Keeping Seniors Safe From Fraud

preventing fraudThe AARP Fraud Watch Network recently published a report revealing that older Americans who remain active investors and who tend to prefer unregulated investments could be more vulnerable to potential investment fraud. The Fraud Watch Network was established by the AARP back in 2013 with the purpose of increasing fraud awareness and preventing fraud.

The report published by the Fraud Watch Network made use of data gathered from 200 victims of investment fraud along with 800 interviews with general members of the investing public. One of the network’s lead researchers has stated that even people that have little experience with investing tend to invest their money on their own because technology makes it easier to do so. However, technology also makes it easier for scam artists to reach victims in a number of different ways and to trick them.

According to the report, the majority of fraud victims are 70 or older. These victims were also labeled as “risk takers,” due to the fact that they have stated they are willing to take chances on riskier investments as long as there is a chance of it paying off. Half of these fraud victims also believed that the most profitable returns come from unregulated investments. Additionally, many of these victims reported that they make at least five investments a year and have received targeted phone calls and emails from brokers.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, upwards of 17 percent of Americans aged 65 and older report being the victim of fraud. It’s estimated that billions of dollars have been lost every year due to fraud. One of the reasons older people are more vulnerable to fraud is potentially mild cognitive impairment, which has been linked as a precursor to dementia.

March is Consumer Protection Month, making it the perfect time to spread awareness on preventing fraud, especially when it comes to more elderly investors. Consumers of all ages are urged to deal only with regulated brokers and investments for this reason. For more financial news and advice, visit The Benefits Store today.

The IRS Dirty Dozen

IRS Dirty DozenEvery year, the IRS releases a list of its Dirty Dozen, which is a list of the most current and problematic scams that consumers should be on the look out for. This list is made available to the public in order to provide help in avoiding scams. One of the biggest scams this year that’s made the list is phishing, which is the use of emails sent to individuals or companies to trick them into revealing sensitive data, from credit card numbers to passwords.

The 2016 tax season has seen a large increase in phishing and malware incidents, something that the IRS has been very public about battling. In fact, they’ve issued a number of warnings over the past few months concerning W-2 scams that are targeting school districts, corporations, and more. The scam has resulted in the large-scale theft of sensitive information that can be used to commit all kinds of criminal activities, including the filing of fraudulent tax returns.

The IRS released a report on phishing trends and intelligence at the beginning of this year that revealed that the number of phishing sites identified in January eclipsed all of the phishing attempts the IRS had identified over the course of the previous year together. In fact, the IRS has identified a number of new and evolved phishing schemes created to confuse taxpayers during the upcoming filing season. Numerous email schemes have targeted payroll professionals, tax professionals, schools, HR personnel, and even just the average taxpayer. Although phishing is the biggest problem the IRS has encountered this year, it’s only one of the scams on their Dirty Dozen list. The following are the scams that made the list this year:

  1. Phishing
  2. Identity theft
  3. Phone scams
  4. Return preparation fraud
  5. Fake charities
  6. Excessive claims for business credits
  7. Inflated refund claims
  8. Abusive tax shelters
  9. Claiming credits by falsifying income
  10. Falsely padding deductions on tax returns
  11. Offshore tax avoidance
  12. Frivolous tax arguments

These are the scams that everyone should be made aware of, especially now that it’s March, which is Consumer Protection Month. Visit us at The Benefits Store for more news today.

Can California Afford to Keep Obamacare?

Afford to Keep ObamacareNobody knows what is going to happen to Obamacare under the Trump administration. The GOP has promised to repeal and replace, but have stalled due to the fact that they have so far been unable to decide on how to replace Obamacare. One proposal generated by the GOP would allow states that want to keep Obamacare to do so for a price. If this option were made available, it would mean that California voters would be forced to decide whether they would be willing to continue paying more taxes so that some five million residents of the state could keep their subsidized insurance coverage.

The main question as to whether California will keep Obamacare is how much it will cost its residents and how many people will be covered. According to a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, the main issue is the federal in-flow of dollars. Around $22 billion in federal funds is provided to California every year for Obamacare, over $17 billion of which is used to add millions of low-income adults without insurance to Medi-Cal, which is California’s health program for the poor and disabled. The rest of those federal funds is given to subsidies that help lower the costs of healthcare plans for the majority of the 1.3 million residents who purchase their health insurance via California’s health exchange.

