CINCINNATI — The phone rings, as it often does in Carol Brown’s apartment. Brown is 75 years old, and she says she gets up to 25 scam calls a day.
“Hello,” Brown said. “How may I help you?”
Today, as is the case most days, the caller isn't someone Brown knows. Without another word, she hangs up and returns to watching “The Price is Right.”
“They start before 8 in the morning,” she said of the calls. “And they don’t end until 9 at night.”
She’s not alone. Brown said some of her neighbors are afraid to answer the phone at all. Some even miss doctor appointments because of this, she said.
In the last year alone, older adults in Hamilton County lost $4 million to scammers, according to the county prosecutor, who said even more crimes against the elderly go unreported.
That’s why Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost gathered experts at the Sharonville Convention Center on Wednesday for a conference focused on raising awareness about this issue.
In Sharonville, Yost said only one in 44 financial crimes against older adults gets reported.
“There should be no shame in being ripped off,” Yost said. “The shame belongs to the thief.”
Often, he said older adults are worried they might get thrown in a nursing home or have their mental capacity questioned if they report a crime. Last year, FBI data shows people 60 and older lost a combined $3.4 billion to scams.
To learn more about what can be done to help older adults, we spoke to a local advocate who’s been working with seniors for 40 years. We asked her how she felt seniors are cared for in Cincinnati.
“I think we could do better,” said Sandra Jones Mitchell, a consultant for the nonprofit Serving Older Adults Through Changing Times.
Jones Mitchell said one solution is simple: Connect more with older adults.
“Our seniors are lonely,” she said.
And that’s how some of these crimes are pulled off.
“I think people are being set up,” Jones Mitchell said. “I think the elder abuse piece happens because we aren’t paying attention.”
Need help?
There are apps that can restrict unknown numbers to your phone. Most wireless providers today offer tools for stopping scam calls and texts. For example, AT&T has the ActiveArmor Mobile Security app; Verizon provides the Call Filter app; and T-Mobile offers the Scam Shield app.
In our area, the advocacy group Pro Seniors offers a free legal hotline you can call if you think you’ve been a victim. That number is 513-345-4160.
Police have also given the following tips, especially in the case where a caller says a family member is in danger:
- Don’t pick up the phone — especially if you are not expecting a call from a different area code. Places such as hospitals, insurance companies and police will leave a voicemail if it’s important.
- If you do answer, verify the caller is your loved one. Ask the person details only the real person would know, without giving away personal information.
- Hang up the phone and call the person who is supposedly in danger on a phone number you have for them.
- Never give the person money or agree to meet them somewhere.
