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 iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman, and we have a couple of really important conversations lined up for you. In a moment, we'll check in with the Federal Trade Commission to discuss everything you need to know about imposter scams. Plus in a bit we'll connect with an organization focused on helping our
veterans deal with PTSD. Right now, to get things started, I'm joined by John Miller Steiger, Regional Director with the FTC's East Central Region, and Jony Way, Assistant Regional Director with the FTC's Midwest Region, to discuss the latest scams you need to know about, how to spot them, how to report them, and what to do if you end up becoming a victim of one. John, Jony, thank you so much for coming on the show. And John, let's start with you. We're hearing imposter scams are on the rise.
What can you tell us about these scams and how significant of a problem are they?
Sure happy to answer that, and thank you for having us an imposter scam is where a scammer pretends to be someone you know and trust just to get your money or personal information. A scammer might pretend to be from a well known company like Microsoft or publisher's clearinghouse, a government agency, or even a friend or loved one.
And imposter scams top the list of scams reported to the FTC, with people reporting two point seven billion that's billion with a B in losses to imposter scams last year and twenty twenty four is shaping up to be the same.
That is a staggering amount of losses. So what does the data tell us for twenty twenty four up to this point? You mentioned it's shaping up to be the same. Can you expand on that?
Sure? And in the first half of twenty twenty four, reports about business impersonation scams, government impostors, and romance scams are on the rise. Something different and concerning that we're seeing our government impersonators targeting people for cash payments. This trend started last year and this year we're continuing to see an increase in reports where people paid scammers in cash.
In just the first quarter of twenty twenty four, people reported losses of twenty million dollars to government impersonation scams with cash as the form of payment.
It's a lot of money. And how much is the average person losing to these scams.
People are reporting paying scammers thousands of dollars in cash so far this year. The median reported is around fifteen thousand dollars, and people report mailing cash as well as handing cash to drivers sent to collect the money.
What can you tell us about the reports that are coming in about these scams so we know what to look out for.
Well, there are many variations of imposter scams, but one new twist we're seeing is where scammers build on layers to make the transaction look more legitimate. So example, the scammers may say they're with the business you recognize, claiming they're reaching out about a problem like suspicious charges on your Amazon account, or theyrewith Microsoft, contacting you about a virus on your computer or an account breach. The story
quickly escalates. They lie and say you were involved in a serious crime and claim the court is about to seize the money in your bank account or retirement savings. Well, this is also a lie. Next, they switch from being the bearer of bad news to acting like your hero. They claim they can connect you to someone with a government to help you fix the problem. But the person they transfer you to doesn't work for the government and
they don't help. They want to trick you into taking cash out of your bank or retirement account and giving it to someone else. There are variations, but basically they'll make you feel alarmed and alone, and then they'll give you the solution to the problem they've just created. They tell you that in order to protect your money, you need to move it from your bank, investment or retirement account into a new account, or to give it to someone.
The problem is that once you turn it over or create that new account, the scammer controls it and will take your money and run.
I mean, this is all really alarming. Can you go a little more in depth about how these scenarios play out so those listening to us right now can spot scam Sure.
Scammers have all sorts of ways to get you to move your money to supposedly protect it. For example, they may tell you to put cash in a box and give it to a driver they'll send to pick it up, or they'll tell you to mail it or drop it off somewhere. They might say you need to withdraw money and transfer it to a new account or deposit it in a Bitcoin ATM to secure your money, But it's all a lie. The money goes straight to the scammer's wallet moving it it can cost you your life savings.
If anyone tells you that you need to move your money to protect it, it's a scam.
Period.
So they tell you they're going to protect your money, but they're really after it to steal it by having you move it. I mean, it sounds like something right out of a movie, but it's happening in real life, and these scammers are really good at what they do. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by John Miller Steiger, Regional director with the FTC's East Central Region. And now let me bring in Jony Way, Assistant Regional director with the FTC's
mid West Region. So, Joony, what should we do if we end up getting one of these calls?
