Centralmature2 20 14

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Fraudulent scams, identity theft rob senior citizens of savings

BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER “I’m writing this with tears in my eyes. I came down to London, United Kingdom for a short vacation. Unfortunately, I was mugged at the park of the hotel where I stayed, all cash and credit cards were stolen off me but luckily for me I still have my passport with me. “I’ve been to the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all and my return flight leaves in few hours from now but I’m having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let me leave until I settle the bills. Well I really need your financial assistance. “Please let me know if you can help me out? I’m freaked out at the moment!!” If you or someone you know has received that kind of email, you’ve been introduced to the world of online

scams. Such scam letters are often allegedly signed by a good friend or grandchild, and are sent to a list of unsuspecting victims after an acquaintance’s or relative’s email account has been hacked into. Minnesotans lose millions of dollars to fraudulent email, telephone, mailbox and door-to-door scams each year, and many of the victims are senior citizens. Accordingly, many area police departments or community education offices are doing what they can to warn seniors about the many faces of fraud. The scams and frauds can be as innocent sounding as an alleged contractor who wants to tar the driveway, a cross-border lottery sweepstakes, advance-fee loans or travel offers. Last year, the Richfield Police Department produced a promotional video about scams, with an emphasis

on the elderly. It was a joint collaboration of the department’s investigators and was posted to the department’s Facebook page last summer. The video cautions seniors on four points: • If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. • Don’t reveal personal information to people you don’t know. • Don’t send money to people you don’t know. • If you sense a potential fraud, call the police. The video quotes a female victim who was told she was an international lottery winner, but needed to send money in order to guarantee the receipt of her prize within five weeks. She sent the money, but her prize never arrived. SCAMS - TO PAGE 3


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