Older adults often become victims of scam artists due to their easy trusting nature or due to the scare tactics used by scammers. The most current scam targeted towards seniors is the Social Security scam.
JoAnne Deal, the regional Director of the Better Business Bureau, explained that since last April, seniors have been receiving phone calls from scammers pretending to be Social Security Administration representatives. Deal stressed that, "you should not talk to them and you should not give out personal information about your social security number, your Medicare number, or your date of birth."
Deal emphasized that "this is very important because they [scammers] are very interested in getting the new unique Medicare numbers that are being mailed out." Deal added that this scam may continue until April 2019.
Scammers may tell their targets that their social security accounts have been compromised and that all funds will be frozen. Deal pointed out that "this arouses a lot of anxiety in seniors who depend on that income for groceries and their daily needs."
For more information or to report a scam, contact the Better Business Bureau at (318)387-4600 or look up https://www.ftc.gov
