You're listening to wake Up Call on demand from KFI AM six forty KFI and KOSTHD two Los Angeles, Orange County. It's time for your morning wake up call.
Good morning, this is your wake up call for Tuesday, September third. I'm Heather Rooker in for Amy King. I want to say good morning to Ann and Kono. We are happy to be here with you guys sharing all of the news of the day. So let's get right into it. Here's what's ahead on wake Up Call. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nettyaho has asked the families of the six hostages who are recovered by Israeli forces or forgiveness, but he did not change his stance on maintaining an
Israeli force in Gaza. We'll get a live report from Israel on where the ceasefire talks are at now between Israel and Hamas. COVID cases are surging in California and across the country. We'll tell you about the new vaccine, who should take it and when. And scammers have a new take on an old scheme with bitcoin. We're going to tell you what they're doing to get tens of millions of dollars each year and how you can protect yourself. Then at six oh five, it's handle on the news.
The United Kingdom is suspending some arms exports to Israel, saying there is a clear risk the arms might be used in serious violation of humanitarian law. We're going to tell you why they made this decision and when it takes effect. All right, let's get started with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Mexican officials have warned the US about violent gang members from Venezuela illegally crossing the California Mexico border.
Those public safety officials say members of Trend de Aragua or TDA, have been passing through the state of Chihuahua in high numbers on their way to the US. And the problem is, according to US customs officials, it's hard to vet these cartel members at the border because Venezuela doesn't share criminal background information with US. When officials said that cartel is like MS thirteen on steroids, agents say TDA specializes in transporting migrant women and girls across the
border for sex trafficking and debt bondage. Steve Gregory ka If I News.
A five year old boy is recovering from a mountain lion attack at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas. Officials say the boy and his family were having a picnic Sunday when the lion grabbed him by the head and started to run away with him. An aunt says the father heard someone scream the boy's name and went running. He then grabbed the mountain lion with his hands and
fought until it let go of the boy. The child was treated for injuries and released, but had to go back to the hospital because of complications from injuries to his eyes. The mountain lion was euthanized. A man arrested for allegedly killing a couple at a nudist resort in Redlands is due to be arranged this morning in San Bernardino.
Dan and Stephanie Minard haven't been seen for more than a week, and Redlands Police spokesman Carl Baker told KTLA bags of huge human remains were found in a bunker under their neighbor's house Friday.
As far as we know, the remains that we've recovered are those of Dan and Stephanie, and there are no others.
The San Bernardino County Corner is expected to positively identify those remains. This week. Code enforcement is expected to red tag the house where the remains were found. Excessive heat warnings have been issued for parts of southern California as late summer heat wave rolls in. Meteorologists Sam Zuber with the National Weather Service says temperatures will probably be between ten or twelve degrees above normal this week. She says a high pressure system is the reason.
Even though we have the excessive key warning out for Wednesday through Friday, we are really looking at above normal temperatures for the next seven eight days.
Zuber says nighttime temperatures will also be higher than normal into the weekend. The city of La is opening cooling centers to help people avoid the heat. The air conditioned spaces are free and open to pets. There are five sites across LA. Officials say libraries can also be used for cooling down. Mayor Bath says people on skid row will be offered cold drinks, seating, and shade at various cooling stations. A drug rate in La has led to the seizure of meth, cash and guns.
Forty three pounds of meth, eleven thousand dollars in cash, and a handgun have all been recovered by the LAPD's Central Bureau. Major Narcotics Unit Commander Lillian Caranza posted on social media on Sunday that the bust likely saved lives from overdoses. She says skid Row is a target for out of town dealers who look to prey on drug addicts and that busts like this one are becoming more common. The LAPD says one person was arrested in the raid in downtown La. Michael Monks KFI.
News LA is a step closer to taking a comprehensive review of how LAPD officers are disciplined. City Councilman Tim mcoscar says the new plan approved by the Public Safety Committee would involve more departments and community members as part of the effort.
This is an opportunity really for everyone to work towards a comprehensive review of the police discipline system.
