| NEWS | AZ Scams Arizona seniors were swindled out of $27 million since 2020. BY ELIAS WEISS W ith sunny weather year-round, a dry climate, and slow- paced small towns nestled into iconic Southwestern scenery, there’s a reason Arizona is the third-most desirable retire- ment destination in the country. In fact, one in four Arizona residents is over the age of 60. Those in their golden years tend to have more gold in the bank than younger people. And that just makes Arizona seniors a plum target for a slew of financial crimes, including extortion and identity theft. A study released this month by NiceRx, an online pharmacy and medical clearing- house based in the United Kingdom, ranked Arizona ninth in the U.S. among states where elder fraud is most rampant. The study is based on data from a 2020 FBI report on elder fraud. “Elder abuse is a serious problem,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement. “Older adults may become vulnerable due to isolation, phys- ical or mental disabilities and dependence on others for assistance.” Since 2020, more than 3,000 Arizona residents over the age of 60 have been defrauded out of more than $27 million, according to the NiceRx study. Brnovich suspects that the actual number of victims is as many as 6,900, but that “elderly victims are often reluctant to report abuse because they feel ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated, afraid, and may even defend the abuser.” Three out of four victims of elder abuse in Arizona are white women, like 71-year- old Flora, who was scammed so badly she filed bankruptcy in 2020, and whose full name we are withholding to protect her privacy. It was just four months before the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office published an official warning regarding the scourge of elder fraud in Arizona. Flora flew from Illinois to Phoenix- Mesa Gateway Airport thinking she was meeting her fiancé. No one showed at the airport. Instead, the scammers convinced her to 14 empty her bank account at a Walmart register. She was instructed to buy pre- loaded gift cards and send back photos of the 16-digit number embossed in raised lettering on the front of the card, giving scammers access to the balance. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons Scammers favor gift cards “because they are easy for people to find and buy, and they have fewer protections for buyers compared to some other payment options,” the Federal Trade Commission said in a December statement. Scammers cash out quickly and anony- mously, and the transaction is largely irreversible. Gift cards can even resell above face value on the secondary market, according to Mountain View, California-based NortonLifeLock, a Fortune 500 cybersecu- rity company. Flora, who lives near Chicago, was completely broke and stranded in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert after purchasing the gift cards there. She couldn’t even afford one night at a nearby hotel, a police report revealed. “As soon as you provide the gift card number and any sort of security code that’s present on the card, the scammer can access those funds,” Gilbert Police Department spokesperson Brenda Carrasco said. “In addition, it’s important to note that scams can also be cyclical such as during holiday and tax seasons.” The elderly scam victim spent 24 hours inside a Subway restaurant near Power and Ray roads before Gilbert Police Officer Adam Walicke bought her a plane ticket home and drove her to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Police later determined that the California driver’s license for the no-show fiancé was counterfeit. No such person exists. The usual protocol for a situation like that one would involve trans- >> p 17 APRIL 21ST– APRIL 27TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
