Transcript
Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All Star Football Game
WRCO Morning Show · Fri Jul 10, 2026
you
On a morning show today from WRC radio.
We're pleased to have in the studio a couple of the All Stars will be representing Richland Center at the upcoming Shriners game at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh.
We have Liam Fingers in here.
We have Brady Dosh and we have the head coach for the South School All Stars.
That's Coach Troxel.
How you doing again coach?
I'm doing great.
It's been
Crazy how fast it's going.
I know when we sat down early in, in 26 and talked a little bit about, you know, the all star opportunity and the game that was coming up.
And I mean, it's nuts to think that it's only a couple of days away, you know, from that week of practice and then just over a week out before the actual all star game itself.
Yeah, it really is.
And it looks like the forecast is for a warm one, but you wouldn't expect anything different in July.
Would
you?
No, no, I think we've been kind of spoiled so far this summer, you know, with not a ton of hot days, you know, and we just,
make sure that we're mindful of the weather and we're smart about how we practice.
We build in water breaks, you know, and with that, we can practice a lot of it.
Our focus is going to be installation, right?
Cause you only have about five days to put it in an entire offense, a defense, right?
You know, definitely touch on special teams and then it's go time, right?
And so a lot of these kids are going to come from different programs that have different systems and different terminology.
And you just want to make sure that your system is complex enough.
right to fool the opposing offensive defensive coordinator, right?
But simple enough for our kids to really kind of wrap their mind around it too.
So I go back to the basics, you know, like 31 power and, you know, just like a gap things and, you know, old time terminology, I guess, right?
Yeah.
Talking to other coaches that have coached in this game and coached in all star games in different states, you know, they say that you want to have about six
plays that you really feel good about, you know, and then offensively you find a couple passing schemes that really kind of fit your personnel and just get really good at that.
So it's not like we're going to have 50 or 60 different plays out of, you know, seven, eight, 10 different formations, right?
We're going to keep it kind of vanilla to make sure that it's good.
Interesting.
So you had some of the coaches in here the last time you talked with us and I'm sure they're all looking forward to they all have a role to play.
Do they?
Oh, absolutely.
Absolutely.
We have about seven assistant coaches that represent the South small and I'm spoiled that I get to bring my OC Dave Darling, you know, and so we've been talking about this for months.
You know, so we've got our own South small offensive playbook that's already established and that this point we're just kind of
You're tweaking it, right?
Because going into this game, you get to pull from some of the best talent in the southern part of the state.
And so now it's like, well, we could run this because we have the personnel to do it.
And we can run this and this and this and this and this.
So what are we going to really hang our hat on and be really, really good at?
So it'd be nice to have Dave there and go in and have that understanding of what he's trying to accomplish.
And I know our other offensive assistant coaches have done a tremendous job kind of wrapping their mind around, here's the formations, here's how we call that, right?
Here's the verbiage.
and here's the scheme right and a lot of these guys have been around football for years and decades you know so it's just it's the same song and dance just going by a different title you know and so they're able to kind of really connect with it quickly and our defensive guy uh DC from Clinton
And he's just a great guy, you're right.
He's just very much a sea ball, get ball personality.
And so it's going to be really fun to watch those guys just flow to the ball and just hopefully wreak havoc on the North, whatever they throw at us.
And you're taking along another one of your coaches, Coach Clurkin.
Yeah, yeah, Coach Clurkin will really anchor that defensive line.
And I know with some of the guys that we were able to select in the self small class of 26, there's a lot of big dudes that have a lot of speed that not only were successful football players, but also
very successful on the wrestling mat right you know on the in the track and all of that stuff too so it'll be nice to really have a big big front you know on the D line but then also have a lot of really speedy linebackers and you know when we look at the kids that we were able to select I mean we were around 45 46 different kids you know all throughout
you know, Wisconsin or the southern part of the state.
And I think a lot of our kids, what you'll see with this year's team really represent Southwest Wisconsin, you know, and talking to different recruiters that have kind of looked at our area.
They just talk about Southwest Wisconsin being a hidden gem with talent, especially football talent.
And so that'll be awesome to really showcase what our part of the state has to offer with that.
So from Mayville to Cochrane, Fulton City, down to River Ridge, Blackhawk, Warren, then over into the Racine Kenosha area.
I mean, you're going to have a lot of talent.
And we certainly have two guys here from center that are
definitely gonna contribute with the talent pool that we have.
How do you determine who starts with that number of kids?
That's a great question.
You know, I think we go up there the first day or so and have some initial meetings about our scheme.
you know, and then we get a little bit of time to look at indies and group and just see who's who's performing, you know, and so based on that, we'll have conversations with the coaching staff about, okay, here's our number one, here's our number two.
But realistically, what we're looking at are packages where we have certain personnel that really complement one another.
And so the whole goal of the all star game, right, obviously is to beat the north, right, but also to ensure that every kid touches the field.
right?
And so we'll have different series, we'll different packages again that kids get in on.
And so that'll give us a chance to really kind of attack where we want to offensively, right?
And then defensively really look at, okay, are we playing against the spread?
Is it more of a power look, you know, and put our kids in the best position to have success?
Overshadowing football is the fact that this is a fundraiser and that's, you know, kind of the main reason too that you're doing this game, right?
Oh, absolutely.
Everything that we've done so far has benefited Children's Wisconsin.
And what they typically do is you have a north large and a north small, right?
Um, and then same in the south and then you have an eight man division.
