Trending
Another holiday season has come and gone. And although identity theft and other financial scams tend to spike during the time, it is important to remain vigilant no matter the time of the year.
"There are thousands and thousands of these operations out there. These facilities are set up around the world in major underground offices that do nothing but call people to scam them over the phone and get information," Lycoming County District Attorney Tom Marino explained.
Though citizens of any age may fall prey to scammers, senior citizens are a prime target and make up a large percentage of those affected, according to Marino.
"For the most part, our senior citizens share a lot of information over the phone," he said.
One the biggest scams involving senior citizens involves a party impersonating government officials or agencies.
"They might say, 'I'm from the tax bureau, and you overpaid last year. You're getting $10,000 back, but we need you to deposit this money to a particular account, and it goes right to these people who are scamming these individuals," he explained.
On the flip side, others impersonating these agencies may insist someone owes money.
"The people posing as the IRS might say, 'you owe back tax money, and we can take a credit card over the phone,'" Marino explained.
"They might also claim that you have to pay some amount of money to receive government benefits," he said.
Any calls received along those lines should be disconnected immediately, the DA said.
Similar scams are often carried under the guise of unpaid bills or invoices.
A couple of "too good to be true" schemes perpetrated against all ages involve being made aware of unexpected winnings or other funds.
"I've had numerous cases where seniors have said to me, 'I was called and someone said I won some money, but I had to pay x-amount of dollars to collect the whole thing," Marino said.
"I've also had people who spent tens of thousands of dollars because they received documents in the mail stating they had a long lost relative in another country," Marino said.
"These crooks say that through research, they found money that you're owed through a relative, usually in Europe that passed away and left you so many millions of dollars, but they need $10,000 to get the estate settled," he explained.
"But then they keep calling back, asking for more and more," Marino said.
Blackmail and extortion attempts are also on the rise, according to the DA.
"Some people will get a phone call, vaguely stating, 'I know what you did, I'm gonna tell your husband, your wife, your kids, or I'm gonna publish it in the newspaper.' And the person has, for most of the part, no idea what they're talking about, but pays them off to keep the information private," Marino explained.
Other fraudulent operations warned of by Marino include check cashing scams, which often involve someone being asked to deposit a check for a larger amount than owed, being asked to deposit the remaining amount into a separate account only to find out the original check was fake; and a slew of fraudulent gift card purchases.
There are several things people can do to help limit their vulnerability to having their private information compromised, beginning with staying vigilant of their surroundings, according to Marino.
"I see senior citizens in stores who have big numbers on their phone because they can't see too well, and somebody around them could pick those numbers up just like that," Marino said.
To that end, Marino also suggests using cell phones in public in general as sparingly as possible.
"I'm only on it when I have to be, because if you see people sitting around in public, everybody's on their phone, so somebody could come up and sit behind you, and you don't know what electronics they have or what they're doing, and they might glance over your shoulder every once in a while just to see what's happening on the phone and if a number shows up, now they have it," he cautioned.
"While at the store, someone could be glancing to see what pin you put in," the DA advised.
Marino stresses that anything containing identifying or financial information should never be discarded before first being shredded. Some examples include receipts, financial statements and old bills.
"If a phone number calls that you don't recognize, just do not answer it. For the most part, if it's somebody you know or family relative, they'll leave a voicemail," Marino said.
The District Attorney also suggests requesting a new credit card from time to time.
"You can see me say, 'look, I want a new credit card. I've had this for a while. I've used it in several places, but I think it's about time to get a new credit card,' and then destroy the previous one," he urged.
If any personal information is compromised, immediately freezing all credit information through the three credit bureaus can help prevent further damage. This can also be done at any time as a preventative measure.
Marino said his office is currently assembling a taskforce to deal with the rising issue of identity theft and other scams, and that anyone who has been a victim should contact them immediately.
"We can get involved very quickly, and we can get other agencies involved quickly as well," he said.
"We'll do everything we can to track down what they've lost and to track down the perpetrator," Marino said.