Al Lenhardt, President and CEO The 21st century offers us new challenges in crime prevention. Emerging threats to our . . .

Al Lenhardt, President and CEO

The 21st century offers us new challenges in crime prevention. Emerging threats to our senior population are just one example.

There will be many seniors and they will live longer.  Many seniors will be managing their own retirement assets.  That makes them inviting targets for con artists.  That attractiveness is compounded by the increased likelihood of cognitive and/or physical impairments among older people.  Older people may not keep up with technology, which can make them more vulnerable to scams and telemarketing frauds.

But seniors don’t need to be susceptible.  The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) recently released a new advertising campaign to reach senior audiences in an attempt to increase public attention to seniors as a growing and vulnerable population. Studies show that fraudulent telemarketers direct 56 to 80 percent of their calls to senior citizens. The campaign, which includes a television public service advertisement (PSA), was funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The PSA, produced by The Plowshare Group, is set in a fictitious “school for scoundrels” with a teacher coaching his students on how to scam seniors out of their personal information or money. Suddenly McGruff the Crime Dog appears and tells the scammers that it’s “hang-up time.” Then the scene cuts to a couple of senior citizens, one answering a phony sweepstakes call. The senior, using one of McGruff’s tips, shuts down the scammer. McGruff and the senior remind viewers that when you hang up the phone, “It’s not rude, it’s shrewd.” McGruff directs viewers to 800-WE-PREVENT for more information.

As part of this initiative, NCPC published Seniors and Telemarketing Fraud 101 to supplement the PSA. This booklet helps reinforce the PSA and helps seniors sort through telemarketing offers so they can tell the difference between those on the up-and-up and those that are not. Seniors learn a variety of responses they can use if they get one of these calls, including the simplest of all—hanging up. Armed with the right information, seniors can be as clever as the con artists, as astute as necessary to detect deception, and as confident as need be to keep from being fleeced. It’s not rude, it’s shrewd!