Protecting seniors from increasingly sophisticated fraud and financial scams is the focus of a free information session hosted by MP Andrew Lawton and the St. Thomas Police Service.
Seniors’ fraud is a broad encompassing term, points out the Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP.
“You have elder abuse where loved ones, trusted people in seniors’ lives abuse them and steal money from them. And then you also have situations in which seniors fall victim to phone scams, email scams, romance scams, all of these different things.”
The session, to be held on March 18, is to advise people what to look out for and also acknowledge some of the federal resources that are available to people who think they are potentially being victimized by fraud or, sadly, who might have already been impacted.
Lawton stresses, “Everyone needs to be vigilant for fraud, and I think we do need to put resources out in general. People think they’re too smart to fall victim to it, but very intelligent people get sucked into this.”
He adds, “My office has dealt with people who have gone through this. We want to provide whatever information we can. If we can stop even one more person from going down this road, I think that would be time well spent.”
“So it’s tragic that we live in such a world and that this is something we have to be on guard for. But it is. And I think the best thing we can do as a community is equip ourselves and equip each other to deal with it and recognize it and then learn how to combat it.
And now with the emergence of AI, the scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Lawton continues, “The other aspect, which is similar to AI, is what are called deepfakes. And this is someone using technology to mimic someone’s voice or even someone’s likeness.
“And now and then you’ll see an ad on Facebook of some celebrity or even a politician endorsing some investment vehicle, and it’s entirely fake.
“So it’s tragic that we live in such a world and that this is something we have to be on guard for. But it is. And I think the best thing we can do as a community is equip ourselves and equip each other to deal with it and recognize it and then learn how to combat it.”
As to the format for the afternoon session, Lawton advises, “So we’re hosting it, and we want to talk about some of the federal resources that are available.
“The St. Thomas Police Service has also done a lot of work on this. So they’re coming in with a presentation on what they’ve seen and how they can support people.
“And really, we want to make sure we have time for questions so people can ask about situations they’ve encountered. We want this to be very practical, very tangible information.
“What are the policies and resources available? What are the things to look out for? And how can we make sure that we’re all protected?”
The information session is 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, in Anderson Hall at the CASO station. There is no need to pre-register, but you can RSVP by contacting Lawton’s constituency office at 519-637-4130.
Written by Ian McCallum
