AARP ElderWatch, a program with the Colorado Attorney General, has received reports that citizens are receiving telephone calls from people who represent themselves as agents of U.S. Customs, the Internal Revenue Service, banks or credit card companies.

To be safe:

• Never give your bank, credit card or other personal or financial information over the phone unless you initiated the call.
• Ask for a phone number so that you can return the call. Real representatives of an official agency will be willing to provide a telephone number and contact name.
• Hang up if you are asked to pay for a prize. Free is free!
• Tell callers if you don’t want to hear from them again. If they call again, they are breaking the law.
• Report suspicious calls to AARP ElderWatch 1-800-222-4444

AARP ElderWatch is administered through the AARP Foundation, and is co-sponsored by AARP and the Office of the Colorado Attorney General. Our mission is to ensure that no senior is left to suffer alone and in silence at the hands of those who exploit them.

AARP is a non-profit, non-partisan membership organization with over 572,000 Colorado members.