Thanks?
Ryan, thanks for having me. Yes, let me share a few things that people can do if they get in a situation where someone is telling them to move their money to quote protect it. Do nothing. Never move or transfer your money to protect it. Your money is fine.
Where it is.
No matter what they say to scare you, moving it means you'll lose it, not protect it. Only scammers will tell you to move money to protect it. So don't give cash to a driver or a mail cash to protect it.
That's a scam.
Even if they say they're with the government, don't believe that. Also, people should know that there's no such thing as a government bitcoin account or government digital wallet. There are no bitcoin federal safety lockers, and only a scammer will give you a QR code to supposedly help you deposit your life savings in a bitcoin ATM. So there are ways to spot the scam, but we know the scammers can
be really convincing. So if you're worried at all, stop and check it out, hang up, then talk to someone else, a friend or family member or someone you can trust, and finally report it. If you get a call like this, tell your bank or fund right away, especially if you've moved money or shared a verification code. After you do that, tell the FTC about it at Report fraud dot FTC dot gov.
Again, that's report fraud dot FTC dot gov. Now can't my bank or broker do something to stop these transfers.
It's easy to think that your banker broker will protect you from a scammer, but unfortunately the truth is that this is your money. You control it. So if you withdraw it and move it somewhere else and it turns out that the scammer got that money, there's probably very little that can be done to get that money back. But here are some things I want everyone to remember.
If it involves your bank account, retirement account, or life savings, just stop and hang up and call your bank or broker directly using a number that you know is right. Do not use the number the caller used or gave to you, because that will just lead you right back to the scammer. The other thing is tell someone Scammers they really want to isolate you from people that you know or trust, so you should never agree to keep a secret, especially if you're scared and worried. Always tell
a family member or friend you trust. They care and they can help. The scammer might tell you to lie to the bank, don't lie to avoid the bank security department.
What are some of the telltale signs that you're dealing with a government imposter?
A key telltale sign is this government agencies will never call, email, text, or message you on social media to ask for money or personal information. And they will never demand a payment by cash, gift card, WHI, or transfer payment, APPED or cryptocurrency. They also will not tell you to keep your conversation a secret or light to anyone, and they won't tell you to transfer money from your accounts to quote protect the money as I mentioned earlier, But scammers will do
these things. So if it looks like a caller message from a government agency and they do any of these things I just listed, you know it's a scam.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Joni Way, Assistant Regional Director with the FTC's Midwest Region and John Miller Steinger, Regional Director with the FTC's East Central Region. John, let me go back to you. What is the FTC doing to try to stop these scams.
The FTC is working on many fronts to combat these scams. For example, the FTC has a new impersonation rule that gives the agency stronger tools to combat scammers who pretend to be government agencies and businesses. The new rule enables the FTC to file cases to get money back to
consumers and put civil penalties on the rule violators. THETC, along with many government partners, is also working to raise awareness of these scams and help people protect their money, like we're doing today by talking about these scams.
And where can everyone listening right now learn more about imposter scams and how to protect themselves.
To learn more about protecting yourself and your loved ones, visit FTC dot gov slash impostors. There you'll find articles, consumer alerts, and videos that you can check out and share to help recognize and report these scammers.
Joni, let me go back to you for a moment. What about romance scams? We've heard a lot about them. Are they still a problem and what are people reporting to the FTC?
Yes, people are reporting losing money to Actually a new twist on romance scams. In this version of the scams, someone tries to make an online connection with you, saying all the right things to build our relationship with you. But before you know it, they're talking money and claiming to know how to make big money through crypto investments. Because they care about you, they say they want to teach you some investment tricks. So romance scams are sometimes
another version of imposter scams. This time the scammer's impersonating an individual. They're not who they say they are. But no matter what they say, if someone you meet online says they can teach you investment tricks, what they're really leading you to is a scam.
