Douglas M. Gierhart, Attorney at Law

01/21/2026

So let's continue to talk about scammers. Scammers are after everyone including lawyers. Sometimes it's money they are after and sometimes they just want personal information. So what type of things can help safeguard you from them?

A web browser with good safeguards is a must. I use Brave browser. It was designed with cybersecurity as it's primary concern. It's free and easy to use just like other browsers. It's benefits are it's built-ins like shields that are able to detect bad or fake websites. Some websites are built to be able to phish (pronounced fish) for your information. Some websites sell your personal information and that is the major source of income for the website.

Anti-virus is also important. MacAfee anti-virus is available on a lot of computers when you buy them but MacAfee is notorious for selling your information. It doesn't make a lot of sense to protect your identity and turn around and sell it. My son recommends Bitdefender which has been great at my law office. I can scan my computer and it tells me where it saved me by preventing me to access a website and tells me if I have some type of malware or virus that it has captured and quarantined. I highly recommend it.

Another type of issue is clicking on a faked urgent notice pop up. Did you read that urgent? It is that sense of urgency that causes our hearts to race and click on it. DON'T!!! It is the same thing we talked about weeks ago in phone calls. Think before you click! Is this from my anti-virus program? Did I ever subscribe to monitoring of any kind?

Learn, learn, learn so you can help yourself and your parents. Until next time.

01/05/2026

Good day everyone. I hope you had great holiday celebrations with your families. I want to pick up the issue of scams and how we can help our parents and how you can protect yourselves.

You need to learn a few things about scams. Resources are really abundant on the web. But like with anything you have to look to the reliable sources.

So let's begin there. If someone calls and says they have a warrant for your arrest and you need to pay them in crypto-currency, I already know that's a scam but you may not. So find out where the warrant is out of and hang up and call that agency. For example, if they say they are from the Sheriff's department, hang up immediately and call the Sheriff's department and ask them if they have a warrant for your arrest. The scammer on the other end won't like it and will try to stop you, but hang up on them, that is the best defense, check the source!

Most scammers get people to respond because of a sense of emergency like the warrant or another I heard about is a family member has been arrested while on vacation and needs bail money; so hang up and call your relative. If you get a call from someone pretending the be the IRS or Social Security saying they have a warrant, hang up. The US Marshall's service is usually who serves arrest warrants for the federal government. And if all else fails say I have to call my lawyer and I will get back with you and hang up.

Finally, the best thing you can do is silence unknown callers on your cell phone or your parents' cell phones. If you are unsure how to do that, stop by my office at 15803 NE 23rd Street & I will be glad to help.

Next week I hope to post my first video to further assist you in staying ahead of the scammers.

Call now to connect with business.

12/14/2025

Scams are real and close to home.

I had another scam case come into the office on Friday. They were an elderly couple, whom I would call my friends. They are each in their 80's and smart.

They had called her Thursday evening. He said he was with the Social Security Administration (red flag) and he wanted to know if she had made a recent purchase for $900 (red flag). She said no and he said he would take care of it but she would need to make a report to the FBI. It seemed legit at the time. She freely gave her personal identification and then her financial information. After finishing with her he asked to talk with her husband. He said he thought he was doing the right thing. He gave his personal identification and even his balance in his checking account. He said he thought he was doing the right thing. They weren't pressuring him. They were doing an investigation after all.

However, the next morning neither felt right about it. They called their financial adviser and came by the bank to talk with them. Then they came and talked with me. They were fortunate, they informed everyone early and didn't lose anything. But their identities are compromised.

As I talked with them I was furious again. How can these scammers think they are doing a great job; scamming the vulnerable?

I made a report with the FBI and the IRC. I did a reverse lookup check of the phone number; the number came back as a Washington D.C. number but to a private individual, not the Social Security Administration. The number had been spoofed. I tthen got her them the numbers of each credit bureau to do a credit freeze.

I asked if I could look at her phone. I changed the setting to block
unknown numbers. I then gave them a referral to have someone come by and fix her computer with a more protective browser and some really good anti-virus. He would also be able to load the same anti-virus on her phone for extra protection.

This was a couple from here in Choctaw. I spent 2 hours with them getting them protected and reported.

Please, talk about scams with your parents and learn some things to help yourself and them. The problem is real and happens around us.

Do you need assistance? Call me (405) 347-1410

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12/07/2025

I started last week to talk about protecting your parents from scams and identity theft. We started by saying prepare by talking with your parents about this issue. Sometimes our parents are very private and don't want to talk about their finances. But tell them about people who have lost money because the family didn't talk about it. Remember, failure to talk about it is a failure to plan. If you fail to plan you will be so far behind if something hits and you could wind up talking with your mom or dad and all of the sudden you're like Steve Harvey.

So also, prepare by talking with OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS. Do you get along with your siblings? I don't know but communicate about this so your mom or dad isn't taken advantage of. Discuss the need to have someone watching their bank and financial accounts and preferably more than one person. Take turns looking at their bank account.

I give this advice of sharing the load because in the last two years I have had both a guardianship and a probate where the siblings trusted a single brother or sister to take care of mom or dad & when things happened it was too late! Remember this person that is taking advantage of your mom or dad could be one of their brothers or sisters.

If you have a good relationship with your brothers and sisters, great! Ask each other if they had anything unusual happen in their conversation with dad. You might learn that he has asked to borrow money from each of you and it raised a red flag, because dad had plenty of money.

So remember prepare and discuss this issue with both parents and siblings or other family members. You don't want to be talking with mom or dad and all of the sudden . . .