NOTE MEETING IS ON WEDNESDAY NOV 10th
Please join us on Wednesday, November 10th for this timely program. Please Note: this program, which is usually held on the 2nd Thursday of the month, will be held this month on the 2nd Wednesday.
Corona Virus Scams and Frauds Targeting the Senior Community
In an article for AARP, entitled “Top 10 Frauds Hitting adults 60 and Older in 2020” (updated on September 27, 2021), author Marie Rohde reports that: “Older adults lost $600 million to fraud in 2020, when the pandemic fueled spikes in almost all top categories of fraud, federal officials say.
The figures are from the Federal Trade Commission, which noted that losses in many top categories of frauds spiked in 2020 compared to a year earlier. According to the FTC, online shopping scams rose 129 percent; business impostor frauds, 88 percent; investment frauds, 84 percent; romance scams, 66 percent; tech-support scams, 55 percent; sweepstakes and related frauds, 35 percent and family and friend impostors, 20 percent.
Losses in two categories — timeshare sales and timeshare resales — inched upward by 3 percent year-over-year, and in one top category, government impostor frauds, losses declined by 5 percent.
There is no mistaking the pandemic’s impact on frauds impacting adults ages 60-plus, with losses of $104 million arising from some 26,518 complaints. The problems included undelivered protective gear, false claims about COVID-19 treatments and cures, and scams involving government relief programs, among others.
The findings were presented last week during a hearing held by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn.), committee chairman, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), said in a joint statement that the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated risks for older people and made them ‘even more vulnerable to scammers and schemes.’”
The LWVCNM presentation will
focus on information that will support our elderly community on ways to keep
safe from scams and frauds commonly targeting Seniors. Our speaker will be Katherine Trujillo who is the special projects coordinator and
educational consultant at the NM office of the Attorney General. Her background
is in education and she holds a teachers license as well as an Administrator
license in New Mexico.
Zoom Invitation
LWVCNM Zoom is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Corona Virus Scams and Frauds Targeting the Senior Community
Time: Nov 10, 2021 Noon Mountain Time (US and Canada)
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Meeting ID: 897 3853 3472
Passcode: 791081
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