information with anyone who contacts you unexpectedly. Legitimate businesses and government agencies won't unexpectedly call, email, text,
or message you on social media to ask for information or money. Only scammers do that. I'd also suggest slowing down and checking it out. Scammers want to pressure you to act quickly. That way, you don't have time to think or check out their story, So slow down, do some research, talk to someone you trust before you do anything else, and finally, never
pay someone who says you can only pay a certain way. Nobody legitimate will ever demand that you pay by gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, payment app or cash. And nobody legit will ever tell you to move your money to protect it, but scammers will. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined now by Maria Mayo, Associate Director for the FTC's Division of Consumer Response and Operations, and Larissa Bungo, Senior Attorney with the FTC's Division of Consumer and Business Education.
Maria is there anything else our listeners should know. Yes, well, scams can feel really personal, broad affects every community. Scammers look for ways to build trust to get our money and information, and it's not unusual for them to run their scams in languages we speak at home. If you or your community want to learn more about spotting and fighting fraud in another language,
check out FTC dot gov slash Languages. There you'll find information in a dozen different languages to help spot and avoid scams and know what to do if you might have paid a scammer. The resources at FTC dot gov slash languages can help many communities spread the word about how to spot, avoid and report scams, and please remember to resport report scams to the FTC. In English, share your story at report fraud dot FTC dot gov and in Spanish visit reportefrauday
dot FTC dot gov. If you are more comfortable reporting in other languages, called eight seven seven three eight two four three five seven and pressed three to select your preferred language. Phone lines are open between nine am to five pm Eastern Time, And Larissa, how can people keep up with the latest scams? That's easy, Just sign up for the FTC's free alerts at FTC dot gov slash Consumer Alerts. We hope they help you know what scammers are up
to, and we hope you'll spread the word. Remember that talking about a scam helps you avoid it, and it also helps others you care about avoid the scam, so it's good for you and for them. Larissa Bungo, Senior Attorney with the FTC's Division of Consumer and Business Education, and Maria Mail,
Associate Director for the FTC's Division of Consumer Response and Operations. Larissa, Maria, I want to thank you both so much for coming on the show, and remember you can learn more about how to spot, avoid, and report all types of frauds and scams at Consumer dot FTC dot gov. I'm Ryan Gorman here on iHeartRadio Communities and now let me bring in our next guest. I'm joined by doctor Amy Daily, President and CEO of Children's Miracle Network
Hospitals. You can learn more about all the tremendous work they do at Cmnhospitals dot org. Doctor Daily, thank you so much for coming on the show, and let's start with an overview of the work you do and how this incredible network of hospitals was first started. Absolutely so, Children's Medical Network Hospitals.
We are a national not for profit with a local impact, and what that means is that we partner with corporations and programs that we host to raise money for children's hospitals all across the United States in Canada, and we help them raise money through various means, and that money goes back to the children's hospitals that are in your communities as unrestricted funds, meaning that the local member children's hospitals, the leadership there, gets to decide what the most critical needs
are for the funding to best support the children's health care needs in that community. And we've been doing this for forty one years and have raised just over nine billion dollars during that time to support our one hundred and seventy hospitals across United States and Canada. Tell us about your personal connection to the mission of Children's Medical Network Hospitals. Absolutely so. I am the mother of two children.
They are now twenty six and twenty eight years old, and I'll go to the punchline and tell you that they are now very happy and very healthy adults. But it didn't start out that way. Both of my children two years apart, were born just over two months early, and they were very sick. They spent the first several months of their life in a neonatal intensive care unit at the local member children's hospital in the community where I lived,
and they received incredible ca from very compassionate caregivers. And I know that during their experience, some of the education that had been provided to the caregivers, some of the equipment that my children were treated with, the facility that they
were in was supported through funding of Children's Medical Network hospitals. And so it's pretty much a full circle moment for me to be leading the organization that is raising money to help one of the hospitals who helped save my children's lives. That is pretty incredible. How Like you said, it's come full circle for you. Now, are there any common needs that you find among many of the hospitals within your network? Yeah, so that's such a great question,
and I think there's two parts to that. The first I would say is, yes, there is a lot of uniqueness that goes on within our different hospitals. And I started in the role on November first, and so over the last six months, I've had the opportunity to go visit many of our hospitals. I think I've been to twenty three of them just so far since
I've gotten here. And something that struck me about these hospitals is that each of them they have very specific needs that they have to meet within their communities, and so things are different, right. The geography is different, the demographics are different, the social economic factors are different in those communities. And so what we've found is that the unrestricted funds to the hospitals really help them
to be able to decide where the money needs to go to. And that's why we give the money in that way, so they decide what makes most sense for them. But the second part of that question, you said, are there things that are same in things that are different? The thing that is very common that we're seeing right now across all of our hospitals is the need for mental health services for kids, and that has grown greater. Even
during the pandemic. We've seen more of a need for that, and I'm proud to tell you that one hundred percent of our hospitals provide services for mental health care needs for teenagers and for young children who need that support. And you can hear doctor Daily's dog in the background urgently calling to action all of you listening right now to make sure to make sure you support Children's Miracle Network
Hospitals, and you can do just that at Cmnhospitals dot org. Again, I'm Ryan Gorman with doctor Amy Daily, President and CEO of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals that focus on mental healthcare for children. There was a big topic of discussion at Children's Hospital Week which took place a couple of weeks ago in Florida. Tell us about that week and some of what transpired. Absolutely, So
this is just kind of our pinnacle Week, right. It's the opportunity for us to bring together all of our corporate partners from the various companies that support our organization. We had over four hundred corporate partners in attendance. We had over three hundred people coming from our different hospitals, so whether that be the CEO, the development team, the program directors who do the work there. And then we had our champions. And so the champions are children who are
representing their hospital. They are there to share their story and so they're being ambassadors about their particular needs that drove them to a children's hospital. And we get together and we celebrate. First and foremost, we celebrated twenty twenty three. It was a record breaking year for US. We raised four hundred and
forty nine million dollars, so we were really excited about that. And the other thing that we do at Children's Hospital Week is really set our intentions for what we're going to do going forward, and so partners will share new ideas of how they can raise funds, different types of events, different types of giving campaigns that they're going to do, and it's really a great opportunity for us to get together and say this is what we want twenty twenty four to
look like, and set our sights on the future. So we had a wonderful week at Children's Hospital Week and got to celebrate all of the incredible work that happens at our children's hospitals all across the US and Canada. One of the other issues that often comes up when we're talking about healthcare in this country gets access to it, including for children. Can you talk a bit about that problem and the work that Children's Miracle Network hospitals are doing in that area.