Mcosker led an effort at city Hall to push a ballot measure that would have allowed the police chief to directly fire officers for some offenses, among other charges. Mayor Bass vetoed it, saying it lacked clarity and support from rank and file officers. President Biden says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin net Yahoo is not doing enough to secure a deal after six hostages were killed last week. ABC's Karen Travers joins us live from the White House with more
on his response. Good morning, Karen, Good morning. All right, So what is the President saying now after the murders of these hostages.
Yeah, I mean to start there.
The President said he was outraged and devastated by the death of Hirsch Goldberg pulland the President and the Vice President spoke to his parents on Sunday to offer their condolences. The President said, as tragic as it is also reprehensible and hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.
He'd about to keep.
Working around the clock to secure a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages, and that started yesterday with the Situation Room meeting that the President and Vice President were in with the Secretary of State, Director of the CIA, and other top national security officials, where they were working on next steps in this effort to secure this deal. Yesterday, though, the President, as you mentioned, was
tough on Benjamin net Yahoo. He was asked if the Israeli Prime Minister was doing enough to reach a deal, and he said simply no. Later, he was asked by reporters, what do you want net Yahoo to do, and he didn't give specifics.
He said, we're in the middle of a negotiation.
The President also indicated that there could be a final offer presented this week, that the United States is getting close to presenting, getting close to finalizing a deal that could be kind of a last best thing. He was asked what would make this one different than others in the past that could get something done, and he said, hope springs eternal. We've heard the President be optimistic publicly in the past, but privately keeping that pressure on all
of the parties involved. But we'll see if this time is the one that gets it done after having come close before only to see talks breakdown.
Now, what has Netanyahu's response been to this pressure from the president?
You know, there was a frustration expressed.
From Israeli officials about the President's comments yesterday, you know, saying they are doing what they can to get this done, and of course pointing the finger back at Hamas, saying that it was Hamas who executed these six hostages. And you know that they have been the ones that have been trying to reach the deal, only to see Hamas back away. There's just a lot of finger pointing, no
surprise there. The main sticking point right now, according to our sources, is this Philadelphi Corridor that the Israeli Prime Minister is insisting that they want to keep control of this narrow strip of tear territory that's.
On the border of Gaza in Egypt. Hamas is drawing a line there and refusing.
What do you think will ultimately or what could ultimately push the president into that final cease fire deal situation. Is there a breaking point here where the US just either walks away or has some major changes in their strategy.
You know, it's hard to see the US completely walking away. Like there were Americans killed on October seventh, there were Americans that have been held hostage. There are still Americans held hostage. It's not like the United States has just been taking a mediator role in this. The United States has a stake in this, and that's why the administration has played such a critical part in this and such
a deep role in this. There's also the desire by this administration from what we hear from senior officials and the president to reach the ceasefire deal in order to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza that desperately needed assistance. So there's a lot of factors here why I don't see that the United States would just say throw the hands up, walk away, because they have been so invested
at this point. That said, you certainly got a sense yesterday that there's a real sense of urgency, a real sense of frustration in the administration, and sense that the pressure is growing right now on the President to get something done.
And even if they reach a ceasefire deal, as you said, it could may it may just be temporary just in order to get aid, and it may not be in the long term. But I know they certainly would welcome the ceasefire deal. Well, thank you so much, Karen Travis. We appreciate your time this morning.
Have a great day.
Thank you too. All right, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. A child was the bridge that started a friendly relationship between Trump and Harris Merch booths that share a corner in your Belinda, folks come.
Here and they can be full of anger.
Par supporter Sandra Roby says it all started when the five year old daughter of the Trump merch operator asked why she was set up at the city's designated spot for campaign stands.
You know we were here first, and I say, this space is really intended for.
All of us.
How about this will take turns.
She also gave the girl a cinnamon roll and that sealed the deal.
Then a big gust of wind came and blew his whole Trump set up into your Belindo Bulevard.
