We Extend to All Our Best Wishes for the Upcoming Season and for 2018

February/March 2018

ThePresident’sMessage
Members in 2017 continued to enjoy the variety and scope of our excellent mix and nature ofevents/outings and ourspeakers. We have had cultural events (i.e.

Stratford), as well as learning experiences (i.e. the Honey Bee facility in Guelph) as well as interesting speakers on war events (i.e. Vimy Ridge) and on town planning and on worldcharitable activities (i.e. Mercy Ships) . Our investment and book clubs have been active as well. (It is unfortunate that many of us cannot achieve personally the rate of return achieved by the investment club on its fictional portfolio over the past 15 years. We added approximately 6 new members in 2017.

A new management committee was approved at our annual meeting in September and we are expecting that this strong group can extend our club's success into 2018

In 2018 our club (which is the 5th in Canada)will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a special lunch in June - hope you can all attend.

We extend to all our best wishes for the upcoming season and for 2018.

all the best.

Alex Murphy (President)

The Chirstmas Tree located in theOakville Town Hall Square

DECEMBER SPEAKER AND PROFIER

DECEMBER PROFILER

There was no profiler or speaker for our month of December General Meeting as this meeting was replaced by our regular Christmas Luncheon.

DECEMBER EVENT

Christmasluncheon Held at the Atrium Banquet & Conference Centre Burlington, ON THURSDAY 7 DECEMBER 2017

(Below left - Our entertainer for the afternoon whoalso lead the regular Christmas sing along)

(Below right - On are arrival, the Atrium had laid on a Gentlemen to greet us with background piano music)

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Were you snapped by our photographs at this years Christmas luncheon. (Photographs - Peter Pretty and Dave Johnson)

( Left - Russell Mewse our Christmas Luncheon M/C and our future President for our Probus 2018/2019 Year)

JANUARY PROFILER

Today’s profiler was Mike Purcell, who gave an updated profile. Mike was born in the arly1940s in Saskatchewanandadopted by acouple in 1942. His adoptive parents died 40 years ago and his brotherthrough adoption died 3 years ago. At that point, Mike thought his pastfamily history was gone.

While on holiday in 2017, Mike got an email that said “Hello Michael.Ithink we’re related” from a lady named Bronwyn Parker. She waslosing her sight and was trying to meet birth relatives before totallylosing her sight. Mike used the DNA services of “Ancestry.ca” and “23and me” to get information on his biological background. It turns out hehas a Scottish background. He had been led to believe up to last yearthat his background was probably Irish.

JANUARY SPEAKER

Today's Speaker was Constable Nadine Clarke, Older Adult Support Officer, of the Halton Regional Police Service.Constable Clarke was introduced by Jack Talbot.

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In Halton Region, Elder Abuse is taken very seriously. Our Police Services works to deter and prevent crimes against Seniors who live and work in our communities. We have fiveHalton Police Officers who investigate Abuse and work with community services to mitigate Abuse.

Constable Nadine Clarke, the manager of this team, explained to us the Police strategies to protect all of us from Abuse and what we can do to protect ourselves.

Constable Clarke, born in Bracebridge and raised in London, moved to Halton when she joined Halton Regional Police Service in 2005. She patrolled Oakville for five years. Then she worked on the Domestic Violence Unit until 2014. For the last four years, Constable Clarke has been the Older Adult Support Officer, part of which is spent educating Seniors on Frauds, Scams and Safety. She is also raising her 7-year old twin girls.

Nadine Clarke advised the fraud consists of any scams carried out by phone, internet or through the mail. Seniors tend to be targeted since they are, generally, vulnerable, trusting and, possibly rich. Constable Clarke has seen up to $500,000 lost due to fraud in a single incident.

Fraudsters can find potential victims easily via Canada 411 or through Social Media. You can protect yourself by un-listing your land line. On Social Media, Fraudster(s) may know when you’re away. Therefore, set your profile to “Private” except for “Friends”. Also, when filling out surveys, limit the amount of personal data that you provide.

Do not use Free WI-FI with no password at restaurants etc.. It is insecure WI-FI and, thus, fraudster(s) can log into your email and possibly steal valuable information.

