LAKE CITY — Amid recent cases of Rochester area residents
losing hundreds of thousands of dollars through scams
, area agencies and educators are calling attention to common scam tactics and how to protect oneself against them.
Wabasha County Sheriff Rodney Bartsch said scams haven’t been occurring more often recently, but scammers’ tactics are always changing.
“It’s something new all the time, and if we don’t stay in front of it, if we don’t keep talking to people about it, people are going to keep losing money,” Bartsch said.
His department will lead a
sponsored by the Elder Network of Wabasha County at Valley View Assembly of God Church in Lake City at 2 p.m. Sept. 22. He said events like this not only help the public be more informed about scams, but he and his deputies can learn about the latest scam tactics from the public.
“They will bring in information and say, ‘Well, this happened to me,’ … and it’ll be new scams,” Bartsch said. “That’s what we’re always looking for is information from the people, which we can share with other people.”
Scammers often use fear and the illusion of authority, like pretending to be the IRS or the police, to compel people to act on their requests. They may also pose as family members who are asking for financial help.
“Scammers have gotten very, very good at tricking people, whether it was spoofing phone…
