QUINCY (WGEM) – Local agencies say scammers are targeting elderly people, in some cases bilking them for tens of thousands of dollars.
Douglass Community Services is partnering with Tigerhawk Technologies, The Better Business Bureau, and HOMEBANK to put on the Protecting Our Senior’s Assets program Friday. Made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation of Western Illinois, they’re hoping to educate seniors so they don’t become victims of online scams.
Douglass Chief Operating Officer Stacey Nicholas said scammers tend to target senior citizens because they tend to be newer to the online world and she said they tend to be generous.
“The common ones that we heard was, ‘This person is a veteran and I’m a veteran and they need help, should I send them money?’ and you can understand that, everyone wants to help veterans particularly if you are a veteran but it was a scam,” Nicholas said.
She said she is hoping seniors who attend the seminar come away with a better understanding of how criminals will try to separate them from their money and keep themselves from becoming victims.
Tigerhawk Technologies CEO JR Bareis said this is a great opportunity because scams can be very costly to seniors.
He said, on average, they see one or two clients every week who have fallen for a scam. He said scammers have stolen a total of $400,000 so far this year.
Bareis said scammers target seniors because they have more money. He said the median savings for a senior is around…
