Scams and Mastering Situational Awareness

Ever had that sinking feeling when you realize someone's trying to pull the wool over your eyes? Join me, Bill Bateman, and the Refuse to be a Victim team as we lay bare the insidious world of scams, especially those that rear their ugly heads during tax season. Anchored in a tale of my critiquing and then laughing at a scammer's "deceitful ploy", this episode shares the value of taking a breath first. We don't just stop at attempted scare tactics; you'll be armed with actionable advice on ramping up your security measures, like the fortification of your passwords, to shield your hard-earned cash from these con artists. Through the story of a friend's wife, ensnared by a scammer's web, we'll explore the distressing aftermath of fraud, reminding you why it's paramount to verify any eyebrow-raising claims with authorities before taking action.

But our vigilance doesn't end with a phone call. The episode transitions into a masterclass in situational awareness, equipping you with the skills to remain unflappable and prepared in any scenario—be it lost in your phone on a bustling street or weaving through an airport crowd. We'll dissect the essence of projecting confidence, honing your intuition, and the art of inconspicuousness in public spaces. As you consider these tips, you'll be reminded that it's not about nurturing fear but fostering a sharp, attentive spirit ready to tackle the unexpected. For every listener eager to transform to self-awareness, this episode isn't just a conversation—it's a gateway to empowering insights that could one day save your life.

Link to Premier Body Armor
(https://premierbodyarmor.com/blogs/pba/6-tips-to-improve-situational-awareness)

The Concealed Carry Class for March 9th is FULL!

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Transcript

Bill Bateman: 0:00

It has been a very interesting week. Here at my house, I was giving notes to a scammer who tried to do a phone fraud on me. I've discovered some interesting things that situational awareness can be applied to. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Come on in, get comfortable, let's talk about this. Hi everybody, I'm Bill Bateman, part of the team here at Refuse to be a Victim Personal Protection Training. We are located in the Medford White City area of southern Oregon and if you're looking for the exact address, it's 6800 Kershaw where Kershaw meets Corey. At that really sharp turn in the road, slow down. We want you to get into the range, but through the gate, not through the fence. So, with that said, we have had a busy weekend.

Bill Bateman: 1:02

As I mentioned, if you're not familiar with film or television, even media podcasting, that type of thing a director or a producer will give notes to the person performing to help them improve the performance. Like Bill, you were kind of sounding like you needed to clear your throat. You want to do that again, or could you speed up? Or you jumped one of the point. It's it's a technical thing that's done in the business, this is tax time and it's also scam season. Well, okay, I got two stories on that and how giving notes can be useful and situational awareness can also come into play. Let's talk about this.

Bill Bateman: 1:48

I got my first fraud call in a long time. I'm on a number of lists, I have a number of filters and blockers, but occasionally they get through and I got a very official person saying hello, mr Bateman, yes, this is with River, for totally unintelligible and we've discovered a problem with your account. It's a $6,200 charge. We need your account information right now. Or your accounts are going to be frozen or the one they went to next. Well, we're going to have to seize your accounts as evidence. If you don't recognize this as a classic phone fraud intro, you should. I instantly knew it was gobbledygook. I know many people in law enforcement and, believe me, they don't mumble. They are quite clear with what they need you to do. They're also very. I have never had anybody call and give me an advance warning that they're going to do something. I'm not in trouble that much, but the history is oh for oh. It's just not happening.

Bill Bateman: 2:55

I realized instantly this was a scam, so I listened. I said well, who are you with? Again, I was playing along to see what happened. And about 30 seconds in, I realized this guy was a complete moron, and so I started to critique his performance or give him notes. And I start you. Okay, listen, skippy, you're doing a great job, but you came in way too early with the threats. First you have to build rapport with the mark, haven't you? How long you've been doing this? And he got so frustrated I started to laugh and he hung up. They hate being laughed at.

Bill Bateman: 3:34

What this tells us is A there's a lot of this going on and B taking a beat. Having some awareness of what's going on is going to prevent you from wading into the deep end of the pool right after you eat. It's a situation that we want to respond. We want to correct this, we want to prevent problems, and that's always a good way to be. But have good information, find out who this person is supposed to be. I can go down to my bank very, very quickly and say so, what's going on here? And they always just put it on their fraud watch and let me know that somebody's scamming in this area, and I also find by changing my email and account passwords frequently, I reduce the likelihood of this happening.

Bill Bateman: 4:29

I know that it's a gigantic pain in the backside to constantly be changing your passwords. It's worth the effort. Don't reuse the same passwords. I fluctuate between three or four. I do, and we've talked about this before so I won't go into it in too much detail. I have my special high security passwords and those are like 21 characters. Some are computer generated.

