Class 1A Girls
15. Tri-Center
Class 1A Boys
1.Nodaway Valley
13. Tri-Center
15. St. Albert
Class 2A Girls
10. Shenandoah/Essex
Class 3A Girls
12. Glenwood
14. Denison-Schleswig
15. Atlantic
Class 1A Girls
15. Tri-Center
Class 1A Boys
1.Nodaway Valley
13. Tri-Center
15. St. Albert
Class 2A Girls
10. Shenandoah/Essex
Class 3A Girls
12. Glenwood
14. Denison-Schleswig
15. Atlantic
The man who was the subject of the best-selling book and movie “Catch Me If You Can,” was in Iowa Tuesday teaching people how to spot and avoid scams. Frank Abagnale was a scammer who was caught and then became an adviser to the F-B-I and others on how to avoid scams. He visited Iowa on behalf of A-A-R-P and it’s program to educate members. They started to search around to see where you could get information to help consumers deal with all these scams that were going on — and there were no services anywhere with government or outside of government — so they started what was called Fraud Watch Network,” Abagnale says. “And they contacted me to see if I would be their ambassador to set up the program, talk about the things and go out and speak to people.”
Abagnale says he focuses on educating people. He says he’s a big believer that education is the most powerful tool to fight crime. “So if you can explain to someone the most common scams going on, then when they get that phone call, that e-mail, they’ll know not to do what they are asking them to do because they already understood how it worked.” Abagnale says his approach is simple. “The simple solution to all of these scams is a simple two words: stop, verify,” Abagnale says.
He says there is pressure by the scammers to act quickly and that’s why he says it’s important to stop and verify. “No matter who the caller is, everything is based on you have to do this immediately, has to be done now, right away. The urgency of the call right away is a red flag,” Abagnale says. “So even if it is the I-R-S…you hang up the phone, you look up the I-R-S in the phone book and you call and ask if they made that call. Simply, if you live by those two words — you won’t get conned.”
While he talks with A-A-R-P members, Abagnale says the advice works for people of any age. “If they’re asking you to part with some money or some information, and they’re asking you to do it immediately, then you need to check. So if it says it’s your bank’s credit card company, then you hang up and you take your wallet out and you get your credit card out and there’s an 800-number on the back and you call customer service and you ask them if they made that call. And of course they didn’t,” he says. “So that’s all I ask people to do no matter who they are — young, old or otherwise — is to stop and verify. There’s nothing wrong with being a little skeptical.”
Abagnale between the ages of 16 and 21 successfully posed as an airline pilot, an attorney, a doctor and cashed millions in fraudulent checks before turning it around to help catch those committing fraud. Abagnale says his notoriety from the book and movie probably helps him get his message across a little better. He spoke at an event in Johnston last night.
(Radio Iowa)
Jim Field visits with Brad Hildebrandt about Fred’s Paper Route, a gravel road bike ride in the Griswold area on October 14.
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AMES, Iowa (AP) – An Ames pediatrician has entered the Democratic race to oppose U.S. Rep. Steve King in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. John Paschen announced his candidacy Tuesday, saying that lawmakers should put aside politics “to pass bills and solve real problems.” He says that if he were elected to the U.S. House, he’d focus on fixing the broken health care system, bringing new jobs to the 4th District and reforming immigration laws.
Paschen has been president of the Child Abuse Prevention & Education Council and is chairman of the Story County Board of Health. The three other Democrats who have entered the race are bus driver Paul Dahl, of Webster City, Spencer councilwoman Leann Jacobsen and former baseball player J.D. Scholten, of Sioux City.
The 4th District covers northwest and north-central Iowa.
The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:06-a.m., w/KJAN News Director Ric Hanson
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An Iowa City man had a decision to make after winning the “Lucky for Life” drawing. Chuck Svatos won the drawing on September 25th that comes with a prize of 25-thousand dollars each year for the rest of his life. There’s a guarantee of a minimum of 20 years of payments, and there’s also a cash option of 390-thousand dollars. Svatos is 92 years old — he chose the cash option — after taxes he nets 273-thousand dollars. Svatos says he’s been trying a long time to win at any lottery game and the most he’d ever won was around four dollars. He plans to use the money to do some traveling, possibly to Hawaii or Switzerland.
(Radio Iowa)
Schools in Algona are closed today (Wednesday) after a threat was made against the district late last night. Local law enforcement notified school officials around 10:15 PM Tuesday about a threat that had been made against the Algona District. Since the credibility of the threat could not be determined prior to the start of classes today, law enforcement and school officials decided to cancel classes for the Algona district. Police and school officials are continuing to work to determine the credibility of the threat which comes a day after classes were canceled in Johnston after a threat was made late Monday night.
(Radio Iowa)