Cranston seniors learn how to spot scams
By: Melissa Randall
@MRandallABC6
A single phone call was enough to rattle on Cranston senior to her core. ‘This is the IRS. We are suing you,” is what Teruko Langwell says she heard on her answering machine earlier this week.
Turns out that phone call wasn’t from the real IRS at all. It was a scam. Thankfully she found out before paying up, but the message left Langwell with lingering questions.
“How did they know my telephone number?” she asked. “Why did they choose me?”
It turns out many of her friends down at the senior center are asking the same questions after having similar experiences. The Rhode island Attorney General’s office has taken notice of the recent pattern.
“Our phones have been ringing off the hook— hundreds of calls and e–mails a week of people reporting the IRS scam,” said Martha Crippin, director of the consumer protection unit.
Crippin met with the seniors Thursday to help them learn how to spot a scam. She says any caller that threatens your safety, says you’ll be arrested, or that a utility will be shut off, are all after your money.
“The urgency should be your biggest red flag,” she said.
AG Peter Kilmartin telling ABC6 News that the elderly are especially prone to these scams due to their trusting nature.
“These scammers are rude enough to try and take that [money]– they [seniors] should be rude back. Tell somebody on the phone ‘I know you’re a scammer’ and click hang up. Don’t engage them any further,” he said.
Experts say one way to cut down on the number of unwanted calls is to add your number to the ‘do not call list’, but it’s not fool proof.
If you even suspect that the person on the other end of the phone is a scam artist you should report it to police or to the AG’s office: consumers@riag.ri.gov or (401) 274-4400.
© WLNE-TV 2016
