AARP, CPD SHARE FRAUD PREVENTION TIPS

By Amber Worthy, WDEF
Original article HERE

Local organizations came together to share some important fraud prevention tips for you as you finish up your holiday shopping.

AARP was out at Hamilton Place Mall sharing free resources for the community about how to prevent you from becoming a victim of any type of scams.

AARP teamed up with Chattanooga Police’s “Coffee with a Cop” event because, at this time of the year, everyone is a target.

Robert Radel, executive council for AARP, says “You have resources available from AARP that talk about what you can do to help keep yourselves safe from frauds and scams.

They gave out metal wallets and AARP reps say it will make it hard for any thief to take your card information using those digital skimmer devices that take your money without taking your actual card.

Radel says that they have a network that will also keep you up to date on the latest scams in the area.

“I’ve done it I get about one or two a week. They tell me everything that I need to know about people who are going to try to call you on the phone, might come to the front door. All of those kinds of folks who really like to take your money”, says Radel.

Rob Simmons with CPD says this event “was planned in the middle of the holiday season and that was on purpose because our property crimes rise during this time of the year. We are seeing more thefts from auto, vehicles, more burglaries so we decided to focus on that.”

CPD provided a VIN etching service and it’s done on your windshield.

Simmons says, “It has been proven that when you do that you deter professionals thieves from stealing your car. And it is able to be tracked down and located easier.

You can sign up for AARP’s Fraud Watch Network to get alerts here.

It is also important to remember that if it is too good to be true, you can also reach out to News 12 or your local police agency to see if it has been reported as a scam.