Protect Yourself Against Fraud
Older Adults are Using Knowledge to Fight Back

By Alex Frazer-Harrison, Calgary Herald

March 4, 2010

Canada

It's late at night and the phone rings. A desperate voice at the other end says: "Grandma?"

Concerned and worried, you reply: "Billy, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's Billy. I'm in trouble and I need money."

So begins the "grandparents scam," the latest entry in the crooks' playbook on ways to trick older adults into giving up their savings.

People pretending to be relatives in trouble are targeting seniors in the hope of catching them off-guard.

Fortunately, more seniors are empowering themselves to nip such attempts in the bud. They are learning about these scams, as well as alerting police.

"I'm still pretty new to e-mail," says Mary Walls, secretary of the Calgary chapter of CARP -- Canada's association for the 50-plus.

"Everyone said: 'You have to get into the 20th century,'" she says, joking. "Well, now I'm in the 20th, but I'm still not ready for the 21st."

But she's not about to become a target of e-mail or phone frauds, she says. "I might have fallen for some of these scams at one time if I hadn't been informed, especially this business of winning prizes -- you 'just have to send money for shipping and handling.'"

Scammers are trying to con people through things like fake lottery win announcements.

As part of her work with CARP, Walls is on a Calgary Police Service advisory committee that shares information about scams and frauds aimed at seniors.

"I don't tend to get e-mails, myself, from people trying to commit fraud," she says. Instead, friends are alerting her through e-mail about "what's going on."

She takes that information and forwards it to Const. Kevin Zeh, an investigator in the Calgary Police Service's Elder Abuse Team.

More seniors are becoming computer savvy, says Zeh.

"I'll often get people forwarding me articles or information they've taken off (websites)," he says. "Seniors are using technology to warn their friends." Word is also spreading through things like seniors groups, bridge clubs and coffee klatsches, he says.

Because it's almost tax time, one scam involves people pretending to be from Canada Revenue Agency in the hopes of getting financial information.

Another technique still going strong is the "419 fraud."

It's a variation of a confidence trick in which someone is talked into advancing sums of money to someone they don't know in the hopes of getting significantly more back. The 419 fraud involves e-mails in which someone claiming to be from a foreign country asks for help transferring recently acquired funds.

Using the phone or e-mail, criminals pretending to be from institutions such as banks are also seeking to get older adults to reveal things like bank account and PIN numbers.

"The message we're getting out is before you give personal information, take a step back, research it, talk to people you trust, give us a call and make a decision whether you're going to share that information," says Zeh.

The biggest group of people who are falling victim to scammers are those aged 50 to 59, says RCMP Cpl. Louis Robertson, who is in charge of criminal intelligence for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (formerly PhoneBusters). "That's surprising because it's the generation that's the first slice of the baby boomers," he says. "They're the ones who have been up on computers and have read a lot."

But awareness of scams is growing among older adults, empowering them to not only keep their peers informed, but also their families. Where they might once have told their grandchildren not to talk to strangers, the current advice might be not to give their SIN number to someone asking for it on the Facebook social networking website.

"Absolutely -- seniors will talk to their kids who, hopefully, will talk to their kids," says Dianne Cooper-Ponte, a volunteer with the Calgary Seniors' Resource Society.

She's on a committee looking into new ways of keeping older adults informed about fraud.

The nature of fraud against seniors "has changed significantly" during just the last few years, she says.

"Now, 50 per cent of seniors are on the Internet and they're the fastest-growing demographic on the Internet. They need to be aware of what's happening."

As for criminals pretending to be grandchildren in trouble, "what we're trying to do is come up with some questions you can ask when you get one of these calls," she says.

"These scammers are very personable and have all the patience in the world. They have questions they ask to get the information they need."

With March being Fraud Awareness Month, a representative from Visa Canada will visit the Confederation Park 55-Plus Activity Centre this week to talk about preventing identity theft.

"Basically, we say look at what you're disposing in the garbage," says Michael D'Sa, Visa's senior manager of data security and investigation. "People are throwing things out (or recycling) with their full mailing address, tax information. There are dumpster divers going into the garbage looking for this."

Older Calgarians who are downsizing or reducing clutter should get rid of outdated documents in a secure way.

"Get a shredder," says D'Sa. "There's no need to hang onto tax returns from 30 years ago. We hosted a huge shredding event and 90 per cent were seniors, some carrying bags of documents."

D'Sa says if seniors are prepared to handle unsolicited calls by not giving away their credit card numbers or other information, they can avoid being scammed. "From Visa's standpoint, we'll never reach out to cardholders, requesting their personal information," he says.

To help Calgarians safely get rid of old documents, the Alberta Motor Association -- in partnership with the Calgary Police Service, RCMP and Shred It -- is hosting several Shredding Events in Alberta this spring.

"It's important to make sure what you're discarding doesn't have personal information," says Debbie Hammond, program manager with AMA's Advocacy and Community Service. "Even if you're (clearing) the estate of someone who's passed away, some of that information can be used to steal an identity."

Walls says older Calgarians have an important role to play in helping the community stay informed about scams and fraud -- and that includes getting the word out to isolated seniors who might not always be in the loop.

"You have to let everybody know what's going on," she says. "Otherwise, it'll be a disaster out there."

The next AMA Shredding Event is set for March 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the AMA's offices at 3650 20 Ave. N.E.; at 600-85 Shawville Rd. S.E.; and at Crowfoot Crossing at 130 Crowfoot Terrace N.W.

There will also be an event April 3.

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Check It Out

For the latest scams, as well as how to protect yourself and report them, visit www.phonebusters.com.You can also contact the Calgary Police Service Elder Abuse Team at 403-206-8311.

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In Short

To avoid identity theft and fraud, items that should be shredded regularly include:

- Addressed envelopes;
- Unwanted credit card or financial service applications;
- Expired travel-related documents, including luggage tags, passports and visas;
- Debit/credit card receipts not needed for tax purposes, especially those displaying bank or credit card numbers;
- Old bank statements and pay stubs once the information has been used in the appropriate way.

Aside from currently active documents, papers that shouldn't be shredded include:

- Recent income tax returns and related financial documentation;
- Certificates of marriage, birth, death and citizenship;
- Wills and related documents;
- Any receipts or documents indicating a loan or mortgage has been paid off;
- Diplomas, transcripts;
- Securities and trade information;
- Appraisals and receipts of valuables (jewelry, artwork);
- Military service records.

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