Beware of Scams!
By: Attorney Alison C. Petri
You hear about it all the time and don’t think it will happen to you but what should you do if you or your loved ones are a victim of a fraud or con.
Scams arise in many ways by phone, mail and the internet. According to the FBI, fraud of Americans over the age of 60 resulted in more than $966 million dollars stolen in 2020 alone [1]. The loss of money is only one of many things stolen from people when they are scammed. The loss of trust, security, and your mental and emotional health can all be adversely affected if you have succumb to a con.
At times you do not know you are being ripped off and sometimes you only figure out something is a scam when it is too late. While there is no perfect solution to prevent or stop the scam there are some options to consider:
- If you do not know if it is a scam, do not send any money or item of value (i.e. gift cards) until you are certain. If you cannot be certain, do not send any money or item of value. To try and ascertain if it is a scam consider talking with your family, friends, local police department, attorney, your county’s Adult Protective Services Department, or Aging and Disability Resource Center. Often these folks will have heard if what is being asked of you is scam or not. There are some very common scams that are used such as: calls from phony Social Security or Medicare representatives, lottery or sweepstakes schemes, romantic advances from someone who desperately needs money but you have never seen, calls stating that your family member is in deep trouble and money must be sent immediately, free medications or medical equipment, etc.
- If you know you have been scammed, there are some important things to consider to prevent the scammers from coming back for more:
- Obtain a new phone number;
- Check with your credit report agencies AnnualCreditReport.com to ensure no new accounts have been created and you can also put a report that fraud has occurred to try and prevent accounts from being opened in the future;
- Opt out of junk mail at https://www.dmachoice.org/;
- Make a report to the police department; and
- Talk with a counselor (medical provider or church) about how this could have happened and what you can do to take care of mental health to help prevent it from happening again.
It is very important to talk with your trusted advisors to help start taking steps to stop the scam and/or prevent a scam happening in the future.
This blog post is provided for informational purposes only and by its very nature is general. This information is not intended as legal advice.
[1] helpguide.org/articles/articles/abuse/elder-scams-and-senior-fraud-abuse.htm
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