Americans lost at least a billion dollars to scams in the past year, and probably much more, because people often blame themselves and are too ashamed or embarrassed to report their losses. Common scams were the focus of a Council on Aging talk on fraud prevention last Tuesday at Hildreth House. The featured speaker was Marc Gravelle, a vice president from Rollstone Bank & Trust headquarters in Fitchburg.
Laura Piersall, manager of Rollstone’s branch in Harvard, confirmed the problem is local as well as national. She said the Harvard bank sees four or five transactions a day that look as if they might be fraudulent, and they’re all checked as thoroughly as possible.
Gravelle described a wide range of phone scams—threatening calls supposedly from the Internal Revenue Service; calls announcing a huge lottery win, but asking for an upfront fee to “process” the prize; someone posing as a grandchild in desperate need of money. The dozen or so people in the COA audience reacted with recognition: “I’ve gotten that call!” was a frequent response.
“Just take a minute to pause” was the first step Gravelle recommended to anyone who gets such a phone call. “Ask yourself, ‘Would this make any sense if I heard it from a friend?’”
For those calls claiming to come from the IRS, Gravelle had a simple answer. The IRS communicates by certified letters, he said. It does not phone people to demand payments.
Among the red flags that indicate a scam, Gravelle said, are requests for payment by a wire transfer or gift cards. Unlike checks, those payments cannot be canceled. And they are nearly impossible to trace, he said, making it very difficult to recover any of the money.
Another “huge red flag,” Gravelle explained, is a warning not to trust your bank. When a bank customer is making an unusually large withdrawal, tellers are trained to ask questions in case the customer is being scammed. So scammers sometimes try to convince their intended victims not to answer any questions from bank personnel.
Gravelle urged everyone to monitor bank accounts and credit card accounts each month. With credit cards, fraudulent transactions must be reported within 60 days to assure refunds, he said. He also suggested working with your bank to set a limit on the debit card that goes with an account. That way, if the card is stolen or electronically copied, less is at risk.
The list of possible scams that Gravelle described is long and growing. There are phony charities that pop up immediately after a disaster makes headlines. There are scams that target particular groups, such as veterans or homeowners. There are romance scammers who win a person’s confidence through social media or dating apps and end up asking for money.
Gravelle urged people not to react with shame or embarrassment, because anyone—at any age—can be hit by scammers. And it’s important to report them. “Don’t just take the hit,” he said. “This is a global issue.”
Harvard seniors who attended the presentation received two helpful publications. “Money Smart for Older Adults Resource Guide,” which is available online or by special order from a bookstore, is a workbook-format booklet that describes all sorts of scams and how to recognize them. Published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it also explains how to contact reliable sources of advice and information for protection against fraud. The second booklet is a small 36-page guide titled “Identity Theft: Protect Yourself, Know What To Do.” It is published by Positive Promotions Inc. and is usually available in the Harvard Public Safety Building lobby.
