HENDERSON (KTNV) — Seniors in our valley may want to be aware of this. If you get a call from a number you don't know, an email from a fake address or suspicious links, be warned, these could all be attempts to steal your money.
This is an issue several Sun City Anthem residents in Henderson, such as Sharon Deter, know all too well — and a story we here at Channel 13 have told time and time again as part of efforts to find solutions.
WATCH | Former FBI agent gives tips to prevent scammers from targeting seniors
“I’ve gone through the process of getting my mother out of something that was draining her bank account, eventually they got a quarter of her net worth," said Deter who lives in the Solera senior living community in Anthem.
“It was terrifying.”
Deter says her mom was buying light bulbs online when she was scammed.
“When she stopped buying lightbulbs they started harassing her, calling her excessively, threatening her with actual bodily harm," Deter said.
The scam lasted nearly two years until Deter stepped in. She took the calls for her mom, but heard more than she bargained for.
"Thinking I was mom, they said to me if you don’t go ahead paying this amount again, then your granddaughter is in serious danger," Deter said.
I asked Deter if that means the scammer threatened her daughter.
"Yes it was my daughter," said Deter. “It just makes the floor drop out from underneath you, it’s so terrifying."
The District Attorney where they lived in Washington at the time, approximately 15 years ago, stepped in to help and was able to stop more losses. The money was never recovered though.
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Fraud is an issue plaguing so many across the country.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, people lost $12.5 billion to scams just last year. That's an increase of around 25% in losses from 2023 to 2024.
This issue hits seniors the hardest, mainly with online scams.
Former FBI agent Thomas Quilty held a meeting Tuesday in Sun City Anthem to help educate more people and help fight against scammers.
“I’m looking at this from the political side, the enforcement, the legislation side but the most important is education. If we can teach people how to not be a victim, then we cut off the money supply," Quilty said.
He says scammers will call, email, text and even use artificial intelligence to imitate your loved ones to steal your money.
The most common scams? According to Quilty, they're employment offers, bank loan offers, technical support calls, credit card or bank account scams, or A.I. panic calls pretending to be a relative in trouble and romance scams.
Quilty says they are seeing A.I. imitating voices and even faces of people, creating videos or even making calls sounding and looking like other people. He says this makes it even more difficult to catch a scam.
The best way to combat the A.I. portion is to have a secret code word or phrase with your family members. He says you can ask for the code/phrase if you're ever unsure if it's them or not, to help protect from a scam.
Quilty shared several other tips to help prevent and secure yourself from a scam. They include:
- Limiting the places you connect your phone to WiFi or Bluetooth.
- Closing out and even signing out of applications including social media apps.
- Create separate passwords for all devices and sites and be aware of the information you share on social media.
The most important takeaway is to remember if you're victimized, you're not alone.
“The problem is much bigger than people realize because of the embarrassment factor, but if people don’t report this, then it will continue and no one will pay attention," Quilty said.
“Don’t be embarrassed because they are so canny they are so crafty that even the most brilliant senior can fall for the scam," Deter said.
Quilty tells me he wants to continue to help fight scammers in the valley and is already planning future fraud fighting sessions with other senior communities in our area.
He doesn't just want to help seniors though, saying scammers can go for people of all ages.
Quilty is also reaching out to local police agencies to help with creating a local task force, connecting to state services as well to help fraud cases in our valley. He says there is a gap between the loss amount where each agency can step in with some portions not covered.
He says this task force could really help victims in our valley.