Trump supporter Josh Evans says he had gone to the car just for a sec when he sees this Trump stand flying away.
This thing is in the middle of the streets. She has dragged it in and we're putting it back up together.
I am in the middle of Yorblindo Boulevard and my Kamala T shirt putting the Trump stand back on the sidewalk.
Evan says the insults from cars driving by are a little less when both sides are represented. Is really nice to see because if you don't see it very often, and the polarity is a big problem in the country.
People are so divisive.
They both say, while they do get along. They don't talk about politics at Yorba Linda Boulevard and lake View Corbin Carson k if I News.
That is generally the best way to get along with someone. Just leave politics out of it and let's bond over cinnamon rolls, all right. A reparations bill that has advanced to the Governor's desk would create a process to review claims of land stolen by racist means. The bill is one of fourteen that has been proposed from one hundred
policy recommendations by a reparations task force. The bill all depends on the legislature approving a state agency to implement the recommendations and then approving funding to pay for it all. A rush fire that's burned about six hundred and fifty acres in the San Jacino in San Jacinto in Riverside County is thirty percent surrounded. An evacuation warning for parts of Poppet Flats has been lifted. A cowfire official says the fire was started someday at a homeless camp. Investigators
are trying to figure out if it was intentional. Six firefighters were treated for minor injuries.
Just the price, where.
As a gen xer I could probably let that music play for a little bit longer, but I guess I should get back to the news. Oasis vans in the UK are angry over surprise increases in the price of
concert tickets. The band announced last week it was getting back together and playing fourteen dates next summer in Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland, and fans have complained that tickets listed at one hundred and eighty dollars when logging in sometimes more than doubled at checkout after they waited online for hours. British government officials say they'll be looking into the practice of dynamic pricing. Third party tickets have been going for
nearly eight thousand dollars. The band says those third party tickets will be canceled by promoters if sold for more than face value. I mean, I want to see Oasis, but I don't know about eight thousand dollars. That feels. It feels like a lot. Los Angeles will open five cooling centers during the excessive heat warning this week. The air conditioned spaces are free and open to pets. They're expected to provide temporary relief to the public struggling with
the heat. More than one hundred homes will lose electricity in Rancho Palace verdies tonight as Southern California. Edison continues implementing safeguards during the worsening landslides in the area. The latest power shut down is scheduled for seven o'clock tonight in the Seaview area, and one of two South American nationals rather allegedly linked to the arm robbery of a million dollar watch from a man sitting on the patio of a restaurant in Beverly Wiltshire Hotel is said to
be a rain today. Then at six zh five it's handled. On the news. Two US Marines were ambushed and assaulted by a mob of Turkish nationalists. Will tell you what they said to the Marines, give you an update on their condition. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netniah who has asked the families of six hostages who were recovered by Israeli I fours for forgiveness, but he did not change his stands on maintaining an Israeli force presence along the Egyptian
border with Gaza. ABC's Jordana Miller joins US Live from Jerusalem with the latest Good Morning Jordana.
Good morning. That's right. In the nationally televised address, we heard the Prime Minister really for the first time publicly say that he has asked the families for forgiveness for failing them and failing to bring their loved one home alive. The Israeli armies found the bodies of those six hostages in a tunnel underneath Rafa, and they say they were
executed at short range by Hamas and then abandoned. It was the weekend of funerals here and among those as well was Hersch Goldberg Pollin the American, the young American who was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival. His parents, John and Rachel become really they were global warriors for a ceasefire. They never materialized and never been able to
save their son. But the Prime Minister also doubled down or tripled down on his insistence that the Israli army must stay positioned along the Gosen side of the border with Egypt. And this is terrible news for the remaining ninety seven hostages in the Gaza strip because it means that you know, the chances of a seafire are very low if Nataniel doesn't show some flexibility on this issue.
