Scammers target local couple

An Atlanta elderly couple reported to the Journal they were falsely led to believe they won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes. After contacting the couple on the phone, the fraudsters sent a package overnight through FedEx that included a number of official-looking forms, from what appeared to be from Publishing Clearing House, the IRS, FDIC and the BBB with their logos.

One of the forms came from what looked to be from the FDIC explaining to the couple that since the amount of the deposit was so high they would be required to pay an FDIC insurance fee of $899. The couple agreed to pay the fee, sent a cashiers cheque, but found out in the middle of the process that it was a scam, enabling them to get their money back. Reading through the packet it is easy to see how the $899 would only be the beginning of what the criminals would be trying to take from the couple.

The couple from Atlanta is not the first person to fall for this scam. On the Publishing Clearing House website the have specific pages on their website dedicated just for fraud. On the website PCH (Publishing clearing House, notes that “At PCH the winning is always free and you NEVER have to pay to claim a prize… If someone contacts you claiming to be from PCH and tells you that you’ve won a prize– then ask you to send a payment or money card in order to claim the prize – STOP! You have not heard from the real PCH.”

According to their website “Publishers Clearing House notifies their big winners either by mail or by having the PCH Prize Patrol show up at the winner’s doorstep. PCH does not notify big winners by telephone, email, or bulk mail.”

The elderly are a typical target for scammers for a variety of reasons. On the FBI website, it references possible reasons for this including:

Senior citizens are most likely to have a “nest egg,” to own their home, and/or to have excellent credit—all of which make them attractive to con artists.

People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Con artists exploit these traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say “no” or just hang up the telephone.

Older Americans are less likely to report a fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed, or don’t know they have been scammed. Elderly victims may not report crimes, for example, because they are concerned that relatives may think the victims no longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.

When an elderly victim does report the crime, they often make poor witnesses. Con artists know the effects of age on memory, and they are counting on elderly victims not being able to supply enough detailed information to investigators. In addition, the victims’ realization that they have been swindled may take weeks—or more likely, months—after contact with the fraudster. This extended time frame makes it even more difficult to remember details from the events.

It is important to note though that the elderly are not the only ones that are scammed. And fall into scams like this one, with millions of dollars stolen daily from the unsuspected.

Accouding to Texas State Attorney Ken Paxton, “Senior Texans are targeted every day through e-mail, regular mail and the telephone. Nearly every scam is designed to trick you into sending money or providing your personal information.”

“The first way scammers do this is to get you to believe something good will happen to you (like winning a prize) if you do as they say. The other is by scaring you into believing something terrible has or will happen to you -- like your home will be foreclosed on or you will be arrested -- if you don’t do as they say. In either case, through kindness or bullying, they try to get you to send them money or disclose your personal financial information,”says Paxton on the AJwebsite.

Paxton reminds people to “remember that no legitimate government agency, business or organization will make unsolicited contact with you and then ask you to provide your personal information. Nor will any legitimate prize give-away, government grant, lottery or sweepstakes require you to pay anything upfront to claim your winnings.”

Paxton says that “your best protection against scammers making unsolicited contact with you is to hang up and not respond to their attempts to steal your money or good name. Hang-up your phone, shred the correspondence, delete the email, or shut your door and call the police.”

If you feel like a particular phone call is legitimate, contact the actual company in question, like the IRS, PCH, law enforcement, etc.. first, before you give anyone money or offer to give someone access to your bank accounts, credit cards, or personal information.

The scammer will offer to give you their own phone number or contact information to try to convince you that what they are doing is legitimate.

Copy the number down to give to law enforcement, but don’t use their number to find the legitimacy of their claim.

It is easy to find the companies official website online. If you need help you can stop by your local police department for assistance. https://www.usa.gov/stop-scams-frauds lists contact numbers who to report scams to and get help. PCH has its own number that you can call and report the scam to and check the legimacy of a claim, 1-800-392-4190.

Ultimately it is important to remember two rules of thumb. First, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Second, if someone calls threatening you for your money, the safest thing for you to do is just hang up and call the police.

Many people are talked into things every day. If you have fallen into a scam, there is nothing to feel ashamed about, just get help and learn from the experience.