By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

Here’s an email you might find in your inbox:

Heads-Up: Your Invoice is Due — Kindly Settle ASAP. #37126152

If you see something like the line above in an email sent to you, please know it is probably a scam. Scams are not just happening to senior citizens, they are happening to everyone at any age—and they are happening all the time.

The very first thing you should do if you think you are being scammed is to tell someone. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your bank and the credit card companies, and check to see if your local police department has a fraud division. And report the scam to the Pennsylvania State Attorney General. By telling someone else, you may save another person from falling victim to a scam.

In the state of Pennsylvania, you can contact your state attorney general, who is currently Dave Sunday, with details about a scam. His office can be reached by phone at 800-441-2555 or by email at [email protected] or file a consumer complaint online. By reporting these scams, you are helping to protect others.

Sunday has said this about scammers: “Scammers have no compassion for people dealing with hardship as a result of natural disasters – in fact, they see this time as an opportunity.” 

Telling someone you have been scammed is often the hardest thing for people to do. People who are scammed are embarrassed. 

It’s important for the person who is scammed to remember that he or she is not the only one harmed. Everyone knows someone who has been scammed. Counting the number of scams being run is like counting the grains of sand.

There are a million sad stories, but many are like this:

You have been contacted by a famous person who starts out just wanting to talk. By the time you think you have made a new friend, your bank account has been emptied.

You will get an email telling you that you must pay your account before it is shut down.

You think you are ordering from a respected apparel shop only to find you have been charged on your credit card by someone you don’t recognize. Oh, and you never receive what you ordered.

You receive an email from a long-lost relative in England saying he/she needs money to come home.

You receive a charge on your credit card by a reputable place you have done business with or maybe you have never done business with. This one not only hurts the one being scammed, but also the real company which has no idea their name and brand is being used as part of a scam.

You receive an email from a lonely person on Facebook who just wants to talk, is lonely, or is starving in another country. Many nice or lonely people have fallen for this one.

The list of scams goes on and on, and it is very important to note the following precautions that everyone should take:

• Never give anyone your credit card information;
• Never give anyone your social security number;
• And this one is very devious: People will call you on the phone from a number that is familiar to you. Many robo-calls are like this. It can still be a scam.
• Talk to your credit card company about a lock on your account.

I have known very reputable people who have been taken in by scams. They can lose their money, their homes, and sometimes everything because of a scam.

And, often, it doesn’t stop there. It more often than not will affect an entire family. No one wants to see loved ones homeless or in need of help, so they also step in to help after the fact.

If I’m scaring you, good.

Remember:

• Check your credit cards as often as possible to catch scams.
• Credit cards do not send emails telling you to pay up. Neither does Netflix, PayPal, etc. 
• Call your credit card company if you see something unusual. Use the number on the back of your card. Have them call you back. They have your number.
• Don’t pay a bill over the phone, even if someone says they are going to arrest you now. Instead, call your local police department and let them know about the scam attempt.

In the state of Pennsylvania, the State Attorney General’s office has a wealth of information available so that residents can protect themselves. You can get put on a do-not-call list. You can forward a sketchy email you have received to the State Attorney General’s Office and they will follow up.

It is hard to know who to trust. Err on the side of caution. Start with your family and close friends. It is very important to talk about it. You may find out the same scam has happened against those you know.  Don’t be embarrassed. It is not unusual to receive more than 25 or 50 email scams a day. Talk to your family and your friends. You may save them heartbreak.

One local agency that is well-versed in helping people to prevent scams is the Oxford Area Senior Center. The senior center can be reached at 610-932-5244. Executive Director Jim McLeod has heard many stories on scams from people who have turned to the senior center for help.

“We often have programs on scams,” he said. “It happens all the time. We have had representatives from the Attorney General’s office come here, and representatives from the Chester County Office of Aging. We see it all the time. It happens to everyone, not just senior citizens.”

Check with the Oxford Area Senior Center if you have knowledge of a scam so they can warn others. Call them at 610-932-5244 to find out when they will be running another program on preventing scams, or for any information about scams. The most important thing is to tell someone when you think you have uncovered a scam attempt.