Bill Bateman: 4:55

I had an account for a time that had a password that changed every 40 seconds and I had to log in. That's when I was at the university and we were dealing with some of the enterprise level systems. I guess is the correct term. That was a gigantic pain in the backside. Your email should not be that difficult, but don't use the same things and go back and listen to the password things. Don't use your birthday. Don't use your dog's name, your son's sports team, that kind of stuff. So I'm off the res. I'm heading in the wrong direction. Let's come back on track.

Bill Bateman: 5:31

Being aware of what you're doing and not reacting is going to keep you from jumping in. I have a personal friend whose wife got one of these calls and they said we're from the Sheriff's Department. We're going to come and arrest your husband if you don't do this. Well, I know these people. They are the least likely ever to have any problems that would merit that kind of action. They took most of her savings over a two day period. It's horrifying they never got it back. Taking that extra beat. And, for heaven's sakes, if you and we I live in a mobile home park and there's a lot of single seniors we're trying to establish, if not reach out to the son or the daughter or the caregiver or whatever someone in the park. We have several attorneys. We have a law enforcement retiree here. We have people of I consider good character and say hey, bob, I just got this call, find out, don't give out information like that.

Bill Bateman: 6:36

Also, talking about scam time and this one really upset me. It is tax time. I'm still waiting to gather all my information Should be out by the 31st January, but a lot of things should happen that don't. And I looked in my bank account and buried in the archives. Zipcar has been billing me both insurance and a renewal fee on my membership. They did it for 2024 is how I discovered it. Well, what's the problem, bill? I have not had a Zipcar account for over seven years. That's when I moved to Oregon. Well, I called them up and I said K-Positoods and they said, hey, you're a long time member. And I explained no, I wasn't, and I sent them because I'm that guy. I had copies of my cancellation. Well, oh, we're sorry. Harumph, harumph, harumph. They reversed the charges. To make it extra special, they took them out again the very next day. So I notified the fraud unit at Chase Bank and I now have all my money back.

Bill Bateman: 7:43

If you're not keeping a close look on your finances, they start with the little stuff. A five dollar charge here, what, what's this? And if you get busy and you let it go, that's how they get into your accounts. So all of this is about being aware. Now we use the term situational awareness, and that's most commonly defined as the ability to perceive and understand the environment around you, including the people, objects and events that are occurring. An example, of course, is being mindful of your surroundings. If you're walking through a parking lot, when you're going back to your car from the supermarket, coming out of a club, oh my goodness, anticipating potential risks and taking appropriate actions to be safe. Now I think of situational awareness when I'm out at the range. I'm an RSO range safety officer, I'm part of a team of really nice volunteers and we are responsible for both helping people with technical problems, keeping up with the rules and how to shoot safely, as well as diffusing a tense situation. If people get grumpy, somebody shoots another person's target somebody's behaving in an inappropriate way. We have to work with that. So situational awareness is critical, absolutely. We're trained in that and we work on it on a regular basis because we are all about safety.

Bill Bateman: 9:13

But this also applies, as we've just seen, to your day-to-day banking, your day-to-day phone activity. What's going on in your everyday life? We often feel and I had somebody describe this to me and I think it's great they said I often feel like I'm being chased. There's just so much stuff going on, things I have to respond to Read this, hear this, look at this, do this, do that. In addition to the important stuff like going to the store and putting gas in the car, I, like You've got all of the different things health issues, family issues, personal issues and it's you're not being aware. If you're not staying involved with the things in your day-to-day life that are really important, that's when stuff's going to blow up on you. Let's look at things like cell phones. I get so angry at people. I mentioned it probably once a month People who are walking along looking down at their cell phones. We went to New Orleans recently, new Orleans, and had a lovely time.

Bill Bateman: 10:24

I can't tell you the number of people who just walked out into traffic because they were on their cell phone looking for a location, or looking for a club, or going to meet somebody, or hey, helen, here's a picture of me with a horse. Texts are important, so unless you're driving which you shouldn't text and drive ever I've actually pulled over. I had a thing pop up and it says you know, this is when my mother was still alive mom emergency. I got off the freeway, I pulled into a safe area and I responded Don't do it when you're driving, but being aware of what's around you, in addition to, if you're walking, that all important text comes on, step aside, and don't step aside in an area like down an alley. Step into a place where nobody can walk up behind you, and I like an entrance to a store that we've got two sides covered. Take a quick look around, look at it, see what has to happen and boom. You can then make decisions on how to deal with it. That's the key part. Don't react. Think clearly.

