Wheat State's Hello Central Summer 2018

Cornerstone Group © 2018 Get Pedaling During National Bike Month May is National Bike Month, spon- sored by the League of American Bicyclists and celebrated in communi- ties from coast to coast. Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling and encourage more people to bike more often. With so many reasons to ride, what’s yours? Here are some popular responses: • I ride to save money on gas. • I ride for exercise to improve my health and fitness. • I ride to do my part for cleaner air. • I ride because biking is a sport I’ve enjoyed my whole life. • I ride to feel the wind on my face. • I ride to explore beautiful parts of my community. • I ride to help raise money for good causes. • I ride to enjoy time with friends and family. So whether it’s on a road bike, mountain bike, or commuter bike, get pedaling in May…and beyond! H as this ever happened to you? The phone rings, and Caller ID displays your area code and prefix. Thinking the call must be from a neighbor or nearby business, you pick up—only to hear a telemarketer pitching something (or worse yet, a crook trying to scam you). Sometimes referred to as “curiosity cons,” this scenario is made possible through the use of phone spoofing software that allows unscrupulous callers to display fake phone numbers to increase the likelihood that people will answer calls. In addition to spoofing a number that appears to be coming from your neighborhood, these crooks may even spoof your own phone number, knowing you might be curious enough to answer. Phone spoofing allows spam callers to be more strategic in their methods to get you on the phone. Because each spoofed call can be placed from a unique fake number, they are close to impossible to trace to the true origin of the caller. The FTC and FCC cannot easily track these phone numbers because they simply do not have the technological infrastruc- ture, and it’s unlikely they’ll have it anytime soon. Not only are spoofed spam calls hard to trace, they’re also relatively cheap to make. It may cost a crook only a few cents per minute to place a spoofed call, which is a very small investment considering the money these scammers can fraudulently collect from unsuspecting people. While you can’t stop spoofed calls from coming to your home, you can be careful about which calls you answer. If the number isn’t familiar or you have any doubts, simply don’t pick up. A legitimate caller will leave a message, which you can return later. Should you answer a call that you suspect is a scam, hang up immediately. To learn more about landline service from Wheat State Telephone, call 1/800 442-6835. Fake Phone Numbers Can Be a Real Problem