BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — As scams become more sophisticated, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office is launching a new effort to help residents recognize the warning signs before they become victims.
The sheriff’s office will kick off its free Senior Fraud Prevention Tour on Thursday, with five presentations planned across Berkeley County through September. The sessions are designed to educate seniors, caregivers and family members about the most common scams investigators are seeing and how to avoid them.
Detective Jeremy Maurer with the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office says older adults are often targeted because scammers know they’re more likely to have retirement savings and other assets.
“We’re watching seniors lose generational wealth and families are being impacted in it,” Maurer said.
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During the presentations, detectives will cover a range of scams, including fake bond requests, bank imposter scams, romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud and artificial intelligence voice scams. Maurer said one of the fastest-growing trends involves scammers using AI to imitate the voice of a loved one.
“They’re getting good at audio AI,” Maurer said. “A senior citizen will be called and a person on the other end of the line will pose as an attorney and say, ‘Hey, your grandson or your son was involved in a very serious car accident and they’re going to jail and they need money, bond money.'”
Scammers often create a false sense of urgency, investigators explained, “keeping victims on the phone while convincing them to send money or share personal information.
One of the simplest ways to avoid becoming a victim, Maurer says, is to slow down before taking action. “If you didn’t initiate it, don’t complete it.”
Detectives say once money is sent, it can quickly move through multiple accounts or even overseas, making it difficult to track. That’s why the sheriff’s office says prevention is the best defense.
“If we can save three people their life savings by talking over five different evenings, I would love to do that because then there’s three families that are not devastated and the bad guys are not getting the money,” Maurer said.
The Senior Fraud Prevention Tour is free and open to the public. Sheriff’s officials say additional presentations could be added as more communities express interest.
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