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Identity Theft Victim

Telemarketing Fraud

Older Americans are the targets. Phony prizes, sweepstakes, investments and Charities, are the lure. Congress estimates that Americans lose $40 billion annually to telemarketing fraud. Nearly 80% of these calls target people over 50, according to the FBI. Older Americans tend to be targeted for telemarketing schemes because of the perception they:

1. are more trusting and polite than younger people and consequently find it difficult to hang up on callers.
2. find it difficult to believe that swindlers can look and sound like trustworthy people.
3. are more easily intimidated
4. have more time to read all of their mail, and more time to listen to phone calls, giving the fraudulent telemarketers a "foot in the door".

Older people are more vulnerable due to the fact they are embarrassed to admit they were swindled and are less likely to contact the police.

A recent telemarketing scheme involved a person PRETENDING to be calling from a well-known telephone company. This "caller" stated to the homeowner, that the telephone company was attempting to protect the homeowner from telemarketing fraud and asked for homeowner's specific information about credit card numbers, social security numbers, phone numbers, etc. In turn, they promised to keep the telemarketers from calling. What was actually being done b this scam, was stealing the information from the homeowner to makE fraudulent credit card transactions, and the phone numbers were used to make illegal long-distance calls.

Be Careful! Do not give out any personal information especially your bank account number or your credit card number to anyone!

If you feel you may have been a victim of telemarketing fraud, yon can call: Bloomfield Police Community Policing Unit 973-680-4278