So there's six all star teams that will be represented up there at Oshkosh.
And so of all six that are raising funds,
ourself small squad raised over $83,000.
Congratulations.
So thank you.
Thank you.
So I mean, that's the top out of all six teams.
And the WFCA has told us there's a special thing that we've won.
We don't know what it is yet, right?
But I think it'll be a cool surprise this week.
And I think it may have something to do with our friends that were green and gold.
Wow.
That's cool.
So, um, I got to talk to coach darling about this, but I'm thinking, you know, in the playbook, uh, pass out on the flat to Fingerson and then the old hook and ladder pitches to Dosh or on the way by and that's sure to score.
Yeah.
We're going to have to see what, how they show up here in the next week or so.
That may be the case.
So that'd be awesome.
Absolutely.
So, uh,
talk about these guys in the studio with us Liam and Brady and why they were chosen for this honor.
Yeah, yeah, great question.
So when we take a look at a lot of the kids that were selected for this year's team, you know, a lot of these kids are two way players from their home programs.
And so they have had
teams or their teams or their programs have really relied on them for a lot of different ways, right?
And so this is a chance for us to really kind of platoon and select kids for specific purposes.
So Brady is an all region linebacker.
He's an all region running back as well.
But going up there, we just love the way that he hits the hole, right?
His vision in space, you know, and just his tenacity to fight for extra yards.
So Brady's going to go as a running back for us.
And he's going to join a very, very successful and talented running back.
You know, so we've got a couple all state players, right?
And Brady will fit right in with them.
So really excited to give him a chance to carry the ball, right?
Especially behind some offensive linemen that are, you know, six feet plus across the board, you know, and definitely some tight ends that are going to move some people out of the way.
And, you know, when it comes to Liam.
Liam is kind of this a special character, right?
I mean, he's an all-state punter, you know, but he's also pretty jacked up tight end as well So that'll be awesome to use his height and his strength as our as an advantage for us to kind of open up gaps on the line of scrimmage But also to look at mismatches, you know to put them out there against guys that that aren't 6x6 right and give him a shot and I think what you'll see that's kind of different with
this game compared to Hornet games in the past is we've got three different quarterbacks that can put that ball in the money.
So if you're a big target and those hands go up, be ready.
You know, you're going to be a big target for us.
Interesting.
Well, let's bring the boys in here if we could.
Liam, congratulations on being selected.
Is it quite an honor for you?
Yeah, thank you.
Definitely.
This is amazing.
You don't expect this when you're younger, but it's great to be able to do this I mean just another chance to play football and to play some of the greatest guys around the state It's just amazing and it gets played by my coaches and Brady again even more amazing
awesome Are you
gonna get to
punt the ball?
Or yeah, you're gonna be the punter then
I believe so.
Yes,
okay, but but hopefully not if you move the ball and you never have to get stopped on fourth down You know you maybe I have to
and
yeah
And you, this is going to be, you kind of use this as a prerequisite because you're going to be going to camp in a short time, aren't you?
Yeah.
Right at the beginning of August, I go up and I keep playing just in another town, but still get to play football.
So you,
you were a part of the fundraising Liam and how did that go for you?
It went pretty good.
We both got a bit of help from the booster club, which we'd like to thank them for that.
Uh, I know I got a bit more from family and whatnot, but.
For the most part, I felt like it was pretty relaxed and I felt like the money came in pretty easy.
What are you doing this summer to kind of stay in shape and prepare for the game?
I have, well, workouts that I've been given through my college.
So I've been just doing those like four days a week and then running on my own time.
And I've been doing a lot of that, going with my friends.
Making sure I'm staying active.
Stay in shape, get
bigger,
all that kind of stuff.
So you're going to be playing on the offensive side of the ball?
Do you miss defense or not?
Definitely will.
Yeah.
That's yeah.
The edge is always so fun to play.
You get to look down that line, go hit whoever you want.
What about going back to high school, Liam?
A memorable game?
What would be one of the most memorable games that you played in high school?
My most memorable game was
our game against River Valley on homecoming night.
I mean, it was just insane to come back and beat them.
Just, oh my gosh, the fumble and then we, I got to kick it and I kicked it right off a kid and we got it back and then we were to score the last field goal.
It was, it felt great.
It was probably the best game I've ever played.
Yeah, that was pretty exciting stuff.
Absolutely.
What about, what would you like to do as far as a career when your schooling days are done at Eau Claire?
I'm going on a pre-med track and it's gonna be a mix of biology and chemistry and it's gonna be very accelerated which is nice that's what I like about it and after that I still have to pick one but I'm gonna go to a med school of course and I'm gonna see like if I want to specialize or what I want to go into but my plan is
to be a doctor, you know, physician, something like that.
That's impressive.
I presume you've talked to your coach, Dr. Brian Crawl, who's a member of Coach Troxel's staff, because he's taken a similar path, hasn't he?
Yes, he has.
I talked to him about it a bit.
He was always so nice about it.
Very supporting.
Are you going to divide the time, though?
There's a little study involved in that whole path.
No, definitely.
I got to see my first
semester and college is going to be a bit of a learning, learning opportunity to see what my time will be like.
But I'm pretty blessed to have worked as hard as I did in high school and I get a bit of freedom with going in with a lot of credits.
So you're already set up pretty well for your freshman year then?
Yes.
I
feel like I am now.
That's
awesome.
So on the college team, will you be primarily the punter to start out or do you know yet?
I, going in, they've talked to me about tight end and punter.
