San Jose scam alert: The city has issued an alert for an "elder financial abuse scam."
Because
of limited income, senior citizens are more vulnerable to scams that
offer them quick rewards, and overseas crooks are striking here and
probably elsewhere, too.
The city's senior citizen residents have been targeted in a mail and Internet scam, officials say in an alert.
The method: false sweepstakes letters that are flooding the San Jose area.
These scammers send out millions of these tempting dispatches promising unexpected riches.
Reason:
these scams work. People fall for them and the crooks walk off with
hefty profits. The city's alerts says, "Letters and e-mails addressed
to senior residents claiming to award a sweepstakes prize are turning
up with increasing frequency both in the mail and over the Internet.
"Several
San Jose senior residents have reported receiving these letters
recently and have inquired about them at senior and community Centers.
"The
letters bear the logos of Reader's Digest and Pepsi and purport to
award a $1 million 'Grand Prize Giveaway.' The letters ask recipients
to send a check to cover the administrative costs of processing the
prize.
However, when the resident attempts to cash the enclosed 'certified check,' it is refused due to insufficient funds."
This is common scam. It has many faces: you have won a lottery, we need your help, we can fix your credit card problems.