Just Sayin’: Thieves stealing rewards points

Beware of thieves stealing rewards points

The newest scam on credit cards doesn’t involve making purchases on the card itself, but taking reward points and making car reservations or airline flights using the points. This kind of theft is more difficult to trace.

My card and personal information were hacked from a website, which was supposedly safe, where I made a purchase. Normally, I would go through my credit card’s customer service center, give a security password and be transferred to a travel service that handles rewards for my card.

The thieves went directly to the travel service site, bypassing the security system of my card, and gave the service all of my card and personel information. They made car reservations, one in Los Angeles for a week, and one in Chicago for a day. Then they took flights from Boston to Chicago and back.

The credit card company gave me a new card and restored my several thousand points.

However, the airline didn’t know that it issued a ticket that most likely used a false name. This is a national security risk.

Judith KaytonRiverhead

Spend more to cure Alzheimer’s disease

More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and that number is expected to triple by 2050. It’s a leading cause of death without a known prevention, treatment or cure.

Last year, according to the association, more than 1 million New Yorkers gave 1 billion hours of unpaid Alzheimer’s care, time valued at about $14.2 billion. The impact extends beyond our elderly. This is one of America’s most expensive diseases.

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1980 at age 57 and suffered for 20 years. We need to find a cure.

Congress has started to listen and to increase Alzheimer’s research funding, but it’s not enough. This isn’t a red or blue issue — it affects us all.

Kathy DistlerJericho

Editor’s note: The writer is a member of the Alzheimer’s Association board.

Let the world vote online for preferences

There are roughly 7.4 billion minds on the planet. An algorithm could be created online to let everyone have his or her say on budgets and public policy. We might do better than the politicians.

If the algorithm could be trusted, then its continually evolving consensus could be trusted. We have to start by trusting someone; let’s trust ourselves. With the technology we possess, we could know the mind of a planet.

Carl PizzoRiverhead