Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
!■ aESES
U "S* : i l|||sPluli ▼ jMr V ' ~||
i 4.. ... • wKf Bk& JpHHraK ~ mpf*"' J
1 IJ jßy*j. |l£ k J , ‘*l
*i I Btef-v ' vsti- jlh
m ’ ggrif a|MLgjyße%* Ty taßfapi
% _ -v. f /‘IhBHk B* * 1 vjiv JP*
. *,4 ,4g |H3flr 1 jtjm
'' I HBB| jldHwtV .% t *
Submitted
Brach Morin, center, Volunteer Coordinator with Heart of Ga. Hospice, poses with a
group of volunteers who proudly show their certificates after attending the Hospice
Volunteer Training Course on Sept. 18. Once trained, volunteers are qualified as Patient
Care Advocates. A dinner was served. Sixteen individuals were trained as volunteers.
Identity crooks on the
prowl for your money
Special to the Journal
Identity crooks are
making billions of dol
lars off of people like you.
According to Privacy Rights
Clearing House, 8.9 mil
lion people became vic
tims of identity fraud last
year, costing each victim an
average of nearly $6,400.
That amounts to $56.6 bil
lion a year in fraud claims.
Mike Sullivan, director of
education for Take Charge
America, a national non
profit credit counseling
agency, said financial scams
are getting more sophisti
cated and costing smart con
sumers more cash each year.
It s really up to consum
ers to take responsibility
for protecting themselves
against fraud, he said. The
Internet provides endless
opportunities for scams. As
technology advaances, scam
artists are taking notice and
using it to their advantage.
To help keep you fraud-sawy,
Sullivan described four com
mon financial scams and
how to avoid them:
Phishing - The Internet
is riddled with “phishing”
scams. Phishing happens
when crooks send fake e
mails or use pop-ups to lure,
or “phish,” financial infor
mation away from a con
sumer. The consumer is for
Local teens form P.LN. club to help others
Special to the Journal
Today Erica Hudnall and
Tabitha Lassiter decided it
was time they made a differ
ence in the world.
Looking at Hudnall and
Lassiter, you would think
they were just like any other
teenagers; but still, thought
ful waters run deep.
“My grandmother has
Alzheimer’s and I want
to do something to help
her,” Hudnall. Her friend,
Lassiter has a brother who
died from Batten’s disease,
and an inherited disorder
of the nervous system that
usually manifests itself in
childhood.
Up until a few weeks ago,
Hudnall and Lassiter were
just like any other two teen
age girls, talking on their
cell phones about boys and
homework; but today, they
decided it was time they got
serious about a few things
and let the world know about
it. The two got together and
made some notes on what
they wanted to do with their
futures, their spare time,
and their spare cash.
“Well, I thought to myself,
if we could do anything to
help people what would
we do?” said 15 year old
Hudnall.
Both girls are students at
Windsor Academy in Macon.
“There aren’t any clubs
at the school that aren’t
focused around scholastics
or sports,” said Hudnall.
And she knows a lot about
Volunteer certificate
warded to a fake website that
appears to be legitimate and
he/she is asked to enter per
sonal financial information,
such as a credit card number
or social security number,
allowing the crook to steal
his/her identity. Do not send
any personal information
over the Internet unless you
are positive you know who
is receiving the information
and that the information is
secure. If you are unsure,
call the bank or institution
that is requesting the infor
mation and ask if you can
provide it in person.
Advance-Fee Loans
- These scams guarantee
consumers a credit card in
advance for a fee before
they even apply. These offers
are illegal and often target
people with credit problems.
The credit crook will typical
ly take off with your fee and
the loan will never material
ize. If someone calls you at
home wdth this offer, tell the
person not to call anymore
and hang up. Legitimate
credit offers never require
up-front fees.
IRS Impersonators
- The Internal Revenue
Service is in the process of a
new, private debt collection
effort, where a small seg
ment of taxpayers who owe
back taxes will be contacted
by private sector debt collec
scholastics. She took top
honors last year for the high
est average in the freshman
class. After many note mak
ing and taking sessions, the
two came up with the idea of
starting a club at the school
and getting fellow students
involved.
“It just seemed that if it
was something we wanted
to do, other kids our age
would be interested too,”
said Lassiter.
Hudnall stayed up nights
after completing her home
isSliil 'pli
HUDNALL
that is it didn’t look profes
sional and well-thought out,
it was no use,” said Hudnall.
“My mom helped me a lot.
“We decided we would have
two charities we focus on a
year. We chose Alzheimer’s
Association for our first
fundraiser.”
“And then for the sec
ond one we chose the
Batten’s Disease Support
and Research Association,”
added Lassiter.
