By BOBBIE GREEN
The Progress
The Community Room at the Mesquite Senior Center was a busy place on Wednesday, July 21. It was the long-awaited return of the monthly Lunch & Learn program. The program has been on hiatis since the COVID-19 pandemic closed the doors of the Senior Center last year.
A total of 31 seniors turned out to the event to be with friends and hear a presentation on how seniors can avoid becoming a victim of fraud and scams.
Triny Torres from the Mesquite Victims Advocate Services and Bill Ennis from the Mesquite Salvation Army presented a talk on “Fraud and Exploitation” which they presented while the seniors ate their lunch. Michelle Reber from the Public Affairs Administration served as a Master of Ceremonies for the event. Reber is also the supervisor for the Victims Advocate Services.
Ennis informed the seniors that the Salvation Army does more than ring the bells at Christmas time. He told them of other services the institution provides like the food pantry and assistance with filling out government forms.
“The number 1 scam on seniors right now is with the stimulus checks,” Ennis cautioned. “You get an email saying you must click on this link, fill in the information to receive your stimulus check. Don’t do it! Don’t click on any links sent you if you don’t know the sender.”
Ennis went on to explain that credit card companies, banks, IRS, or Social Security do not send email asking for personal information or links to click on.
Triny Torres passed out pamphlets and an elder fraud report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She also gave out phone numbers for seniors to call if they believe they have been victims of fraud or to report a potential scam.
Torres cautioned the seniors that they should not give a bank check to a stranger as payment, or to a “new friend” who needs money. Scammers can use the checking account number and bank routing number printed on the check to make purchases online for themselves from your account, she explained.
The seniors in attendance were informed of several phone numbers that might be useful in presenting scammers from finding them. To be added to the national Do Not Call list, the number is 1-888-382-1222. To report IRS scams the number is 1-800–366-4484. Seniors may also forward any IRS emails to www.phishing@irs.gov. To report social security scams call 1-800-269-0271.
The seniors enjoyed the lunch that day. It was all prepared by the Senior Center kitchen staff.
Next month the Lunch & Learn program will feature Elspeth Kuta from the Virgin Valley Museum talking about the area history.
