By Lorrie Ross
Staff Writer
“The financial exploitation of our elders is one of the fasting growing crimes in the nation. It comes in many forms.” That statement from a March press release by Clay County Sheriff’s Office Chief Joe Wood echoes fraud and scam alert information from AARP, the North Carolina Attorney General and many other sources.
Sarah Suggs of Nantahala Bank in Hayesville agrees. “Scams targeting elders are more frequent, as scammers are getting more creative as to how to steal money and information from people,” she said. “Sadly, financial exploitation of elders goes mostly unreported.”
The April 18 issue of the Clay County Progress shared some common scams, such as callers posing to be a loved one in trouble. Scammers have created seemingly endless ways to bilk people of hard-earned money and new ones are constantly being developed. Banks, legitimate businesses and government agencies try to be vigilant with ways to protect customers, but individuals need to be cautious, too.
“Banks employ a lot of resources to help protect our customers against fraud through early detection and from knowing our customers,” Suggs said, adding that phone calls or phishing emails from impostors posing as law enforcement, a bank employee or a loved one are what banks are seeing most. As the April 18 article discussed, these messages always seem urgent and ask for payment, personal information or account access.
“Alternatively, a call from someone claiming a cash prize has been won but they need the victim to send a portion of the money in order to process the prize payout,” Suggs said.
Sometimes, the victim is asked to pay taxes or handling fees to get sweepstakes or lottery winnings. They may be asked to pay with prepaid debit cards. Then the scammer transfers the funds to another account, often in another country. This makes it harder to recover, according to Wood.
Suggs added, “I advise being skeptical if anything is outside of the ordinary. Never act hastily. If you receive a suspicious call, hang up the phone. You can always dial the person directly with a number you have on file, not the number the person called from. Scammers use urgency to trick you into making a mistake without having time to think through it.” Suggs said, “Scammers also use voice altering devices and mask phone numbers to make the caller appear familiar.”
Unfortunately, sometimes people are taken by people they know. “There are many instances of elder exploitation from family members, caregivers or romantic interests, with financial motivation,” Suggs explained. “The elder is trusting of the person or feels sorry for them and will allow them access to their accounts and debit-credit cards or is purely victim of theft of a checkbook or debit card from someone with regular access. In these cases, a trusted contact person could be considered to help and get involved in overseeing their accounts if needed, as a second set of eyes to detect suspicious activity.”
Suggs shared these important reminders:
• Your bank will not call to ask for personal information, debit card number, passwords or request access to get on your computer.
• Do not give your debit/credit card information to anyone.
• Do not send payment via gift cards or cryptocurrency-these are often used for money laundering.
• Consult your bank if you are not sure. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
“Here at the bank, we are always available to help verify a situation is legitimate,” Suggs continued. “Elders are not the only victims. It happens to people of all ages and experience levels. I think the most important thing to remember is to be vigilant. We all want to see the best in people and trust people, but scammers do take advantage of this mind-set.”
Wood shared other common scams. “These outlaws scour the Internet and newspapers for information on their next target. They use computer applications to clone the true phone number of a legitimate business or entity. Thus, it will look like that person or entity is calling.”
Other scams include the lonely heart scam and the car crash scam. In lonely hearts, an offender befriends someone online and gradually gains the victim’s trust. “They exchange photos, messages and may even share phone conversations with a victim,” Wood said. “After gaining trust, they profess love for the victim. After more time elapses and trust gained, the scammer will ask the victim for money.”
In the car crash scam, the scammer calls the victim pretending to be a distressed relative, usually a grandchild. Then they ask the grandparent to wire money because they have been in a crash and need funds to avoid arrest.
“These folks have the theatrics down to an art,” Wood said. “When a grandparent hears a panicked voice on the phone, it can lead them to believe it is legitimate. The offender limits the calls to seconds so the victim will not have time to understand it is not their loved one on the phone. If anyone instructs you to purchase prepaid debit cards to pay a bill, fine or fee, don’t do it.”
Wood ended, “Scammers are active 24/7 in their attempts to take your hard-earned money. Share this with your loved ones.”
Wood suggests people call the non-emergency phone line at (828) 389-2256 to report suspicious scam-type activity. While scammers are frequently not local, law enforcement can help report the information to the appropriate agency.