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DARIEN, Conn. Over the years the Darien police have seen many scam artists targeting senior citizens. The police are now looking to give seniors the tools to avoid scams through an educational program at the senior center.
Sgt. Keri Isaac and Officer Luke Adams will conduct the program on Monday, June 25. They will give a brief rundown of three different kinds of scams that mostly target seniors, what to look for and how to avoid getting scammed.
We dont even know how much this happens. Most of the senior citizens that this happens to dont even call us, said Isaac. A lot of senior citizens may feel too embarrassed to report when they have fallen victim to a scam artist.
There may be scams out there were not even aware of, because they havent been reported, Isaac said.
The officers did not want to specify which scams they will be focusing on, but said that they are becoming more and more prevalent. Darien police have received a couple complaints recently of victims who were told that a loved one had been arrested and needed bailing out. Other scams have included the caller claiming to be from Las Vegas and saying the victim won a prize, as well as people claiming to be fake chimney inspectors.
Adams said that a lot of elderly people are starting to fall victim to scams online, and often dont know what warning signs to look for. More and more seniors are now getting involved with computers and the Internet and email, and its new to them, so scammers are starting to target them, he said.
The officers said that scams start to become more prevalent around the start of summer when a lot of people have work done on their house and scammers can disguise themselves as workers.
The program will be held at the Senior Center at 12:30 p.m. The officers said that if they are successful, they may consider having more educational programs.
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