Scam Jam focuses on prevention | Local | The Register-Guard | Eugene, Oregon

Scam Jam focuses on prevention | Local | The Register-Guard | Eugene, Oregon

CRIME

Scam Jam focuses on prevention

State and local public agencies seek to spread the word about financial fraud at Eugene event

Do research, ask questions and tell somebody — that was the take-away message from a Scam Jam event held at the Hult Center on Monday morning that warned community members, particularly those 65 and older, to beware of frauds, scammers and investment “opportunities” that are too good to be true.

An estimated $1.7 billion is scammed from American citizens every year, and that number is likely only a fraction of the actual amount since most scams are not reported to authorities, said Bill Warnisher of the Lane County District Attorney’s Office.

Some people are too embarrassed and others feel too helpless, so the crimes are not reported to such organizations as the Oregon Attorney General’s Office, the Oregon Division of Finance and Corporate Securities or the Eugene Police Department — all of which were represented at Monday’s event.

But without reporting a scam, officials don’t know and can’t warn others about scams until many more people have fallen victim, officials said.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, a keynote speaker, said her office received 50,000 phone calls last year from people who believed they had been scammed. More than 100 cases were opened for formal investigations, she said.

Some of the most common scams — according to Maureen Mahoney with Consumer Reports — include the “grandparent scam,” where a scammer calls up an older person, having learned information about them on social media and other Internet sites, and claims to be a grandchild in trouble in another country and needing money for bail. 

Locally, according to Eugene police detective Steve Williams, one woman recently lost thousands of dollars to that type of scam. Another woman in Lane County lost $1.2 million, sending the money to Mexico.

“And there’s nothing we can do about that. Once it’s gone, it’s gone,” Williams said. The money, he said, almost always goes to a foreign country, and often funds terrorist groups and organized crime.

Even if just a few people bite on an Internet scam, that’s enough for scammers to keep doing it, Williams said. “So my role in a lot of this is prevention. Prevention is better than prosecution or investigation or restitution,” especially with the chances of any restitution falling between slim and none.

Feeling scammed is something Bill Portis knows all too well. Portis, 88, is an alleged victim of Terry Shockley, the high-profile Eugene property management company owner who’s facing a number of lawsuits over accusations that he mismanaged others’ funds. Portis and his wife filed one of the lawsuits, claiming that Shockley and his firm, TS Property Management, owes them $154,000.

“We don’t want to be caught in any other scams,” Portis said of why he came to Monday’s event. 

Jo-Anne Flanders, 80, decided to attend because, she said with a laugh, “I’m old. And I’m aware of a lot of the scams but I’m sure there are a lot of scams that I’m not aware of. So I want to be informed in order to protect myself as well as my friends.” 

Several hundred people attended Monday’s free event, which was hosted by the American Association of Retired Persons.

The next such event will be held in September in Bend.

Virtually every speaker at the Eugene event thanked attendees for taking an active role in becoming better-informed and educated. The most important things to do, speakers agreed, is to ask lots of questions from anyone offering services or asking for money. 

Also, they reminded, don’t give out personal information, and talk to family or friends about financial decisions if unsure about what to do.

Another piece of repeated advice: Think about financial proposals for a set amount of time before making a final decision. 

Vamshi Reddy, an enforcement officer for the state Division of Finance and Corporate Securities, reminded the audience that a legitimate investment opportunity will still be there tomorrow.

“And if it sounds too good to be true, it is,” she said. 

Follow Chelsea on Twitter @chelseagorrow. Email chelsea.gorrow@registerguard.com.


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