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&#8220;Congratulations, you&#8217;re a winner.&#8221;The phrase, or words to that effect, sure grabs your attention and sends hopes flying as you listen to the stranger&#8217;s voice on the phone. But in too many cases, your &#8220;good fortune&#8221; is no more real than the tooth fairy or the hippety-hopping critter said on Easter Day to hand out candy-filled baskets.If a caller asks you to provide personal information or send money to claim your &#8220;big prize,&#8221; do the smart thing: Hang up. Hang up even if it seems impolite. Hang up fast.And then alert a trusted family member or a law enforcement agency.Older people, including some 2 million seniors in Pennsylvania, are especially likely to be targeted by would-be scammers hoping to exploit their trusting characters, poor judgment, naivete or diminished critical thinking skills. &#8220;They prey upon seniors who often are in vulnerable situations,&#8221; U.S. Sen. Bob Casey told attendees at a field hearing last week in Wilkes-Barre. He called the criminal cottage industry &#8220;an outrage.&#8221;Some perpetrators of senior scams use the Internet to troll for victims; others concoct in-person schemes ranging from securities fraud to unnecessary or excessively costly home repairs.Collectively, victims in the United States lose billions of dollars each year, and the offenses probably go under-reported because certain individuals feel embarrassed to tell anyone they&#8217;ve been had. In Luzerne County lately, the most widely reported con is called the &#8220;sweepstakes scam,&#8221; District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis explained. A caller posing as a lottery official from another state tells the target he or she has won a large jackpot, but to receive the winnings, the individual must first pay taxes on it.Salavantis and other participants in Monday&#8217;s hearing, including Casey, a Scranton Democrat, hoped the event at the Luzerne County Courthouse might serve to warn more seniors about the simple, and the sophisticated, tricks being tried to steal their money. Casey, a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, also continues to push for passage of the Senior Investor Protections Enhancement Act, which would increase the maximum fines on perpetrators of certain financial services-type scams.The Senate&#8217;s special committee recently issued its list of &#8220;<a href="http://www.aging.senate.gov/press-releases/senate-aging-committee-announces-top-10-frauds_targeting-our-nations-seniors" target="_blank">Top 10 Frauds Targeting Our Nation&#8217;s Seniors</a>,&#8221; starting with &#8220;IRS impersonation scams.&#8221; The list also includes activities such as &#8220;computer tech support schemes&#8221; and &#8220;grandparent scams.&#8221;Learn about the most common scams and talk to your family members, friends and neighbors &#8211; particularly those 62 and older who might be susceptible to charlatans &#8211; about the very real risks and the right way to react if something seems fishy.Remind them to be alert.If an offer sounds too good, decline it. Don&#8217;t hesitate to hang up on unfamiliar callers making strange demands or grand promises. Better to be considered momentarily rude than to be ripped off.<div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>Suspecta scam?Report senior scams to the Pennsylvania Elder Abuse Hotline, at 1-800-490-8505, or via the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging&#8217;s toll-free fraud hotline, at 1-855-303-9470.</factboxMeta></div>

Our Opinion: Stay alert for scams targeting NEPA’s senior citizens