It looks like there's going to be no progress in the near future because Hamas has called that a non starter, and while the Washington and even some of is some of Nataniel's closest defense officials have provided other solutions and other options. N'thaanielle tried to our before the nation last night that this is something that he cannot compromise on. Psked you know, he may, he may, he may have
some security merits in his argument. I mean the gods in Egyptian border was the main gateway for all of the arms and the militants and the machinery that came into the Gaza Strip with the help of Oragan funding to build up Hamas's very sophisticated and in formidable military capabilities and their underground fortresses tunnels. Having said that that Honel was in power for more than a decade, there were three mini wars with Hamas. I covered all of them.
He never brought up the Philadelphia Quarter, he never sent Israeli truths to take it. You know, he was responsible for bringing in and approving billions of dollars that came into Hamas or Cutter. So it feels disingenuous for her now for him to claim this is the most important part of the war, you know, when he never it
was never an issue before, and there are other solutions. So, you know, I think many people still believe that he's trying to just stay in power and please his far right partners, who otherwise, you know, would drop out of the government and bring him push him out of power. So to seem.
I think we've lost you there just for a moment at the end.
Oh, I was okay. I've been saying that today were not only did we see massive protests Sunday night about two hundred and fifty thousand thedrellies. Yesterday almost a million participated in a nationwide labor strike, and while it ended a couple of hours early, it's still brought trains and buses to a halt. It shut down Ben Gray the airport for a few hours in the early hours of the morning. And today we're we're going to see more
protests here in Jerusalem, in Tel Aviv. You know, Israeli is now feeling like, you know, they need to get on the streets and pressure in Antavio in numbers that we just haven't seen so in this war up until now and really try to get you know, hundreds of thousands of people in the street. That's their aim.
Now Netania who has said that Israel won't be making any more concessions, but he says he thinks the pressure should be directed towards Hamas. Now, is Hamas being you know pressured at all? Are they even listening to the global response from people asking them to stand down?
Well, remember Hamas, you know, Hamas is even if Nintenieo made every effort to show flexibility about let's say the Philadelphia Quarter and say, okay, the Israeli troops don't need to be there, the truth is that Hamas is also showing very little real willingness to kind of deal.
Right.
Hamas is the other side of the equation. We talk about it less, and maybe we should talk about it more because in the Goss strips, you know, the people there, they don't have the same recourse that the Israelis have.
They can't ask for accountability, they can't be in the streets, they can't go onto the international stage, and so you know, there's less kind of ground swell pressure against yeah, fifteymore because he's a terrorist thugs here, he's running a war that's killing thousands of his own people, you know, whether by in combat or through starvation. You know, he's endangered.
Now there's a polio outbreak, and while there's good signs about the vaccine campaign, still there's dangers, health risks to people that are living in you know, terrible conditions because of this war. And Yas Cassimar, you know, he bears responsibility for half of this equation, and he also is not shown signs that he wants to cut a deal and reach us. He's fired because it would require him
to relinquish control of the gods of strips. And we don't talk about this very much, but Jaska Seemar wants to stay in control. He wants the mouse to survive, and so he's going to do everything until possibly he's killed take hold on to power. And so Natanielle is not fully to blame for the problems in the seastfire negotiations. But he is a democratically elected leader of a country the whole. You know, it should hold him responsible for his side of the sidewalk.
Yes, absolutely, And I feel like you're right that is something that doesn't get brought up enough. Israel seems to be the main target here when people are talking about who can end this war, who can come to a ceasefire agreement, But people are forgetting that they're dealing with a major terrorist organization that is holding people hostage, and they're not probably willing to They're not being very easy
to negotiate with. I'm going to just go out on a limb and say that, Jordana, thank you so much. We appreciate your time this morning.
Thank you, Tukshin, thank you.
All right, let's get back to some of the stories coming out a KI twenty four hour newsroom. The US six Fleet says two Marines have been attacked while on liberty in a port city of Turkey. In Turkey, ABC's Matt Sailor says video showing a mob holding onto one of the servicemen and shoving his sack over his head.
Another serviceman runs in to defend his comrade and is himself grabbed. Authority say fifteen people were arrested after the incident, the suspects belonging to the Turkish Youth Union.
