Scams and how to avoid them were the main topics at the first Panola County Seniors meeting held Sept. 1 at the Panola County Chamber of Commerce.
More than 20 people attended the kick-off meeting, which Chamber President Keri-Perot-Vance said will become a regular event. She said the sessions will focus on providing information helpful to Panola County’s senior citizens.
“Our next meeting is planned for 10 a.m. Oct. 6,” she said. The meeting will again be held at the chamber offices, 300 W. Panola St.
“We are excited to see what the future holds for this new group,” Perot-Vance said.
Speakers at the initial meeting were Carthage Police Chief Blake Smith and Coleman Swierc, manager of the Better Business Bureau of Central East Texas.
Swierc said the BBB has compiled a list of the top 10 scams the organization has come across in East Texas in the past year.
“Most of the scam victims we see, and I’m going to put this mildly, they didn’t use a lot of common sense,” he said. “That’s not to say that they’re not smart, but they reacted in a way they shouldn’t have, and they did something without maybe thinking it all the way through.”
The top of the scam list for the region deals with purchases made online, Swierc said.
“No. 1 is anything you buy online that when it’s delivered to you it is either not what you bought or…
