On June 1st, Atty. Brandon Garod, Assistant Attorney General in NH, addressed the Rotary Club of Nashua regarding on the work of the Consumer Protection and Anti Trust division of the AG’s office. Brandon engaged the club in a wide ranging discussion around the different types of scams his office deals with particularly involving the elderly. Scams will commonly involve email, cell phones and land lines.
There are several common scams that he discussed
Urgency Scam: call received and the voice claims to be a close relative who is in need of bail money right away. Involves high degree of pressure that deprives rational response due to the high degree of panic.Usually involves and elderly person (grandparent).
Email Scam: Someone emails you and says that unless you pay them off within 24 hours they will release to your contact list all the site and webcam material that they “have” on you that is of very embarrassing content. Other email scams might be from friends asking for money. Check the extension of the email. Your friend might be johnsmith@gmail.com but the email you received is from johnsmith @hotmail.com. Delete and forget it.
Covid Scams: Emails that speak of cures and treatments and asking for money are scams and should be ignored
If any questions on this Atty. Garod invites you to call the police or the AG’s office. Tracking and prosecution is difficult due to much of this originating in foreign countries. Best defense is to ignore. He advises to check out anything you have suspicions about BEFORE you act. Google, police and his office are good sources.
Several questions and comments followed.