Las Vegas, Nevada - The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, FBI Las Vegas Field Office, and AARP Nevada held an interactive telephonic town hall on June 30, at 10 a.m. PDT, to share information about common gift card fraud schemes and prevention tips.
During the hour-long town hall, an Assistant U.S. Attorney and FBI Supervisory Special Agent will discuss common scams to be aware of and provide tips to protect you and your loved ones. Following the presentations, callers will have the opportunity to ask questions.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2020, Nevadans over the age of 60 lost more than $36.5M. In fact, Nevada ranked first among all states for the number of total fraud reports in 2020 with 35,533.
If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This U.S. Department of Justice hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim, and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is staffed 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. eastern time. English, Spanish and other languages are available.
In addition, you can report potential elder fraud to the FBI at www.ic3.gov or by calling 1-800-CALLFBI (225-5324). Similarly, you can call AARP’s Fraud Watch Network helpline at 1-877-908-3360 to report a scam. You can also find tip sheets and sign up for fraud alerts at the Fraud Watch Network site, www.aarp.org/fraud.
To learn more about the Department of Justice’s efforts to stop elder fraud, please visit the Elder Justice website at https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice.