He says, that's an anti American group that says it attacked in protest of the war. In gazap a five year old boy is recovering after being attacked by a mountain lion at Malibu Creek State Park. Officials say the mountain lion grabbed the boy by the head as he was playing with other children near the family's picnic area. California could soon pass a law that would require consent
for the use of AI to replicate dead performers. Zag Aftra says the law would help the estates of dead performers maintain some control over AI created fakes and replicas in film, TV shows, and video games. And several good Samaritans saved three abandoned puppies from a dumpster and San Demus, a local employee heard the pumpies crying, then turn them over to an animal rescue group. Then at six oh five, its handle on the news the US has seized Venezuela
president's airplane in the Dominican Republic. Will tell you why they took the plane and what was inside. Then if five p fifty scammers are using ATM machines as a way to take money from consumers, and will tell you how you can avoid the scam and protect your pocketbook. The CDC says that Timber and October are generally the best times for most people to get the COVID immunization, that there are still a lot of questions surrounding who
should get the COVID shot, when and how often. Joining me now is doctor Michael Bennaderrett, Associate Medical Director of Hospital Epidemiology at Cedar SINAI. Welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
I understand, the FDA just approved a new COVID nineteen vaccine designed to more closely target recent virus strains, and doctor, can you tell me a little bit more about that.
What we've seen with COVID is just continued evolution of the virus, So the virus continues to mutate, and we're in the middle of a relatively large COVID surge, and we've seen the surge is really dominated by these new variants that have been titled the FLIRT variants. So JM one, two, and three. The new vaccine formulation, it's really designed to target these newer variants with greater efficacy than the previous vaccines.
So really this is an update to target the currently circulating strains of COVID.
If someone has already had the COVID shot, whether it's in the past six months or maybe even the past year, when should they be getting the next one.
So the CDC recommends that everyone received this updated vaccination, but you know, the details can be complicated, and I think, you know, some of these questions are best addressed with your physician, especially for patients that have medical conditions or you know, have other reasons to be concerned about severe COVID. For most people, it's been a while since our last shot.
The last update was I think last fall, and so it's been a while since this formulation was updated, and so for those people that were vaccinated last year, this would be a great time to go ahead and get that shot. In general, we think of the activity of vaccines as highest within the first few months after vaccination. But I think what we're seeing right now is pretty widespread circulation of COVID, and you know, in the setting of widespread virus activity, it's not a bad idea to
get that extra protection now. But again, in more complicated situations, there may be reasons why some people would want to wait. If you've been vaccinated very recently or were recently infected with COVID, there may be some reasons why you would want to delay that shot a little bit.
Yeah, I know.
I read an article in the La Times that was talking about how some people feel like they should wait towards the end of October because the instances of COVID, the COVID cases will be sort of on the upswing. Then do you think there's any reason to wait. Will it still be as effective if I get it now versus waiting until the end of October.
It's a really interesting question, you know. I think this comes down to the seasonality that we've been seeing with COVID. So for the past two years, we've seen a large winter search of COVID, and I think most people are expecting that we'll see another searche this winter.
You know.
For example, the last two years we saw COVID peak in winter alongside influenza and RSV and kind of that winter wave of virus activity. So those recommendations to wait, I think are based on the expectation that we're going to have a bad COVID season in winter. That being said, kind of having a bad COVID season right now. Right there's very high levels of COVID circulation, at least here
in Los Angeles, but really across the nation. And so for that reason, delaying the vaccination does put you at risk necessarily of potentially acquiring COVID. Now, so I don't know if I would recommend waiting given the high activity of COVID we have currently.
In the community because of this new vaccine, and because there's been years now of research done on it. Is it a safe vaccine to get? Are there going to be any major side effects that people should be aware of?
It's absolutely a safe vaccine. That's really kind of a well established fact by now. We've got more experience in the past few years with COVID vaccine than we have with almost any other vaccine. I mean, there's really never been a vaccine rollout on the scale and magnitude of the COVID vaccination rollout, and so just give the amount of people that have had it and the fall up time that we have now had with these vaccines, we do know that they are extremely safe.