And how can everyone spot these types of scams?
Well, keep in mind that no one can guarantee that you can make big money investments only scammers promise that kind of thing. All investments have risks, including investments in crypto only. Scammers say there's no risk. And finally, pay attention to how they want you to send money to them. Scammers want your money quickly. I'll steer you to sending cash, gift cards, payment apps, tell you to wire money or pay by crypto only. Scammers insist that you send money this way.
That's really good information. Now, what should you do if you think you met a scammer on social media?
If you think you've met someone on social media and that person is a scammer, cut off contact, tell the social media platform, and then tell the FTC at Report Fraud dot FTC dot gov in English or at report afrauday dot FTC dot gov in Spanish. If you're more comfortable in another language, call eight seven seven three eight two four three five seven and press three to talk with an interpreter in your preferred language. Bone lines are open between nine and five Eastern.
What happens when someone files a report with the FTC.
So when you report a scam, We at the FTC 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 and spreading the word are good reasons to report these 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 the scams that target our communities, the more likely we are to spot and avoid them. Once you've
made a report, you'll get guidance on next steps. Remember if you get a call, email, or text message from someone you think is trying to scam, you reported it as soon as possible at Report fraud dot FTC dot gov.
I'm Ryan Gorman with Joni Way, Assistant Regional Director with the FTC's Midwest Region and John Miller, Stagger Regional Director with the FTC's East Central Region. That website again, where you can report scams and frauds. Report fraud dot FTC dot gov. That's report fraud dot FTC dot gov. John, let me turn back to you. Do you have advice for those who just heard you and Joni talking about these scams and realize they paid a scammer? What steps should they take?
If you think you've paid a scammer, The key thing is to act quickly. Contact whoever you used to pay the scammer, whether that's your bank, your credit card, issue, are the gift card or wire transfer company or the cryptocurrency platform that you used, Tell them you've been scammed and ask if they can reverse the payment. There's a small chance you can get your money back, but again it's so important to act quickly.
And Joony back to you. How can everyone keep up with the latest scams?
Sure to keep up with the latest scams, we encourage you to sign up for the FTCs Free Alerts at FTC dot gov slash Consumer Alerts. You'll get messages delivered straight to your email inbox so you can know about and share the latest scams. And the blogs and social media graphics are really easy to share as well, and so talk to your family and friends about what you know. It just might help someone you care about avoid the scam.
And one more time, everyone can learn more about how to spot, avoid, and report all types of frauds and scams at Consumer dot FTC dot gov. That's Consumer dot FTC dot gov. John Miller Steiger, Regional Director with the FTC's East Central Region, and Jony Way, Assistant Regional Director with the FTC's Midwest Region, with us here to talk about imposter scams. John, Jony, thank you so much for takeing a few minutes to come on the show. We really appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
All Right, I'm Ryan Gorman here on iHeartRadio Communities, and now let me bring in my next guest. I'm joined by Juliana Mercer, director of veteran advocacy at Healing Breakthrough, an organization focused on advocating for veterans diagnosed with PTSD. You can learn more and support this work at Healing Breakthrough dot org. Juliana, thank you so much for taking a few minutes to come on the show, and let's start with how your organization first came about.
Thanks for having me Ryan.
Healing Breakthrough was founded in twenty twenty two when a group of philanthropists and our executive director, Jason File, who is an Army veteran, saw a great need to find solutions for veteran PTSD, and when they saw that MDMA assisted of therapy had produced really promising results to do that, they had no choice but to get behind this and try to figure out ways to ensure that veterans have access to MDMA assisted therapy in the VA system.
Let's talk about the scope of the problem, then we'll get into specifics on what exactly MDMA assisted therapy entails. PTSD is a huge issue in this country. We've talked about it many times before on the show, but can you just help put this into perspective for everyone listening.