When asked what the date
was for their first fundraiser,
“Oh, the club has Fabulous
Friday each week where we
tors. Scamsters try a variety
of tricks to impersonate the
IRS in hopes of tricking tax
payers into divulging person
al or financial information, 4
or even conning people out
of cash. Keep in mind that all
taxpayers who will be a part
of the private debt collection
effort will know they are in
the program before they are
contacted by a private col
lection agency, so be wary of
bill collectors that say they
are working on behalf of the
IRS. In addition, all checks
collected by debt collectors
should be made payable to
the US Treasury - not com
panies or individuals. If you
suspect that someone is try
ing to scam you, call the IRS
at 800-829-1040.
“Free” Credit Reports
- There’s only one way to
get a free credit report each
year: www.annualcreditre
port.com.
The Web site www.freecre
ditreport.com is very deceiv
ing because “free” doesn’t
really mean free. While the
latter Web site does have
a disclaimer, many consum
ers are still getting duped.
If you order a credit report
from this site, you will be
enrolled in Triple Advantage
SM Credit Monitoring. If you
don’t cancel within 30 days,
you will be charged $12.95
per month.
sell homemade cookies and
stuff,” said Lassiter.
“The first big event we
have is the yard sale we plan
for the 16th in the parking
lot at the school. It will start
at 7 a.m. and go until noon,
so we need everyone to start
saving up their unwanted
items,” Hudnall said.
It is evident the two girls
are very excited at the pros
pect of helping others as well
as making the club success
ful.
“I am very proud of both
of them. Erica made a fan
tastic presentation to her
principal and they had a
great first meeting,” said
Hudnall’s mother JaLynn.
“Erica is very organized, so
I had no doubt she could do
it. Kids have so many things
to deal with nowadays, for
them to want to help other
people is just wonderful.”
To help the People In Need
Club leave donations at
Windsor Academy on Jones
Road in Macon Monday -
Friday during normal school
hours. The items will be
collected each day until the
yard sale.
“And please come visit the
yard sale,” said.Hudnall.
“And bring lots of money,”
chimed in Lassiter.
work to
come up
with a pre
sentation to
give their
Principal,
John
Cranford.
“We need
ed for him to
take up seri
ously and
we knew
Prime Rib
Seasoned to Perfection
I-75 Exit 136 - 987-8877 Macs
LOCAL
fill
14J iP.ll, HJr r* 4 *
- •• • ipW v .icra <l FL - y fPutem'Hui
\ 1 —«* 1." l & f ! i.tfJ!rliiiiiMriiii ?
Bfeg-, d/mrww 88l ’Jr -4L
V ' . '/&< -BL. •• J ■ •-'** i*
*« '**•* 'X'jjF : JKm .
•*
Lindsey Elementary School children were recently chosen by their teachers to be
recognized because they represented the character word of the week, “kindness.”
The following students show kindness to others. First row: Javaree Simmons, Ricardo
Marquirez-Pablo, Robert West, Joshua Cannon and Nathaniel Shearer. Second row:
Annie McCall, Laquae’zion Duncan, llario Aguliar and Travon Mace. Third: Darrin
Clark, Jr., Matthew Rolle, Jani Johnson and Jimille Joseph. Not pictured: Thomas
Gatlin, Darius Williams, Cierra Johnson and Markell Klein.
Buy Now
wm It might not be here tomorrow!
~, ... ■ Jy*
HR
Adult Crew Neck
Sweatshirts
Select Lee styles in
assorted colors. Sizes S-2XL
You PBy
SOB 7
*' '■ -•
Original ticket price sl6
Vassamtte
Panties
Select bikini and boylegs in
fashion colors & prints. Sizes 5-10
You Pay
s|47
Ongmal ticket price $4 - S 8
l!
OUTLET
Peach Shops at Byron, I 75, Exit 149, Byron, GA
(478) 956 3275, Mon Sat 10 9, Sun 12 6, .www.vtfo.com
Being kind to others
Award winning effort
K ;■ L,
Misses
Riders Jeans
Select stretch mid-rise
boot-cut styles. Sizes 6-18
You Pay
STfS7
Original ticket prices2B
Ladies
Blouses
Select Riders woven styles.
Sizes S-XL
You Pay
$ 4 87
Original ticket price S2B
Wrangler 023
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2006 ♦
The David Perdue
Elementary
FOCUS students
participated in the
Plains, Peanuts
and a President
contest. Of 7,000
students who
entered, Gena
Jeziorski won
second place in
the fourth grade
division. For
her efforts, she
received a certifi
cate and an auto
graphed copy of
former President
Jimmy Carter’s
book, “An Hour
Before Daylight.”
Submitted
’ 3L
]
Adult Hooded
Sweatshirts
Select Lee Pullover and Zip Front
styles in assorted colors. Sizes S-2XL
You Pay
$/IS7
Original ticket price S2O - $26
Misses
Tops
Select brand name casual
styles. Sizes XS-XL
You Pay
sjjß7
Original ticket price $11.74
Aradabttity, sue end style may vary horn store to store.
7A
Submitted