A Town Hall Conversation with Attorney General William Tong
Attorney General William Tong came to the Stratford Library on Monday, June 9th, to address Senior Scams and Frauds, Connecticut Elder Justice Issues, and hotlines ranging from age-based discrimination in the workplace to elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
He was joined by Connecticut State Representatives Joe Gresko and Kaitlyn Shake, plus representatives from AARP Connecticut and the Stratford Police Department.
Tong noted that no one’s personal information is safe with security breaches, such as the recent one targeting Yale New Haven Health Care System. He pointed out that social media also provides scammers a rich resource for gathering such information.
According to Tong, scammers are deliberately looking for seniors, as they are financially secure and have resources. The top scams in Connecticut are:
Impersonation scam:
Scammers may pose as a bank, like Capital One, to try and gain access to your account. They often use a fake caller ID that shows up as the bank, and tell you there have been fraudulent transactions on your account. The scammer will have you make payments to reverse the fraud and protect the account. In a different version of the scam, the caller will ask for sensitive information that they can use to access your account and make fraudulent transactions. If you receive a call and aren’t sure if the company or person you’re speaking with is legitimate, hang up. Search for a verified number on the company website. If someone calls claiming to be from your bank and you feel uncomfortable, hang up and call the number on the back of your card before providing any personal or financial information.
Smishing scam:
Smishing is a twist on email phishing using SMS (“short message service,” the technology behind text messages). It happens when scammers send text messages that appear to be from a trusted company in an attempt to steal your money and personal information. These messages can be convincing because they pose as well-known businesses, like a delivery service or toll payment system. The texts will urge you to click a link where you’re prompted to share payment details or other personal information.
Grandchildren Scam:
Grandparents often have a hard time saying no to their grandchildren, which is something scam artists know all too well.
Scammers who gain access to consumers’ personal information – by mining social media or purchasing data from cyber thieves – can create storylines to prey on the fears of grandparents. The scammers call and impersonate a grandchild – or another close relative – in a crisis situation, asking for immediate financial assistance. Sometimes these callers “spoof” the caller ID to make an incoming call appear to be coming from a trusted source.
Often the imposter claims to have been in an accident or arrested. The scammer may ask the grandparent “please don’t let mom and dad know,” and may hand the phone over to someone posing as a lawyer seeking immediate payment.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, bad actors can now use artificial intelligence technology, commonly known as AI, and a short audio or video clip to “clone” a loved one’s voice. The agency advises: “Don’t trust the voice. Call the person who supposedly contacted you and verify the story. Use a phone number you know is theirs.” If you can’t reach the relative allegedly calling you, try to contact other family members or friends who may be able to reach them.
Tong’s suggestion is at a family gathering develop a code word for family members so when the call comes in ask for the code. If it’s not given, hang up!!!
And the Number One scam is: Romance Scams
What Are Romance Scams? According to the FBI, a romance scam occurs when a criminal creates a fake profile and feigns romantic interest in another online user – either through a dating app or website, an online chat room, or a social media platform – to create a feeling of intimate trust with the intention of scamming the victim out of money.
Romance scammers often prey on older individuals who are divorced or widowed. They often target victims’ insecurities or desires and will work to develop an intimate “relationship” as quickly as possible. They will then lure the victim into sharing personal or financial information.
Scammers will often attempt to make the victim feel special and needed. They may propose marriage and offer to meet in person, but will never follow through on either promise. Romance scams can happen to persons of any gender and can be devastating both financially and emotionally.
Romance scams increased by nearly 40% between 2018 and 2019. Like all online scams, romance scams are on the rise. Romance scammers will manufacture all sorts of fictional stories, promises, and crises designed to get their victims to send them money.
With the increased popularity of dating apps and sites, it can be challenging to spot fake profiles that actually belong to romance scammers. Here are five tell-tale signs to help you spot a romance scam.
- The romance scammer will be quick to “fall in love” and profess their love earnestly. Their goal is to manipulate the victim emotionally as quickly as possible before the victim realizes they are being scammed.
- The scammer will often use endearing, loving terms such as “dear,” “darling,” and “love of my life.” And they’ll attribute the budding romance to destiny or fate, making the victim feel as special as possible.
- Romance scammers may also propose marriage extremely quickly. They may convince their victims to “save them” from extremely unfortunate circumstances by marrying them, offering over-the-top gratitude for the victim’s love and support. If someone you’re actively messaging begins trying to build an intimate relationship in a very short amount of time, be wary that it may be a romance scam.
- The scammer’s profile contains vague or few images across platforms.
- Another way to tell if the person you’re messaging may be a romance scammer is by their profile pictures. These scammers will often impersonate someone else and likely only have one or two images of the person they’re pretending to be.
This does not mean you should give up on romance, because there are authentic dating sites, and users often have multiple pictures of themselves in various situations ranging from face shots to full body shots. Romance scammers may include images on their profiles that show only a portion of their face. Those pictures aren’t necessarily recognizable against the other pictures on their profile.
If a love interest you’ve met online asks for money before you’ve met them in person, it’s a big red flag that you’re likely being scammed. Romance scammers are skilled at making up believable stories. Some of the most common reasons they’ll provide when they ask for money include:
- Payment for travel expenses (alleging they want to come to see you in person)
- Payment for medical bills or other emergency expenses
- Payment for gambling or other types of debts so they can start over and begin a new life with you (which is a red flag in itself!)
Romance scammers will often concoct a detailed sob story to manipulate their victims into sending them money. The takeaway: if someone you meet online asks you for money, no matter how convincing the reason, it’s likely you’re being scammed.
Dating sites and apps have parameters in place to help spot scammers and ultimately remove them from their platforms. Therefore, scammers may try to quickly get you to move to a more private communication platform, such as emailing or texting. However, this is a gray area because even legitimate love interests will eventually want to move communications off the dating site.
The bottom line is that providing personal information such as your primary email address or phone number to a scammer can be dangerous. The safest option may be to continue communicating through the dating site or app until you’ve met your love interest in person. If they pressure you to move off the app before you’re ready, consider that a red flag.
Pay attention to red flags. Set up a video chat to verify their identity. Even though this will help identify someone, you must still be careful not to give away personal information too soon. Research the person you’re messaging, most people have multiple social media profiles on various platforms with tons of photographs documenting their lives. Research your cyber sweetheart’s presence on other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn to verify that they are who they say they are.
“Elderly Protective Services are in place to help you. Only 1 out of 44 cases of Elderly Abuse is reported. Most seniors do not want to report abuse because it could be a son, nephew, grandchild. They are embarrassed; they make excuses for the abuse; there is no excuse for abuse.” Tong noted.
Tong used the venue to roll out information on the Elder Justice Hotline. If you have been the victim of a scam, or neglected, exploited, or abused, Tong encourages you to reach out.
Information about the hotline, resources, and an online complaint portal can be found at: https://portal.ct.gov/ag/elderhotline , or call 1-860-808-5555.
