Tip-Offs to Rip-Offs program gave fraud prevention tips

Slamming scamming was a popular pastime in Skagit County on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

The American Association of Retired Persons teamed up with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, TechConnect, Boeing Employees’ Credit Union and Nomorobo on a free 90-minute Tip-Offs to Rip-Offs online event designed to help Skagit County area consumers stay a step ahead of scammers.

That heavyweight lineup landed quite a haymaker against con artists.

“We had a solid showing for the event, with 114 signing in from the Skagit County area,” Jason Erskine, communications director for AARP Washington told the Weekly News.

The special webinar included an interactive question-and-answer segment and remarks from Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on how consumers can best protect themselves and their communities.

Another popular feature was a look inside an actual fraudulent boiler room to show how scammers can manipulate emotions to gain access to consumers’ pocketbooks, Erskine noted.

In addition, said Erskine, through a unique partnership with the call-blocking service Nomorobo, webinar participants learned how to gain real time access to specific robocall scams flooding Skagit County area homes.

Erskine called that an early warning tool that gives consumers an inside track to recognizing new scams before con artists have a chance to make their pitch.

“The aim here,” said Erskine, “is to encourage people to listen to those calls because if you’ve heard it before it lands on your cell phone, you’re better prepared.”

An estimated 50 billion robocalls come into the U.S. annually.

Erskine said that by visiting aarp.org/tipoffs, consumers have a chance to hear audio recordings of the leading scams flooding local phone lines.

“We will be updating this site as new scams emerge,” he added, “so we encourage the public to check back often.”

Meanwhile, Ferguson and his staff have established a new website highlighting consumer information and tips on combating robocalls.

The investment is both wise and necessary, they insist, referring to Federal Trade Commission statistics confirming that Washington state consumers lost more than $135 million to fraud in 2021, nearly double from the year before.

Tip-Offs to Rip-Offs was in direct response to con artists becoming ever more sophisticated in their tactics, with new scams emerging at a rapid pace. Even the best informed of consumers can struggle trying to keep up, according to experts in the field.

The reason is that cons follow headlines and current events in order to make their pitches sound more legitimate.

In addition, longtime sweepstakes and lottery scams continue to be a favorite of cons, who often target older people.

Access “Tip-offs to Rip-offs” at aarp.org/Skagittipoffs and register as if logging into the program live.