Were you impacted by the 2017 Equifax Data Breach?
Don’t forget to file your claim and take advantage of free credit monitoring services! The deadline to file a claim is January 22, 2020. If you would like to exclude yourself from the settlement, comment, or object to the settlement, the deadline is November 19, 2019.
For more information about deadlines and filing a claim, visit the Equifax Data Breach website. If you were affected by the breach, you’re eligible for free credit monitoring or up to $125 cash payment.
Want to know if you were affected by the Equifax data breach?
“I was affected by the data breach. Should I worry about identity theft?”
A breach does not necessarily mean you are a victim of identity theft. A breach means you are now susceptible to identity theft.
Identity theft is the unauthorized use of another person’s personal information to obtain credit, goods, services, money or property (for more information on Vermont laws regarding privacy and data security, click here).
Identity theft may involve fraudulent use of credit card or bank account information. In some cases, your social security number and other personal information may be used to fraudulently obtain driver’s licenses, lines of credit, loans or other consumer accounts.
Additionally, you may want to consider placing a security freeze on your credit reports. This is the most effective step you can take to block unauthorized use of your personal information. However, it does carry some costs and can create some minor difficulty if you need get a loan, credit card or other credit account. A security freeze does not affect your ability to use accounts that you have now. Find out more about freezing your credit files below and from the Federal Trade Commission.
Concerned about protecting your minor children from identity theft?
Attorney General T.J. Donovan with Gary De Carolis
This is a monthly series in which the Attorney General will feature a Vermonter doing exemplary work in their community. Have someone you think should be featured? Email AGO.CAP@vermont.gov.
When
reflecting on his 35+ year career in service to others, Gary De Carolis, Executive
Director of the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County, said, “I’ve had a
blessed career.” But the way we see it, Vermont has been blessed to have Gary serving
as an advocate and leader in the fields of mental health and substance abuse. That’s
why Gary De Carolis is our October Vermonter of the Month.
Over
his career, Gary has served as a mental health counselor, children’s mental health
professional, the Deputy Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Mental
Health, the Chief of Children’s Mental Health at the Center for Mental Health Services
within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA),
and a consultant focusing on how best to serve children in custody in the
context of their family and community.
Today, Gary serves as the Executive
Director of the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County where he has
transformed the Center from a staff of three with a budget of $175,000 to its
current staff of 15 with an annual budget over $700,000. Under his leadership, the
Turning Point Center has expanded its footprint and broadened its scope of
services to better serve Vermonters seeking recovery. On average, the Turning Point
Center serves about 3,000 visiting guests each month.
Gary gave us a tour of the Turning
Point Center’s new location on South Winooski Avenue in Burlington and talked
with us about his work as an advocate and counselor:
What
inspires you, or drives your passion for your work with the Turning Point
Center?
I’m inspired by the people
who walk through our door every day. Talented, bright, courageous people. I’m
in awe of them. To know that you live with a disease that you must be perfect
with—one errant drink, one puff on a joint, or one pain killer for a broken
limb—can set you into a spiral that could last for years. Courage doesn’t begin
to speak to the incredible strength that I’ve witnessed for some 7 years now.
What
is the most rewarding aspect of your work with the Turning Point Center?
What I find most rewarding is
to see someone walk through our doors with a sense of little hope for a better
life and over the weeks and months watch as they grow in strength to the point
where the light of hope glows in them. It happens almost every day here.
Providing a safe space, filling it with people in recovery to support our
guests, and enriching it all with wonderful services are the ingredients for
miracles to happen.
What
is the most challenging aspect of your work with the Turning Point Center?
What is hard is when someone
is so overwhelmed with their life that it is hard, if not impossible, for them
to focus on their recovery. Lack of housing probably is the biggest determinate
in keeping someone in the cycle of active drug use. Also, trauma histories can
be so difficult to work though. We constantly recommend therapy as a part of
someone’s early recovery so that trauma doesn’t end up being the boulder in
their recovery path.
The other challenge, that is
a part of all non-profits, is raising enough funds to make all of this work!
Our staff works very hard and deserves a decent income with benefits. We have
come a long way from when I began 7 years ago but we still need to go
further.
The
Turning Point Center of Chittenden County has grown under your leadership. What
are some of the changes?