And is it possible to get all your vaccines done in one fell swoop, especially for the elderly community and seniors and kids, Like, can we get the flu and RSB and covid? Can we just go in and get them all done at once.
You absolutely can. That's what that's what I do every year. I get my COVID shot and my flu shot together. I there's no interaction between the two vaccines, so it's a very very different type of virus. It's actually a different type of vaccine, and so there's really no medical reason that you would want to delay them. Now that being said, some people do have vaccine reactions. You have a sore arm, or maybe a fever, or you just kind of feel down for a day. That's totally normal.
That's not a bad effect. That's actually your immune system reacting. But I have heard that some people that they get those vaccines together feel that more strongly. And so if you are the kind of person that does get those reactions, maybe it's not the worst thing in the world to spread them apart a little bit so you don't feel really.
Bad the next day.
Nobody likes getting a shot, right. It's not fun to have a medical a nurse or a doctor put a needle in you, and a lot of people do feel bad the next day. There's just no denying that. But that being said, that's a heck of a lot better than getting COVID. There's really no comparing the two.
Doctor Michael benderret from Cedar SINAI, thank you so much for sharing your time and expertise with us.
Absolutely, thank you for having me.
All right, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. An audit of publicly owned toilets and water fountains will soon begin in La.
The Department of Parks and Recreation and the Library operate the bulk of publicly accessible restrooms and drinking water. LA City council Woman Unisses Hernandez says access to water is a crucial part of survival. The city council adopted her push to have rerecon parks and the library detail where these toilets and fountains are, what conditions they're in, and when they're available, as well as how they can be improved.
Hernandez says it's become increasingly difficult for the public to find a place to pee or grab a drink in La. The reporters due back in thirty Days in downtown La. Michael monks KFI News.
Mexican officials have told the US government about violent gang members from Venezuela illegally crossing the California Mexico border. Public safety officials in the state of chihuaba say they've seen a dramatic increase in the number of members from the Train de Argua I mean always say that right a Dagua, there we go or TDA passing through on their way to the United States. US Customs officials say it's hard to vet members of that cartel because Venezuela doesn't share
criminal background information with the US. One officials said TDA is like MS thirteen on steroids. Lawyers for the family of a woman killed by LAPD officers outside of a Trader Joe's stores in Silver Lake say they've reached a nearly ten million dollar settlement with the city. I'm the LAPD store manager. Maylee Corrado was killed in twenty eighteen as police shot a man who had shot his grandmother
and led officers on a chase. The lawsuit claimed the officers were negligent, went against their training, and used excessive force. A man arrested for allegedly killing a couple at a newdist resort in Redlands is due to be rained this morning. In San Bernardino, Dan and Stephanie Minard haven't been seen for more than a week. Redlands police told spokesman Carl Baker told KTLA that bags of human Marie remains were found in a bunker under their neighbor's house.
As far as we know, the remains that we've recovered are those of Dan and Stephanie and there are no others.
The San Bernardino County Corner is expected to positively identify those human remains this week. Code enforcement is expected to
red tag the house where the remains were found. A man arrested for allegedly killing a couple at a newdist resort in Redlands is due in court this morning in San Bernardino, and officials in Mexico have told the US government violent gang members from Venezuela illegally crossing the California Mexico border, and the US sixth Fleet says two marines have been intact while on liberty in Port City in Turkey. We're going to find out a little bit more about what happened there.
Now.
We're just minutes away from Handle. On the news this morning, Vice President Harris says that US Steel should remain domestically owned. We'll tell you why. She says it's vital to maintain strong American steel companies. The FTC is warning people about a new take on an old scam, and it's costing consumers tens of millions of dollars. ABC's Jim Ryan joins us live from Dallas to tell us more. Good morning, Jim, morning Heather.
