Henry Co. Sheriff, FBI hold seminar on avoiding scams targeting senior citizens
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PARIS, Tenn. — We all are at risk of getting scammed, but seniors are even more vulnerable. That is why the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and FBI held a special seminar Thursday to show seniors how to stay safe from this real risk. Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew said they receive calls daily from residents who’ve been targeted. “They play on your emotions and they use coercion, and, you know, ‘congratulations, you’ve just won a million dollars,’ but it’s tough to win a contest when you’ve never entered it,” Belew said. The sheriff said thieves target senior citizens because they are not as tech-savvy and that scammers pull on their heart strings. “They prey on grandparents about your grandchild’s in some type of trouble or needs some money and they’re out of town and need to send money fast and that type deal,” Belew said. Experts said thieves target mailboxes with a red flag up knowing the mail is going out and there is a chance money is inside. “Taking your mail straight to the post office rather than putting it in your mailbox, and a certain type of pen that you need to use so the ink won’t be washable,” Belew said. Officers demonstrated just how easily certain ink can be removed from checks when soaked in acetone. Pens with gel ink, however, make it less likely thieves will succeed. “I didn’t realize about the checks because that’s how we mail most of our bills out,” Paris resident Mary Winburn said. Many in attendance said they already have been targeted and walked away with much needed knowledge. “That’s why I really came to see what they had to say about other scams,” Springville resident Howard Knall said. Belew warned seniors to follow their gut, never give out personal information and remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. “Just to be more careful and especially the phone scams, we get a lot of those,” Winburn said. Belew said they hope to eliminate these scams before residents fall victim because money often cannot be recovered.
