Let's Stop Scams & Protect Older Adults

Nationally 11 percent of adults—approximately 25.6 million people—were victims of scams. Join us for a discussion with Melissa Smarr with Silver Shield the Anti-Scam Campaign and Stephen Izaguirre with the Virginia Attorney Generals office for a live and interactive discussion on common scams, solutions and resources. 

Podcast

Questions Answered

• Statue of limitations?
• How do you know if your computer has been comprimized?
• Passwords. Tough for older adults. Discuss.
• I recently recieved a scam LETTER! Almost paid a scammer for my trademark registration. Fortunately, I read the small print. Are you seeing this?
• Silvernest vets roommates for older adults.
• Cell phone rings, when caller identification reads "SCAM ALERT" what does this mean? Could you explain this again, thank you, we have seen this on our cell phone and did not know what this meant. Are all of these phone calls SCAMS? Thank you, so much to know, learn and be cautious about. This is so helpful...
• Possible scam alerts??? What does this mean??? How are they determining Possible Scam Alert, this is confusing
• Emails received from AMAZON saying account closed or something charged to account and we have not ordered from them
• Also emails from MACAFEE thanking us for our order and we have not ordered anything
• We reported to AMAZON and customer service just said ignore email, they were too busy to try to respond to all these false emails
• Has anyone gotten the multiple phone calls from real estate investors who say they want to buy houses in our neighborhood and wondered if we wanted to sell our home???
• When managing multiple health conditions for elderly family members and caregivers, difficult to manage and follow up on protections against possible scammers. Is there a resource that can help manage and protect against scams by managing details. Is this something daily money managers might help with or is there a consumer protection resource that might help?
• My employer told me someone tried to submit for unemployment in my name. I reported to state unemployment, DOJ and filed a police report, as well as put a freeze on my credit with 3 agenices.  Anything else I shoudl be doing?
• Durable medical equipment and monthly fall alert equipment, many calls saying they already have Medicare information and we are qualified for insurance to pay for the equipment are these just sales people, has anyone else received these calls
• So, not sure if directly relates to scams, but do we as the consumers have a way to freeze or delete facebook accounts?
• So many emails hacked and facebook accounts hacked how to protect against these hacks are there any protections.
• Remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry says to the telemarketer, can I have your number and I will call you back during your dinner!!

Chat Transcript

12:12:04     From  Ada Horsfall Lifematters : Looking to hire self-motivated independent Care Managers in MD/DC & VA.

Looking to hire Friendly Visitors for MD/DC & VA

Ada Horsfall (MD, MBA, MHA,) Director of Care Management at Lifematters. 301-615-0616 ahorsfall@lifemattersusa.com 

We are healthcare advocates and provide enhanced advocacy and care coordination for seniors and adult children.

Lifematters is a home care company providing care management, homecare and social engagement concierge services in DC, MD & VA for seniors and adult children.

12:13:09     From  Stephen O. Izaguirre, : Contact Info for me: Stephen O. Izaguirre

Community Outreach Coordinator

Office of the Attorney General

10555 Main Street, Suite 350

Fairfax, Virginia 22030

(703) 359-1121 Office

(703) 424-1101 Mobile

sizaguirre@oag.state.va.us

http://www.ag.virginia.gov

12:14:16     From  Catherine McCallum : Catherine McCallum, LCSW-C, LICSW, psychotherapist and care planning, www.corallifestrategies.com, Psychology Today profile. 301-327-1801.

12:24:18     From  Ken Silverstein : Hi Everyone--Ken Silverstein, AlfredHouse Assisted Living/Memory Care--10 boutique homes serving the DMV.  We have availabilities and we are excited about our newly modernized AH4 which many of you got to see two weeks ago live on Steve's program.  Contact me at 240-535-0597, ksilverstein@alfredhouse.com

12:24:29     From  mary busse   to   Hosts and panelists : I contacted what I thought was the website for Norton Antivirus.  I figured out it wasn't legit and didn't get hurt.  How can I be sure I have reached the legitimate help line.

12:25:22     From  Catherine McCallum : GREAT ANSWER ON the SCAM ALERT

12:27:58     From  mary busse   to   Hosts and panelists : My rule of thumb is that I don't answer the phone unless I hear a voice or person I know., especially now that legitimate numbers can be spoofed.  I received a call this week from a legitimate business number with whom I have a connection.  I called the number, and it was clear that it was not a legitimate csll.

12:29:16     From  mary busse   to   Hosts and panelists : My experience wasn't initiatied by them.  I searched for Norton, but the list long....how do I know which one is legit.

12:36:02     From  Craig Clark : Be extra careful if you are not at 100% function. One morning I was tired and not enough coffee. So, I broke my rule about letting people on my computer. A scammer got on, hacked me and sent hundreds of scam emails to my address book.

12:44:37     From  mary busse   to   Hosts and panelists : I've lost track of the number of times Capital One has cancelled my card because it had been used by someone beside myself.  Can you explain this?

12:47:08     From  mary busse   to   Hosts and panelists : following up previous comment,  it has been the card company who discovers the fraud within hours.  Amazing!

12:47:25     From  Jessica Lamer : I work in real estate. We do send letters to particular neighborhoods if our clients are looking for a home in that specific neighborhood. If you are interested/curious whether it's a scam or not, you should research the agent and phone number provided on the letter. A professional agent should also have their license number on the letter.

12:52:15     From  mary busse   to   Hosts and panelists : I have learned that I csn Google a number that appears on Caller ID, and often find that it is a known scan number.