Yeah, So that's one of the great things again about that unrestricted funding is some of our hospitals will take the funding that they receive and they may use it for a new service or a new program that they're offering. As we talked about earlier, mental health certainly being an area that people are investing more in, whether it's in patient care or outpatient services. Others are really looking at saying how can we expand access. Maybe it's in a different program,
like an autism program. We're seeing more advancements in that area. And then we've got some hospitals that are investing their money in research and they're looking at not only how do they treat care, but how do they advance medical care and treatment for children. Others are really investing in what I would call the healing environment and so things like the emotional and mental wellbeing of kids that
are particularly those who are having extended hospital stays. So last week at Children's Hospital Week, we celebrated a lot of our art therapy programs, music therapy, pet therapy programs, the idea of comfort toys. We gave away our Child Life Specialist of the Award of the Year award to a child Life specialist who does all of her work exclusively in an emergency department and helps kids who
are going into an emergency room and the care that they're receiving. So it's pretty interesting to see how how people in different communities are focusing the needs in based on what that community's greatest needs are at that time. And we're just seeing incredible results that are happening and incredible impact and the care that the children
all across US and Canada are receiving because of that funding. I'm Ryan Gorman joined now by doctor Amy Daily, President and CEO of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, so you can learn more and support the work they do at Cmnhospitals dot org. What were some of the lessons that you learned when you traveled across the country to these different hospitals. Yeah, so that has been really great. I called it my one hundred day listening and learning tour, and I
was out and about. I think I did almost forty flights and lots of different cities and went to a lot of different places and met with a lot of our corporate partners as well, and had the opportunity to really understand how bought in these corporations who walk alongside us to help raise money and these are companies that we all know and frequent and use every day, like Walmart and Costco and Loves, and you know regional partners like wah Wah Publics and different
companies and in different communities, and it's incredible to see. We celebrated last week forty years of partnership with Dairy Queen and the organization's only forty one years old, right, Marriott International has been with us for forty one years.
So just seeing how these partners understand the importance of cause marketing and recognizing that with their customers, whether that's the customers that are in a gas station or in a convenience store or inside one of the hotels, that people are willing to give and support causes that mean something to them. And I think you're
very hard pressed, you know, Ryan. No matter where you would go, you're going to find people who either themselves, a family member, a neighbor, a coworker, they've had a child that's been treated at a children's hospital, and we need them. We need them to be there, we need them to be able to provide the best care, we need them to
have the best equipment. And so we're so fortunate that there are so many companies across North America who are willing to come on this journey with us and help us raise funds to help these hospitals because they need more money than what they're able to get through the traditional channels right of government payment or through payment
through insurance, and so we supplement that and help them raise money. And we've got a lot of ideas for twenty twenty four of how we can continue to do that even more so going forward, Doctor Amy Daily, President and CEO of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Again, you can learn more and support this really important work at Cmnhospitals dot org. Again, that's Cmnhospitals dot org. Doctor Daily, thank you so much for the work you're doing and for
coming on the show. We really appreciate it. Oh, I appreciate the opportunity. And as you started out by saying, you know, we'd encourage anybody who wants to learn more about us, you can visit Cmnhospitals dot org. There people can learn how to donate, how to be a part of a program, or just learn more about the incredible work going on at children's hospitals all around the country and how they can help be a part of our vision to change kid's health, to change the future. All Right, thanks
again, doctor Daily. We really appreciate it. Okay, perfect, happy to be here. Thank you so much. All Right, and that'll do it for this edition of iHeartRadio Communities. As we wrap things up, I want to offer a big thanks to all of our guests and of course to all of you for listening. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman. We'll talk to you again real soon.