EL CAJON, Calif. — An elderly woman who has been scammed twice now says she wants to help others avoid becoming a target.
The San Diego County District Attorney says anyone can become a victim, but seniors are losing more because they have more money saved up that can be stolen.
“I hardly shop at stores, ever,” said Pat Holden.
The 76-year-old woman hopes by sharing how she fell for an Amazon membership scam, she'll prevent it from happening to others.
“I gotta tell you, I'm pretty good at checking everything,” said Holden.
The Fletcher Hills online shopper thought the email was from Amazon, offering free Prime membership since it said her membership expired.
“I wanted the three months. And I wanted it free,” said Holden.
Holden says she clicked the link and filled out the section with her credit card information.
Holden shared with CBS 8 that her husband just fell for a Facebook scam and she had to get a new credit card and then she thought her payment information needed to be updated with Amazon. But there was no email confirmation after she shared her personal information.
“I waited, I waited. And I thought that's not right,” said Holden.
She called Amazon and was told it was a scam and then called her bank to report it and froze her account.
“Within nine minutes I took care of it,” said Holden. “I don't think if I would have just walked away that it wouldn’t have been so easy for me,” said Holden.
It hasn’t always been easy for Holden, she’s fallen for scams before.
“But I learned from those. That's why I can't believe I fell for this one,” said Holden.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s office says elderly San Diegans are falling for these scams on the phone, text and email.
“For 2023. We're already over $75 million in losses due to elder scams alone,” said Scott Perrillo, Deputy District Attorney.
He heads the Elder Abuse Unit in the DA's office and helped to create the first of its kind Elder Justice Task Force. It's made up of local law enforcement and the FBI. He applauds Holden for coming forward.
“There's nothing to be ashamed of that they need to come forward, they need to talk about it, they need to report it, so that we know how large the problem is here locally."
Perrillo says they also provide support for victims. He recommends before you do anything, take a pause.
“Slow down, hang up the phone, call someone you love. Call your children, call your neighbor, and talk to them about what's happening. Don't be afraid. Don't listen to the scammers.
Looking back, Holden wished she had taken a breath and seen the red flag in the email address that had no reference to Amazon. It read daintieho.com.
The grandmother is glad she didn't lose any money and hopes her story prevents others from getting scammed.
“I'm very, very careful. Just not that time. It just fell right. Everything fell into place just so that I could get scammed,” said Holden.
Perrillo recommends victims report scams to the FBI at www.ic3.gov and local law enforcement.
Watch Related: San Diego man conned out of $18K and it could happen to you, too (Nov 17, 2023)