By Alexandra Nicolas

news@joplinglobe.com

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Nothing is ever free.

It’s a scam that’s increasing as more members of the baby-boomer generation retire. Scam artists will lure the unsuspecting with a free-lunch or -dinner seminar. Using high-pressure techniques, scam artists will tempt victims into phony investments that will cost Missourians hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

House Bill 1488, sponsored by Margaret Donnelly, D-St. Louis, would tack higher penalties to those convicted of committing securities fraud against the elderly or disabled. Those convicted now face the same penalties regardless of the victims’ age or status, fines of not more than $1 million and fewer than 10 years in prison. HB 1488 would set minimums of no less than $50,000 and no less than five years in prison for crimes committed against the physically or mentally disabled, or those at least 60 years of age.

“We’re just trying to protect the hard-earned savings of Missouri senior citizens,” Donnelly said.

Other scam artists will target those saving for retirement or recently retired by gaining their trust at community events to later turn around and steal their identity or clean out their savings.

“For seniors that may mean coming out of retirement and working again, even after a lifetime of working and saving and raising a family, or cutting back even further on essentials like health care,” Donnelly said.

The Missouri Secretary of State’s Office recently launched an investigation into this common type of securities fraud, with 60 percent of those making the overtures not licensed to sell securities or give financial advice in Missouri.

“They (senior citizens) are targeted,” said Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, “These advertisements are mailed to people’s homes, they are on the radio, on television, in the newspaper, and they almost always turn into high-pressure situations.”

Carnahan’s office has set up a tip line to handle the volume of calls received reporting scams targeting the elderly. An estimated 300 calls per year are received on the tip line alone.

“It’s an issue that no one likes to talk about but it is an issue that can be defined as common,” she said.

At Tuesday’s hearing for HB 1488, Donnelly testified about a conversation she had with one victim who had told her, with tears in her eyes, “she felt so foolish.”

“One group was told that if they retired early and made this investment, they’d be better off than if they kept working,” Carnahan said. “Many of those had to go back to work just to keep their homes. The impact of fraud is very real.”