Conway police chief warns senior citizens about scams

Conway Police Chief Jody Spradlin talks about scams as AARP President Ron Ross listens at an AARP meeting Monday at the Ola and John Hawks Senior Wellness and Activity Center in Conway.
Conway Police Chief Jody Spradlin talks about scams as AARP President Ron Ross listens at an AARP meeting Monday at the Ola and John Hawks Senior Wellness and Activity Center in Conway.

CONWAY — The good qualities that many senior citizens have — being trustworthy and honest — are also what make them susceptible to scams and frauds, Conway Police Chief Jody Spradlin told a group of AARP members.

Spradlin spoke Monday to an AARP meeting at the Ola and John Hawks Senior Wellness and Activity Center in Conway.

He started by asking the seniors why they thought they were targets of scams.

“We’re trusting and taught to trust,”

member Peggy Sturgis said. A male member of the audience said, “They think we’re over the hill.”

Spradlin asked the seniors to fill in the blanks the saying, “A man’s word is his ….,” Spradlin said.

“Bond!” the audience responded together.

“Used to be,” a woman added.

Spradlin also said that when he and most of them were growing up, a handshake often served as a contract.

“That’s the way you guys were raised,” Spradlin said. “Not everyone was raised that way.”

The average age of fraud victims is 69 years old, he said, and seniors are more likely to open junk mail and listen to an unknown caller on the phone. Junk mail these days often looks like an official document, he said.

He asked how many people in the audience still have a landline, and most people raised their hands. He asked about cellphones, and just about everyone has one of those, too.

The chief outlined several types of scams, including the following:

• The warrant scam — Someone calls claiming to be a public official and says there is a warrant for the person’s arrest. The person is told, “Pay $200, and you won’t have to go to jail, and we’ll even come pick it up.” Another scam is to tell a person he missed jury duty and that a warrant has been issued for his arrest. “The police department is not going to tell you we’ll come get your money,” Spradlin said.

Spradlin said residents can call the Conway Police Department to find out whether they have an outstanding warrant for anything.

• The grandparents’ scam —“If one of your grandkids needed help, how many of you would do it?” Every hand went up. He said his late mother-in-law got a call one day from someone who claimed to be her granddaughter, his daughter. The caller said she had been in a car wreck in Houston, Texas, and asked his mother-in-law to wire her $2,000. “They’ll play into the answers you give them,” he said. At the time, his daughter was only 7 years old, and she couldn’t have been in Houston. His mother-in-law said she would call her granddaughter’s parents and didn’t give the caller any money.

• Home-repair scams — These include bogus contractors who claim the person’s home has structural damage, “usually your roof,” he said, or make a request to pave a driveway. “Never agree to do repairs on the spot, and call the police department, and we can help verify if that’s legitimate.” In Conway, door-to-door salesmen must have permits, which are square and bright pink, he said.

• Lottery and prize scams — Sometimes letters inform a resident that he or she has won a prize, but “you must act now.” The letter will say the claim is good for only 24 hours from the time it’s opened. “Well, how do they know when you open it?’” he said, and the audience laughed. “Duh,” a woman said.

Another scam tactic is sending a check as a prize and telling the resident the company

accidentally overpaid him or her. For example, a check might be sent to a resident for $7,000, and the letter asks the person to deposit the check in the bank and send back $2,000 of it. “That $7,000 is a fake check,” the chief said. “Banks are catching on, and some will cover it, but what if they won’t? You guys have worked for years and years and years for that little nest egg.”

Spradlin said one man in Conway, who had the beginning of dementia, paid $14,000 to scammers who told him he’d won a Mercedes Benz. The scammers asked him to send money for a delivery charge and kept calling. “This went on and on and on,” Spradlin said. “I finally convinced him it was a scam and a fraud.”

Legitimate prizes do not require money on the front end, he said.

Some scammers can “spoof” a number on caller ID, the chief said, manipulating an incoming call to look as if it’s from a legitimate business.

“Don’t be afraid of saying, ‘I’m not talking to you anymore,” and hang up the phone. Don’t be afraid of hurting their feelings, and hang up on them,” he said.

Spradlin’s other tips included the following:

• Never give bank-account numbers through email, on the phone or by mail, unless it’s a transaction the individual initiated.

• Shred all credit-card receipts. He urged every senior citizen to buy a paper shredder. “They’re very cheap,” he said.

• Close the account for an unused credit card or an unused bank account.

• Don’t pay for home-repair services on the front end.

• Never respond to an offer that you don’t understand. “Scammers try to make it as confusing as possible,” he said.

• Have someone you trust — a son, daughter or friend — to talk to about investments before giving anyone money.

“You want to see the good in everyone, but people try to take advantage of that,” Spradlin said.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Trust your gut.”

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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