A billion dollar business is having a negative effect on Clinton and DeWitt County.

Scams continue to be a nuisance to seniors and law enforcement across the country, but especially locally. Perhaps the most common scam right now is the 'grandparents scam'. Clinton Police Chief Mike Reidy says it starts with an innocent phone call, and before the person receiving the call knows it, they've given the scammer enough information to take advantage of them.

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Once they have the information they need, the scammers request money from the person they've called. Chief Reidy says once that money is sent off, it is more than likely unable to be recovered.

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Chief Reidy says this particular scam has cropped up once again, most recently, around the Christmas holiday. The Chief says, during that time it is easy to scam seniors because while banks and other establishments locally look out for their customers, it is much harder when amounts of money transactions increase and traffic increases as well.

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Many seniors may beat themselves up over being the target of a scam, but Chief Reidy feels that is unnecessary. He says seniors are part of a generation that are very trusting, and these scams take advantage of that trust.

The Clinton Police Department and DeWitt County Sheriff's Department are very proactive when it comes to trying to inform seniors of the scams that may be out there. Both Chief Reidy and Sheriff Jered Shofner have spoken to senior groups all over the County. Chief Reidy says they will speak to any group or any age get the information out and make people aware of this growing problem.