Veterans are facing a suicide epidemic. We've been dealing with PTSD, you know, since veterans have been going to war, but since two thousand and one, since the global We're un terror started, we've been losing over six thousand veterans a year here on American soil to suicide. By the end of twenty twenty four, we'll have lost one hundred and fifty thousand veterans to suicide. We haven't had any real
solutions for PTSD, and we've we've tried everything. We've spent billions of dollars to try to find solutions for post traumatic stress myself working with nonprofits that are trying to help veterans succeed post military. We've done everything from connecting veterans to regular therapy and regular medications to outside of the box things.
Like puppy therapy and yoga.
And meditation, and getting them engaged in their communities, trying to help them find purposeful work.
None of that.
Has moved the needle in the right direction, and it's been really frustrating work because we're still losing over six thousand veterans a year and it seems that no matter what we try, we're not able to find adequate solutions. And I can't imagine how much worse it would be if we weren't doing all those things to try to help. Because those things do help, they're just not helping us to really fully solve the problem.
And that's why MDMA.
Assisted therapy is such a light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who have been looking for solutions. Clinical trials showed that MDMA and injunction with talk therapy is seventy one percent effective in eliminating the PTSD diagnosis. And this was for patients that had an average of fourteen years of chronic complex PTSD.
That means they.
Were not able to really function in their daily lives. They were being triggered every day by their trauma response, so they were either they were almost always in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode, and so you can imagine they're not
able to really function in normal society. So these folks were able to do talk therapy and have a session with MDMA followed by talk therapy, and in the trials that happened three times, so it was three sessions of medication with MDMA under the supervision of a mental health care provider and in conjunction with the talk therapy.
Two thirds of the.
Trial participants no longer qualified for their PTSD diagnosis. That means they were able to go back to living their lives fully. And of the other third that didn't get completely rid of their diagnosis, they had an eighty six percent reduction in symptoms, so they got to a place where they could continue doing therapy and work towards complete remission.
I'm Ryan Gorman joined here on iHeartRadio Communities by Juliana Mercer, director of veteran advocacy at Healing Breakthrough, which you can learn more about and support at Healing breakthrough dot org. Before we get back to the MDMA part of the MDMA assisted therapy that we're talking about, I just want to go through some numbers that really stood out to me about the impact of PTSD. Thirteen million Americans suffer from that veterans and survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
They're the majority. Veterans suffered disproportionately from PTSD, with ten in one hundred male veterans and nineteen in one hundred female veterans being diagnosed annually. PTSD the lead diagnostic contributor to the veteran suicide epidemic, claiming seventeen to forty four veteran lives a day, more than one veteran per hour. And like you mentioned, since nine to eleven had nearly one hundred and fifty thousand veterans die by suicide, twenty
one times more than those lost in combat. Those numbers are just staggering, So obviously there is a huge search, real push to find something to help alleviate this problem. So let's get to MDMA specifically. What exactly is that. I think most people probably heard of it, but maybe in different contexts before. Can you tell us about MDMA.
MDMA is a pharmaceutical. It was actually formulated in nineteen twelve, and it was used really successfully for therapy up until the mid eighties. It did break out into the party scene. Some people may know it as ecstasy or molly, and because it broke out into the party scene, it was scheduled as a Schedule one substance by the DEA. And what schedule one means is that it doesn't have any
medical use or medical value. The folks that were using it very successfully for therapy knew that that was not true, and they've been fighting since it was scheduled to put MDMA through the FDA process because they knew. They knew that this was something that held such great promise to help people through mental health conditions, specifically post traumatic stress disorder. What MDMA does, and I'll put this kind of in
Layman's terms, it go. It chemically causes a reaction in your brain that allows your fight flight, freezer fawn response to be turned off.
So somebody that has PTSD.
That switch doesn't turn off like that event is still it's still there with them, and so they have these triggers that cause them to go into their trauma response, and so chemically MDMA allows that switch to be turned off.
It also floods you with feel good.
