Steven Merrill, special agent in charge of the FBI Honolulu Field Office, sat down with Guam Police Department representatives on July 11, 2022, to talk about elderly fraud scams. From left: GPD Chief Stephen Ignacio and Merrill.
Guam’s manamko’ lost about $1.5 million to fraud in 2021, according to officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation who spoke with the Guam Police Department on Monday.
One victim lost close to three-quarters of a million dollars through an online fraud scheme last year. The case has since been handed off to the US Secret Service, GPD Police Chief Stephen Ignacio said.
GPD hosted a discussion with Steven Merrill, special agent in charge of the FBI Honolulu field office, to talk about adult fraud scams among the elderly.
“I’m glad we could have this discussion because the fraud against the elderly around the world, including here in Guam is rising rapidly,” Merrill said.
He said from 2020 to 2021, the FBI noted a 74% increase in the amount of money people over the age of 60 lost to fraud. The FBI’s Elder Fraud Report for 2020 noted Guam’s manåmko’ lost just $55,428 to fraud in 2020, compared to the $1.5 million in losses reported last year.
A total of 16 manamko’ were victims last year, and with increasing social media use, fraudsters have more access to potential victims online, Merrill said.
One of the most effective scams among the elderly in recent years is the “romance scam,” Merrill said, “where someone is claiming to be falling in love, and they need money. Unfortunately, that particular scam has resulted in the largest amount of dollar loss.”
Less effective but more common was a scam where someone asks for an elderly person to purchase goods and then never delivers on the purchase.
Also to be avoided are “make money schemes,” where an award is offered in exchange for personal information, the special agent said. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Merrill.
Merrill said that the actual amount of money lost through online fraud on Guam may be much higher, with many too embarrassed to report their losses.
One of the keys to retrieving money lost to fraud is to report it immediately, but many don’t, Ignacio added.
“When they are victimized, they don’t want to come forward right away, because they’re kind of under this cloud of shame, because they just got duped out of a lot of money … or sometimes they don’t want other family members to find out that they were duped in over the internet or through WhatsApp scam,” Ignacio said.
“If a victim notifies law enforcement immediately, we have a very good chance of getting money back,” Merrill said.
The most common avenues for scams to take place are through email or social media.
Adult family members should help keep elderly relatives from falling victim, Ignacio said. “Tell them to notify you if they receive such type of solicitation via WhatsApp, or through an email so that you can go vet the information,” he said.
Merrill said to avoid providing personal information over the internet, especially if they are overseas. Always make sure to check if a person reaching out to you is really who they say they are by asking to video or voice call, and if someone asks for money via email, cut off the communication immediately.
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