Everyone hears so much about FEMA coming to the aid of people who have lost their homes and belongings during a disaster, that they may be under the impression that they do not need homeowners’ insurance because FEMA will be there. Think again.

In the event of a natural disaster, it is important to understand that FEMA benefits are based around helping the insured, and survivors with homeowners’ insurance are the ones who may be eligible for FEMA assistance.   Insured homeowners and renters whose home or personal property sustain damage from a natural disaster, should first file a claim with their insurance company, and then register with FEMA.

Insured survivors may be eligible for assistance with losses and needs not covered, or those in excess of their policy coverage.   The programs offered by FEMA are intended to meet individual basic needs, and to help people get back on their feet.    FEMA is not a substitute for personal property and insurance coverage, and cannot pay for all losses caused by a disaster.

Another important reminder to mobile home owners. When insuring your home, be sure to insure it for replacement value and what it will cost to replace the home.   In addition, you will be responsible for cleaning debris off of your site and those costs could be significant.  Do not risk not having adequate homeowners insurance coverage.

Source:  www.fema.gov

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in
the United States, and Thanksgiving 2018
occurs on Thursday, November 22. In 1621,
the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag
Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that
is acknowledged today as one of the first
Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving
were celebrated by individual colonies
and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of
the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln
proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to
be held each November.

In many American households, the
Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its
original religious significance; instead, it now
centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful
meal with family and friends.

Turkey, a Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous
it has become all but synonymous with the
holiday, may or may not have been an offer
when the Pilgrims hosted the inaugural feast
in 1621. Today, however, nearly 90 percent of
Americans eat the bird—whether roasted,
baked or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving,
according to the National Turkey Federation.

Other traditional foods include stuffing,
mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and
pumpkin pie. Volunteering is a common
Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities
often hold food drives and host free dinners
for the less fortunate. n

Source: HISTORY
www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/
history-of-thanksgiving

According to a report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), millennials are particularly more vulnerable to online scams than seniors, as shocking as it may seem. The research finds that “40 percent of adults age 20-29 who have reported fraud ended up losing money in a fraud case”. But when people aged 70+ had a loss, the median loss was much higher.

Email scam awareness

Email scams, also called phishing scams, are becoming increasingly common as fraudsters come up with new tricks to try and steal your personal information and bank details.  In some cases, the emails have malicious software attached which can infect your computer, tablet or mobile with a virus.

What is a phishing scam?

Phishing when a cybercriminal contacts you out of the blue and convinces you to hand over your personal information or money or gets you to download a virus that infects your computer. Phishing is a play on the word ‘fishing’ and usually happens over email, but can also happen through texts, social media or phone calls  Are you curious to know what are the most common ways to easily fall victim to a malware attack or phishing scams? It usually happens when you:

• Shop online
• Check your email addresses
• Access your social media net

Here are five ways to avoid common scams:

1. Delete Unsolicited Emails. One of the best ways to avoid email scams is to delete unsolicited emails. Legitimate companies will never send you pertinent information by email.
2. Don’t Believe Promises of Money or Prizes. Any email or social networking link that promises free money or prizes should be dismissed, as these are almost always scams.
3. Never Disclose Sensitive Personal Information. Any person who sends you an email asking for sensitive information, such as your bank account number or Social Security number, is up to no good. No matter what they promise you, mark the email as spam and move on.
4. Filter Spam. Many email programs have the spam blocking or junk mail filter, if you are using online email services like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo be sure these features are active; also, you will reduce the amount of undesirables messages in your Inbox.
5. Hover Before You Click. Whenever you receive an unsolicited email asking you to “click here,” beware – even if it sounds like a legitimate company. The same goes for social networking links that take you to what appear to be login pages. These may be, in fact, sites designed to steal your information.

Stolen, leaked or compromised passwords

The latest version of a worrying scam is using details from one of the recent pastes of stolen information. They are inserting your name and a password that is associated with your email address from a hacked site into the email.

Enter your email address on www.haveibeenpwned.com and see where your info had been stolen from. Then make sure you change the password (s) on any site listed and any other site where you have used the same password.

Never, EVER use the same password on different sites. Always use a different password for each site you log in to. Don’t use simple passwords, like your name, your husband’s/wife’s, your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s, your dog’s or cat’s name. Always use a strong password with a mixture of letters and numbers and different characters. Something like jenny, Rover, 12345, 54321, password, login or similar words are absolutely useless. You need something like TsfE£%9& to stop them being guessed.  It is strongly recommended to use services like 1Password or LastPass to keep and create safe secure passwords.

Source: https://www.moneycrashers.com/common-email-internet-scams/

Federal Trade Commission