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Seniors warned about scam

Date: 1/14/2009

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE The city's seniors should be aware that a con artist has been working the phones recently hoping to catch someone off guard.

Mayor Michael Bissonnette's office last week issued a press release detailing the activities of a person who has been making calls to seniors stating he was a city employee whose job is to help seniors fill out their tax forms.

Although no person was caught up in the scam, which is designed to harvest financial details that could rob the elders, city officials want seniors to be aware of this activity.

Jared Krok, the social services coordinator of the Council on Aging (COA), told Reminder Publications the COA had received notification from the mayor's office last week that several seniors had called to report the scam.

He said this is not the first time this kind of con has happened in Chicopee and "is in line with a lot of the scams we've been seeing." He added there was similar activity last year.

Krok said that no one should give out information such as bank account numbers or Social Security numbers unless they know someone personally.

The Chicopee Senior Center offers programs to assist seniors with their taxes, he added.

If a person does receive such a call, they are advised to get the name of the person and a return phone number and immediately call the Police Department at 594-1700.