Gift Card Alert

LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE (AFTER 50)

Saving For Your Future Continued

program. If it were an option, they would participate.

Eric Wong, co-owner of Loco Moco Drive Inn, says he sees such a program as a great benefit for his dozens of employees. “We know that Hawai‘i is made up of many small businesses. With the way things are and the cost of living here, a savings plan that’s easy for both employers and employees to use is a good thing,” Wong says.

“The big guys like financial planners and brokerage companies, no one is going to reach out to us and help us offer a 401(k) plan to our employees. They’re going to work with the bigger companies,” he says. “Us smaller companies are the people AARP is trying to help. A state-facilitated retirement plan would be good to have and offer something for people and businesses who need it. Something like this can move mountains, it can help people.” It’s also worth noting that as the cost of living in Hawai‘i continues to rise, having access to a retirement savings program in the workplace would help workers of all ages take control of their futures. “It’s never too late to begin saving for retirement. It will help the next generation—our kids and grandkids— save for retirement, by making it easy and automatic to start investing in their futures,” Suga-Nakagawa says.

Gift Cards are for Presents, Not Payments

A trending scam doesn’t involve cash at all. But it’s still a sneaky way to take your money.

The scammer on the phone says your grandchild is in jail and you must buy a gift card to make bail. DON’T DO IT. When a stranger asks for a gift card as payment, it’s a sure sign it’s an imposter and not law enforcement, the IRS, the electric company or some other official. Gift cards are for Christmas, birthdays and other presents, not for payments. Here are five tips to avoid being a victim of a gift card scam.

Don’t Give Gift Card Information Over the Phone.

Don’t share the numbers on the back of the gift cards by reading them off or sending a picture to a stranger. Only scammers ask you to pay fees, back taxes or bills for services with gift cards or what they sometimes call “electronic vouchers.”

Beware of Texts or Emails Offering a Free Gift Card.

Don’t respond to emails or texts, supposedly from familiar stores or organizations (including, on occasion, AARP), saying you’ve won a gift card. Scammers want your personal information, and sometimes they get it just by asking. They can then use that information to steal your identity or put you on a list to get more scam emails and texts.

Look Out for the Gift Card Secret Shopper Scam.

Scammers send you a check in the mail and ask you to be a secret shopper. You deposit the check and are asked to go to a store and send money by wire or buy gift cards. Once you give them the information on the gift cards you bought, they take the money, the check bounces and you lose.

Don’t Buy the Top Gift Cards Off the Rack.

Scammers will steal gift cards and the pin number, cover the pin up again and put it back on the rack. The information is entered into computer programs that constantly check if gift cards are activated and will steal the money before you or the gift recipient can redeem them. Look for signs of tampering and buy gift cards behind the counter or online for extra protection.

Sign Up for the AARP Fraud Watch Network.

Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network toll-freefraud help lineat (877) 908-3360 if you or a loved one suspect you’ve been a victim, and visit aarp.org/fraud to get the latest fraud tips, sign up for free biweekly “Watchdog Alerts” and see our scam-tracking map that’s updated with reported scams in your neighborhood.