Meeting Report 3148 February 13th 2023
Apologies for the evening:
Bob Ahrens, Patsy Johnson, Tom Kelly, Anthea John, Colin Bazeley, Wayne Murphy, Beth Hudman
Guests
Deborah Luetkens – Guest Speaker
Charlotte (daughter of Deb)
Peter Nettlebeck
This evenings Formalities:
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Toast
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Grace
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Chair
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Ron Lloyd
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After opening meeting 3148 PP Ron Lloyd welcomed guests then called for directors and members with Rotary spots to come forward.
Angela Moore updated everyone with the volunteer roles at Two Wells Primary School and circulated a sheet for people to register their interest. Areas in need of help are Vegetable Garden -this was originally established with help of the Rotary Club at Two Wells which no longer exists. Reading with students and helping with Breakfast Club. All training and checks will be provided by the school.
Mark Forgie reminded everyone about the presentation on Thursday evening at the Adelaide rd Chapel for the launch of the Ukraine – New Dawn Direct Aid programme. Mark urged everyone to please support the evening. A flyer has been sent to all Rotarians with the link to book.
No further messages Rotarians and guests enjoyed some lovely fellowship over dinner.
Chairperson Ron then introduced Barry for his sergeant Session.
The wheel spin was conducted by Charlotte, the daughter of our guest speaker, winners tonight were Deb Williams and Ron Lloyd. Ron gifted his Chocolates to Charlotte who then kindly shared them with members.
An extra prize of a soup mug trio set donated by Margaret was won by Anthony Barilla.
PP Ron elected that Fines go to Polio Plus this evening.
Before his “facebook funnies” session Barry made a presentation to John Lyons of an inflatable Doughnut to try and protect him from ‘flying fans’ in the future. This brought many laughs from the group.
Following Barry’s session Ron introduced Guest speaker Deb Luetkens from SAPOL to talk about crime prevention.
Deb has been a member of SAPOL for 17 years and the last 10 has worked in crime prevention. After a number of years in the Salisbury area Deb has spent the last 2 years as part of the team in Gawler. Deb explained she still does ‘real police work’ but mainly focusses on the prevention of crime through working with families, schools and the homeless. Her team of 2 provide family conferencing as a way of crime diversion; providing a positive role models by visiting schools and just chatting to students in informal situations like breakfast clubs, sports days etc; Speaking with the homeless and checking in on them; Assisting families to do home security audits- most theft is due to people being so trusting and leaving homes and cars unlocked with possessions inside.
Deb encouraged all members to take a copy of the Scams booklet- the Little black Book of Scams. This is not a SAPOL produced resource but one they recommend. It is produced by the ACCC and is a guide to “spot, avoid and protect yourself against scams”. Deb then expanded on some of the types of scams and how people get caught. One way to avoid online scams is to look at your digital footprint- emails and social media.
Also
- review your privacy settings.
- Search for yourself online to check what’s there.
- Delete any compromising material.
- Delete any unknown contacts.
- Delete old accounts you don’t use.
- Read all messages aloud before sending them to make sure your message is what you really want to say.
- Consider what information you are sharing.
- Turn locations off.
Some trending scams at present are:
- threat of arrest,
- Remote access e.g. they will tell you they need access to your computer to fix a problem,
- a business email compromise -an email will appear to belong to a credible business e.g., a bank and use their logo etc. things to look out for are they usually will not have your name, there may be spelling mistakes in the body of the email- all of these might appear in a physical letter as well.
- Offers for investment- these are highest with people 65+.
- Sextortion- high with young people
- Family impersonation- e.g. ‘mum I have lost my phone, I am borrowing this one can you send me some money to buy a new one’.
- Online marketplace scams-e.g., people advertising normally high ticket goods for a low price and asking for deposits or money up front but they don’t have but anything actually to sell.
- Romance.
Some alarming statistics (from 2022) Deb provided were:
- Australians lost over $381 million in 2022.
- Investment scams are the top scam type with over $267 in losses Romance and remote access are 2nd and 3rd
- 146.776 reports to Scamwatch with 12.3% suffered a financial loss.
- Phishing is the top contact method.
If you believe you have been involved in a scam take screenshots/ photos these might help track the criminal.
Following her presentation Deb urged everyone to take some of the freebies she had brought along. She thanked everyone for a great night and complimented Gawler Rotary on having so many people attend the meetings. She said she does lots of talks to groups and has rarely seen such a huge turnout of people who are genuinely welcoming to all ages, friendly, enjoying each other’s company and having fun. She will definitely be coming back to attend a meeting.
Chair and PP Ron Lloyd presented Deb with her Certificate of appreciation before handing over to Pres Kathy.
Pres Kathy again thanked Deb and Charlotte for attending and confirmed that scams are huge. This year her bank has dealt $40 million lost in scams with their clients. They have had to refuse to carry out business with a couple of clients because of their refusal to follow security requirements to protect themselves and the bank to stop losses.
Next week will be dinner at Nixon’s then over to Taylor and Forgie Crematorium at Gawler Belt for a visit.
Please respond to the flyer for Thursday nights presentation/launch.
After the four- way test Kathy closed meeting 3148.