Elder Fraud Prevention Workshop Well Attended

The Benicia Police Department hosted an Elder Fraud Prevention Workshop at the Benicia Senior Center on Wednesday.  The workshop was attended by nearly 100 persons.  The goal of the workshop was to provide information to the participants to promote the prevention of elder fraud.

Some of the topics covered were the effects of elder fraud, types of elder fraud, how a fraud is perpetrated, how to recognize fraud and what to do after a fraud has occurred.

Benicia Police Officer Aldo Serrano presented information on potential scams in use today. Serrano talked about dumpster diving, contractor fraud, “phishing,” cold calls, ID fraud and “pay up or else.” 

When the “pay up or else” scam is used, a caller will contacts an elderly person and indicates that their grandchild is being held in a Mexican jail, and money needs to be sent to bail this person out.  The unsuspecting grandparent, will wire the money via Western Union and sometimes be contacted a second time by the caller requesting more money. 

This type of case usually occurs in the late evening hours or early morning hours.  Attendees were given information on how to avoid becoming a victim of this type of fraud. 

Information was also provided on how to properly get rid of “junk mail” or mail and documents with personal information was provided.  The class material and power point presentation was put together by Officer Serrano. 

In addition to the many questions asked during the two-hour workshop, many of the attendees stayed after the class and asked further questions.

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