By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks sees it every year. People, most of them elderly, come to police headquarters or call city detectives because they’ve fallen victim to a phone scam or other scheme.
Brooks said he is still mystified that such attempts to separate individuals and families from their money are so effective.
“It’s been going on forever and ever,” Brooks said. “You’ve got these robocalls now, and they prey mostly on elderly people who get confused. When the scammers get on the line, they are very aggressive, and they are trained in how to keep somebody on the phone.”
Brooks noted that a local resident recently was defrauded of “10s of thousands of dollars” to a lottery scam in which the victim is talked into sending money to cover the taxes on the winnings. I’m not going to mention the person’s name, and I’m not going to say exactly how much that person lost. There’s no such thing as a lottery where the winner has to pay the taxes in advance.”
The police chief said other locals have been victimized by callers who tell them a relative is in jail in a faraway jurisdiction and has to have a certain amount of money before he or she can be released. The scammer nearly always asks that the money be put on a Green Dot card, another dead giveaway that the call is a phony one.
There is a simple way to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of these fraud schemes, he pointed out.
“They should just hang up the phone if they don’t know who it is calling,” Brooks said, noting that government agencies, business and other entities give pretty much the same advice. “And, if somebody calls you, do not ever give them any personal information, like your Social Security number or credit card information.”
He added that caregivers could play a major role in helping prevent phone scams.
“Caregivers should be extra vigilant,” he said. “If they or the people they care for don’t recognize the number, answer the phone, then hang up. That’s the only way to stop these people. Of course, they’re here today, gone tomorrow, on to another scam.”