Iowa organizations join forces for 'Stop the Scammers' campaign

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services, the Iowa Attorney General, and AARP Iowa have launched a statewide “Stop the Scammers” campaign.

The goal of the campaign is to better educate Iowans about the types of scams that are being used within the state, and how people can identify and protect themselves against scam operations.

“We know they need to stop. And we know that education is the best way to prevent imposter scams from happening in the first place,” said Brad Anderson, State Director for AARP Iowa.

Over the years, with the development of artificial intelligence and the growing digital era, scammers have adapted to using creative tactics to coerce people into giving up their personal information. Recovering from scams like these is hard, so preventing them is key.

“We want to help people who may have been scammed and most importantly, spread the word so that folks know what to look out for and how to prevent themselves or a family member or a friend becoming a victim. Now, when we hear about scams, most people think it can’t happen to them and they think that until it does. People are scammed,” said Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.

The “Stop the Scammers” roadshow kicks off in Des Moines, and then makes 17 additional stops around the state over the next two months. Locations include Ames, Carroll, Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Council Bluffs, Newton, Creston, Davenport, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Johnston, Marshalltown, Mason City, Mt. Pleasant, Ottumwa, Sioux City, and Waterloo.

The Metro is seeing examples of these scams daily, as the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has posted multiple times on their Facebook about an ongoing scam of an individual claiming to be an officer for the department to request personal information from individuals.

On Monday the Des Moines Buccaneers put out a post informing fans about the importance of using their website to purchase tickets after learning customers purchased tickets from an alternate ticketing website, with zero affiliation to the team. The tickets had heavily inflated prices and misinformation about how many tickets were actually available for the game.

Law enforcement says if you believe to have fallen victim to a scam, to call the station to file a police report. Otherwise, ignoring these scams and blocking repetitive scammer numbers is recommended. To learn more about the initiative, click here.