DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – Tuesday afternoon, over 100 people attended the Iowa Insurance Division’s ‘Iowa Fraud Fighters’ program.
“We did it because the best defense that we can provide to Iowans is to give them information about how to protect themselves, as well as their neighbors, and other people in their lives,” said Doug Ommen, commissioner of the Iowa Insurance Division.
Debbie Mlakar is a scam victim and remembers how aggressive the scammers were towards her.
“I got this phone call, and they said, ‘We’re cutting your Iowa-Illinois power and light within 30 minutes. You gotta put money in right now.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. What do I do?’” Mlakar said. “They started screaming at me, saying, ‘We need a debit card, we don’t want a credit card. I felt really vulnerable. I was such a nervous wreck. I had to change all my account numbers, change all my credit cards.”
According to AARP, Americans over 50 years old lost nearly $3 billion in cybercrimes in 2021.
“We do know that scammers use whatever tools are available, in order to reach Iowans, try to steal their money,” Ommen said. “It is through internet and cyber capacity that they are able to reach a lot of people here in Iowa.”
Ommen said Ponzi schemes, computer, and grandparent schemes are still very prevalent.
“The scammers are pretty ingenious about how they are able to attract people, get their attention, and then try to get their money,” Ommen said….
