Heads Up: National Elder Fraud Hotline fraud

By Joel Dresang

There’s an adage in journalism: If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out.

It’s a reminder to look beyond what a source says to suss out the truth.

So, even if someone tells you they’re from a trusted agency and they’re protecting you and your privacy, don’t believe them. Verify their real interests first.

That’s the message from the National Elder Fraud Hotline.

The hotline, part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, has been getting reports that impostors have been using the hotline’s name and phone number to trick people into identity theft.

“(S)cammers are claiming to be from the National Elder Fraud Hotline,” the agency said in an alert. “These scammers falsely represent themselves as Hotline staff and attempt to obtain personal information or money through threats, including a claim that the caller is filing a suit against the call recipient.”

Even with the name, even with the number, even with the threats, don’t provide private information like your social security number or your credit card.

If you want to be polite, explain to the caller that you’ll call them back. Then, before they try convincing you otherwise, hang up.

And, if you really want to pursue it, find a phone number independently on the internet (We list it here.) and call to report the solicitation you just received.

If you think about it, the Justice Department set up the hotline to take calls, not make them.

The advice applies beyond the National Elder Fraud Hotline. If someone you don’t know reaches out and starts asking for compromising information, hang up. Even if she says she’s your mother. Just call her back.

Joel Dresang is vice president-communications at Landaas & Company, LLC.

(Heads Up is an occasional alert on consumer and investment scams.)