Credit-card scam targets elderly

Credit-card scam targets elderly

Jan. 16, 2001

Tips to avoid being defrauded

Federal law limits a card holder’s liability for unauthorized charges to up to $50. Buying protection for charges exceeding that amount is therefore not necessary.

Never give your credit-card, bank-account or other financial information to anyone who calls you on the telephone. Remember if a caller really represents your credit-card company, he should already have your account information.

If you get such a telephone solicitation, simply hang up.

To report a fraudulent solicitation concerning this or any other scheme, call the Colorado Consumer Line at 1-800-222-4444.

By Aspen C. Emmett
Journal Staff Writer

A telemarketing scam known to target senior citizens in the Denver metro area last week may be extending to Southwestern Colorado as well.

Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar issued a warning yesterday to consumers to be wary of solicitations from telemarketers trying to sell credit-card insurance or "protection" services.

Rose Frailey, an 85-year-old Cortez local, said she has received two calls in the last week from telemarketers who claimed they were from her credit company and wanted to sell her insurance for her card.

"It sounded like a good deal," Frailey said.

But when the caller asked for the account number to her Master Card, Frailey knew there was something wrong.

"I don’t even have a Master Card. I have a Visa," she said.

Frailey said she declined the offer and told her daughter, who notified the authorities and the Chamber of Commerce.

"There are a lot of elderly people here, and I wanted them to know about it (the scam)," Frailey said.

According to a press release from Salazar’s office, ironically, the "insurance" supposedly protects against unauthorized charges on one’s credit card should it be lost, stolen or otherwise used without the card holder’s permission.

The "insurance" reportedly costs between $300 and $400 and some solicitors may be representing themselves as calling on behalf of Visa or other credit-card companies without authority from the companies to do so.

According to the report, most of the complaints suggest that the scam is targeting senior citizens.

Salazar advised citizens to be very cautious about solicitations regardless of who the caller claims to be, and under no circumstances should a person provide his or her credit-card number or bank account number to a solicitor.

"Federal law already gives credit-card holders protection from the unauthorized use of their credit card," Salazar said.

"A credit-card holder is only responsible for up to $50 of unauthorized charges under federal law. There is no reason to pay $300 to $400 to protect oneself against $50 in unauthorized charges."

Salazar added that Visa and other national credit-card companies provide 100 percent protection to most of their credit-card holders without any charge, so that the card holder is not even responsible for the $50 provided for under the law.