The Wake Forest Police Department is urging area residents to guard against becoming the victim of fraud following several recently reported tech support phone scams. According to Microsoft, tech support scams are an industry-wide issue where scammers use scare tactics to trick you into paying for unnecessary technical support services that supposedly fix contrived device, platform, or software problems. Scammers may call you directly on your phone and pretend to be representatives of a software company. They might even spoof the caller ID so that it displays a legitimate support phone number from a trusted company. They can then ask you to install applications that give them remote access to your device. Using remote access, these experienced scammers can misrepresent normal system output as signs of problems. Scammers might also initiate contact by displaying fake error messages on websites you visit, displaying support numbers and enticing you to call. They

The Wake Forest Police Department constantly implores residents to help reduce motor vehicle break-ins by locking their car doors. After all, nearly 100 percent of the reported car break-ins in Wake Forest involve unlocked vehicles. Now, the WFPD’s pleas are taking on an even greater sense of urgency after a recent rash of break-ins involving unlocked vehicles. Once again, thieves engaged in what is known as “car-hopping.” Car-hopping occurs when criminals roam neighborhoods at night, pulling on car door handles, hoping to find an open vehicle. Police officials say it’s a numbers game. For every 10 cars a criminal checks, they expect to find at least a couple open, so there is no need to physically break a window or door lock to get in. Again, nearly all of the reported car break-ins in Wake Forest involve unlocked vehicles. So, there is little to no evidence to support the notion

Business After Hours in December will be hosted by Candlewood Suites at 12050 Retail Drive on Thursday, Dec. 20, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. * * * * Congratulations to the Wake Forest Chamber Foundation for Common Progress on receiving a grant from Duke University! The Foundation is one of only 40 organizations to receive one of Duke’s “Doing Good in the Neighborhood – Community Care Fund” grants. The Community Care Fund supports competitive grants for diverse nonprofits working to make a difference across the Triangle. Nonprofits apply for funding annually, and a review team of Duke employees award grants of up to $5,000 to organizations with strong and innovative proposals. The Wake Forest Chamber Foundation for Common Progress was established in 2015 as a 501c3 charitable organization. Specifically dedicated to educational pursuits, the Foundation offers a mix of programs with one common aim: to cultivate and expand the talents and skills

The editor knows there are many readers who do not subscribe to The Wake Forest Gazette and is urging those people to subscribe. There is no charge, but you do get a weekly notice from the editor each Wednesday announcing a weekly update is on line. All you have to do is go to the first page, find the box for subscribe and enter your name and email address. If you have been a subscriber to the Gazette and find you are not receiving weekly notices that the new issue is on line, the problem lies in the software for the paper’s email service, Mailchimp. If a subscriber’s inbasket is full or if there are other reasons why the email would not accept the Gazette notice, it will be listed as bumped. If that condition continues, Mailchimp will list that subscriber as unsubscribed and stop sending notices. To remedy the