By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
Senior citizens are vulnerable to scams and frauds aimed at them.
A new toll-free hotline has been set up to help those who may feel they are victims.
The U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, of which U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is ranking member, established the hotline to make it easier for senior citizens to report suspected fraud and receive assistance. The hotline will be staffed by a team of committee investigators weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The investigators, who have experience with investment scams, identity theft, bogus sweepstakes and lottery schemes, Medicare and Social Security fraud, and a variety of other senior exploitation issues, will directly examine complaints and, if appropriate, refer them to the proper authorities.
Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin shared information on two recent scams in the southern Aroostook area.
The first is a telephone scam where a person is called and an automated voice says the person’s debit card has been frozen. The caller asks the person to press 1 to unlock the card. The automated message then requested the person to enter their 16 digit card number.
The number on the caller ID in this instance shows up as 253-638-27xx.
“This partial number is widely publicized on the Internet as a number associated with phone scams,” explained Chief Asselin. “Asking you to enter your card number in response to an automated call is not a legitimate method for companies to notify cardholders of a problem with their cards. If there is any question at all, hang up and call your financial institution using the number on the back of your card.
“Please be careful and never provide information on your card to an incoming caller,” he added. “If the call is legitimately coming from your financial institution they already have that information.”
The next scam involves an individual with a strong accent may call indicating that he is from Publishers’ Clearing House or some other magazine and tell you that you have won $2 million dollars and a new car. He will instruct you to go to the nearest Rite Aid store and purchase a Green Dot Card in the amount of $499. Once the card is purchased, you will be instructed to call them back. They will tell you that they have agents currently in York and once you have purchased the Green Dot Card, they will travel to your home and deliver the prize. The caller will tell you that he is from Las Vegas and will give you a call back number of 1-702-347-8527.
These scammers recently called a Grand Isle resident who informed them that she did not have the funds,” said Chief Asselin. “They told her if she came up with the money to call them back. They ended up calling her back four different times. During the final call he identified himself as a Mr. Jefferson with Reader’s Digest. She informed them not to call her back.”
As chairman and ranking member of the committee, Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Collins (R-ME) have made consumer protection and fraud prevention a primary focus of the committee’s work. This year the panel has held hearings examining Jamaican lottery scams, tax-related identity theft, Social Security fraud and payday loans impact on seniors.
“If you’re contacted about an offer that sounds too good to be true, then it probably is,” Nelson said. “This new hotline will give seniors a resource to turn to for assistance if they think they’ve been victimized or have questions about fraudulent activities.”
Anyone with information about suspected fraud can call the toll-free fraud hotline at 1-855-303-9470, or contact the committee through its website, located at http://www.aging.senate.gov/fraud-hotline.
“Ensuring that seniors are as equipped as possible to avoid becoming victims of fraud and other scams is among our committee’s top priorities,” said Collins. “This new hotline offered by the Senate Special Committee on Aging will help to identify and put a stop to the cruel scams that hurt seniors and their families.”
