Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor urges older adults to guard against falling victim to scams.
“It’s important to remain aware of the different types of scams that are going around,” DeFoor said. “Scammers often target retired people because they believe older adults have accumulated larger savings and may not know how to spot the latest scams.”
DeFoor spoke this week in Mechanicsburg as part of a “Scam Jam” event organized by the state Department of Banking and Securities, one of several financial education events that he is participating in during Financial Literacy Month.
DeFoor said consumers of all ages should be wary of phone, text, email or online messages that may try to scare them into giving up personal financial information such as Social Security numbers or bank account numbers. Simply clicking on a suspicious link could allow a scammer to take over an electronic device and gain access a consumer’s personal information.
“The most important thing you can do is to slow down and carefully research what you’re told before taking action,” DeFoor said.
Common hallmarks of a scam include:
- Urgent or emotional appeals: Scammers will try to cloud your thinking by tugging at your heartstrings or insisting that you must act now.
- Pay-to-claim “prizes”: If you must pay taxes, fees, shipping or other charges up front, you didn’t “win” anything.
- Odd payment methods: Demanding payment in gift cards, pre-paid credit cards, wire transfers, etc., is a…