Bill Bateman: 11:33

Another place you've got to look at awareness is restaurants, clubs, bars, restaurants specifically and this is going to happen more when the weather gets warm. But due to heat, employees taking breaks especially some of the bigger venues back doors can be open. So I use the three-second rule. When I walk into and out of a place, as I'm doing that, I'm taking a few seconds to observe the room, the area, who's there, where the people are any potential threats. It's 114 degrees and there's two guys in heavy long coats and watch caps. I mean that's almost a movie trope at this point. Where are the entrances, where are the exits and are you near the back where those people could come walking in through the kitchen? I'm not talking about being paranoid. I'm not talking about being. It's like John Belushi and that one scene in Animal House when he's looking around all over everything like that A hysterical scene if it doesn't spring to mind.

Bill Bateman: 12:41

Let's look at ways that we you and I can keep situational awareness a part of our daily life. Basically, pay attention, look at what's going on around you, look at who is making eye contact and look at who is not. Now I found, in more serious situations when it's a safety issue a really good website and it's Premiere Body, harmer. They have some good products. This is not an endorsement, this is just where I found the information and I'm giving credit to my source. But they have a couple of things on situational awareness and let's talk about that, and they and I share some good ideas. Look at possible exit routes and hiding places when you arrive in an area. Look at the what if? Situation. I'm going to include the link to this site and to this actual article so you can go through and review it in depth.

Bill Bateman: 13:43

But perceive, prepare, process and responding is not unreasonable. You're not being a cartoon character. You're not looking paranoid or all twitchy. You are becoming aware of what's going on around you. Now there's six basic tips I'm going to share with you. First, reduce and avoid the distractions, and that's the cell phone. Or listen to the music. I've seen people. I can hear their music as they're approaching me, so I know they're not in the zone. They're not watching me.

Bill Bateman: 14:19

Be a hard target. Now what does that mean? Those are always looking for quick and easy targets. Don't walk alone. Never walk into a dark alley or back yourself into a tight corner. Just look like you know what you're doing and where you're going, even if you don't. That old fake it till you make it. And for heaven's sakes, people and I saw this on my trip last time guy standing in the airport crowded people all over, not actually in the airport, he's out going to get a cab. That area, that no man's land between your car, the parking lot, the rental car carrier yeah, don't show off expensive items and consider how you're carrying your purse, your bag. Keep it close to the body and don't flash cash. Honey, yeah, here's $200. Take that from this a massive amount of cash. I cannot believe anybody would actually do that. But in the airport, oh, he set off bells all over. Everybody's looking at him now. Fortunately, there's a police officer nearby and you can't always count on that good luck. So be a hard target.

Bill Bateman: 15:32

I like to take the extra step. Before we went to New Orleans, I went on Google Maps and I took a look at the area we were going. I found out about the crime reports. I found out about the dead ends, the alleyways, the narrow streets, the places you couldn't go after a certain time. This is not paranoid, this is listening to your gut, and that's another tip.

Bill Bateman: 15:58

Instincts are a powerful weapon and loading yourself up with some good information in advance. If something seems wrong, get out of there. If you see somebody that gives you that little feeling in the pity of your stomach with me it's the back of my neck, oh, my hair actually will go up on end. I thought it was a movie thing, but it happens Walk away and then tell somebody yeah, you can be afraid you're overreacting, but wouldn't you rather be wrong than right, good judgment, intuition, and you also want to be prepared for the unexpected.

Bill Bateman: 16:39

I have seen this in several instances. When a perfectly calm, perfectly quiet situation. Somebody says something and boom, it's on. They throw down, they're throwing furniture, they're hitting, they're knifing, they're shooting, they're stabbing, they're running, jumping, climbing trees. It's. That's when knowing your exit options should already be in your memory bank. And this could be a theater. Nobody goes to the mall anymore, I'm told, but there's a lot of good places that you still are going to be out in public restaurants. That couple of minutes you're going to spend observing. That's important. And, as we like to find out on airlines unless you're on certain flights where the door could just appear magically, your nearest exit may be behind you Make a quick plan on how to get out there. Well, mass shootings yeah, that comes up first and foremost. There are other type of threats. This could be a fire, this could be two people getting angry, a husband, wife, a domestic disturbance, boyfriend, girlfriend hey, who she? That type of thing. And that's going to help you make your fight flight or freeze response.

Bill Bateman: 17:53

And I do always recommend discussing these things with the people you're likely to be with. Both my wife and my son, we have a code word. If I start talking about a certain subject, they know I feel I have identified something. That doesn't mean we're all going to jump up and run for the door, but it allows us, in a non hysterical manner, to say, hey, banana peels are on the menu. Ha ha well, banana peels, the magic word for this example. It's not, but you get the idea. It should be a word that fits into the conversation, but not real easy. It should be a word that fits into the conversation but not too easily, and this alerts the people you're with. I've talked about it with my wife. We said what if I've talked about it with my sons? So, if the three of us are out in Portland, there's an evening's entertainment and something comes up, we're all on the same page. We don't look like the three stooges when chimp needs cheese.

