(Dreamstime)
DES MOINES — AARP Iowa and state officials are going on a statewide “fraud watch” tour to educate older Iowans on how to spot and prevent scams that target older Iowans.
At a gathering of about 80 people in a Des Moines library Monday, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and fraud experts with AARP Iowa and state agencies explained methods scammers use to steal money over the phone and by email or mail.
The most common scam that people report to the Attorney General’s Office is an impostor scam — scammers posing as relatives, romantic interests and companies or government officials and convincing the victim to send them money.
The amount of money lost to impostor scams can be as high as tens of thousands of dollars, Miller said, though others are between $500 and $1,000.
“There’s a great variety in what the scammers are looking for, but as I mentioned in the impostor area, generally, it’s the higher dollar amounts,” Miller said.
Tom Miller, Iowa attorney general (Associated Press)
A March report from caller ID app Truecaller found the average reported loss by people who fell victim to phone scams was $577 in the last year, up from $502 the year before.
Other common scams include fake media subscriptions, home goods or…