We’ve
placed recovery coaches in the emergency department at the University of
Vermont Medical Center, and created a New Moms in Recovery Program for women
seeking sobriety and maintaining custody of their children. We also have a
wonderful Employment Consulting Program to make sure that all our guests who
want to work get a job. All these efforts have had tremendous success. We have
a wonderful team of recovery support specialists that greet each guest when
they enter the Center to ask them how they are doing in their recovery, what we
can do to support them and make referrals to other agencies for services.
Finally, we have an elite team of 15 recovery coaches that are available for
anyone who wants a more intimate relationship with someone in recovery as they
go through their unique recovery journey.
What
do you want Vermonters to know about recovery? Do you feel there is stigma that
needs to be confronted?
I want all Vermonters to know
that recovery is not only possible, but that it happens every day. Please take
the time to get to know someone in recovery. Listen to their story. Ask
questions. I know you will come to see, as I have, that people in recovery are
amazing, insightful, and determined people who we are fortunate to have as
family, friends and neighbors. They are gentle, but tough souls and we are
better for them being in our lives.
What
advice do you have for other Vermonters looking to make an impact in their
community?
This is always a tough
question for me. We are grateful for the many people who donate to our Center.
It is so helpful in allowing us to offer all the services we do. Also, recently
we finished a capital campaign to buy our first building and renovate our space
to work as a recovery center. I am so humbled by the community response to our
asking for financial assistance. When people walk through our door, they all
say this space is so respectful and dignifying. That is what we were aiming
for!
For others, I recommend that you use your talent to help broaden people’s understanding of addiction and recovery. Some Vermonters are amazing writers, some our phenomenal artists. When I’ve seen those skills unleashed in this field it has transformed people who experience their gifts. I’m thinking of Bess O’Brien’s documentary Hungry Heart or Kate O’Neil’s articles in Seven Days and the obituary she wrote of her sister Maddie who was addicted to opioids. The group Twiddle who write songs about addiction. There are so many ways to help. Serving on our board or various committees of the recovery center is yet another way of helping. I always like Dante’s quote “In times of crisis may the hottest place in hell be reserved for those that declare their neutrality.” Get involved, and make a difference. It does matter.
Attorney General T.J. Donovan with Gary De Carolis in the Maddie Linsenmeir Room at the Turning Point Center of Chittenden CountyMurial outside of the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County’s new location on South Winooski Avenue in Burlington, VermontCommunity meeting at the Turning Point Center of Chittenden County
Charity fraud is, unfortunately, all too common. But don’t be discouraged. You can still make your charitable giving count by following the tips below to identify the bad actors from the good:
“Who are you and what is the name of this charity?” “Where is the charity located?” “How would my donation be used?” “Are you a paid fundraiser?”
Tip #2: Learn about Paid Fundraisers
Some charities hire paid fundraising companies to help them solicit donations. In Vermont, any charity using a paid fundraiser must register with the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, and report how much of the donations received go to the fundraiser. Visit the Attorney General’s website to learn more and access donation information, or call the Consumer Assistance Program: 800-649-2424
Tip #3: Spot the Scam
Scammers use phone calls, mailings,
door-to-door solicitations, and emails to trick people into “donating” to their
“cause.”
Phone calls: Scammers will pressure you to give money right away. They might ask you to send cash or wire money, and they will not give many details about what the donation is for.
Mailings: You might receive a letter in the mail thanking you for a pledge you never made. This is a signal that the mailer is a scam. If you receive a mailer that you’re unsure about, do your homework by searching online, or call the Consumer Assistance Program.
Door-to-door: When someone knocks on your door to ask for a donation, the pressure is on. Remember that you are under no obligation to give. Ask for more information and do your research. If you cannot get legitimate information about the charity, odds are it is a scam.
Emails: Think before you click! Phishing emails look similar to messages from legitimate sources and use email addresses that seem familiar. Be cautious with suspicious emails and call a charity directly if you have questions. Don’t use a phone number on the suspicious email; look it up separately.
Some common charity scams in
Vermont include:
Pastor imposter scams: a scammer posing as a local religious leader asks you to donate to a cause using gift cards via email.
Fire or police organization imposter scams: a scammer calls asking for donations to a local or national first responder organization. If you get a suspicious solicitation, hang up the phone and call your local firefighter or police station to get more information.
Disaster scams: Scammers ask you to donate to a charity that provides relief for people who have experience natural disasters, except the charity doesn’t exist or they are impersonating a real charity. Always do your research before giving money or personal information.