NEVER release banking or medical information. The bank will always request that you visit the nearest bank branch if they suspect there is a problem with your bank account(s) or credit/debit cards.

NEVER give out your Social Insurance Number except in person to banks and/or other financial institutions that handle your investments. That is a key piece of data that fraudsters can use for identity theft. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will never contact you except by mail or by a message on your CRA on-line Personal Account. In that regard, keep your SIN card separate from your wallet. The best practice would be to leave your SIN card at home.

After an appropriate amount of time, we should shred all important documents especially those with our SIN on them.

For Credit Cards and Debit Cards, do NOT use the same PIN for both.

Do NOT click on links sent to you by “Fake” Apple, Fedex, UPS, bank or credit card companies by email.

Emergency Scam re grandkids in trouble out-of-town and they need money wired urgently to get them out of trouble. The “Bad Guys” do research on Social Media to know when the grandkids are out-of-town and where they are likely to be and then contact the grandparents by phone to have money wired. Do NOT wire money to someone you don’t know. Wired money is impossible to retrieve after the fact.

The No. 1 scams are Dating and Romance Scams. Don’t fall in love on-line. If you’ve never met the person, don’t send money. Don’t fall for the “My sister is sick. I need money to go visit her or help her.” scam.

Door-to-Door Scams. Fake water-heater rental company or gas utility company representative scams. Just say NO at the door and don’t give any of these people a copy of your recent utility bill. As a further precaution, you can always phone your utility company and ask if they sent someone to your home. Usually, they will advise you in advance if they require you to be home to resolve a problem you might be having or if they’re installing replacement gas meters etc..

NEVER give your PIN out. “Tap” credit cards only are allowed 4 taps X $100 each for four separate purchases. If you exceed the $400 amount total, then you must use your PIN. Thus, a stolen “Tap” card can only be used up to $400 maximum.

NEVER let a restaurant server take your credit/debit card away from the table. Use the portable card reader and enter your PIN at the table. Nadine Clarke advised that in the United States PIN card readers are far from universal due to the large number of regional banks there. Thus, theft of the magnetic strip information on the credit/debit card is far more likely in the U. S..

Corporal Nadine Clarke had handouts of her business card and flyers on the following for Club members to take after the meeting:

• Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) Flyer “Money Transfer Fraud”;
• HRPS Flyer “Avoiding Online Frauds and Scams”;
• HRPS Flyer “Grandson Scam Tips;
• HRPS Flyer “How to Protect Your Privacy”.

John Beales thanked Constable Clarke and gave her a copy of a book as a token of the Club’s appreciation. –Jack Rugg (secretary)

UPCOMING EVENTS

FROM THE EVENTS COMMITTEE

We would like to thank you all for your support at the Annual Christmas Lunch and for making it a great success. To keep you up to date, we have reserved The Atrium again for this year on 13 th . December. Thank you again.

The Pub Lunch in January appeared to be a success which is great as this is amonth we do have a problem arranging any events. We will consider making this an annual event also.

18 th . February Valentine’s Day Brunch at Glen Abbey. This is a great event with a superb buffet. Cost is $44.00 per person and places are still available.

21 st .March Guide Dogs of Canada located here in Oakville. The staff there are very enthusiastic to have us. We will be having lunch at Harper’s Landing. If you do not wish to join us for lunch, please advise us. There are a few spaces available still for this event. Cost is $10.00 per person which will be treated as a Charitable Donation from the Club.

18 th . April Theatre Sheridan for a production of “Crazy for You”. We have managed to secure another block of tickets for the show at a cost of $22.00. There are still 4 tickets available.

May We are trying to lock in a date during May for a visit to “Our Home and Miniature Land” where we will see the work actually being done for this project which they are hoping will become a major tourist attraction in Toronto. Their work place is in Mississauga. There was a detailed article quite recently in the Oakville Beaver about this project. There will be further information on this in the coming weeks.

5 th . June Don’t forget this important date – the 30 th . Anniversary. - Russell Mewse

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Meetings take place on the Third

Thursday of each month at 10 am

At the Quality Suites

754 Bronte Road

Oakville