So going in, you know, you see where it goes, but I should be playing both quite a bit.
What's the secret to, to punting?
Is there a secret or anything that you've used?
It's mainly about how you hold and drop the ball.
If you do that wrong, then you're not going to get the pun off, right?
There's a lot of pressure on you, especially, you know, let's say things didn't go well on offense and you're standing with your heels right at the back of the end zone, knowing that any step backward is going to be a safety.
Probably have had that happen a few times where you're a
little bit
nervous.
My sophomore year, we had that happen quite a bit.
It gets a little scary when you see a lot of guys running at you, especially when I was younger, but you know, you just focus on
just kicking the ball getting out of your hands hold on to it too long you'll get hit but as long as you have a good clean kick doesn't matter
what's the longest punt that you ever had in high school do you recall
i believe it's
72 yards wow is that a school record coach it's gotta gotta be close
well i'll tell you what it's a record during my time here at center so we're gonna call it a school record
okay
Did you have the wind at your back then or was that just a way
to believe the wind was if I'm not wrong coming at me that game, but that still helps get the ball flying out more to get the velocity under it, you know, but I mean, obviously the wind wasn't wasn't too much of a part of it, I think.
Awesome.
Did you kick field goals very much for the Hornets or not?
My senior year I did.
Yeah, I thought you did.
So what's what's harder?
For me it's field goals.
Yeah
That I just never worked on as much punting always just came more naturally.
I liked him more
Well you two guys are you know everybody else from the class of 26 Move down you still got a high school thing to do yet.
Is that pretty exciting brady?
Yes, I'd say it's definitely I'm blessed to have the opportunity to do it Lace them cleats up one last time because for me unlike lamb.
I'm not going to college play football So this this will be the final
Final time, and it's going to be emotional, but it's going to be fun.
You get a chance to put all your heart and soul into it, don't you?
For one last ride.
Yeah.
It's, it sucks.
It's over, but glad it happened, you know?
So Coach Stroxel just said that you're going to be on the offensive side of the ball.
Are you going to miss playing linebacker?
Oh yeah.
I'm going to miss it a lot.
I'd say pretend coach ain't here right now, but I'd much rather be playing linebacker.
There's nothing like getting the ball, running back, running behind some big boys, and then finding your way in the end zone.
It's special.
When you were a Hornet, what play got you the most excited when you came into the huddle and they were calling it out, you were going to get the ball?
Definitely 44 counter.
At play, we ran versus Lancaster on the final two-point conversion of the game.
That's the play we ran, 44 counter.
And that's my go-to.
One that you'll always remember, isn't it?
Exactly.
So, and to be honest, you know, some of the time you're a little bit undersized for the position.
You kind of made up for that with speed a little bit, didn't you?
Yes, sir.
You don't have to be great and big at football, you know.
It's just what gets you there, like speed, like you said.
Just doing that every time, training for speed, hitting the gym, it all helps you.
I was undersized, but yes, I proved people wrong by doing that every day.
Yeah, most definitely an instinct to kind of knowing exactly
where it's
going to go on those kind of things.
What about most memorable game?
Same as Liam.
Oh, no, that was a good game.
But I'd say if I had to pick one and either be the one at Lancaster beating them for the first time in 17 years or running all over Doddfield this year, a homecoming game.
Yeah, that was one to celebrate as well.
Yes, it
was a blast.
Absolutely.
What was your longest run from scrimmage?
Do you recall?
I would have to say it was versus Verroqua the first game of the year maybe like 60 something if coach could help me here
It was
somewhere near there, 60, 70 something.
You know, as we look at that, there were some big runs.
I mean, that's the thing about Brady.
You get to the edge and he's gone.
You know, he's going to be a tough kid to catch.
Yeah, most definitely.
And I commend you both because, you know, you love all sports.
Maybe you like one more than the other, but you didn't specialize.
You played all sports.
Yes, sir.
And that did you feel that kind of made you better in each sport?
It definitely did
because not focusing on one sport.
It helped me with all of them especially and then like the the great Wait room program we have at center.
It's not just built for football.
It's built for every sport So don't think you have to play football just to get in the weight room It will help you with everything you need to do in high school.
Mm-hmm and help you with life too, right?
Exactly.
It's the best thing in life.
Yeah,
so
you're going to UW
Platteville understand Yes, sir.
I'm gonna go down there for the next four years for construction management.
Good for you
Awesome.
What are some things that you took from sports that you'll take from sports and maybe use in everyday life?
Definitely the
teamwork aspect and being a leader.
Football really taught me how to lead a group of guys that all have the same thing in common as you.
So I'd say that's going to go far in life with me.
How cool is it to be able to have a teammate on the team at the All-Star game?
It's pretty special.
It's definitely something to look forward to because we've been playing sports, football, our whole lives together.
And now to finally celebrate one thing, one last time together, it's special.
You guys know anybody else on the team that maybe you played against or anybody that you've been friends with on social media or anything?
There is a couple of kids from Valley that'll be on our team.
We played against them.
I know there's one from Platteville we played against and then a couple from Nuglaris we played against.
And I'm sure there's more we played against, but I've known some of them from the meeting we had in March.
I got to know them then.
So we've been talking on social media, the running back group.
And then our quarterback, I know one of them, Brandon Davis maybe.
I know him too.
Good.
How the fundraising go for you?
Oh, it went great, actually.
Exceeded expectations.
I'm very blessed and grateful for all the sponsors, the booster club donated, my family, some friends donated, and I'd just like to say thank you for all that support.