Yeah, here's how it works. In simple terms. You're sitting at your laptop and suddenly a big message pops up and says, there's a problem. You've got a bug, a virus of some kind. Please call us and let's get this strained out. So you call that and they're very nice on the phone, these tech support people, and they tell you, look, yeah, will refund you the money that you paid for your virus protection. They refund you the money, but they accidentally sent you ten thousand dollars too much.
For example, instead of one hundred dollars, they put in extra zeros and send you ten thousand bucks. You owe them the additional money, the nine nine hundred or whatever, and you need to make payment right in order to stay legal, stay good. I suppose, well it used to be that. Well, first of all, those aren't tech support people.
They're scammers, right, And in order to pay them quote back the money that you quote owe them, you would have to go to the bank and get out money and buy gift cards and then provide them thembing the numbers on the gift cards and serial numbers so that they have access to that money. Well, now they're doing it a different way, Heather. The first part of the scam is exactly the same, the pop up on the window,
on the computer, the phone call, the et cetera. But now increasingly they're having you pay with bitcoin through ATMs. There are thirty two thousand bitcoin style you know ATM style bitcoin machines in convenience stores and gas stations different places around the country. Now that's a tenfold increase in just the last couple of years. They're exploding. UK makes them illegal. You can't use them there because these ATM
style bitcoin machines are illegal there. But yeah, so we had a perfect example here a couple of months ago, had they win. An elderly woman was contacted. She lived there and assisted living center. These scammers actually arranged an uber for her to take forty thousand dollars in cash to a bitcoin machine and in a convenience store and start pumping it into the machine and actually told her, you need to have FaceTime on so I can see that you're doing it. Somebody in the store realized what
was going on and called the police. The police got her to stop. She was scared to death because these people that were intimidating her. So, yes, she didn't give a full forty thousand, but she did lose like twenty eight thousand Bitcoin actually agreed to refund that money to her. It's just it's another word to the you know, to elderly people, especially who are falling victim to these things.
The elderly people are the most targeted for this kind of scam, one hundred and ten million dollars lost last year alone.
Yeah, that was my next question is who's being targeted. How are they finding these these people and they're victims.
Well, it's fishing, you know, and when you cast, when you're fishing, you cast a wide net. You're tried to get somebody to fall for it. You probably get to, you know, messages on your phone all the time, you know, a text message from some unknown number that says, hi, who is this? And you respond, start this conversation and you can loop yourself into something terrible. So yeah, they cast a wide net and they catch enough people to net one hundred and ten million dollars last year.
So let's talk about the bitcoin machines themselves. These are they look like giant ats, just.
A standard ATM.
Yeah, they're often very brightly colored at least you know what I have observed. Should we just be avoiding Is it the machines themselves or is it the action that these scammers are having people go and use these particular machines.
It's not necessarily the machine really. I mean, they're a convenient thing. If you have a bitcoin account of wallet, you can add money to it with these machines. You can you know, check your balance, etc. Kind of thing through these bitcoin machines. But through the nature, by the very nature of bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general, it's almost impossible to trace. It's very hard to get a hold of if you lose it. I know people who have
bitcoin wallets, they forget the password. They're one thousands of dollars, they just don't have access to it anymore. So it's not really the machine, and scammers know this. No matter where they are, whether they're in China or in you know, India, or in Russia or somewhere that the money is almost impossible to trace once it's fed into a machine like this.
So these scammers when they're contacting their victims or reaching out to them and they maybe they've gotten them on the phone, what kinds of things are they saying to them? What are some red flags that people should be listening for to say, hey, this isn't this doesn't feel right, This feels like off the.
Sense of urgency, You've got to do this now, or they're trying to guilt you into it. You know, the scammers says, I accidentally put extra zeros on here and I've sent you way too much money. You know, if my boss finds out, I'm gonna lose my job. They're playing on you know, it's called a con because that's short for confidence, right, They're trying to gain your confidence, and so the sense of urgency, this stuff that just doesn't quite add up. This trying to guilt you into
owing money to somebody. Those are all red flags. And let older people in your life, your parents, your elderly neighbors, whoever it is, know about this kind of.
