Sue McConnell, president of the Cleveland Better Business Bureau spoke with America’s Work Force on Dec. 2 to inform listeners of scams to be on the lookout for during this holiday season.
McConnell discussed a Cleveland based furniture company recently receiving complaints against them for sending customers damaged goods, if received at all, and making it nearly impossible for the customer to exchange or return the items bought. The second scam McConnell talked about deals with scam calls about social security numbers. If you are contacted saying that your social security is compromised, do not give up any information they are requesting, and contact the social security administration. Lastly, McConnell said to be cautious when holiday shopping online and do your research to make sure the company you are shopping from is legitimate. She mentions that companies overseas do not have the same business regulations as those in the United States and have a higher potential of being a scam than a U.S. company.
Mark Gruenberg, labor writer for Press Associates Union discussed the National Labor Relations Board rewriting and revising certain issues. He said that some issues they are revising involve unions and unionizing and how they are making it more difficult for a union representative to organize at a workplace and for unions to become recertified. Gruenberg expressed concern about how the NLRB is reversing old decisions and are fighting to make their new laws permanent, which could be hurtful in the future if someone may want to revisit and revise it.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about the caterers at Sky Chef fighting for better contracts including better wages, benefits and working conditions in the airports that they are located in.
Gruenberg discussed the National Labor Rights Board (NLRB) fighting recent injustices against worker rights and fighting to make sure workers voices are being heard during bargaining. He said that the Trump administration has shown time and time again that they are against unions and have been trying to pass anti-worker legislation, but the NLRB have been remaining strong in their battle against worker rights oppression. Gruenberg also talked about the Communication Workers of America, CWA, and how they said if a candidate supports the PRO Act, the CWA will offer their open support for that candidate. The CWA is not one to hide their support for workers and worker rights, so if a candidate comes out in support of the PRO Act, you can expect the CWA to support that candidate. Lastly, he talked about the United Auto Workers and Ford Motors reaching a tentative agreement on a contract.
Sue McConnell, president of the Better Business Bureau in Cleveland discussed three scams to be on the lookout for during the month of November. One of the scams was a “30-Day Success Plan” which is a get rich fast scam where a person would buy into the company at different levels, and the only way for that person to make money is to distribute fliers, which they had to pay for, and try to recruit other people. The second scam was a Jenny B Utah Marketing firm that would send a woman gift cards congratulating them on their pregnancy. The gift cards were for baby products, where shipping was more than the products so the discounts were pointless and the products they received were poorly made, making them not worth the money. The last scam McConnell told listeners to be aware of are social media coupon scams. An ad will appear on your webpage of a brand name product at a discount price and once a person clicks the link, their computer would be exposed to malware, which could access their personal information.
America’s Work Force host Ed Flash Ferenc talked to listeners on Labor Day about some of the victories labor unions have had and how they benefited all workers. One of the benefits labor unions gave the workforce is a 40 hour work week and work-free weekends. Before labor unions, workers worked over 60 hours, seven days a week, but thanks to unions, workers won weekends for leisure time and rest. Another important win for unions that Ferenc discussed was the right to collectively bargain for their contracts. By having the right to collectively bargain, power is shifted more equally than the power being held by corporations.
Sue McConnell, President of the Better Business Bureau in Cleveland spoke with AWF on Sep. 2 about specific scams to look out for now that the school year is back in session. Some major scams are directed toward college students; she told college students to look out for were job scams and roommate matching service scams. McConnell said that there is a significant increase in fake job postings targeting college students promising outstanding wages and hours but really end up just taking money from the job prospects. As for the roommate matching service, she said that an online company will ask people searching for roommates to fill out a questionnaire, making them think they will be paired with someone of the same interests, but, if anything at all, will just be matched for anybody looking to split rent. She also mentioned scams involving spoofing emails from major airline companies getting people to give up their personal information.
Sue McConnell, president of the Better Business Bureau in Cleveland, spoke with AWF about scams to be on the lookout for during the summer. She talked about the website healthyandbeauty.com and how they claim to be selling brand name beauty supplies for an incredible discounted price, then when a person purchases from them, they never send a product. The second scam that McConnell discussed is about was a door-to-door DNA testing company who claims they provide a free DNA background examination as long as a medical card is provided, with which the scammers will steal the information off of. A third scam she said to be cautious of is a roofing company saying they will repair your roof for free, but they actually are offering a free consultation, not a free roof. Lastly, McConnell talked about a social security scam where a scammer will use a phone call spoofing method to pose as a social security worker and retrieve a persons sensitive information.
The first scam involves trying to sell your timeshare. McConnell said that there are companies that will tell someone they can help them sell their timeshares, and end up charging their victim ridiculously high fees for their services. The second scam that McConnell talked about was counterfeit goods online. She warned consumers to be careful when purchasing online, especially from China, because they sell counterfeit products and will scam the consumer out of their money. Lastly, McConnell addressed door-to-door magazine subscription scammers. She said that women will go door to door asking consumers to subscribe to a magazine because the money they make from the subscriptions will help them get their kids back from child services.
Gruenberg spoke about the list of potential candidates for the upcoming 2020 presidential election. He discussed Joe Biden being incredibly high up on the polls for not even having announced his candidacy yet. Gruenberg then went on and discussed Michelle Obama’s book tour and how she has not been using union laborers to set up her stage production. He said that this is a big problem because of her husband, Barack, positive stance on unions and union workers. Gruenberg also talked about labor law reform along with equal work for equal pay laws being put into place.
Sue McConnell, president of the Better Business Bureau, spoke with America’s Work Force on April 1 about new scams that people have been falling into. One of the scams regards bitcoin where a scammer would pose as someone from the IRS or a utility company and tell you that you have to make a payment as soon as possible or you will suffer a consequence. The scammer then sends the victim a QR code that they scan at a bitcoin kiosk linked to the scammer’s account and wire money to the scammer in order to prevent whatever the fraudulent consequence was. A second scam that McConnell discussed was a kidnapping scam where a scammer would call a victim and tell them that their loved one has been kidnapped and they will let them go if they pay off their ransom.
Gruenberg discussed pro-worker legislation being one of the main targets in the progressive agenda for the year. He said that the pro-worker legislation will include legislation on equal pay for equal work and workers freedom to negotiate act. Gruenberg also touched on the Green New Deal and how some Republicans are in favor of using alternative energy sources over fossil fuels. To wrap up his interview, Gruenberg discussed the long term effects of the government shutdown, such as huge financial hits on government workers who had to dip into their savings and 401k’s because they were not receiving pay during the shutdown.
Sue McConnell, president of the Cleveland Better Business Bureau, discussed a variety of scams for students to be on the lookout for during spring break season. She explained the importance of researching housing accomodations thoroughly before booking and paying for them, and to also look up the address to make sure that it is valid. McConnell also talked about “car wrap” scams and “friends and family” scams.
