Elder Service Officer Danelle Scaccia will provide instruction on how residents can minimize their chances of becoming a victim of scams. (Supplied photo)
Palos Park police offer scam seminar pizza party
Seniors have been swindled out of millions of dollars due to various types of scams.
In an effort to reduce the chances of falling victim, the Palos Park Police Department on Friday, April 29, at 6:30 p. m. at the Kaptur Center, 8999 W. 123rd St., will hold a Take a Slice out of Scams seminar and pizza party.
The seminar will focus on how to avoid becoming a victim of emerging crime trends, fraudulent tax schemes and identity theft.
Join Elder Service Officer Danelle Scaccia, Chief Joe Miller and officers for some pizza and an overview of the latest scams, schemes, and exploitation.
Scaccia will provide instruction on how residents can minimize their chances of becoming a victim of these crimes. Attendees will learn about the tactics fraudsters use to collect personal information, solicit funds, and compromise security.
The FBI recently published its first annual Elder Fraud Report, with information and statistics compiled from their Internet Crime Complaint Center. In 2020, the FBI received 791,790 complaints from fraud and scam victims of all ages. About 28 percent of the frauds were reported by victims older than 60, reporting losses of $1 billion. This amounted to an increase of $300 million, compared to losses reported by seniors over 60 in 2019. Older adults reported an average loss of $9,175, though 1,921 victims reported losing more than $100,000 in a scam or fraud.
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Great idea to combat efforts by con artists!