DA's office, SCAN combine forces

Oct. 29—Phone calls for car warranty renewals infiltrate everyone's inboxes, but not every scammer wears a one-size-fits-all mask, making them difficult to detect.

To help prevent unwitting victims from falling prey to those scams, the Wilson County Senior Citizens Awareness Network (SCAN) is joining forces with District Attorney Jason Lawson's office to launch a new initiative.

Financial scams target people, primarily seniors, requesting that they share personal information or even send money to someone who ultimately turns out to be nothing more than a thief.

The request to share the information or send the money is often induced by false promises of financial gain, assistance to another person, or even false promises of romance. Some scams can be lengthy, involving several telephone calls until the request to share the information or money is made. In the end, the victim learns that the scammer has misused their information to open new lines of credit in their names, and any money the victim sends is never recovered.

Wilson County SCAN and the 15th Judicial District Attorney are partnering to engage in the public awareness campaign to educate individuals on when to be concerned that the request might be a scam.

"What we see collectively, across the county, multiplied over many areas and community entities, we have people who call us because they are concerned about receiving a scam call," said Debbie Pare, the Wilson County SCAN director. "They may have participated unknowingly in what turned out to be a scam and maybe even given money to satisfy what the individual requested."

Pare remarked that while the scammer's malicious activity is based on a lie, it has real consequences.

"I had a gentleman call us concerned because his mother had participated in what ended up being a scam," Pare said. "He became aware of that when he reviewed her bank statement. In reviewing that, he saw she had made some unusual withdrawals from the bank. It was for about $1,500. That didn't make sense to him. When he questioned her about it, she was vague with her answers. In the end, she was out the money. He was concerned as to what to do about it. He called us at the SCAN office to report it."

Pare indicated that when that happens, they instruct the scam victim to file a report of the scam with the appropriate law enforcement agency.

"It's a way to document that this will happen," Pare said. "It lets us know what is happening out in the community."

The nature and manner of those scams have varied over time.

"It goes in spells," Pare said. "It was the missed jury duty thing for a long time."

Lawson added, "Earlier this year, I had a gentleman in our district who received a text message that the sender claimed was accidentally sent to the victim. The text message referenced a hot tip on a cryptocurrency exchange."

According to Lawson, as the conversation progressed, the sender even invited the victim to conduct his independent research on the company using online search engines of the victim's choosing.

"Once the victim chose to invest, his error was that he did so through a website link supplied via text message to the victim by the scammer," Lawson said. "That website link proved to be false, and once the investment was made, that false website was taken down immediately. The real company never saw a red cent of the intended investment. These are the types of sophisticated scams that are now being utilized to steal."

According to the National Council on Aging, financial scams targeting older adults are costly, widespread, and rising. In 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that in that year alone, 92,371 seniors were victims of fraud, resulting in $1.7 billion in losses. That constituted a 74% increase in losses compared to 2020.

While older Americans are not the only victims of financial theft, they constitute a large percentage. Older Americans often have a savings balance greater than younger Americans and are more likely to take a risk that ultimately proves costly.

Pare explained that this is a product of coming of age at different times.

"This generation of people grew up in a time when if the phone rang, you talked to the person on the other end of the line," Pare said. "We say now that if you weren't expecting a call, hang up."

The public awareness campaign will include information distributed through newspaper articles, social media and radio discussions.

In addition, the cooperative agencies will be distributing refrigerator magnets to help provide a more lasting resource when a request may be a scam. The magnets bear four red flags to look out for when receiving calls from unknown numbers.

Scammers often ask for money or gift cards, a credit card number, personal information, or a deposit for a prize. Any person wishing to receive a refrigerator magnet for themselves or a loved one may contact the Wilson County Sheriff's Office SCAN Division at 615-444-1412, ext. 499, or the district attorney's office at 615-443-2863 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.