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Seminar relates elder abuse dangers

The News Observer - 7/5/2017

Various forms of elder abuse were discussed in a multi-agency seminar at the Fannin County Senior CenterTuesday, June 26.

Joseph Gavalis, a law enforcement coordinator with the North Georgia Elder Abuse Task Force, spoke briefly of the physical abuse of seniors and urged those present to be the "eyes and ears" and to report abuse if seen among friends or relatives.

Gavalis, a retired federal agent, also cited neglect in unlicensed personal care homes as another major form of elder abuse and said that personal care homes must to be licensed to ensure a certain standard of care.

"If you know of anybody living who is paying to live in a home, not their own home, but in somebody else's home where they're paying, and you think the conditions ... aren't what you think they should be, please notify local law enforcement," Gavalis told the group of seniors.

After this, Captain Justin Turner, of the Fannin County Sheriff's Department, spoke of financial exploitation of elders, which all of the speakers at the seminar claimed is the most prevalent form of elder abuse today.

Turner said phone or email scams are most common among seniors and advised everyone never to release personal information, especially social security numbers, over the phone or via email to a business that appears questionable.

"No legitimate business will ever call you and ask you for that kind of information," Turner said.

Another common financial scam, Turner said, involves criminals calling and posing as out-of-state law enforcement officials claiming to have a friend or family member incarcerated and needing money for bail.

Turner said if anyone ever receives such a phone call, "hold the phone up for a second, take a deep breath ... (and) do not let your emotions overrule common sense."

This rule can also be applied to lottery phone scams as well, Turner stated.

"If you win a lottery that you've never put your name into, you have not won the lottery," Turner explained. "When I was a kid, my dad told me, ?Son, if it's too good to be true, it ain't true.'"

According to Turner, another high volume threat from February through April comes from scammers posing as Internal Revenue Service agents claiming seniors owe back taxes and threatening to send them to jail if they do not pay a certain amount.

"Does the IRS call, does the IRS send emails and say (we're) going to lock you up?" Turner asked. "No."

For all financial exploitation scams, Turner provided three pieces of advice for seniors:

?Find a trusted person in which to confide;

?Use common sense; and,

?When in doubt, call somebody, preferably law enforcement.

Also speaking and offering one-on-one assistance at the seminar were Jamie Abercrombie, an elder abuse specialist with the Georgia Bureau of investigation, Sally Hester, of the Georgia Department of Human Services, Lynne Reeves, director of the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission (NWGRC) and Lindsay Wilson, also of the NWGRC.