Welcome to the first Texas Elder Justice Coalition Newsletter
What an exciting year so far! Your energy, passion and commitment are contagious. Over the course of seven months, we have organized ourselves, created a strategy and committees. Through word of mouth and personal invitations, we have found 106 others who are interested in learning more or participating in the coalition. I’ve given 3 presentations explaining the coalition. We had about 30 people join in the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day rally and TEJC launch. With your support and input, we have an informational and eye-catching web presence. Finally, we just kicked off the Stop the Stigma campaign to create awareness of the immensity of financial exploitation of older adults. Let’s keep this up and end financial exploitation of older adults.
—
Stop the Stigma
We need your help! Texas ranked third in the U.S. in losses to elder fraud (2022) with over $243 million in losses reported. We need members of all Texas communities to learn how to stop the stigma of reporting incidents of financial exploitation and act.
The Texas Elder Justice Coalition (TEJC) is dedicated to safeguarding older Texans from financial exploitation and asks individuals and organizations to take the pledge to Stop the Stigma so that older adults, their families, neighbors and caregivers feel safe to come forward and report any instance of suspected fraud or scams as soon as possible.
Follow link below to sign up and learn more!
—
Latest scams/exploitation trends
Getting an urgent call from what sounds like your utility company might make you think: Did I forget to pay my bill? The caller says there’s a way to avoid shutoff and fees: they’ll send you a barcode by text or email so you can pay at a local retailer like Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart. Don’t. It’s all a lie. Wondering how to know it’s not a real utility company calling?
Scammers call unexpectedly and create a sense of urgency. But real utility companies don’t do that. Even if you owe money, they’ll work with you on a payment plan and won’t try to scare you into paying immediately — and they won’t send you a barcode and insist you take it to a store to pay.
Here’s how to deal with calls or messages that appear to come from your utility company:
Contact the utility company yourself. If you’re worried you might be behind on your bills, call the company using the number on your bill or the utility company’s website ― never the number the caller gave you, which will lead you back to the scammer.
Know only scammers demand you pay a certain way. Scammers ask you to pay in a way that makes it hard for you to get your money back — wiring money, putting money on a gift card, using payment apps, paying with a scannable barcode or QR code, or cryptocurrency. Your utility company won’t demand you pay that way.
Act quickly if you suspect you paid a scammer. Contact the company you used to send the money and tell them it was fraud. Ask for their help to reverse the payment. You might be able to recover some of your money.
Report utility company impersonators it to your utility company and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Written By Gema de las Heras
Consumer Education Specialist, FTC
August 13, 2024
Accessed: For original article: https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/07/got-barcode-your-utility-company-make-payment-thats-scam
—
July Presentation: Takeaway Advice from Anna Thomas
Anna Thomas is the section manager of the Division of Aging Services- Forensic Special Initiatives Unit and most recently a Forensic Specialist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crimes Against Disabled Adults and Elderly Task Force (CADE). CADE’s mission is to protect older adults and adults with disabilities from abuse, neglect, and exploitation and to prosecute offenders. Currently, her work with the CADE Task Force centers on training primary and secondary responders how to recognize and respond to at-risk adult abuse, researching gaps in current victim services, developing new laws and policies to protect vulnerable adults, and public outreach.
Anna highlighted the work of the Georgia Task Force on Elder Abuse and emphasized the role of 1. data, 2. champions with passion, 3. conversations with partners and 4. reviewing wins and losses. Anna shared her experiences and insights on navigating challenges in elder justice coalition work, emphasizing the importance of building relationships with key stakeholders and advocating for policy changes.
—
Upcoming meetings
September monthly meeting
9/11/24 2-3pm
Speaker: Andrea Earl, AARP, on upcoming Legislation
October monthly meeting
10/9/2024 2-3pm
Speaker: Amy Allen, Legal Aid, on Legal Aid Resources
Click here to join the meeting on Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID: 262 864 068 674 Passcode: LwgXJt
—
Let’s spread the word!
Share this newsletter with your colleagues who support and serve older adults.
If you received this newsletter from a colleague and would like to sign up for more information, sign up by visiting https://txelderjustice.org/join-network/
or contact Dana Hoffman at dhoffman@txelderjustice.org
###
