By Christine Vendel, Kansas City Star, May 25, 2010
They told him he’d won $5 million in the Florida lottery.
All the Jackson County man had to do to collect it was pay accountant fees of $320,000. They even sent an East Coast woman to help the man, who is in his 90s, withdraw the fees from his Kansas City bank account and fill out numerous forms.
But Kansas City police are saying the mail-in lottery was a scam.
The plot unraveled Monday when bank officials became suspicious of the elderly man’s second large withdrawal attempt within four days. The bank didn’t release the money and instead called police.
Kansas City police and a local aging advocate said they are seeing more such frauds perpetrated against area senior citizens.
Police estimated the financial loss in the first four months of this year alone to be nearly $3 million.
Financial exploitation of the elderly nearly doubled in Kansas City from 2008 to 2009, according to police statistics. Stealing by deceit more than doubled.
The nature of fraud crimes has changed over the years, said Sgt. Rob Rickett, who supervises a team of fraud detectives. Years ago, the crimes revolved mostly around driveway and roof repair scams. Then identity theft took off. Now, he said, new scams are taking up Kansas City fraud investigators’ time.
"Where there is a financial opportunity, there is a scam behind it," he said. "The criminals can get pretty creative … People need to remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Police are still investigating how the Florida "lottery" suspects first got in touch with the elderly man.
The suspects seemed fairly organized and used titles such as attorney and accountants to convince the man the lottery was legitimate, Rickett said.
Victims often don’t report such scams out of embarrassment, Rickett said. This case was unusual in that police were able to interrupt the alleged crime and arrest a suspect on the spot.
The 55-year-old woman who accompanied the man to the bank on Independence Avenue initially identified herself to officers as a relative and said they shared the same last name. The woman insisted that the elderly man "doesn’t remember things due to his age," according to the reports.
The man had sent two cashier’s checks totaling $180,000 to "accountants" in Florida on Friday. Police didn’t know Tuesday whether he could get the money back.
Bank officials stopped the man’s attempted withdrawal Monday of $140,000.
Police must now trace money, paperwork and financial documents to determine the scope of the scam, Rickett said.
Rickett said the "lottery" scam is among the recent favorites used by criminals. Another racket growing in popularity is the "jail" scam, where someone calls an elderly person, often in the middle of the night, and claims to be a grandchild.
"It’s Jimmy," the caller might say. "I’m in jail and I need you to wire $5,000 to Canada so I can get out."
The grandmother wires the money but finds out later her grandson never was arrested. Kansas City police have recorded 13 such scams in just four months this year, Rickett said. Police logged 11 such scams in all of last year.
Another scam victimized three renters last year, Rickett said. Police believe different suspects may have been responsible for the crimes, which worked generally like this:
A con artist would review rental listings, then create a fake website offering the same homes for rent and displaying a contact number or e-mail address. When a possible renter showed interest, the fake landlord would agree to meet the caller at the home.
The con artist would make an excuse for not having keys to the home, such as, "I left them at the office," or "I lost the keys; I’ll just break a window to get inside."
Rickett said the con artist brings a "contract" for the renter to sign and gets a deposit from them. The renter moves in and starts utilities, then finds that the real landlord has no idea they are living there.
Scammers have also targeted car buyers in car lots in Kansas City, Rickett said. The con artist hangs out in the front of the lot and tells potential buyers that he or she has a similar vehicle for sale at another location for half the price.
"Give me $500 and I’ll make sure you get the car," the scammer tells them, Rickett said. The scammer leaves with the $500 and never returns.
Criminals often exploit a victim’s desire to save money, Rickett said. "Whenever there’s a chance to save a dollar, people can get suckered in."
Senior citizens can be the most vulnerable victims of fraud, said Jacqui Moore, director of aging services at the Mid-America Regional Council. She said some women in their 70s and 80s can be tricked with complex financial documents because they never had to wade through such paperwork. Their husbands always did that for them.
Moore said loneliness can also make the elderly vulnerable. "They are often so lonely they will give more personal information than they should, just to keep a conversation going," she said. "They like the conversation because it seems like someone is interested in them."
Another group prone to fraud victimization is the "last of your group," Moore said, in describing older people whose friends and relatives have all died. They don’t have trusted people close to them who can help them, she said.
Moore fears fraud crimes will increase against the elderly as the population ages.
Rickett advises senior citizens to stick with one financial institution so employees can get to know them and their habits and watch out for them. He also encourages seniors and others who have been victimized to report the crimes.
What to watch for
Some signs a senior citizen may be the victim of a scam:
To reach Christine Vendel, call 816-234-4438 or send e-mail to cvendel@kcstar.com. Source: Mid-America Regional Council