T-R PHOTOS BY CYOTE WILLIAMS —Investigator Al Perales shares his 10 tips of how to avoid being scammed and details the acronym “TIP” during his speech.
Scammers have become more prevalent in today’s society than ever before, especially with the increase in technology and remote nature the world has been moving towards since the pandemic.
According to the AARP, Americans 50 and older lost nearly $3 billion in cybercrimes last year, which is a 62 percent increase from 2020. The Iowa Fraud Fighters’ mission is to educate Iowans, specifically elderly Iowans who are targeted by these scams.
During a recent event at the Meskwaki Settlement, commissioner Doug Ommen and investigator Al Perales from the Iowa Attorney General’s office spoke to the crowd gathered in the conference hall.
This was the fraud fighter’s fifth and final event of the year. One of the memorable moments from the forum was a video presented to the audience describing one Iowan’s horror story.
A retired schoolteacher, Martha-Jo Ennis, lost over $1 million of her retirement savings and the money she invested from the sale of her family to a Ponzi scheme.
Commissioner Doug Ommen described some of the common scams that Iowans may encounter while dealing with scammers during his speech at the Tama Fraud Fighters forum on the Meskwaki Settlement.
Ennis hasn’t been able to regain all the money she lost, and it’s affected her ability to trust. She still thinks about the event every day.
Ommen…
