GREENE COUNTY — A class offered to teach seniors all the ways they could be scammed has become increasingly popular around Greene County.
Sheriff Scott Anger and Prosecutor David Hayes hosted the 24th class Wednesday morning at the Xenia YMCA. At the beginning of the year, they only planned on hosting six.
News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson attended to see what red flags people should look out for to stay safe online.
15 seniors walked through the doors and were told an important message if it seems too good to be true that’s a red flag it is a scam.
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Members of the Public Employee Retirement Incorporated (PERI) met with Greene County Sheriff Scott Anger and Prosecutor David Hayes at the Xenia YMCA to learn how to avoid getting scammed.
Sheriff anger says these classes have been popular.
“When we first did it we had six of them scheduled and I thought ‘Wow, six of them, that’s a lot.’ Well today is number 24,” Anger said.
They touched on several common scams. The government imposter, romance scams, lottery scams and more.
“Great information we all need to hear. Especially those of us who are seniors,” said Veda Thompson.
Prosecutor Hayes kicked off the meeting with a list of red flags people should look out for
That include situations such as the scammer wanting money from you immediately, asking for personal information, wanting you to wire money to them, or purchase a gift card.
Hayes said they play on your fears to use them against you.
“If you don’t remember anything else I tell you today, remember that any communication that you receive that is unsolicited you need to be immediately suspicious of, if you didn’t seek it out, you didn’t ask for it, you need to be suspicious,” Hayes said.
Thompson told News Center 7 how thankful she was for Anger and Hayes.
“It’s a big problem and it gets worse all the time,” Thompson said. “We are all vulnerable and we just need to have that special awareness.”
Anger will be holding another scam class in September and is planning to do more throughout the rest of the year.
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