Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

AARP battles con artists
targeting isle seniors

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Seventy-three-year-old Chester Nakahashi of Maui says he lost his life savings to con artists.

A caller told him last year that he had won $880,000 in the Spanish lottery. The catch: He had to send in $18,500 to collect.

Later, a caller said Nakahashi had won $138.9 million, and that catch was sending in $25,000 for property in Madrid, Spain.

"That's another foolish thing I did," Nakahashi said, noting he got nothing, not even the Madrid property.

Nakahashi told his story this morning at the state Capitol to help the American Association of Retired Persons launch an anti-fraud campaign to help other seniors avoid a similar fate.

Nakahashi never reported his experiences to police or other authorities.

It started with sweepstakes promises of windfalls about nine years ago.

"They had been sending pamphlets and mailings to me," said Nakahashi, a Wailuku resident.

It seemed sweepstakes promoters were offering items he could use as well as prizes. As time passed, he bought more and more. But the items were trinkets and shoddy merchandise. A car cushion soon deteriorated to shreds; a steering wheel cover broke apart. He received no sweepstakes windfalls.

"I have been ripped off I know by these crooks," Nakahashi said.

He would advise friends to get rid of credit cards and not write checks for things that don't seem worth it. "There's no free lunch," he said. "It's senseless really."

AARP says consumer fraud is big business in Hawaii, with scam artists stealing substantial sums each year from unsuspecting consumers.

Much of this goes unreported, and victims suffer in silence because they feel embarrassment and shame, AARP says.

AARP is releasing a survey of its some 2,000 Hawaii members that shows perhaps 25 percent have been victimized.

The national average is somewhat less, about one in five, said Greg Marchildon of AARP's Seattle regional office.

Nakahashi attended an AARP fraud presentation on Maui and later said he couldn't keep silent any longer and needed to relate his experience.

"It was the first time that he had ever told his story," Marchildon said.

AARP is working with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to combat such fraud, Marchildon said.

Virtually no one is reporting fraud at all, even with the high victimization rate, he emphasized.

In concert with AARP and the Executive Office on Aging, a state hot line -- called Operation Report Fraud -- is being set up for citizens to relay fraud complaints.

These reports can then be investigated, Marchildon said.

People must come forward if such fraud is to be eradicated, he said.

The Oahu hot line is 587-3222.

Sweepstakes mailings to about 70 percent of Hawaii's senior consumers and related requests for money are a sticking point, Marchildon said.

It's not necessary to pay to play and giving money -- for whatever supposed reason -- does not increase chances of winning, Marchildon said.

Marchildon spoke of a huge grass-roots campaign to train community volunteers to become AARP fraud fighters, with about 600 already trained here.

"We've found that the best defense against a consumer fraud is an educated consumer," he said.