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EDITOR'S NOTE: This monthly series highlights scams that target Mahoning County, particularly the senior community. Dr. Dave Long of Poland, a Youngstown State University graduate, is a retired public affairs officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Buffalo who later worked as an Elder Scam Prevention Outreach specialist with Lifespan in Rochester, N.Y., before moving back to the Mahoning Valley.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is America's premier law enforcement agency, devoting significant effort to arresting criminals who prey on older adults. The FBI recently published their first annual Elder Fraud Report, with information and statistics compiled from their Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
If you're interested in scams against seniors, it's worth reading. Here's some of what it says.
In 2020, the FBI received 791,790 complaints from fraud and scam victims of all ages. About 28 percent of the frauds were reported by victims older than 60, reporting losses of $1 billion. This amounted to an increase of $300 million, compared to losses reported by seniors over 60 in 2019.
Older adults reported an average loss of $9,175, though 1,921 victims reported losing more than $100,000 in a scam or fraud.
The Bureau started collecting information on elderly victims and their losses in 2015. Between 2015 to 2020, the number of seniors scammed and defrauded increased from 50,000 to more than 100,000 people.
Alarmingly, in the same time frame, victim losses jumped from $300 million to more than $1 billion a year.
Scamming American seniors has unfortunately become a growth industry. We were better off when our area was making steel, instead of being stolen from.
SCAMS BY STATE
The top scam state in the country was California, reporting more than 10,000 seniors scammed in a year.
States reporting between 5,000 to 10,000 seniors scammed included New York, Florida and Texas.
Ohio ranked 17th in seniors scammed, with 2,711 people reporting losses of $19 million. That comes out to an average loss of $7,008 per Ohio victim, a big hit on any Buckeye senior living on social security and savings.
ROMANCE SCAM
By far, seniors lost more to confidence and romance scams than any other kind of con game -- more than $281 million in 2020 alone.
Criminals know that the fastest way to bleed savings from an older adult is to sell them on an imaginary love affair. From 2018 to 2020, confidence and romance scams grew more than $100 million in victim losses.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Here are ways that you can protect yourself from getting bilked by scammers.
l Know that you are a scam target.
Seniors are more willing to trust than younger people. Seniors also possess most of the financial wealth in the United States.
Scammers target seniors because they are trusting and can quickly get their hands on cash assets.
l Suspect any call from "out of the blue."
A sudden telephone call with alarming information or from someone saying you have won a big prize mostly likely is a scam. Don't trust anyone calling you on the phone unless you positively know the caller.
l Get the facts before you rush into action.
Before giving any personal information such as your Social Security or credit card number, make sure you have all the facts. Don't be pressured into doing anything that somehow doesn't seem right.
Trust your instinct and don't be afraid to HANG UP.
l Don't trust anything your caller ID says.
Scammers have forgotten more about computers than most of us will ever know. Masking a phone call with information that says "Social Security," "Internal Revenue Service" or "Medicare" is child's play for today's sophisticated scammers.
If your phone indicates that the call is from a government agency, HANG UP. The government will never call you on the phone.
l Be slow to fall in love with anyone you've met on the internet or social media.
Romance scams cost victims more than any other kind of scam. Be vigilant, and be wary when Cupid shoots that arrow into your heart across cyberspace. Things may not be as they seem -- especially when your new love begins to ask for money.
l When they say "gift card," hang up.
The easiest way to spot a scam is when you are told to purchase a gift card and read the numbers back to pay for something. No government agency and no legitimate business will EVER tell you to go buy a gift card.
When you hear "gift card," a criminal is on the other end of the line.
Those are a few things to keep in mind. If you are interested, you can read the 2020 Elder Fraud Report by visiting the FBI website at www.ic3.gov -- the report is right there on the home page, along with information on current scams, frauds and swindles.
If you have a question on a possible scam, talk to a family member or call your local police department. Seniors can also call their county Senior Services Unit for more information about scams. In Mahoning County, call Bob Schaeffer at 330-480-5078. In Trumbull County, call Don Hyde at 330-675-7096.
Protect yourself
Dave Long answers questions during a series of monthly talks on the latest scams, why scammers target seniors and how to protect personal information 1 p.m. fourth Thursday of every month at the Poland Township Government Center, 3339 Dobbins Road, Poland.