Bill Bateman: 18:57

I believe in carrying personal protection. That is a personal decision. I, my goodness, we have a non ballistic self defense class. I've talked about it before. I think it's outstanding to have made a decision and have practiced with whatever you're going to do. That could be pepper spray, that could be a kubaton, that could be a high power strobing flashlight, you could have bulletproof body armor, backpacks, firearms, knives. There's a lot of things you could do as long as you understand the legal implications and I cannot stress this enough and yes, we are in the training business I want you to get trained with whatever you're doing, whether it's hand to hand, whether it's firearms, whether it's having anything with you, don't think that's going to protect you. That is your last stop. So if you carry personal protection as part of your self awareness program, do that and be good at what you do, don't just. I've seen way too many people take a class. I've got my concealed carry and you never see them again. I train weekly at the range. In addition to giving classes, my wife and I work through different exercises only because it's our responsibility to be safe and effective shooters, because you're responsible for every round that comes out of that barrel, even if you miss your target.

Bill Bateman: 20:35

Finally, see something, say something. That goes part of listening to your gut. Don't be afraid to alert somebody. Use your best judgment here, please. You don't want to go around accusing everybody, but being observant is going to prevent things from happening in the first place. How many times have we heard about all the clues leading up to a tragic accident or a tragic act of violence? Hopefully they'll be able To intervene.

Bill Bateman: 21:03

And yes, workplace self-awareness and situational awareness is just as important, just as important as it's going to be with you out on your way from the supermarket or leaving or entering the restaurant. Talk to your company, find out what the policies are on situational awareness training. Observe, obsess, be aware and, before we get out of the topic, let's talk about teaching situational awareness to your kids, to your young ones. It's not just something for adults. Children need to practice this too.

Bill Bateman: 21:40

I've written a lot of stuff for this podcast about the different things we can do to stay aware. Look at the information online. Talk to your school and find out what they have for code red drills or lockdown drills, or see something, say something. Telling an adult is important. Knowing what to expect is important, and not making it a big, scary, horrifying subject. Making it something that you and your family, your young ones or your grandchildren Talk to mom and dad, as well as including the grandchildren, cause if they're at your house and something happens, you are the first responder. So all of these things we talk about all blend together Staying alert to who's calling you and what they're wanting.

Bill Bateman: 22:36

Take that extra minute. Wrapping it up, looking at how to diffuse a cell phone call that's bogus. I laughed at them. They hung up how to deal with bank frauds getting charged for things you shouldn't do. At my bank, if I see a charge that doesn't like, there's a button I can click and dispute that charge. It shouldn't be hard. Know where these tools are, and this is the same thing. This is the same thing with your backpack, your go bag, your emergency supplies. Look in advance as to where your tools are going to be. Get out of your comfort zone. We're gonna talk about that in depth next week, because getting out of your comfort zone can be very off-putting. You can feel a little disoriented. Let's talk about that next week and, as always I like to encourage, I'm trying to build this podcast beyond what we have.

Bill Bateman: 23:32

If you please, share this with some friends at work, at church, at your club. I try and be really non Political. I've talked to a number of people who say you know, I didn't, I used to like to listen to so-and-so, but they've become so political. I'm not here to tell you who to vote for. I have my own opinions, believe me, I've got my own opinions, but Everybody deserves to be safe. So if you'd like to share what we're laying down here, and that's prepared, rational, logical solutions to life-threatening problems and how to deal with them, share this with your friends, share it with your co-workers, subscribe, download and If you've got questions or comments, the addresses right up front. I'm also, as a promise, going to put the link to the website on the situational awareness workshop web page.

Bill Bateman: 24:29

Actually, and we'll talk more next week with Getting out of your comfort zone and as we're moving in. It's very bizarre because it's currently snowing outside, but we're moving into hot weather pretty soon and Looking at things you can do around the home as the weather changes. So that's it for this week. We you know what to do about the classes. I do need to tell you that the class for this month in March is full. We actually have a waiting list. So it it behooves you I love that word, it behooves you to get out and Get registered as soon as you can. We also have private lessons if it's important. We'd really like to see out there one way or the other, fun day of family shooting, getting learned up or just come out and say hi, see what we're doing. It's pretty darned interesting. We've been there. The white camp, white range has been there since World War two. So that's enough for this time. Be safe out there. Be good to one another. See you next week. The preceding program is a presentation of retired guy productions. I.