Tip #4: Call the Consumer Assistance Program!
If you feel unsure about a charity
solicitation or believe you have donated to a scam, call the Consumer
Assistance Program! The Consumer Assistance Program can help identify warning
signs, provide paid fundraiser information, and help you recover from scams.
This is a monthly series in which the Attorney General will feature a Vermonter doing exemplary work in their community. Have someone you think should be featured? Email AGO.CAP@vermont.gov.
For our September Vermonter of the Month, we are honoring all of those who donated to this year’s 3rd Annual Lawyers Fighting Hunger Food Drive. This collaboration with the Vermont Foodbank and the Vermont Bar Association raised over $8,000 and more than 4,400 shelf-stable, non-perishable food items in just two weeks. Overall, in the three-year history of the Lawyers Fighting Hunger Food Drive, the Vermont legal community has raised more than $35,000 and collected over 11,000 food items. Thank you to all the Vermont lawyers and law office staff who made this year’s drive a success.
A recent study by the Vermont Foodbank
and Feeding America shows
that one in four Vermonters (around 153,000 people) turn to food shelves and
meal service programs to feed themselves and their families. These
numbers include an estimated 33,900 children and 26,010 seniors. All food and
funds collected during this year’s food drive went directly to the Vermont
Foodbank and over 200 Vermont Foodbank-partner food shelves and meal sites
around Vermont.
Thank you to all the Vermont lawyers and law office staff who made this year’s drive a success.
Bauer Gravel Farnham, LLP
Bergeron, Paradis & Fitzpatrick, LLP
Biggam Fox Skinner, LLP
Bradley D. Myerson Law Offices
Cohen Consumer Law
Dinse, PC
Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC
Justice for Victims Legal Clinic
Maley and Maley, PLLC
McNeil, Leddy & Sheahan PC
Office of the Vermont Attorney General
Paul Frank + Collins P.C.
Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC
Sheehey Furlong & Behm P.C.
Stitzel Page & Fletcher P.C.
Vermont Bar Association
Vermont Department of Financial Regulation
Vermont Law School
Vermont Legal Aid, Inc. – Rutland Office
Vermont Public Utility Commission
Vermont Trial Lawyers Association
Chief Rob McDougall, Environmental Division, and Nicole Whalen of the Vermont Foodbank present Lawyers Fighting Hunger “friendly competition” award to Attorney Ben Traverse of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, winner of the large firm division. Members of the Attorney General’s Office with food drive donations. Chief Rob McDougall, Environmental Division, and Assistant Attorney General Alison Stone present Lawyers Fighting Hunger “friendly competition” award to Attorney Elizabeth Schilling of the Vermont Public Utility Commission, winner of the medium firm division.
Consumers have reported receiving calls or online solicitations for free medical cancer screening kits in exchange for Medicare information. While cheek swabs are used in common screenings for illnesses and genetics, unprompted and unsolicited calls or online advertisements for free cancer screening kits are a scam.
Phone. Often this
scam begins with a phone call, letting consumers know that their doctor has
referred them for a free cancer screening kit. The caller then asks for
Medicare information, claiming their insurance will cover the kit. The cancer
screening kit does normally arrive at the home of the consumer but it typically
does not go to a cancer screening facility, or if it does, consumers are
required to pay out of pocket.
Internet. This scam can
also originate as an online advertisement. The advertisement will state
consumers can receive a free cancer screening kit. Clicking on the
advertisement will bring consumers to a separate page to provide contact
information as well as insurance and Medicare accounts.
Signs to spot a cancer screening scam:
An unsolicited phone call or internet advertisement stating qualifications have been met for a free cancer screening kit.
The products claim Medicare or other insurance providers will cover the cost.
Often described as free in exchange for Medicare information
The seller claims a doctor has approved a referral for the cancer screening kit.
Personal identifiable information (Medicare information, Social Security Number, Date of Birth) is requested.
Never provide personal information over the phone or online if you’re unsure where this information is going or you were contacted without request. If you receive a cancer screening device without requesting one or provided your Medicare information to an unknown scammer, call Medicare right away to report fraud at 1-800-MEDICARE.
If you or anyone you know has engaged with a scam, please
contact the Consumer Assistance Program at 800-649-2424.
Contributing Editor: Alexandra Esposito Content Editor: Crystal Baldwin