It means a lot to me.
That's awesome.
Coach, $83,000.
That just still blows me away that this group did that.
Yeah, absolutely.
Every single kid has about a minimum they have to raise of $750.
And so I think we've had kids that certainly have met their minimum and then some that have raised almost just under $10,000 or so.
And so yeah, I think the goal was to hit $75,000 as a team.
And so once we hit that and then the donations continue to come in, that was awesome.
And I know that the WFCA
And the representative from Children's Wisconsin was very amazed and very appreciative of the work that a lot of our team members have done so far.
So to come out and have over 83,000 right in donations are still open, right?
It still goes this whole next week.
So maybe we'll we'll top 85.
I would love to see 100.
You know, I meant that might be a big ask, but either way, you know,
these kids get the opportunity to play in an all-star game and raise funds, though, for people that are fighting a much bigger fight, you know, that a lot of times these kids won't experience, right, hopefully not, right, and just have the impact or the connection with those people that are going to benefit from their fundraising efforts.
So it's really kind of cool that they get to experience that life lesson.
What about the itinerary?
Could you go over that for next week?
Yep, absolutely.
So coaches will report on Sunday.
And so we have kind of a
pretty busy event or itinerary for that day where we have to get jerseys laid out and all the other equipment.
A lot of the paperwork, the management side of things, and then kids will report that next day.
on that Monday at one o'clock.
When it's initial report, we'll get them checked into the rooms.
And a lot of times the room assignments are based on position group.
And so no kid from the same school is going to room with one another.
So we kind of break it up.
And what we've heard from other All-Star coaches is that that's the way to do it.
And they're going to form these lifelong bonds with these kids as they go into this week of practice in the ultimate game.
And we have our team picture.
And so after that, we got a team meeting where we'll kind of set the foundation of what it looks like.
And then just like we do for a regular football season, there's a couple days of acclimatization that has to happen where it's helmets only, you know, and then it's pretty much shells for the rest of the week.
You know, the WFC has told us a lot of these kids know how to tackle, right?
So the fundamental stuff, they come in with a good base with that.
So focus on the installation of your scheme.
And so what our days look like, it'll be two day practices.
And so we'll have past centered practices, right?
And then we'll have run centered practices as well.
And it's an opportunity for us to really kind of look at that, but also to kind of alleviate some of the stress on their body as well, right?
And so two days, you know, with full pads, that just is not going to be the case up there going forward.
But we do have time built in for team bonding.
You know, I know that in CWA, I think 27 just released or will release.
So I imagine that they're going to be some dorm rooms that have that plan.
Um, and so they'll find ways to come together and definitely some pool time as well.
So, uh, the team bonding is a big part of this experience too, but certainly.
There will be some lifelong memories that these kids come out of this week of practice with, you know, and then ultimately the game that they'll never forget for the rest of their lives.
Will tickets be available in advance or at the gate or do you know anything about that?
Yep.
Every single athlete got 50 tickets to give away.
Wow.
And so a lot of those, you know, go pretty fast with friends and family.
Um, but certainly there are tickets that will be available.
as they come to the game.
So what will be really neat about this is this will be probably the largest crowd any of these kids have ever played in front of.
And so the WFCA wants to make sure that there's a lot of representation.
And again, a lot of the proceeds that come out of that go towards Children's Wisconsin as well.
So tickets should be available at the door.
I think we may have a handful of free tickets still left.
So if anybody's interested, just reach out to
to us or to me and we'll see what we can do.
But we would love to have a lot of, you know, Southwest Wisconsin SWC and especially Richland center representation at this all start game.
Do you know if this is broadcast televised or anything anywhere?
Yep, it'll be broadcast.
I haven't got the link yet.
I believe it's from Salinsky sports.
They're probably big in northern Wisconsin.
And so we'll have that link and we'll share it out on a lot of platforms that we can so people can watch from afar.
So good opportunity, right?
If you can't make
trip or the heat's too much, you know, sit in your air conditioned living room, right?
And watch these guys go out and battle and, and really defend the South as they take down the North.
Awesome.
It's going to be exciting and very exciting for you guys, Liam.
We wish you the best.
Why did you choose Eau Claire while you be heading there in the fall?
Eau Claire is, well, I mean, there's always a thought of not going extremely far away from home.
But then it's, they're just a really nice school for
pre-med and like medicine in general they've invested a lot of money recently into those programs into new buildings and I respect that with them and just They're just kind of known for that I guess so I thought maybe it'd be probably the best place for me to go
Mm-hmm.
Why about
what about
Platteville Breedy?
Oh, I'd have to say I picked Platteville because definitely
the distance from home it's a good distance get away from mom once in a while don't have too much of her during the year careful she might be listening yeah I'm sorry mom but then the construction management part there's not many schools around here that have that so I just I wanted to get into that instead of engineering and then Platteville is a place to go obviously for that so pick Platteville
great what are you looking forward to the most about this next week and in the game next Saturday Brady
I'm looking forward to meeting the
new group of guys that I've never been around in my life, you know, and then seeing them stands packed.
That's going to be special to me.
What about you, Liam?
I'm looking forward to just working hard again, get a chance to go hit guys, get some pancakes in, hopefully.
That's great.
It's been a real pleasure watching your guys career because I've called a lot of your games not only in football So hats off to you and good luck in the future in the game coming up and coach.
Thanks for helping to organize this as well.
Yeah, my pleasure
Anything else you'd like to add today?