Hormones, with empathy and with love, and it allows you to confront the root causes of your trauma without that fight or flight or freeze response, and it allows you to really actually finally confront what that trauma is and work through it in a way that isn't threatening. And so that medication in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy produces incredible results. We don't have anything on the market currently
that actually creates results like MDMA does. The last time that a drug was approved for PTSD was over twenty years ago, almost twenty five years now that we've had something new for PTSD, and those medications, those SSRIs are at best thirty to forty percent effective, and they only help with.
The symptoms.
They don't help to eliminate the PTSD diagnosis the way that MDMA does when used in combination with therapy. So you can imagine that this is a really bright light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who have been trying to find solutions for PTSD, Yeah.
It sounds like this MDMA assisted therapy. It really gives a veteran who's suffering from PTSD a chance to open up and to work through those issues that they've been dealing with in just a much more effective way. And this is something that may major educational institutions. We're talking Johns Hopkins, Yale, Harvard, Stanford. It's something that they all have been studying for quite a while. And you also have some major veteran organizations, veteran service organizations like the
Wounded Warrior Project, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans. Many of these organizations have been on the show. They're advocating for FDA approval too for.
This right, Yes, they are, and the American Legion past a resolution last year all the way from the Montana state posts to the National Headquarters, and it was in support of MGMA assistant therapy. I know the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have also been huge components of it, and like you mentioned, Wounded Warrior Project actually has helped with some of the trials that are going on within the
VA system. All of these organizations that have been trying to find these solutions have seen the science and the data that was put out in the new drug application to the FDA and are waiting for it to be approved because we know that this is going to be a game changer and helping us to tackle this veterans suicide epidemic.
And so and again, I'm joined right now by Juliana Mercer, director of Veteran Advocacy at Healing Breakthrough, which you can learn more about and support at Healing breakthrough dot org. How is your organization involved in all of this?
So, Healing Breakthrough is using the veteran voice to call attention to not just the veterans suicide epidemic, but to the real need for solutions for mental health disorders. As a Marine Corps veteran myself, I struggled and needed to find assistance for what I was going through, and I went through the traditional routes and was not able to get the relief that I needed.
And I had to actually leave the country in.
Order to access a breakthrough therapy that was able to help me deal with and get to the root cause of my problems and that was That was the solution that I had been looking for, not just for myself, but for my fellow veteran brothers and sisters, and I started advocating for finding real solutions and that's how I came to Healing Breakthrough, who is focused on getting MDMA assisted therapy into the VA system once it's FDA approved.
And there's nothing out there that has been helping me or my fellow veterans the way that this medication and conjunction with therapy has the potential to do so. And I feel a moral obligation to make sure.
That veterans have access to this.
And for me, as you know, a woman veteran, that's important, but so as a woman, women in our country have suffer from a much higher rate of PTSD than their male counterparts do, so for me, it's important that veterans have access to this, but I think it's important that everyone in our communities has access to this. Our communities have been facing pretty severe mental health crisises over the last handful of years, and we deserve access to medications that can help us.
And finally, what can everyone listening do to help support this work and support the mission that you're on at Healing Breakthrough.
Yeah, so currently I'm on the hill in DC talking to our legislators. We're busy working with the House and the Senate to have them help us support following the science and ensuring that the FDA makes their decision based off of the data, the facts and the science that were submitted in the new Drug application. And citizens can call their representatives. They can email their representatives as well
and call the White House. If you need a transcript for what to say, you can go to Healing Breakthrough dot org and find our advocacy page and that's where you can.
Find a script, and it also gives you the phone.
Numbers to call and links to find your senators and your congressional representatives.
Again, Healing Breakthrough dot org is the website. Juliana Mercer, director of Veteran Advocacy at Healing Breakthrough. Juliana, thank you so much for your service to this country and the work you're doing on this issue. We really appreciate it.
Thank you.
Ryan.
All right, and that's going to do it for this edition of iHeartRadio Communities. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman. We'll talk to you again real soon.