Seniors get a crash course in internet fraud

The Hamlet Senior Center’s symposium on avoiding scams and frauds featuring Luke Perrin, an investigator with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office.

Hamlet Senior Center Director Amanda Kempen said she wanted to host the event to highlight the methods used by fraudsters dispel common misconceptions that may dissuade seniors from using the internet.

“I wanted to share facts. It’s not just the elderly that are preyed upon … That’s actually a misconception. [Perrin] shared those who are scammed, and what was interesting is those who are scammed have been scammed before. It’s a repeat scam. He cleared up that misconception,” Kempen said. “I did want to provide knowledge, so they can advocate for themselves against the phone calls, the letters, the false emails. He provided an example of what the telltale signs are like when there is no sender, or misspellings. I wanted to provide that knowledge. In the business world, and the personal world, frauds are becoming more prevalent daily. I lot of my folks won’t answer the phone because it’s scam call after scam call, and I want them to know how to protect themselves.”

Kempen attributed Thursday’s nearly standing-room-only crowd to how many are impacted by telephone, mail and online fraud. Due to the large crowd, Kempen said she hopes to host multiple other fraud prevention programs for not only seniors but the Hamlet entire community.

“I will be looking for other organizations to come here, and provide even more insights on specialized areas where frauds are more prevalent. It is near and dear to so many. I have a mother who is part of the aging community. She just hit that age where she is getting mailers from healthcares. It is ridiculous the amount of mail and phone calls she’s getting. In the last six months, it’s revved up on (people) saying ‘Give us this information, and you can get $40 more dollars for food nutrition and benefits card if we can get this information.’ The Department of Social Services is not going to call you. They’re going to send you a letter. This is needed for everyone … Everyone needs this. A scam can happen to anybody.”

As for Perrin, while covering a gamut of different topics Thursday, much of the questions he received in the Q&A portion of the event centered on social media scams. Perrins said much of the ways scammers use to steal profiles is information gained voluntarily through fake surveys that are really methods of obtaining answers to security questions attached to email accounts. He also said using credit cards, and not debit cards, while making purchases online is a great way to stay safe and provide a way to dispute any fraudulent charges.

“If you’re debit card gets stolen, and somebody spends $500 on it, you have those limits with your bank and you can get your money back after a period of time. But, if you only have $600 in your account, before you get your money back, you only have $100. Since credit cards get billed monthly, you have a month to only – depending what day your (due) date is – to figure it out, contact your company, dispute it and get a new card. A massive red flag is if anyone tries to get you to pay with a gift card, it’s usually a scam,” Perrin said.

For more fraud tips, scan the QR code for a portion of Perrin’s presentation.