Yeah, I think we're gonna run 44 counter So get ready for that one with Liam as a tight end and then Brady run in the ball So yeah, that'll be one of the play calls that will be or counter
44 counter that is that the one I requested?
No, I requested the hook and ladder
the hook and ladder.
Yeah, I think Brady wants the 40
He does.
Okay.
We're going to run
it all over the North.
Wow.
Can't, can't wait to see it.
Thanks a lot guys.
Appreciate it.
The all star game going on the Wisconsin football coaches association.
That's next weekend.
The eight player all star game is on Friday.
In fact, you guys get a chance to go see that.
Don't you coach?
We do.
We do.
Uh, every team will get a chance to go over there and watch that.
So that'll be a nice little trip and a nice bonding experience for our squad.
You know, and then that's Saturday morning.
You can get up and have breakfast, right?
Check out.
And then we go over there to do what we got to do.
Kickoff at noon for the small school All-Star game and the large school All-Stars kickoff at four next Saturday.
That's at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh.
Brady Dosh, Liam Fingerson and coach Andrew Troxel joining us here on this portion of the morning show.
It's always great to have Michelle Reinen from Dat Cap visit with us to try and keep people out of some summer jams.
How you doing, Michelle?
I'm doing great.
Thanks for asking.
Good to have you back.
You know, it's July and I even hate to bring this up, but, uh, school shopping scams.
It's probably not too early to start looking at school supplies and we want to keep people from scamming,
Absolutely.
I've already seen the ads on television.
So that time of year is here already.
And we do want to keep people aware of what they need to look out for.
And shopping online can have really great benefits.
However, it can also be a great platform for scammers to try and convince parents to make a purchase and then never send the promised product or deliver poor quality products.
And in 2025, shopping scams were the most reported scam on social media, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
And more than 40% of people who lost money to a scam on social media said it started.
when they ordered a product they saw in an online ad.
So by knowing how to identify those possible risks, consumers can avoid wasting their money and energy during this upcoming back to school season.
What are some things they should look for or look out for, Michelle?
And the first is dishonest ads.
And this is where shoppers can receive an ad.
on that social media feed, maybe in a text message or in their email, and it will be promoting school supplies.
And more expensive items like bags, clothing, or laptops are commonly advertised as having a limited supply or only being on sale for a short time.
And these ads and links can lead to websites that are dishonest or outright scams.
And that takes us to that next grouping, and that's the Copycat website.
Those are the convincing lookalikes.
to well-known sales platforms and they're carefully designed to trick consumers into that false sense of familiarity and normalcy.
And even if the price and our product seems too good to be true, you really just need to trust your gut on that versus trusting the website because it could just be that copycat.
And then we have poor quality products, and that's whether a seller uses that fraudulent copycat website or their own third-party sales platform.
You need to be mindful of a low-quality counterfeit or knockoff product, and sellers may provide those vague product information, descriptions, or sell popular items at those suspiciously low prices that can't be found anywhere else.
And then finally, we have the fake reviews category.
Because it's possible for scammers to purchase or create fake product reviews and social media comments.
And even if a company has a large number of followers or glowing testimonial, it could still be fraudulent, dishonest, or a scam.
So in addition to fake reviews, they can come with generic or unverified profiles and customers who are offered a free product or discount in exchange for a positive review.
Be mindful of the fact that not all reviews are honest and truthful and coming from legitimate customers.
Is it easier or maybe better I should say to pay with a credit card when you're shopping and something like that?
Yes, I hope consumers do plan to pay with a credit card because it offers that additional anti fraud protection that's out there and a couple of other things to just keep in mind is to really
Check the website address and pay attention to that URL because you want to be sure you're paying when it's an HTTPS, S being for security.
You want to pay attention to the URL that goes in and be sure that it doesn't have any additional backslashes that talk about sales or some other promotion that you're legitimately at the company you think you are and the best way may be to type it in yourself.
And then compare those deals across several websites to check if a price is unrealistically low for the product you're looking at.
There's something I don't believe we've talked about in this program.
If we have, it's been a while, but uh, gold bar loss.
What can you tell us about that?
Yeah, we've only talked about it in reference to a scam, but here we have a situation where we really want to bring it to light because we heard from a dad cap consumer.
who had liquidated their entire life savings.
They purchased the gold bars and gave them to a scammer who was impersonating a government agency and lost $2.5 million in total as a result.
And what happened here is this scammer impersonated the Federal Trade Commission, reached out to the consumer and convinced them their finances were caught up in a scheme involving criminal cartels and money laundering.
and then they claimed that they could help.
But in order to help, the consumer had to sign a fake non-disclosure agreement and they were pressured into keeping the entire situation a secret from their closest friends and family.
And then the consumer talked to the consumer through the process of liquidating their life savings, transferring it to a bank and converting it into hundreds of gold bars.
And the final step is that the scammer then arrived at the consumer's house to pick up these gold bars.
They drove away and the consumer never heard from or saw them again.
So this is really very tragic.
And when you are stepping away from it, you can see the red flags.
But when you're in it, it gets difficult to navigate this because
This scammer used the tactics of urgency, high pressure, threats of consequences, impersonating the government, manipulating emotions, and they just carried it forward step by step.
You can see why people get a little paranoid.
I mean, it pays to be mindful, but you know, sometimes it scares people into not wanting to do anything, I think, doesn't it?
So if we can all just put in practice that
No matter the situation, we're going to pause before taking any action.
