Police warn seniors about new ID scams
The Van Buren Twp. Police dept. is warning seniors there are three new types of identity thefts targeting the senior citizen population.

If you paid your home off long ago, you may become a victim.

The latest scam is using seniors' identities to take out home-equity loans on their property or to sell the home outright.

Crooks look for homes that haven't had any financial activity in a while. Seniors can check with the county assessor's office to make sure their home is OK. Never answer home info on the phone, unless you are making the call.

There is a new popular scam to get seniors to give up personal information essential for ripping them off.

People call at night telling seniors they have to sign up for the Federal Trade Commission's "do not call list," or to continue dealing with annoying telemarketing calls.

No one from the FTC is going to call to register you for the "do not call" list. To register on the "do not all list," call 1-888-382-1222.

Identity thieves steal dead spouses' identities and then open charge cards or even buy cars leaving the deceased's survivors with the bills.

To prevent this from happening, you can call the credit-reporting agencies and put on a credit freeze. It isn't free unless the survivor is a victim of ID theft, so it may cost about $115 to do the freeze for all three credit-reporting agencies.

Another scam aimed at seniors is Medicare fraud.

Some senior citizens have received a call telling them that there had been several changes in Medicare that may impact coverage.

Full Story