(Photo courtesy of Pixels)

MARQUETTE — The past few years has seen an uptick in online scams, particularly those targeting senior citizens.

According to the National Council on Aging, in 2021 nearly 100,000 senior citizens were impacted by fraud scams, with nearly $2 billion in losses being accrued to online predators.

And the problem is getting worse, according to National Council on Aging statistics, those 2021 numbers represented a 74% increase over the previous year.

Some of the most common scams include government impersonation schemes, which can cause seniors, or anyone else, to give away personal data like social security numbers, credit card numbers and other important data.

Another of the most common scams targeting seniors, and one of the most sinister, is what is called “The Grandparent Scam” in which a scammer will call a senior citizen and assume the identity of a grandchild or loved one. This often leads the caller to ask for money by making up a story about a financial issue.

Once established, the individual asking for money will ask the victim to wire money to them using a money wiring service, some of which do not require identification.

The different types of fraud have caught the attention of governments around the country and around the world, including the state of Michigan which launched its Michigan Identity Theft Support initiative.

The initiative offers individuals a mechanism for reporting identity fraud but also features some tips for those who think they may have become a target for scammers.

The first tip that MITS suggests is to review the identity theft warnings and notable scams to see if it resembles their situation.

Once that is complete, anyone who may be victim of a scam needs to determine which protected personal information of theirs may have been compromised. Once that is done, you are encouraged to contact your bank or other financial institution who may be able to put a freeze on your account or help to identify any possible suspicious transactions on your account and to check your credit.

If you are found to have had a loss, you have the option to file a police report or Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Report.

Beyond the MITS initiative, other local options are available, including the Marquette County Triad Program.

Each month, the Triad of Marquette County Program meets to help educate seniors on several safety topics, one of the biggest discussed each month is keeping seniors safe from online and telemarketing scams.

The Triad program holds a meeting on the first Wednesday of the month from 1 to 2 p.m. at the RSVP office in Negaunee at 184 U.S. 41 East.

More information about online scams can be found at the MITS website at https://www.michigan.gov/ag/initiatives/michigan-identity-theft-support

Randy Crouch can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 542. His email address is rcrouch@miningjournal.net.