We're going to pause and then we're going to talk to someone about it.
That could be calling DadCap.
It could be calling your family members, but that you will not keep anything a secret because if you want to talk about it, there's no reason why anything should have to stay a secret.
So that will help you then talk through a situation to see if it's legitimate.
Maybe they'll convince you to check things out a little further than you already have.
And then remembering when and if we can that a consumer never needs to move their money to protect it.
Financial accounts are already secure.
And if there are any problems, a financial institution is going to contact a consumer directly.
And no honest business or government agency will tell someone to immediately move their money.
But again, that's when you're caught up in the emotion.
That part gets forgotten.
But if we can put in practice the pause and talk about it, that can be our regular routine.
Every year we talk about summer travel, which is right, the middle of it right now.
But you wanted to talk a little bit about hotel booking issues, Michelle.
The consumer thought they'd booked a hotel room for a family event, but they later learned that by calling the hotel's front desk, the room had never actually been booked at all.
Instead, they'd accidentally booked the room on a fraudulent website that looked identical to the real hotel's page.
And as a result, this consumer lost their money.
And then they didn't have any lodging for the upcoming event because the hotel was completely booked.
So ways that you can avoid this imposter website scam is
Don't click on those links in social media ads and posts.
Check if the website address has any unexpected additions or differences from a usual URL like slash booking or reservation added to the address.
And then whenever possible, book directly with the hotel, not on a third-party website, because then you can confirm that everything is legitimate by checking
on different platforms and calling the front desk and then at the end of the reservation period go ahead and call the hotel again directly after booking just to confirm everything went through the transaction successfully and you are connected and ready to go.
But the other thing that happened with this consumer in this situation is that
problem didn't stop with that original booking.
After they discovered that this reservation didn't go through and there were no additional vacancies, they managed to find an available room on a third party booking website.
So the consumer booked and paid for that room, but later they were charged an additional $200.
And that is because they had not unchecked a small box on the third party sites payment page.
And so this is a negative option billing situation.
That box was for an optional refund protection fee, but because it was checked by default, the consumer just didn't notice it and they didn't opt out to avoid being charged that extra amount.
So when you're on these sites, you really have to pay attention to these negative option billings or these dark patterns where boxes are pre-checked for us
and and really look at the details closely so you know what you are agreeing to and maybe paying for.
You
have a beware of scams for those with federal student loans.
What can you tell us about that, Michelle?
A very busy time of year for us this summer and that is that the federal student loan borrowers who are still enrolled in the SAVE plan
were notified that as of July 1, they have 90 days to switch to another plan option, or they're automatically going to be placed into another plan.
And so borrowers who are affected by these changes should immediately check their current repayment plan and status, find out what other plans are available to them, and then take action now to switch to the plan that's best for them versus being automatically switched to any old plan.
And pay attention to red flags that could be out there.
They could get phone calls or emails or post text messages asking for upfront fees for assistance in switching plans.
They could be promised loan forgiveness or cancellation by scammers that are out there or told that they have great offers for a limited time only.
being asked for their federal student aid or their FSA ID number, which it really is the same legal status as a signature, so you should never give that away unsolicited.
And then signing any document that would give third-party authorization or power of attorney form.
Scammers are really trying to convince consumers who are in these spots to sign over that power so they can then contact
and change information for the borrower by changing where those payments are being directed and getting that payment directly to that scammer.
Are there some places where people can turn for some resource information?
The Wisconsin Student Loan Help Hotline.
This is run by the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt and Ascendium Education Solutions.
You can call 833.
5-8-9-0-7-5-0 or go to the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt's website at debtsmarts.org because they will also be able to respond to questions.
And then there's always the federal student aid website studentaid.gov.
That's the office of the U.S.
Department of Education and that assists powers with federal aid, grants, forgiveness, and repayment programs.
And there you should find legitimate real time information.
All right.
Well, you're a valuable resource.
We appreciate that.
Since the last time we talked, we had one of our listeners call and update us on a situation where there was a couple that were looking to rent a residence and they were kind of duped into putting a down payment, finding out later that this place in the picture was not for rent.
Is that common?
Is that something you've dealt with, Michelle?
It is something we have heard about here at DadCap, and unfortunately for this consumer, the scammers are using legitimate web postings and creating new contact information.
They're using real addresses, the places that are rented, and so it can be hard to navigate.
But they're also using artificial intelligence to create and compile postings.
So they create a new location but use a different address and a different property owner.
So it can be very difficult for those who are out there looking to rent a property.
And we hope that they can take time to check things out by getting the address of the property and verifying and confirming the actual owner and property manager using public records.
that are on file with the municipality or the county, searching the address to confirm that it isn't just a driveway or a dumpster type situation, that there really is a property for rent at that location, and then checking for complaints against the property owner that they are indicating they are.
But doing all this before any money is put down, because we've also seen scams,
where applications fees are, uh, being quite high and being asked for of each and every tenant that will be at that property before someone can even tour the property.
And so money is lost, not just personal application information.
If possible, probably better to go to the realtor office or the, the office of the, you know, the manager or whatever, see them in person, right?
You want to see if you can tour the property, make that appointment, confirm everything for your own eyes by walking through that property.
But that's part of this scam because housing is in demand in so many areas that they encourage you to put the money down to hold your space and indicate that there aren't appointments for the tour right now.
We've even seen where some have been on legitimate third party rental housing platforms and then refused to allow the, quote, landlord to talk to the tenant live in person.
They have to continue communicating through the platform.
