A few years ago while we were visiting Iowa, a friend, recounted how her father had been scammed in what was called a love scam. She said her dad was being taken advantage of by someone from another country claiming to be looking for love. It had been going on for some time and may have cost him thousands of dollars, she wasn’t sure. After some investigating, her husband, a police officer, presented evidence to her father that he was being scammed. It did end but it’s not the only one in Iowa, As we are learning it’s not getting better.
In 2023 romance scams accounted for nearly 30% of senior financial exploitation reports filed with the Iowa Insurance Division. They say those losses exceed $4 million. That’s just one of the many scams that are impacting Iowa residents. These are actual scams that have taken money from Iowans reports The State of Iowa Attorney General’s office. If it’s not a love scam, Iowa has also seen, Identity, Investment, fraudulent rentals, unemployment, tech, IRS, charity, Medicare, compromised business email, grandparent, utility, and more scams that have taken $42.6 million out of the pockets of hard-working Iowans in 2023, alone. The occurrences are not isolated, they’re pervasive and on the rise according to the F.B.I…