Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck is continuing to call for vigilance as virtual scams continue to target the elderly in the area.
Speaking on FLX Morning with Ted Baker, Sheriff Schenck recounted recently speaking with an elderly individual who was the victim of a scam. The victim was paying people to allegedly fix issues on his computer remotely; however, the sheriff was able to determine that these problems were being made up and the victim was being scammed.
The sheriff’s office was able to help the victim cut ties with the scammers.
Sheriff Schenck added that, with the prevalence of such scams targeting a potentially vulnerable population of the community in Cayuga County and across the nation, it’s incredibly important to make sure people are educated on the matter as prevention is the best defense in these situations.
“If you have an elderly individual that you know or are an elderly individual yourself, you need to be aware that there are so many of these scams out there. The only way we can deal with these is prevention in the first place.”
According to the sheriff, once a victim sends money to a scammer, it’s nearly impossible to get the money back.
Other common scams targeting the elderly include someone calling and claiming a family member is in jail and needs money for bail, a scammer claiming the victim owes money to the government, or a potential victim being told they’ve won a large sum of money but need to pay fees before claiming it.
If you believe you’re being scammed, you can call the sheriff’s office’s non-emergency line at 315-253-1222.
Have all the Finger Lakes news from Finger Lakes News Radio delivered to your email every morning for FREE! Sign up by clicking here.