Thing, all right, Well, this is actually very helpful information. I feel like every week there's a new you scam. What we can't, we can't we just live Jim.
I wish it were that simple, you know. And whether it's so they take the old scam, the tech support scam and find a new way to get your money from you, and the bitcoin ATM seems to be the latest way to do that.
Well, I know, at least for my mom, who is a senior citizen, if something like that happens, she's pretty good about messaging me and saying, Okay, somebody asked me, is asking me for money over text? Or I got a call from somebody asking me for money, And she'll always reach out and ask me, which I appreciate because there has been several times where I've been like, Mom, this is not real. Don't fall for it.
Yeah.
Absolutely, So you maintain those relationships and you know, and it's embarrassing for an older person if they get looped into something. Let them know that, you know a lot of people do. Lots of really smart people have fallen for this, so you know, don't let them be embarrassed about letting you know about this.
Saying that is great advice. Jim, thank you so much. Always a pleasure to talk with you.
Thanks Heather, all right, have a good night.
Yeah, all right, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. A fire in the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale is about sixty percent surrounded. Two fires were reported yesterday afternoon near the two ten and six oh five freeways, and they became one. Cruz stopped the fire from growing
in just a couple of hours. A Trump merchbooth and a Harris merchbooth are sharing a corner in yr Be, Linda, which is just fine despite constant insults from passing cars. Trump supporter Josh Evans says some things are more important than who you vote for.
I said to her, it's good to have you here because I get called some pretty nasty things from the Kamala people. Yeah, you're going to hear the Trump people yelling at you, but it comes from both sides.
Harris supporter Sandra Robi agrees.
I'm very grateful to Josh because he has been an open heart and a caring individual. And I know not everybody on both sides is, but that's what it's going to take.
We have to be the bridge. They both say they don't discuss politics with each other. All right, that's one way to do it. Can't we all just get along? A state senator from Guardina has advanced a reparations bill that would review claims of land stolen for racist reasons.
The bill follows the return of Bruce's Beachs to a black family one hundred years after it was taken by Manhattan Beachs through eminent domain amid threats from the KKK. The bill currently sits on the Governor's desk and is one of fourteen bills born from one hundred policy recommendations
by a reparations task force. All the bills depend on one bill that creates a state agency to implement the recommendations, and then the legislature would still have to agree to fund it, all including a recommendation for cash reparations to Black Americans. None of the current bills call for cash payouts. Cobin Carson Ko Fine News.
The US six Fleet says two Marines have been attacked while on liberty in a port city in Turkey. ABC's Matt Sailor says video shows a mob holding onto one of the serviusman and shoving his sack over his head.
Another serviceman runs in to defend his comrade and is himself grabbed. Authorities say fifteen people were arrested after the incident, the suspects belonging to the Turkish Youth Union.
He says, that's an anti American group that says it attacked in protest over the war in Gaza. Japan is one of the hardest working nations on earth, so much so there is a term in Japanese to describe literally working yourself to death karroshi.
Well, now the government is trying to change that as it deals with a growing labor shortage by encouraging employers, especially small and medium sized businesses, to adopt four day work weeks.
ABC's Darya Albinger says the government has rolled out a work style reform campaign that promotes shorter hours and other flexible arrangements, plus overtime limits and paid annual leave. What if we can get some of that here at KFI, you guys, can we get any of that? All right? It has been a pleasure being with you guys these past few days. Amy King will be back tomorrow and Kono. I will miss you and I will miss you. I think Ann is maybe coming in to give me some information.
Bill Handle is coming up next, so excited to talk with him and Wayne about really deep dive into news of the day. If you guys want to continue to follow me, please do. You can follow me on Instagram and Facebook at the Heather Brooker and on Twitter and TikTok at Heather Brooker where we have a little bit of fun over there. This is KFI and KOSDHD to Los Angeles, Orange County. This has been your wake up call. If you missed any of wake Up Call, you can
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