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When you are in a hurry you seem to hit all the red lights. These days there are cameras at the traffic lights that will snap your picture if you run a red light. If you do get caught by the cameras you will get charged a fine. However paying up without thinking about, or questioning whether the charge is valid may trick you in to giving out your personal information to a stranger. Tricky scammers have recently been caught taking advantage of trusting Americans and making a handful of money and stealing identities in the process.
The Scam: The scammer calls your phone number at random and once you answer demands that you pay your overdue red light camera fine. They tell you the only way to avoid late fees, a court case, or even jail time is to pay the bill right over the phone. They will most likely give you a fake identification number and assume that you will either be intimidated or too lazy to check into the fine, thus convincing you to pay the “fraudulent fine.” After you have agreed to pay the cop will then ask you for your credit card information including the security code. (The security code is required information if the payment is being taken from a remote location. Alarm Bells should start ringing at this point!) Then the caller will proceed to ask you for your billing address, date of birth, and Social Security number. (If this was really a fine from the police department, they would most likely already have some if not most of your information on file, they did “snap” a picture of
your license plate after all.)

The Police Say to watch out for scammers. The police do not use the telephone to chase down or collect overdue fines or tickets. They use the postal service, or in more dire cases, a process server or law enforcement officer. There is always the potential that it will go to a third party collector stage, all correspondence would be carried out in writing, creating and official paper trail that can be traced back and audited if necessary. The police department and most other authorities will never ask for your personal information over the phone, unless you initiate the call. There is a difference between calling the cable company to make a payment, and giving your information over the phone and having a “police officer” call you out of the blue and take your personal information down for something you can’t remember doing.

Fortunately you can stop this from happening to you. Never give out your personal or financial
information over the phone, email, text, or mail when solicited by a stranger. At the same time, find out as much as you can about the caller. Ask for a contact number, name, account number, job title, and any other relevant information that will help you identify them later. If they ask why, simply tell them that you need the information in case you need to call back. If they don’t give their information freely, or are stumbling over the answer this should also be a red flag to you.

The key is to pay attention and look into violations if you don’t remember making one. In the past year over 11 million people were victimized by identity theft. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how cautious you have been, it can happen in a matter of seconds. Identity theft can help you protect yourself with around the clock monitoring of you personal and financial data. To add Identity Theft to your personal home services visit us at Connect Your Home or call (888)566-3979. Has anything like this happened to you? Share your story with us.

Whether it is the Mayweather/Ortiz fight, any one of the many NFL Football games, or the Primetime Emmy Awards, this weekend is a great weekend to tailgate or have people over for a barbecue. While summer might have been the time for barbecuing, autumn is the time for football and tailgating. Combining explosive fuels with food, hot metals and large amounts of people can cause a recipe for disaster. That is why Connect Your Home, a national home service provider would like to give you some tips for being safe when barbecuing this weekend and through the rest of the season.

1. Always have a fire extinguisher around: Whether you take a small one in your car with you to the game or have one in your home, it is very important to have one when barbecuing in case a problem arises. It is also a smart thing to know how to cut fuel supplies, extinguish fires and call the fire department. Every year grills cause thousands of fires and hundreds of deaths and injuries, so at your next get together designate someone to be a “fire marshal” while the grilling is taking place.
2. Know the basic rules of food safety and preservation: Bacteria eat every kind of food you can think of. It grows at any temperature above freezing and stays alive until that temperature hits around 165 degrees F. Every moment in between those temperatures is crucial and needs to be handled with the utmost care. Learn the basic rules.
3. Location is Key: Every year hundreds of people cause fires to their houses, garages and patios because they didn’t put their grill or smoker in the correct location. Take a good look at the surroundings where you will be putting the grill, ask yourself is there anything that could catch fire (buildings, trees, etc.)? Also make sure that no one will have to walk past a hot area because of a small walking area.
4. Gas Safety: Like the above warning, make sure there is nothing inhibiting the path of the fuel. This mainly takes place behind, underneath, or inside the grill where you don’t normally look. Make a note to check before you start the tailgate or party. If there is a sign of trouble quickly turn off your control values, turn off the fuel tank, and disconnect everything. Gas grills generally produce a great deal of heat that can melt through hoses, knobs and other parts, so before you touch anything assume it is all third degree burn hot.
5. Practice safe Charcoal usage: Charcoal grilling is said to be more dangerous than gas grilling in terms of fires. The number one problem is lighting the charcoal. If you can avoid using lighter fluid to light the coals, then you definitely should. Lighter fluid turns to a heavy gas at a very low temperature. Read up on proper ways to use lighter fluid and make sure not to turn lighting charcoal into a game.
6. Enhance your Tailgating experience: Satellite TV provider DISH Network has just launched “The Tailgater.” The Tailgater is ideal for tailgating, camping and backyard BBQing! Weighing only ten pounds, it’s easy to carry from one adventure to another, bringing live satellite TV to all your favorite outdoor activities. Add this to your satellite TV services!

This weekend should be full of great sports and entertainment programming. Have fun and be safe when you are tailgating or barbecuing, and remember these tips. To learn more Home Safety Tips visit us at Connect Your Home or call (888)566-3979. What do you have planned for this weekend?

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Looking to catch a break on your monthly home utilities bills? Visit ConnectYour Home online or call 866-989-3474 to compare utilities and other home services instantly.

All of us have an impact on the environment, whether it is good or bad is up to us as individuals. If you would like to start living green but don’t know where to start, ask yourself this “How do I go about embodying an earth-conscious way of life, while maintain a standard of living I can accept?” That will allow you to understand how far you are willing to go to live an earth conscious lifestyle. Since one of the biggest impacts we have on the environment is through our homes, eco-friendly living starts there. Unsealed air leaks in your home can add up to 1,300 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Adding to that, inadequate insulation in your attic can add between 5 and 25% to your heating/cooling bills. That can really add up if you leave those matters unfixed. Living an eco-friendly lifestyle doesn’t have to complicated or expensive though, here are some ways you can live Green without breaking the bank:

• Use reusable bags: When you head to the grocery store, take your reusable bags with you so you don’t have to keep using paper or plastic. If you have any old totes, or any old bags at home those will work just as well.
• Use household machines to the fullest: Fill your washer and dryer to the fullest to reduce the amount of water you use with each load.
• Wash your laundry in cold water: 80-90 % of the washing machines energy used are due to the temperature of the water. Cut back on this by washing your clothes in cold water.
• Turn products off when they are not in use: This means when you are brushing your teeth make sure to turn off the water, or when you are leaving a room always makes sure to turn the light off.
• Recycle: Reuse paper and paper products whenever possible before recycling it. Recycling saves landfill space and saves natural resources. This may also help to boost the economy, recycling creates jobs and helps you save money.
• Walk, Bike, Skate or use public transportation: Walk, Bike, or use Public transportation for a few weeks and see how you like it. Not only will you get exercise but you will also be doing the earth a great service.
• Celebrate Meatless Monday: You don’t have to do it on a Monday, but choose one day a week where you don’t eat meat. This will improve your health as well as improving the health of the earth.

You don’t have to make drastic changes or spend large amounts of money in order to live an eco- friendly lifestyle. To learn more about living a Green Lifestyle, or energy saving tips visit us at Connect Your Home or call (888)566-3979.