Scam prevention campaign urges San Diego seniors to ‘Stop. Hang up. Tell someone.’

Lakeside resident Chris Heise and his wife could sense something was not right last year as they spent two days on the phone with individuals they now know were scammers. But the man and woman on the other end of those calls — Heise still remembers the names they gave, Monica and David — were so polished and created such a sense of urgency that the Heises ended up forking over $35,000.

Embarrassed and ashamed after realizing they had fallen victim to a scam, Heise and his wife made a pact that they wouldn’t tell anybody what happened. But on Tuesday morning, Heise spoke to reporters at a news conference in San Diego to share his story, saying that he was setting aside his pride in hopes that even just one other person will learn from his mistakes.

“If something like this happens to you, don’t be afraid to stop, hang up and call someone,” Heise said.

That’s the message that federal and local law enforcement officials across San Diego County are trying to spread far and wide this holiday season among older county residents: Stop. Hang up. Tell Someone.

“Elder scams … (are) a major public safety threat … and one of the largest consumer-protection challenges facing our nation and our region,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said Tuesday.

In the last year alone, seniors across San Diego County have reported losing nearly $150 million to scammers, Stephan said. And that’s just the figure that victims have reported, though Stephan said others are too embarrassed to come forward and report their losses, as Heise and his wife initially were.

That’s why officials launched a local “Elder Scam Prevention” campaign in September that’s set to run through the end of the year. The campaign features messages in English, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese aimed at educating seniors about how to recognize and avoid falling prey to scammers. The campaign is also targeting family members of seniors, caregivers, banks and health care facilities about how to recognize the signs that a loved one, customer or patient might be falling victim to a scam.

Stephan said the simple message of “stop, hang up and tell someone” offers potential victims three different ways to avoid being scammed.

Mark Dargis, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego field office, said the goal is to stop scams before they happen.

“While the scams may change, our advice to this population remains the same,” Dargis said. “No. 1, slow down. Every scam involves a false sense of urgency. And No. 2, phone a friend. Lean on your family, your friends, caregivers or your community as a sounding board to understand what you’re dealing with. The urgency to act and isolation from family and friends are very bright red flags that everyone should be aware of.”

The outreach campaign is running on multiple digital platforms, on the radio, in print media and in outdoor advertising. It’s spearheaded by the county’s Elder Justice Task Force, which is made up of personnel from the FBI’s San Diego field office, the District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the county’s Aging & Independence Services and other local law enforcement entities.

U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon’s office is currently prosecuting multiple large-scale, international fraud schemes that largely targeted elderly victims. In August, his office brought charges against a massive Chinese organized crime group that allegedly scammed $65 million from more than 2,000 mostly senior victims across the U.S. Earlier this month, his office indicted nearly two dozen San Diegans, including a Miramar barbershop owner and several employees, for allegedly playing key roles in an international elder fraud scheme suspected of bilking more than 500 victims out of more than $40 million.

“Let me say this as plainly as I can to criminals — if you treat our seniors like ATMs, you will be federally prosecuted,” Gordon said Tuesday. “Criminals who target older adults are learning this hard truth. San Diego is not open for business for scammers.”

The scam that Heise described falling victim to in May 2024 was similar to those outlined in federal court documents. It started with a pop-up message that he believed was from Microsoft telling him his computer had been compromised and directing him to call a number. When he dialed, a woman said Heise’s finances were in jeopardy, and she needed to transfer him to someone she described as a fraud investigator from Chase bank.

Heise was wary, but the scammers went to great lengths to prove their trustworthiness, even faxing copies of their supposed identification badges, Heise said.

“It just became more and more believable because these people were just so, so well rehearsed,” he said.

In addition to the mantra of “stop, hang up and tell someone,” officials said there are other practical steps to take and warning signs to look out for. They said individuals should never move money to “keep it safe,” something no legitimate company or agency will ask. Individuals can also use call-blocking tools to reduce scam calls, and verify any suspicious requests by independently contacting companies through legitimate, trusted phone numbers rather than numbers provided by the original caller.

Officials urged anyone who believes they may be the target or the victim of such scams to contact their local law enforcement agency and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.