8A | WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018 | SIUSLAW NEWS
MEMORIAL from page 1A
Florence veterans and communi-
ty members then placed crosses and
flags at the gravesites of fallen vet-
erans from World War I onward to
Iraq and Afghanistan.
The day’s main recognition cere-
mony took place a short time later
at the Veteran’s Memorial Park on
Bay Street.
Representatives from local veter-
ans’ groups spoke briefly to a crowd
numbering around 100, before
wreaths were placed in the name of
fallen veterans on the Siuslaw Riv-
er by members of U.S. Coast Guard
Station Siuslaw River.
The Memorial Day Service also
included the dedication of the Fall-
en Hero Memorial Highway sign
honoring Private First Class Brice
M. Scott, U.S. Army. Scott was a
Florence local who was killed in
action in Afghanistan in 2011. The
memorial sign will be installed on
Highway 101 north of Munsel Lake
Road in the coming weeks.
In addition, the Florence Elks
Lodge 1858 also held a Memorial
Day Program.
Memorial Day has been around
in one form or another since 1886.
According to the Public Broadcast-
ing System (PBS), it was originally
called Decoration Day, from the
early tradition of decorating graves
with flowers, wreaths and flags.
Memorial Day, held the last Mon-
day in May, recognizes those who
have given their life in service to
their country. Veterans Day, Nov.
11, honors all veterans who have
served or are currently serving the
country in the military.
According to AAA, more than
41.5 million Americans traveled
over the three-day Memorial Day
weekend.
SCAM from page 1A
When the potential victim
picks up the phone, they are
faced with two choices: Say
“hello” or hang up the phone
silently. The person who says
“hello” will become the future
victim, while the silent person
may avoid additional calls.
Once the list is built, the
scammers either sell the in-
formation on the black market
or attempt to defraud the cus-
tomers themselves.
Those who use the lists uti-
lize the information in a vari-
ety of ways, including opening
bogus accounts to blackmail-
ing businesses with a threat to
release information. They can
also just start calling victims
directly.
Victims usually won’t be
able to tell if a scammer is
calling. “Spoofing” technology
can hide or manipulate their
automatic number identifi-
cation, the information that
feeds a phone’s caller ID. A
scammer calling from Jamai-
ca could change their phone
number to read IRS, with a
number showing the Wash-
ington, D.C., area code.
The attacks themselves vary
in style. Some scammers will
simply leave a voice message,
informing the potential vic-
tim they won a prize or that
they owe money to a creditor.
When the victim calls back,
the scammer knows that the
caller is vulnerable to manip-
ulation and begins to make
their case.
Other times, scammers for-
go the message “phishing” and
start calling victims directly.
To get victims to follow
their demands, scammers will
utilize multiple tactics to gain
information from the victim.
Sometimes, the scammers
attempt to “cold read” the vic-
tim, where they ask vague but
leading questions that would
naturally elicit a response
from the victim.
In other cases, the scammer
could have an overabundance
of information on the victim.
A simple phone number could
provide a victim’s full name,
address (both present and
past), possible relatives, birth-
date and employment history
by searching legal databases.
No matter what information
the scammer has, they gener-
ally end up with a request for
money, most likely through
wire transfer.
New rules from the Federal
PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN AND NED HICKSON/SIUSLAW NEWS
Above, U.S. Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River joined local veteran’s
groups during Monday’s Memorial Day Service at the Veteran’s
Memorial Park in Florence. A traditional component of the service is
the Coast Guard’s laying of the memorial wreaths on the Siuslaw River.
Florence VFW raised flags to half mast at Pioneer Sunset Cemetary
early in the day and worked with other groups to plan the later service.
Trade Commission state that
telephone solicitors cannot re-
quest money via wire transfer,
cash reload cards or remote-
ly created electronic checks,
common requests by scam-
mers.
When the Siuslaw News
spoke with Publisher Clearing-
house’s fraud department, they
stated they never ask for mon-
ey. They also pointed out that
they never call winners ahead
of time, they just show up to a
home. They will, under special
circumstances, send a letter to
a winner, but it’s certified with
a legal affidavit accompanying
the correspondence.
Of course, it’s difficult to
remember all of the rules and
caveats, particularly with the
breadth of institutions that
scammers imitate.
When someone suspects a
scammer, they should report
the instance to the Federal
Trade Commission online at
www.ftccomplaintassistant.
gov/#crnt, or call 888-382-
1222.
People can also contact the
company that is being imper-
sonated and report the inci-
dent to its fraud department.
But the best way to avoid
scammers, according to ex-
perts?
Just hang up the phone.
Editor’s note: This is a
partial reprint of an Octo-
ber 2017 Siuslaw News story
regarding phone scams.
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