Scam Artists Target Seniors
Reported by: Mia Fleming
3/12
Tulsa Police say an elderly man was robbed of thousands of dollars by someone he thought he could trust. Police say it happens a lot more often than you might think. As one victim we talked to found out, we want to be trusting, but it can get us into trouble.
The victim who doesn’t want to be identified says he trusted someone he shouldn’t have. "I'd given her about 2000 dollars or more," says the victim.
He says there were several times he overpaid her just trying to help.
"It was always some big sob story you know, “ says the victim. The victim found out the hard way she wasn't there just to work and her sob stories weren't all that sad. “She had the door open with that metal box and all my money in it, she knocked me against the wall hit my finger, my head and kept getting all the money and left, " says the victim.
Tulsa police say the suspect left his home with thousands of his dollars. A tough lesson to learn for the victim, but officers warn there are far too many other elderly victims or potential victims out there.
“I think we have a problem with elderly people being taken advantage of by shysters, they go out and wreck havoc in elderly community " says Tulsa Police Sergeant Dave Walker.
This victim says it won’t happen to him again. "You like to trust everybody you know and I usually do but, boy somebody like that there's no word to describe it, it just a rip off artist.”
Officers warn the people doing the scams aren't always strangers. They say be careful because sometimes the suspects are relatives who want to rip you off. Either way officers say these crimes could be considered a felony and if convicted, suspects could face prison time.
The "National Fraud Information Center" reports elderly people are targeted at twice the rate of everyone else when it comes to fraud cases
If you suspect you may be getting scammed and it’s not an emergency-- you can call the Tulsa Police Department's non-emergency number at 596- 9222.
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