1. 44 AARP Bulletin /Real Possibilities APRIL 2016
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Your AARP
Scammers are out there, but volunteers are fighting back
Hello. We’re Calling to Warn You ...
4.3 Percent
... of people 50-plus in the workforce
in Colorado—38,090—were unem-
ployed in 2014, according to statistics
compiled by the AARP Public Policy
Institute. For more information on
jobless rates by race and gender, go to
aarp.org/unemploymentdata.
Colorado
S
itting in a Denver call cen-
ter, Joe Pells straps on a
telemarketer’s headset and
dials strangers from a marketing
list. Most of the time, nobody an-
swers. Often, Pells leaves a detailed
message. When he gets through,
people listen to him warily.
The88-year-oldretiredinsurance
salesman explains that each year,
thousands of victims lose millions
of dollars as a result of investment
fraud. Unregistered salespeople
target older people through phone
calls, emails and free lunch semi-
nars. They drum up a false sense
of urgency and promise sky-high
financial returns.
“Deal only with registered sales-
people,” Pells warns. “Vet it. Re-
search it. Find out what you can
about it, or hang up.”
Pells is one of about a dozen vol-
unteers with the AARP Foundation
Fraud Fighter Call Center in Den-
ver—anotherdozenareinSeattle—a
nine-year-old program supported
since 2012 by a $200,000 yearly
grant from the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority (FINRA) In-
vestor Education Foundation.
Research shows that people who
hear anti-fraud messages are one-
third less likely to respond to an
unethical pitch. In 2015, center
volunteers completed 131,733 calls
to potential victims nationwide.
“I feel a great deal of satisfaction
helping people, and they thank
me,” Pells said.
Fraudpreventionprograms
The AARP Foundation regional
office in Denver also operates the
ElderWatch program, a consumer
complaint resolution hotline at
800-222-4444.
The Colorado Attorney Gener-
al’s Office gives AARP Foundation
$300,000 a year so that about 150
volunteers can, among other du-
ties, take complaints from older
people who think they might be a
victim of fraud. The foundation has
found that older people are most
often targeted for schemes involv-
ing prizes, sweepstakes, lotteries,
home repair services or products,
auto sales or repairs, or real estate
and timeshare investments.
Some complaints are resolved by
mediation; others are referred to
police, prosecutors or securities
investigators. In 14 years of op-
eration, ElderWatch has handled
25,000 consumer complaints.
Twoyearsago,theAARPFounda-
tion Colorado office started shar-
ing its techniques and information
with the AARP Fraud Watch Net-
work program. This national ini-
tiative to combat fraud includes a
toll-free consumer helpline (877-
908-3360) and a robust website
(aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork), as
well as tips and tools to help people
avoid scams.
Financial fraudsters tend to tar-
get older, married, high-income,
college-educated people.
“The older demographic is dis-
proportionately targeted, in part
because they have had a lifetime
to accumulate wealth,” said Gerri
Walsh, president of the FINRA In-
vestor Education Foundation. “Yet
they are also the most vulnerable
population because if they are no
longer working, they don’t have the
opportunity to recover from losses.”
People who have recently lost a
job, moved, been ill or experienced
the death of a loved one are also
at risk, said Amy Nofziger, AARP
Foundation regional operations di-
rector. “We often hear, ‘I just got out
of the hospital and the phone rang,
and I wasn’t thinking clearly.’ ”
Nofziger urges people to prac-
tice a refusal script that works for
them—such as “I never do business
over the phone,” or “I need to check
everything out with my son, who
works for the police department”—
and tape it to the phone or the back
of their front door.
“Scammers will see that you are
too much work, and they’ll give up
on you,” Nofziger said.
Recently, Pells spoke with a wom-
an who got an unsolicited call from
a supposed computer technician
who claimed that her computer had
a virus and he needed her personal
financial information to fix it.
Pells said that such unsolicited
calls are invariably a scam. “Always
hang up,” he added. “Don’t lead
them on.” —Rachel Brand
For other Colorado news,
go to aarp.org/co
Databank USA
Workplace Retirement Plans
Percentage of workers with employer-based accounts
SOURCE: PEW CHARITABLE TRUSTS
DATA FOR FULL-TIME, PRIVATE-SECTOR WORKERS AGES 18-64