Crime Stoppers connects with seniors for scam, fraud awareness

JACKSON, Tenn. — Lieutenant Mike Johnson with Crime Stoppers visited Brookdale Senior Living in Jackson o speak with seniors about scams. Dozens of them came to learn Monday morning.

“Billions of dollars every year are lost to people over 60 years old from falling for these scams,” Johnson said. “Whether it be romantic scams, whether it be you missed juvenile court, or you missed federal court and then they try to get you to pay a fine to get out of that warrant. So we’re here today to try to make them aware of some of the scams that are out there to keep them from becoming a victim.”

Scams are always changing. There are new tactics everyday. This is why Lieutenant Johnson says it is important to provide this information in person.

“They’re not going to read all of the texts,” said Johnson. “They’re not going to read emails and read every one of them. We don’t want them to click on some of these emails that they get, or the texts that they get. So it is important to make them aware of the local scams that we’re having.”

If you have friends and family that are seniors, Lieutenant Johnson says you need to help educate them if you can.

“If you have a mother or father over the age of 60, it is so important for you to talk to them. You’ve got to talk to them and let them be aware of that. A lot of the scams we have are never reported because they don’t want their family to know they’ve been a victim of a scam,” Johnson said.

This is happening in our area. In fact, there have been people in the Jackson-Madison County community who have been scammed of over $50,000 in the recent past.

While seniors are heavily targeted, scammers can and do go after people of any age.

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