The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, tracks a wide array of scams which target seniors in affluent areas of the country including Carmel, Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach. A typical approach is to call you and say they are from a government agency and say that you owe taxes or a fine. They will typically ask you for a gift card, which is untraceable. Don’t fall for this, a government agency would never ask for a gift card. In my opinion, the best way to avoid most of these fraudulent schemes is to use caller ID and if you do not recognize the number don’t pick up the phone. Scammers are getting more sophisticated so even if it is from an 831 area code this number may have been “spoofed†and the caller can be from anywhere. For more information, visit the website www.ftc.gov/giftcards
