January 07, 2010
Daily News-Sun
Elaine McPeak lives in Sun City West, which has become a prime target for scammers seeking to defraud seniors over the phone, through the mail or on the Internet.
In fact, Attorney General Terry Goddard told about 75 seniors during a Senior Anti-Crime University program that Sun City, Sun City West and other West Valley senior communities are in ZIP codes that have become prime Arizona targets for con artists and crooks.
“We had to do workshops out here because it’s heavily populated with senior communities,” Goddard said Wednesday morning at the Sun City West Foundation. “Plus, based on the ZIP codes that we’ve seen, (the Sun Cities are) one of the highly targeted areas for scams.”
McPeak attended the four-hour program because she has been inundated with information and wanted to know what’s legitimate and what is not.
“I get stuff like that all of the time, and it’s important to be ready for these situations because you don’t know what you’re going to handle,” she said.
Goddard said the Anti-Crime University in Sun City West is the fifth that’s been offered in the Valley since the summer, but the first in the Sun Cities.
“If we can make an effort to educate seniors, then there’s a possibility we could cut down on the number fraudulent crimes and scams out there,” Goddard said.
Mary Knudson, a Sun Citian, said she jumped at the chance to sign up for the university.
“It’s important that I’m well-prepared,” Knudson said. “I don’t think anyone wants to have a scam or fraud against them.”
The Senior Anti-Crime University is part of the Attorney General’s Senior Sleuths project, a volunteer program to help seniors protect themselves and prevent others from becoming victims of fraud and abuse.
In addition, the Attorney General’s Office is recruiting senior volunteers and training them to identify and report scams and fraud and to use their knowledge to educate and help other seniors.
The Anti-Crime University and Senior Sleuths partner with AARP, the Department of Economic Security Division of Aging and Adult Services, Senior Medicare Patrol, Arizona Area Agency on Aging, Duet, All Arizona School Retiree Association, local police departments and other retiree and senior organizations.
During the program, seniors had the opportunity to choose at least four workshops where guest speakers taught them the basics. Topics included consumer fraud and scams, life-care planning, financial exploitation, health-care/Medicare fraud, reverse mortgages, identity theft, elder abuse, charitable giving and Internet safety.
Fake checks are the most common fraud, Goddard said.
When he first began the sleuth program, Goddard said he asked a group of seniors to keep their mail, so they could collect and analyze the letters and checks.
“If we could cash those checks for real, we could eliminate the deficit we have in the state budget right now,” he said with a laugh.
Sun Citian Shirley McAllister said she signed up for the courses.
“I think that I could always know more, because you never know what’s going to happen,” McAllister said.
FYI
* For more information about the senior sleuth program, call 602-542-2124 or visit
www.azag.gov.
*To file a complaint about fraud or scam, call 602-542-2123.
www.azag.gov.
*To file a complaint about fraud or scam, call 602-542-2123.
SOURCE: Your West Valley.Com
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1 comment:
With Medicare fraud so costly to all of us, it is great to see states taking on the problem. The Anti-Crime University and Senior Sleuths programs are wonderful and creative ideas. I also think Medicare recipients need to become as informed as they can about Medicare fraud. A good resource I found that provides tips on how to prevent Medicare fraud from happening to you can be found at http://www.planprescriber.com/Medicare/newsletter-nov2009-medicarefraud.html.
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