Senior residents warned of latest telephone scams

Julie Brown, Staff Writer

Police and sheriff's departments as well as the American Association of Retired Persons are on the alert to help senior citizens stay safe during the current coronavirus pandemic.

Plymouth Township Police Chief Tom Tiderington and others in law enforcement remind seniors to be wary of phone calls which employ the “grandparent scam” when the caller pretends to be a younger family member and says bail money is needed immediately.
Police officials stress that seniors should hang up immediately and also recommend caller ID use to screen calls. Those calls should be immediately reported to the local police department non-emergency number, officials advised, to report those scams.

“Keep informed  about the latest con schemes in your community by reading the newspaper.   Be skeptical about any proposal that sounds too good to be true or has to be kept secret. Do not rush into anything. Check it out with friends, lawyers, police, the Better Business Bureau, or the state or county consumer affairs department,” Tiderington cautioned on the www.plymouthtwp.org website,
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office also handles scams targeting seniors, including work with state agencies, businesses, and the Michigan Legislature. She and Tiderington note “If you are the victim of fraud, call the police immediately. You may be embarrassed because you were tricked, but your information is vital in catching the con artist and preventing others from being victimized.” Older people are victims of fraud schemes far out of proportion to their population numbers, according to reported statistics
Nessel led an elder abuse forum at the Booker T. Dozier Recreation Center in Inksterearlier this year when she and other officials answered citizens’ questions and offered advice about remaining safe from scams. Representatives of health agencies and the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services also attended the event designed to keep seniors informed.
Panelist Kari West of The Senior Alliance at the Inkster forum urged seniors to be informed.
“A lot of it is about addressing problems before they get too big.” West said the genetic testing fraud scammers are “just trying to make a buck” and go to senior facilities unannounced, saying they'll take cheek swabs.
West got a specific test on the advice of her physician, noting “And my doctor got the results afterward. That's how it should happen.”
Nessel advises everyone, not just seniors, to never disclose their Social Security number, noting federal agencies including Social Security and the Internal Revenue Service don't call people. “I'd rather you don't get scammed at all,” the attorney general said, adding she's willing to prosecute with her staff's help.
“I want Michigan to be the most proactive state in the nation” on robocalls. She advised seniors not to answer the phone at all for an unknown number noting that individuals can look up the number on caller ID and then decide whether to return the call.
“We want to make the probate court system more user-friendly,” Nessel said. She's especially concerned about those without legal representation.
Nessel said she appreciates the Michigan Supreme Court  members' concern on how litigants are treated: “And they're not putting up with that,” Nessel said of litigant mistreatment.
Area residents at the forum spoke passionately about themselves and their loved ones admission to and treatment in nursing homes.
Nessel acknowledged “holding for-profit nursing homes accountable” when understaffed, as well as advocating for a living wage in minimum wage pay was a goal.
Nessel noted some cases of guardians who sell a senior's home “right out from underneath them,” put that person in nursing home care, and sell the home at well below market value.
She's concerned about guardians who have some 700 wards, which she learned on the listening tour. Some elderly people have their money and control of health matters in the hands of these guardians who can often be strangers.
Nessel announced a bipartisan Elder Abuse Task Force after conferring with justices of the Michigan Supreme Court. Nessel told the packed room on Aug. 26 of earlier efforts, “What these task forces had been good at was identifying problems in the system,” she said.