And so consumers have tried to ask questions about utility bills and the lease provisions and earnest money and security deposits.
And these gamers haven't been able to give legitimate answers to those questions.
So some have been able to see the red flags and back away from the situation.
Sounds good.
We have taken much of your time.
Shall we appreciate your expertise and we'll talk to you in the month of August.
That sounds great.
Thank you.
Michelle Reinen for our monthly visit on the morning show.
Any other topics you'd like to discuss, you can check out more.
You can always call Wisconsin Consumer Protection's hotline at 1-800-422-7128 or DATCP hotline at wi.gov.
It's always great to have Michelle Reinen from Dat Cap visit with us to try and keep people out of some summer jams.
How you doing Michelle?
I'm doing great.
Thanks for asking.
Good to have you back.
You know, it's July and I even hate to bring this up, but, uh, school shopping scams.
It's probably not too early to start looking at school supplies and we want to keep people from scamming, right?
I've already seen the ads on television.
So that time of year is here already.
And we do want to keep people aware of what they need to look out for.
Shopping online can have really great benefits.
However, it can also be a great platform for scammers to try and convince parents to make a purchase and then never send the promised product or deliver poor quality products.
And in 2025, shopping scams were the most reported scam on social media, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
And more than 40% of people who lost money to a scam on social media said it started.
when they ordered a product they saw in an online ad.
So by knowing how to identify those possible risks, consumers can avoid wasting their money and energy during this upcoming back to school season.
What are some things they should look for or look out for, Michelle?
And the first is dishonest ads.
And this is where shoppers can receive an ad.
on that social media feed, maybe in a text message or in their email, and it will be promoting school supplies.
And more expensive items like bags, clothing, or laptops are commonly advertised as having a limited supply or only being on sale for a short time.
And these ads and links can lead to websites that are dishonest or outright scams.
And that takes us to that next grouping, and that's the Copycat website.
Those are the convincing lookalikes.
to well-known sales platforms and they're carefully designed to trick consumers into that false sense of familiarity and normalcy.
And even if the price and our product seems too good to be true, you really just need to trust your gut on that versus trusting the website because it could just be that copycat.
And then we have poor quality products, and that's whether a seller uses that fraudulent copycat website or their own third-party sales platform.
You need to be mindful of a low-quality counterfeit or knockoff product, and sellers may provide those vague product information, descriptions, or sell popular items at those suspiciously low prices that can't be found anywhere else.
And then finally, we have the fake reviews category.
Because it's possible for scammers to purchase or create fake product reviews and social media comments.
And even if a company has a large number of followers or glowing testimonial, it could still be fraudulent, dishonest, or a scam.
So in addition to fake reviews, they can come with generic or unverified profiles and customers who are offered a free product or discount in exchange for a positive review.
Be mindful of the fact that not all reviews are honest and truthful and coming from legitimate customers.
Is it easier or maybe better I should say to pay with a credit card when you're shopping and something like that?
Yes, I hope consumers do plan to pay with a credit card because it offers that additional anti fraud protection that's out there and a couple of other things to just keep in mind is to really
check the website address and pay attention to that URL because you want to be sure you're paying when it's an HTTPS, S being for security.
You want to pay attention to the URL that goes in and be sure that it doesn't have any additional backslashes.
talk about sales or some other promotion that you're legitimately at the company.
You think you are in the best way, maybe to type it in yourself and then compare those deals across several websites to check of a price is unrealistically low for the product you're looking at.
There's something I don't believe we've talked about in this program.
If we have, it's been a while, but uh, gold bar loss.
What can you tell us about that?
Only talked about it in reference to a scam, but here we have a situation where we really want to bring it to light because we heard from a dead cap consumer who had liquidated their entire life savings.
They purchased the gold bars and gave them to a scammer who was impersonating a government agency and lost $2.5 million in total as a result.
And what happened here is this scammer impersonated the Federal Trade Commission, reached out to the consumer and convinced them their finances were caught up in a scheme involving criminal cartels and money laundering, and then they claimed that they could help.
But in order to help, the consumer had to sign a fake non-disclosure agreement, and they were pressured into keeping the entire situation a secret from their closest friends and family.
And then the consumer talked to the consumer through the process of liquidating their life savings, transferring it to a bank and converting it into hundreds of gold bars.
And the final step is that the scammer then arrived at the consumer's house to pick up these gold bars.
They drove away and the consumer never heard from or saw them again.
So this is really very tragic.
And when you are stepping away from it, you can see the red flags, but when you're in it, it gets difficult to navigate this because this scammer used the tactics of urgency, high pressure, threats of consequences, impersonating the government, manipulating emotions, and they just carried it forward step by step.
You can see why people get a little paranoid.
I mean, it pays to be mindful, but you know, sometimes it scares people into not wanting to do anything.
I think, doesn't it?
So if we can all just put in practice that no matter the situation, we're going to pause before taking any action, we're going to pause and then we're going to talk to someone about it.
That could be calling dad cap.
It could be calling.
your family members but that you will not keep anything a secret because if you want to talk about it there's no reason why anything should have to stay a secret.
So that will help you then talk through a situation to see if it's legitimate.
Maybe they'll convince you to check things out a little further than you already have.
And then remembering when and if we can that a consumer never needs to move their money to protect it.
Financial accounts are already secure.
And if there are any problems, a financial institution is going to contact a consumer directly.
And no honest business or government agency will tell someone to immediately move their money.
But again, that's when you're caught up in the emotion.
