By ALEX MALM

“Don’t answer the phone.”

That’s one of the key pieces of advice that Assistant Attorney General Molly Kapstein Cote told about a dozen people during a recent presentation to help older adults avoid falling victim to fraud at the Pilgrim Senior Citizen Center.

Attorney General Peter Neronha said one of his priorities since being elected is making sure Rhode Island residents have the tools they need to protect themselves, including against fraud.

Neronha told the crowd that it is easy to be scammed by scammers -- especially when it comes to phone scams, which is why it was pointed out a number of times during the presentation that it’s important to not answer calls from unrecognizable numbers.

“These guys are really, really good,” said Neronha.

Neronha also explained that many of the crimes are hard to prove or prosecute because most of the scammers aren’t in Rhode Island and in some cases aren’t even in extraditable countries.

Neronha said it is important to contact the police department or his office if someone thinks they were scammed. He said not only will it help his staff detect new scams, but they are also still able to help after the scam occurs.

But the most important thing is detecting when something is a scam.

“The whole key to protecting yourself and your family is to be aware that it is a scam in the first place,” Neronha said.

Mayor Frank Picozzi gave an example of a local incident of a senior being taken advantage of. He said that about 10 months ago, an older adult was attempting to take a large amount of money out of the bank. The bank manager noticed, investigated and was able to stop a scam.

Picozzi said the police department takes scams extremely seriously and that many people within the city are there to help older adults if they fall victim to scams.

“You have an army of people waiting to help you,” said Picozzi.

Kapstein Cote said that around 75 percent of the cases that the Elder Abuse Unit prosecutes are for local incidents of financial exploitation. She said that usually it involves some type of family member or caretakers.

“Those are the really heartbreaking cases,” said Kapstein Cote.

One of the types of examples that Kapstein Cote told those in attendance to look for is making arrangements with someone they know for banking. She said in some cases a child or caretaker will have an arrangement with an older adult to use a certain amount of funds for things like medicine or groceries. She said if that individual is on the older adult’s bank account, there is little that can be done if the person uses it for their own gains because the bank sees anyone on the account as an owner of the account.

“They don’t care about what kind of private agreement you have,” Kapstein Cote said. “When you put somebody on your bank account they are an owner just as they are and they can do whatever they want with your money.”

Kapstein Cote said that the same applies for power of attorneys saying that it is important to have someone trustworthy before giving that person authority to make decisions.

To contact the Elder Abuse Unit with the Attorney General Office call (401) 222-2566 or (401) 274-4400, ext. 2269.