What the FBI wants you to know about elder fraud schemes following arrest of ‘Real Housewives’ star
Erin Coulehan, 31 March 2021
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — It might look like the women from Bravo’s “Real Housewives” franchises have it all, but a recent arrest of one star is shedding light on criminal schemes across the country.
The FBI El Paso is warning Borderland residents to beware of elder fraud that targets people over the age of 60 to give their money to scammers seeking to defraud the elderly population.
On Tuesday, “Real Housewife of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah and her first assistant, Stuart Smith, were arrested and indicted for defrauding elder and tech-illiterate adults using telemarketing schemes, like disrupting and annoying robocalls that many cellphone users regularly receive.
“They are very good at not only being able to identify potential victims, but they’re also very good at working themselves on the internet and through the computers — as well as being very savvy over the phone and in person,” Jeffrey Reisinger, an agent with the FBI El Paso’s financial crime squad, told KTSM 9 News.
Reisinger said it’s difficult to track the prevalence of elder fraud schemes in El Paso and across the country because, oftentimes, victims are too embarrassed to report.
“Even though we’re not necessarily seeing it here, it doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” he said. “It’s just not being reported.”