The GOP’s proposal to allow states to keep Obamacare comes with a price – states will receive five percent less in federal funds. To fill that gap, California would need to make a state investment. This five percent reduction would result in higher costs for consumers unless California residents would be willing to pay higher taxes. Some experts believe that keeping Obamacare will be worth the cost as this way insurance in California will continue to include a ban on lifetime and annual limits, prevent discrimination against pre-existing conditions, and continue providing anyone under the age of 26 with coverage.

One GOP proposed plan may allow California to keep Obamacare, but it would come at a higher cost. For more health-related news, visit us at The Benefits Store.

Clinical Trial Produces Encouraging Results for ASD Treatment

ASD treatmentAccording to research released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2014, roughly one out of 68 children had Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Fortunately, recent research focusing on gut microbiota may have revealed a potential treatment for autism.

Gut Microbiota

Gut microbiota is a collection of microorganisms that live within the human body. Everybody has tens of millions of microbes living within their guts. These gut microbiomes are extremely important to one’s health due to the fact that they assist the digestion process in addition to helping produce some vitamins. Research has previously indicated that microbiome composition can actually influence the development of certain diseases, including everything from irritable bowel syndrome to obesity. It’s only recently that research revealed that gut microbiota could be linked to autism.

ASD Research and Trial

The research focusing on the link between gut microbiota and autism was performed via the collaboration of the University of Minnesota, Ohio State University, and Arizona State University. A clinical trial was conducted in which 18 participants were studied. These participants were all aged between seven and 16 and were all diagnosed with ASD. The study took place over a 10-week period in which participants were provided with antibiotics, bowel cleansing, as well as extended fecal microbiota transplants.

Fecal microbiota transplants are a type of treatment that are used for Clostridium difficile infections. The treatment involves the collection of fecal matter from the stool of a healthy donor, which is then transplanted into the colon of the patient. Researchers used a donor microbiome that consisted of a thousand different species of gut bacteria.

The trial ended with promising results. Participants showed an 80 percent reduction of gastrointestinal symptoms that had been associated with ASD. They also exhibited substantial improvements in their behavioral ASD symptoms.

Researchers are working hard to find an effective treatment for ASD and may have discovered a link between gut microbiota and ASD that could improve current treatments of the disorder. To keep up with all the latest news in regards to health-related matters, visit us at The Benefits Store today.

Weekend Warriors May Enjoy Improved Health

Weekend WarriorsAlthough regular exercise is something that has been highly recommended for a long time, not everybody can muster the motivation or the energy to hit the gym during the workweek. In many cases, work is just too busy and stressful, resulting in many people wanting to do nothing but relax afterwards. However, those who workout only on the weekends can still reap a number of health benefits.

Working Out on the Weekends

Researchers recently performed a nine-year study focusing on weekend warriors – those who do all of their exercise over the course of the weekend. They found that if these weekend warriors met certain physical activity guidelines (2.5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity or an hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity) over a two-day period, they were less likely to die during the study period than those that did not exercise at all.

In fact, subjects that only worked out during the weekends but did not meet those physical activity guidelines were still more likely to die an early death than those that didn’t exercise at all. The researchers published their results in the AMA Internal Medicine journal, concluding that even less frequent amounts of physical activity could still have a big impact on one’s health. Even one or two workout sessions a week could lower mortality risks.

The subjects used in the study included more than 63,000 people that were 40 and older. They all lived in England and Scotland. Of the subjects, 2,300 were weekend warriors, 14,200 exercised a little on the weekends, and 40,000 didn’t exercise at all. Around 7,000 exercised at least three times a week.

Over the course of the study, 8,800 subjects died, the largest percentage of which died from cardiovascular disease. Weekend warriors were 30 percent less likely to die during the study, and 40 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease.

Exercising can have a beneficial effect on one’s health even if it’s only done a few times a week. Stay current with The Benefits Store for more news concerning the health and medical industry.