Educating the public on identity theft prevention

The solution to struggle identity theft and financial utilization is to teach seniors and the general public so they are less probable to fall for scams when they happen, said Kelly Schleich, controller for leading Protective Services at the Senior Resource Center in Freeport. Frequently, by the occasion a scam is reported, it is moreover late for victims to get well any of the funds they misplaced, Schleich said. For that cause, avoidance is the best way to contest the problem. Over the decrease and winter, the Senior Resource Center and Stephenson County State’s Attorney John Vogt are teaming up to host 12 seminars during the area to teach the public on scams, identity theft, and financial development.

Six of the seminars will take position this October and November, and will particularly spotlight on scams and identity theft. Then, a further six seminars will be detained in January and February on financial development. “What we actually expect to be able to do these presentations to avoid this from occurrence in the first place, since revival of the funds is regularly not victorious,” Schleich said. “It’s so that cash is not misplaced and trust is not betrayed and authority is not mistakenly given. Schleich said the local Senior Resource Center, which serves Stephenson and Jo Daviess counties, has established a number of information from area seniors who have lost cash from scams.

“When uncertain about the authority of an offer that seems too fine to be true, forever talk with a trust family associate or law enforcement representative first,” Schleich said in a report’s release on the seminars. “Millions of well-deserved dollars are misplaced yearly by seniors who fall wounded to fraud and scams.”Another general scam involves threats where an old victim is told that somebody very much desires their help and that if they don’t help, impressive bad will occur, Schleich said. In further cases, the performer claims to be a qualified of the victim who is in problem and wants financial help. Financial exploitation differs from conventional scams, because these cases regularly involve victims who know their executor. Normally, in a case like this, the performer will take care of the old victim under false pretenses and induce them to sign in excess of their bank accounts and power-of-attorney.