According to the 2010 US Census, 16% of Todd County’s population is age 65 or older, which is equal to the state average.  Older people are often specifically targeted by scammers—they can be particularly vulnerable because they tend to be more trusting and less technologically savvy.   In Kentucky, 85% of adults have a high school education and 23% have a bachelor’s degree or higher.  However, less than 78% of Todd County adults have a high school education and less than 13% have a college education.  The fact that local citizens have less education on average could make them more susceptible to scams.  Approximately 50% of Todd County homes have some form of internet service, which provided increased opportunities for scammers to contact them.  

The Todd County Extension Agents for Family and Consumer Sciences and Ag and Natural Resources partnered with the Kentucky Attorney General’s office to offer a workshop on financial scams that target the growing number of seniors in the county. The program was advertised to Extension clients, especially Extension Homemakers and farm families, as well as those who are responsible for aging adults.

Eighteen Todd County residents attended the program. Approximately 75% were over the age of 65 and 25% were adults who are concerned or responsible for care and finances of a senior.   All of the participants reported being vulnerable to one or more scams from phone calls and/or advertisements.

During the program, participants recognized some of the scams that were reported by the Attorney General’s office, including grandparent and love life scams, sweepstakes and lotteries, and debt collection schemes for medical expenses.  The participants described phone calls and advertisements that they receive that could be scams.  They discussed ways to distinguish legitimate phone calls, conversations, and correspondence from scams and can identify ways to protect their privacy when using the internet.   

According to an end of the meeting evaluation, the most significant thing learned by the participants was to stop and verify the identity of the caller and thoroughly investigate what they want you to purchase, donate to, or get involved with in any way.  As a result of the program, participants listed ways they planned to protect themselves against scams including reporting potential scams (93%), refusing to provide personal information to callers (79%), not clicking on internet/social media advertisements (79%), avoiding answering phone calls from unidentified callers (72%), and checking their credit card bill for fraudulent charges (72%).

100% of the participants said they planned to use the information provided in the session and 100% said it was a very educational program.  The attorney generals’ office reported they had contacted two of the participants to follow up on scams they had reported.

A follow-up evaluation was sent to participants 3 months following the Scam Alerts program and was returned by eight people. 

Eighty-eight percent had been more aware of fake caller ID numbers (spoofing); 88% spotted impostors on the phone or on the computer; 75% stopped and verified the identity of the person calling; 75% hung up on robocalls;63% researched a company, offer, or product to determine if it was legitimate; 63% had not paid up front for items before receiving them; 63% avoided wiring money or sending gift cards to potential scammers; 63% were more skeptical about free trial offers

Two people reported talking to someone they trusted before giving money or personal information to callers; six signed up for free scam alerts (two people already received them); two added their phone number to the Do Not Call Registry (six had already done so); and one person reported a potential scams to the Attorney General’s Office or local law enforcement agencies.

When asked if they shared the information with anyone or if they had any success stories to share as a result of this program, they shared the following:

1. “Yes we talked to several people about this and signed up for the scam alerts.”
2. “I try not to answer calls that show up “Unknown caller” or “Wireless caller” someone will leave me a message.”
3. “Yes, I shared literature and information from presentation with at least 10 other senior adults who did not attend the meeting.”
4. “We shared several of the main points to our children.”
5. “Yes, I shared information. People are surprised when I repeat what I learned at the session.” 

About four months after the program, one of the participants also shared they found out an elderly loved one had been talking to a scammer who was telling her she had won $700,000.00.  She believed them and was going to send them a check for $7.300.00; in turn, they would send her the “money she had won”.  The family intervened, blocked the scammer from calling, and took steps to prevent scams from happening to their loved one again.