Drive begins to warn older Iowans of scams

DES MOINES — AARP Iowa and state officials are going on a statewide “fraud watch” tour to educate older Iowans on how to spot and prevent scams that target older Iowans.

At a gathering of about 80 people in a Des Moines library Monday, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and fraud experts with AARP Iowa and state agencies explained methods scammers use to steal money over the phone and by email or mail.

The most common scam that people report to the Attorney General’s Office is an impostor scam — scammers posing as relatives, romantic interests and companies or government officials and convincing the victim to send them money.

The amount of money lost to impostor scams can be as high as tens of thousands of dollars, Miller said, though others are between $500 and $1,000.

“There’s a great variety in what the scammers are looking for, but as I mentioned in the impostor area, generally, it’s the higher dollar amounts,” Miller said.

A March report from caller ID app Truecaller found the average reported loss by people who fell victim to phone scams was $577 in the last year, up from $502 the year before.

Other common scams include fake media subscriptions, home goods or services, fraudulent home improvement offers, and offers to get someone out of a timeshare, Miller said.

The number of Americans who have fallen victim to scam calls has increased every year since 2017, according to the Truecaller report, and 68.4 million Americans were victims of phone scams between March 2021 and March 2022, when the most recent report was released.

The amount of money lost to phone scams is also increasing, up to $39.5 million in the company’s most recent report. That number increased from $29.8 million in the 2021 report, and $19.7 million the year before that.

Adults over 65 are the main target for scam calls, according to the report.

Among that age group, 50.4 percent said they’d received a spam call in the last year, and 25.1 percent said they’d received a spam text. But people who fall victim to them tend to be younger, with the 18 to 44 age group reporting the highest rate of falling for phone scams.

Using emotions

Al Perales, an investigator with Miller’s consumer protection division, said scammers tend to use emotion to get people to act quickly. They may promise a cash prize, or pose as law enforcement threatening arrest, or pretend to be someone in distress.

“With all these scams, they have one goal in mind,” he said. “They want to raise your emotions, whether that be fear, whether that be excitement, or whether that be pulling your heartstrings. … And then the scam will always have immediacy, a sense of urgency that you have to do something now, and if you don't do something now there’s consequences,” he said.

Perales said people should not answer calls from unknown numbers, never give out personal or financial information over the phone, do business locally and face-to-face, and generally pay with a credit card, which offers more protection than a debit card or cash.

If someone suspects they’re being scammed, Perales said they should call the Attorney General’s Office and report it.

“It’s through folks like you that we learn of what’s going on,” he said. “We stay abreast of scams that are affecting Iowans, especially older Iowans.”

Investment fraud

Another common way people steal money is through fraudulent investments, Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said.

Common forms of investor fraud include Ponzi schemes, where someone will pay old investors with money from new investors, without any real underlying assets. Alternative energy, cryptocurrency and promissory notes also can be susceptible to fraud, Ommen said.

When offered a new investment opportunity, Ommen said, people should contact the Iowa Insurance Division to find out if the person who contacted them is a registered adviser with the state. He also advised that people should understand any investment they put their money into.

Investment companies need to be registered federally or at the state level, so checking to ensure the investment offered is legitimate is another way to prevent fraud, Ommen said.

“So often what we see with individuals who are scammed in investment fraud is, they trusted their promoter, they trusted the adviser, and they didn't understand the investment,” he said. “So really understand the investment.”

AARP Iowa will be in Dubuque, Waterloo, Mason City, Indianola, Clarinda, Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Fort Dodge, Ames, Ottumwa, Burlington and Bettendorf throughout September to give the same presentation showing Iowans tools to spot fraud.