Scams & Fraud

AARP and Iowa Public Television have teamed up to produce Stealing Your Life, a program on how to guard against fraud. The show features Frank Abagnale, whose exploits decades ago were depicted in the movie Catch Me If You Can.

Iowans of all ages are invited to join AARP Iowa, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and members of the Iowa Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division for a live, statewide teletown hall on impostor scams at 10 am, Tuesday, April 25, during Money Smart Week Iowa.

Every day, millions of Americans lose their hard-earned money to identity theft and other types of scams. Last year alone, 13.1 million Americans were victims of identity theft. That’s one person victimized every two seconds! Protecting your personal information can help reduce your risk of identity theft.

Need a financial tune up? Money Smart Week events to the rescue! If you could use a little help learning how to stretch your money and jump start your retirement security planning, join AARP for these Money Smart Week Iowa programs!

AARP Iowa and the state Office of Attorney General are hosting a teletown hall about imposter scams on Tuesday, April 25, from 10 to 11 a.m. AARP also is sponsoring two free shredding events, one in Des Moines on April 29, and the other in Cedar Rapids on May 1.

The state population is aging, and financial crimes against older people are a growing concern. Thirty-seven percent of fraud complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2015 came from consumers 60 and older.

Thanks to Iowa's Senior Medicare Patrol Program local coordinator Sonita Oldfield-Carlson for alerting us that scammers are working in Southeast Iowa today. Please be on alert and if you receive any suspicious calls or offers, report it to Iowa Senior Medicare Patrol or the AARP Fraud Watch Network, by calling 1-877-908-3360 toll-free share your story and receive assistance from our call center volunteers.

Iowa Executive Council Member, Fraud Watch Network Volunteer Joe Marquart Urges Senate Judiciary Action to Fight Fraud