The days are getting longer and it is nice to wake up to sunshine and the sounds of birds rather than darkness and snow plows. In fact, high school softball is underway and as I have related before, I have the privilege to serve as the Coach of the JV team at Wheeler (Defending State Champions by the way). I have been involved in coaching basketball and softball for I guess nearly 30 years now, in fact, a few years back I put together a coaching manual for our local softball “Rec Program”. I mention that because one of the most important chapters in that manual was based on a video I had watched about how coaches should handle parents and how parents can ruin a game and the season for their kid.
A lesson I learned and one I pass on to all of you who have kids in little league and other sporting events is this. The person who spoke in the video said he had talked with hundreds of kids about their sporting experiences and they were asked a variety of questions about those experiences. One of the questions they were asked was what was the worst part about their season. Their overwhelming answer was the drive home from the game with their Dad. It has been approximately 5 years since I put that manual together and since doing so, I have made it a point to never be critical of my daughter’s performance during the ride home. Oh I have been tempted, but I have abided by the “rule of silence” or at least making sure all of my comments were positive comments. You may want to give that some thought if summer means sports for you and your family. You may also want to be on the look out for the following safety issues.
FRAUD Alerts
NIPSCO
I have received word that seniors in our area are receiving telephone calls that NIPSCO is offering a $50 Spring Bonus! All they need to do is to provide the caller with their social security number. Of course NIPSCO is not doing anything of the such and we need to reach out to our elderly friends and let them know to be aware of this fraud.
Today I spoke with James Miller, Security Manager, Indiana Operations for NiSource and Ron Johnson, Security Manager, Corporate Security for NiSource and they told me that scams like this are far too common. Their suggestions are:
- NIPSCO is a division of NiSource and no one from their company will call you and ask for personal information, such as social security numbers, bank accounts, dates of birth, etc.
- Meter readers will never ask to enter your residence unless the meter is located inside your residence. I was surprised to learn that some still have meters inside the residence. So, if your meter is outside and the meter reader wants in, think twice!
- If someone appears at your door and represents that they are a service/repair person with NIPSCO or NiSource, they will have photo identification that makes it clear who they are. They will be in uniform and will also have arrived in a vehicle that clearly displays logos indicating that they are with NIPSCO.
- There will be a hologram that reads NiSource on the identification they present, if not, become suspicious.
- If you are at all in doubt, trust that 6th sense and call the police and call NiSource to confirm and report what has taken place.
- Suspicious activity should be reported to NiSource at (800) 464-7726, then push option 1.
READERS DIGEST
Another fraud scheme now underway involves a caller who represents themselves as being with “Readers Digest” and is happy to report that the person answering the telephone has won a new car and hundreds of thousands of dollars. All the person has to do is go to Walgreens or CVS and obtain a $250 gift card. Once that is done, arrangements will be made to have the card delivered to the caller and soon thereafter the car and the money will arrive. One of our officers was present taking a report on this scam when the “Readers Digest” representative called back. The Officer told the caller to cease making calls to the residence and was then met with a barrage of abusive language from the caller. Again, another scam that we need to pass along to our elderly friends and family.
Smart Phone Photos
My wife is really a smart person, I guess I should listen to her more often! For the longest time she has been proclaiming to all who will listen about the ills and evils of the internet and you know, she is right. Clearly the internet is a vast and seemingly endless treasure of information and for one such as myself who grew up when color televisions were just coming out, well, it can be a bit overwhelming at times. There are many great uses for the internet—“The Chief’s Email” for one, but technology is also used by evil people to do bad things to good people. You have to keep up with the technology and you have to continue to make sure that it is not being used to hurt you and your loved ones.
The other day I was at my bank visiting with my favorite branch employees when one of them mentioned something about being able to use posted photographs to track where the photo was taken. I had never heard of that and I really thought that perhaps she had mistaken what someone had told her, still, I thought I would look into it. Guess what, she was right! This is scary stuff.
I am attaching a link to youtube for you to visit and I strongly suggest you take a look. The link is of a news broadcast that will go into detail as to how you can fall victim to this matter as well as to how you can program your cell phone to protect your loved ones. Basically the issue deals with those of you who have Smart Phones and use them to post photographs on your social sites. Your phone is equipped with a geo-tracking chip, we all normally just refer to it as “GPS”. In fact, since “911”, all cell phones manufactured since then have GPS capabilities, which means your phone can be tracked and located. What I have learned is that when you post your photos, the bad guys can use our improving technology to identify where that photograph was taken, i.e. your home address, the park your kid plays in, the school they attend etc.
If you click on the address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vARzvWxwY and it does not take you there, them simply copy the address and paste it, then hit the send button.
Say what you want about the days of black and white TV’s, 8 track tapes, AM transistor radios and all the rest of our toys from those “good old days”, but we just did not seem to have so many threats to our families back then.
REMEMBER
As always, if it does not feel right, it probably is not right. Call the police and let us figure it out, that is what we get paid to do.
Contact Us!
- Emergency - "911"
- Routine Business - (219) 762-3122
- STOP Team - (219) 764-5676
- We Tip Line- 1 - 800 - 78 - CRIME