The FBI estimates that fraudsters bilk seniors out of more than $3 billion each year, according to the National Council on Aging. Scammers target seniors believing that they are more apt to have significant amounts of money tucked away in their accounts, or are less educated regarding the frauds out there.
The Geneseo Police Department recently had two officers, George Marquez and Amber Berthoud, undergo training to help local seniors who are concerned about being victimized by various schemes designed to separate them from their cash.
Many of these scams have been tried in the area. Often they go unreported, as the victims feel embarrassed for failing to recognize the intended deceit, according to Officer Berthoud.
Typical scams are phone calls that announce that the recipient has won Publisher’s Clearinghouse or another contest. They only have to pay the tax on the winnings by sending bank information, or purchase gift cards, and then be requested to send photos of card numbers to the scammer.
Another one that has been reported locally, is someone pretending to be with the US Postal Service who requests a credit card or some form of payment to deliver a package. The Postal Service, as well as any other reputable delivery services (think UPS, Fed Ex, Amazon) will not request payment on top of the freight charges to deliver a package. Delivery charges are paid at time of check out for any online or mail order purchase.
Home repair fraud is also a…
