BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) -Attorney General JB McCuskey’s Mobile Office made a stop at the Taylor County Senior Citizens, Inc. in Grafton.
Brooke Albright, a consumer representative from the attorney general’s office, had the opportunity to meet with residents and community members about consumer-related issues including scams.
“The goal of these events is to educate in order to prevent scams from happening. A lot of times, once a scam occurs, getting the money back can be near difficult or impossible. So our job is to prevent this from happening by educating seniors. But it’s also for local residents. Anyone’s welcome to join us at these and have a one-on-one discussion with me. If they’re having any consumer issues that our office can be of assistance with,” Albright said.
Albright warns a scam to look out for this season is a tax scam.
“Of course, it’s tax season. So we’re always going to see the IRS tax scam, where people try to scare you into thinking that your taxes aren’t paid up and that a big, scary IRS agent’s coming to your door to arrest you. But that’s just not the way these things work. So, we always ask people to use common sense. You know, what’s the common sense say? Are they really going to come to my door? No, that’s not the way the IRS operates and more importantly, you can call our office and let us try to help you as well,” Albright said.
She says if something feels like a scam you can take the time to do your due diligence.
“What people can do is you always have the right to say, hold on, let me do my due diligence as a consumer, hang up that phone, pick up an old utility bill, call your customer service number, ask them what’s going on, just to determine if it’s real to begin with and a lot of times, that can stop it right there. So, just taking a breath, thinking, what should I do in this situation if I wasn’t scared, and doing it,” Albright said.
Those with the Taylor County Senior Citizens, Inc. says it’s an event that’s spreading awareness for their residents.
“I think just the awareness that it does happen and that there is someone there that’s willing to listen. But, you know, when you fall victim to a scam, a lot of times the embarrassment prevents you from saying anything, which is why I think it goes so far. But with having Brooke here every month, they’re getting comfortable with her. They feel she’s a real person and she’s genuine and wants to listen. So, they’re more comfortable and more apt to open up about, yeah, this happened to me or it happened to somebody I know,” Renee Taylor, executive director at the Taylor County Senior Citizens, Inc. said.
The mobile office will be making stops in north central West Virginia throughout the month.
Here is a list of the upcoming stops:
- March 6: 11 a.m. to noon – Lewis County Senior Citizen Center, 171 W. 2nd St., Weston
- March 9: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Fairmont Senior Center, 105 Maplewood Drive, Fairmont
- March 11: 11 a.m. to noon – Council of Senior Citizens of Gilmer County, 720 N Lewis St., Glenville
- March 13: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Senior Monongalians, 5000 Greenbag Road, Ste. A5, Morgantown
- March 16: 11 a.m. to noon – Harrison County Senior Citizen’s Center, Inc., 500 W. Main St., Clarksburg
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