With the holiday season gearing up this week, many seniors should remember to be weary of potential scams targeting them.
The Green River Police Department receives calls from residents each week who are targeted by scammers attempting to call or use the internet as a means to fool people into giving up their personal account information or purchase gift cards to pay for a supposed service or fine.
According to the FBI’s website regarding scams and safety, seniors are common targets for criminals as they tend to have a nest egg, own their home and have excellent credit.
They’re also easier targets as people who grew up in the 1930-1950s were “generally raised to be more polite and trusting,” traits which con artists use against them.
The website claims older residents are less likely to report a crime because they either don’t know how or are too ashamed to admit being a victim. When they do report, seniors often make poor witnesses as scammers understand the effects of age on a person’s memory, and count on a victim not being able to supply investigators with detailed information. Some scams, which unfold over the course of weeks or months, can also be problematic as victims don’t immediately realize they were swindled.
One of the popular scams is referred to as the “it’s me” scam, where a scammer specifically targets older residents, often posing as a grandchild or other relative. the scammer begins the call by saying “it’s me” when the potential victim picks up the phone in an attempt to fool the potential victim into revealing a name they can use.
The scammer then explains they are in a foreign country where they ran into some legal problems and need money to pay fines. Sometimes a second person, acting as an attorney or government official, also speaks with the intended victim, lending an air of authenticity to the call. People who receive this kind of call, as well as others advising of issues such as unpaid taxes or fines and reports of a computer virus that can be removed remotely for a fee, are encouraged to contact the GRPD and not reveal any sort of identifying or banking information.
With the focus on phone calls and, in some cases, electronic communication, not all scammers have moved on to instantaneous means of contacting potential victims. Physical mail remains a popular means of attempting to scam people of their cash. According to the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, a Rock Springs resident recently reported receiving a letter postmarked Barcelona, Spain, from an attorney in Santiago de Compostela, informing him of the death of a relative who left behind an estate of over $10 million, but had no will.
In the letter, the attorney offers to help the individual to claim his dead relative’s estate in return for a 50/50 split of the proceeds.
According to Dick Blust of the sheriff’s office, when a prospective victim contacts the attorney to put things in motion, the swindle begins. Money, hundreds or even thousands of dollars, are requested for fees, taxes, or transfer charges, all of which are fraudulent. When victims stop sending money or begin demanding answers, they never hear from the attorney again.
Though such letters have most recently been sent from Spain, they are often posted from a wide range of countries.
“This particular scheme and others similar to it are usually described as ‘advance fee frauds’ or ‘nigerian scams’ because so many of these letters began appearing from Nigeria years ago,” Blust, said. “People often scoff and wonder how someone could ever fall for such a scam, but the fact is that many millions have been lost over the years.”
One of the most important things to keep in mind is if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Residents can find more information about scams through the FBI at http://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety.
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