Did you know that 397 people in Maine filed fraud complaints for losses totaling more than $7.1 million in 2023, according to the FBI? And that’s just the ones who actually filed, so there are probably many more, and lots of them are seniors.

Now there’s a new program to help people (seniors especially) be more aware of fraud and scam “opportunities”. The Maine Rx Elder Fraud Program is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office, AARP Maine and the Maine Council for Elder Abuse Prevention. The program, which is designed to educate Mainers on common signs of scams and how to report elder fraud, will begin at Hannaford Supermarkets’ 60 in-store pharmacies across Maine. Informational brochures will be attached to prescription bags for distribution to Hannaford pharmacy customers.

The informational materials were created by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with assistance from the Maine Council for Elder Abuse Prevention. The materials include common signs of scams as well as information about the National Elder Fraud Hotline.

The scam I have noticed most frequently: “update” notices from my email provider, credit card company or phone company. Some are filled with red-flag errors, but others are pretty convincing EXCEPT they come from an obviously wrong email. Your credit card company is not going to email you from a gmail account. Make triple sure that you are dealing with the genuine company before you answer any emails.