That part gets forgotten.
But if we can put in practice the pause and talk about it,
That can be our regular routine.
Every year we talk about summer travel, which is right, right in the middle of it right now, but you want to talk a little bit about hotel booking issues, Michelle.
The consumer thought they'd booked a hotel room for a family event, but they later learned that by calling the hotel's front desk, the room had never actually been booked at all.
Instead, they'd accidentally booked the room on a fraudulent website that looked identical to the real hotel's page.
And as a result, this consumer lost their money.
And then they didn't have any lodging for the upcoming event because the hotel was completely booked.
So ways that you can avoid this imposter website scam is
Don't click on those links in social media ads and posts.
Check if the website address has any unexpected additions or differences from a usual URL like slash booking or reservation added to the address.
And then whenever possible, book directly with the hotel, not on a third-party website, because then you can confirm that everything is legitimate by checking
on different platforms and calling the front desk.
And then at the end of the reservation period, go ahead and call the hotel again directly after booking just to confirm everything went through the transaction successfully and you are connected and ready to go.
But the other thing that happened with this consumer in this situation is the problem didn't stop with that original booking.
After they discovered that this reservation didn't go through and there were no additional vacancies, they managed to find an available room on a third-party booking website so the consumer booked and paid for that room, but later they were charged an additional $200.
And that is because they had not unchecked a small box on the third-party site's payment page.
And so this is a negative option billing situation.
That box was for an optional refund protection fee, but because it was checked by default, the consumer just didn't notice it and they didn't opt out to avoid being charged that extra amount.
So when you're on these sites, you really have to pay attention to these negative option billings or these dark patterns
where boxes are pre-checked for us and and really look at the details closely so you know what you are agreeing to and maybe paying for.
You
have a beware of scams for those with federal student loans.
What can you tell us about that, Michelle?
A very busy time of year for us this summer and that is that the federal student loan borrowers who are still enrolled in the SAVE plan
were notified that as of July 1, they have 90 days to switch to another plan option, or they're automatically going to be placed into another plan.
And so borrowers who are affected by these changes should immediately check their current repayment plan and status, find out what other plans are available to them, and then take action now to switch to the plan that's best for them versus being automatically switched to any old plan.
And pay attention to red flags that could be out there.
They could get phone calls or emails or post text messages asking for upfront fees for assistance in switching plans.
They could be promised loan forgiveness or cancellation by scammers that are out there or told that they upgrade offers for a limited time only.
being asked for their federal student aid or their FSA ID number, which it really is the same legal status as a signature, so you should never give that away unsolicited.
And then signing any document that would give third-party authorization or power of attorney form.
Scammers are really trying to convince consumers who are in these spots to sign over that power so they can then contact
and change information for the borrower by changing where those payments are being directed and getting that payment directly to that scammer.
Are there some places where people can turn for some resource information?
The Wisconsin Student Loan Help Hotline.
This is run by the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt and Ascendium Education Solutions.
You can call 833.
589-0750 or go to the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt's website at debtsmarts.org because they will also be able to respond to questions.
And then there's always the federal student aid website studentaid.gov.
That's the Office of the U.S.
Department of Education and that assists powers with federal aid, grants, forgiveness, and repayment programs.
And there you should find legitimate real time information.
All right.
Well, you're a valuable resource.
We appreciate that.
Since the last time we talked, we had one of our listeners call and update us on a situation where there was a couple that were looking to rent a residence and they were kind of duped into putting a down payment, finding out later that this place in the picture was not for rent.
Is that common?
Is that something you've dealt with, Michelle?
It is something we have heard about here at DadCap, and unfortunately for this consumer, the scammers are using legitimate web postings and creating new contact information.
They're using real addresses, the places that are rented, and so it can be hard to navigate.
But they're also using artificial intelligence to create and compile postings.
So they create a new location but use a different address and a different property owner.
So it can be very difficult for those who are out there looking to rent a property.
And we hope that they can take time to check things out by getting the address of the property and verifying and confirming the actual owner and property manager using public records.
um that are on file with the municipality or the county uh searching uh the address to confirm that it isn't just a driveway or a dumpster type situation that there really is a property uh for rent at that location and then checking for complaints against the property owner that they are indicating they are but doing all this before any money is put down because we've also seen scams
where applications fees are being quite high and being asked for of each and every tenant that will be at that property before someone can even tour the property.
And so money is lost, not just personal application information.
If possible, probably better to go to the realtor office or the office of the, you know, the manager or whatever, see them in person, right?
You want to see if you can tour the property, make that appointment, confirm everything for your own eyes by walking through that property.
But that's part of the scam because housing is in demand in so many areas that they encourage you to put the money down to hold your space.
and indicate that there aren't appointments for the tour right now.
We've even seen where some have been on legitimate third-party rental housing platforms and then refused to allow the quote landlord to talk to the tenant live in person.
They have to continue communicating through the the platform and so consumers have tried to ask questions about utility bills and
um, the lease provisions and earnest money and security deposits.
And these gamers haven't been able to give legitimate answers to those questions.
So some have been able to see the red flags and back away from the situation.
Sounds good.
We have taken much of your time.
Shall we appreciate your expertise and we'll talk to you in the month of August.
That sounds great.
Thank you.
Michelle Reinin for our monthly visit on the morning show.
Any other topics you'd like to discuss, you can check out more.
You can always call Wisconsin Consumer Protection's hotline at 1-800-422-7128 or DATCP hotline at wi.gov.