State Gives Seniors Scam Seminar - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

State Gives Seniors Scam Seminar

We've talked a lot on here about scams in the state, especially those looking to steal from the elderly.

"If it sounds too good to be true it probably is," said Clyde Hutchins.

That was the message delivered by Clyde Hutchins of the Wyoming Attorney General's Office to a room full of AARP members and residents at Point Frontier Retirement Community.

He made them aware that scams come in many different forms.

"The most effective ones are done on the telephone. I mean there are scams that are initiated through email and through facebook and other types of ways," Hutchins said.

Scams like the "timeshare scam" and "grandparents scam" that do focus on seniors, have resulted in approximately a dozen people being scammed in Cheyenne over the last year.

With these and any other scam their main objective is always money.

"In the simplest form, a lot of these scams just involve the victim giving a little bit of money in promise of getting a lot of money," Hutchins said.

In most cases it means the person getting taken, gave out information that they shouldn't have.

"Number one is don't give out any type of personal information or banking information. That's one thing that the scammers always want," Hutchins said.

A legitimate bank or organization will tell you that they won't ask for that information.

If you're suspicious of a potential scam the Wyoming Attorney General's Office encourages you to call their consumer advocate line at 307-777-5833 for help.