I wanted to be your Attorney General to build a better, safer state for Kentucky families.
Unfortunately, too many Kentuckians are calling my office, upset and devastated after being scammed. They need help in recovering thousands of dollars they have sent to a con artist.
These con artists are persuasive. Anyone can fall for their lies and threats.
Just recently, a senior citizen in Elizabethtown was defrauded out of more than $50,000 in an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Scam, from someone claiming to be an IRS agent.
The woman paid more than $19,000 in iTunes cards and $31,000 in cash deposits to a bank account. By using the receipts provided by the victim, my Office of Consumer Protection acted quickly and was able to recover every single dollar she had lost.
But such a recovery is rare.
Every day, Kentuckians are scammed out of money they will never get back. And the number of IRS scams and many others are increasing at an alarming rate. This year, I have issued alerts on a credit card scam<http://ag.ky.gov/scams/Pages/Current-Scam-Alert.aspx>, a student loan debt relief scam<http://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyGeneral&prId=74>, the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes<http://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyGeneral&prId=7> scam, a scam targeting victims of financial fraud<http://ag.ky.gov/news/Pages/default.aspx>, IRS<http://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyGeneral&prId=23>, federal warrant<http://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyGeneral&prId=15> scams and a labor law poster scam<http://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyGeneral&prId=85> targeting small-business owners.
Last year in the U.S. over 3 million consumers were conned out of $765 million, and reports show that seniors lose nearly $37 billion a year to elder financial abuse.
More often than not, these scams target seniors.
It’s a disturbing and growing trend.
Our seniors are targeted because they’re more likely to have considerable savings and good credit. They tend to be more trusting and scammers take advantage of their good nature.
To help achieve one of the top priorities of my office, to protect everyone, especially seniors from scams and abuse, I launched Scam Alerts. Scam Alerts is a transformational new service, allowing Kentuckians to receive a text message or email alert the minute my office verifies a new or trending scam.
For the first time, the Office of the Attorney General can instantly deliver the most up-to-date information about scams directly to the phones of seniors and their loved ones.
While this program is intended to protect seniors, it is for everyone.
I invite adult grandchildren, community leaders, advocates, law enforcement, bank clerks, cashiers, customer service representatives and anyone that is in a position to protect seniors to sign up. I want everyone to be aware and to know what to do when they witness a potential victim being scammed.
Individuals can sign up for text notices by texting the words KYOAG Scam to GOV311 (468311). Or they can enroll online at ag.ky.gov/scams<http://ag.ky.gov/scams> and select to receive either text or email alerts.
Our website also provides information on current scams, how to report scams, tips to avoid being conned and text messaging instructions for different types of phones.
But my office cannot prevent scams alone. We kicked-off the Scam Alerts initiative by partnering with AARP and Kroger – two major organizations invested in protecting our seniors that interact with them on a daily basis. Our current partner list includes the FBI, Better Business Bureau, Kentucky Sheriff’s Association, and more than 25 different retail, government and nonprofit organizations.
Each partner is sharing Scam Alerts information through their websites, newsletters, conferences and through their community outreach efforts. We are joining forces to make sure Kentuckians know how to report scams to our office so we can alert others.
Scam Alerts is just the beginning of our focus to protect Kentuckians from this type of abuse.
I am committed to working with everyone interested in helping to protect Kentuckians and continuing to identify ways in which we can collaborate to address this issue in Kentucky.
I encourage you to sign up for Scam Alerts – when armed with up to date information you can help prevent fraud.
Andy Beshear is the Kentucky Attorney General