Hundreds of seniors caught in identity scam

ATLANTA -- Fulton County is warning senior citizens about an identity theft scam offering stimulus money for their personal information. Seniors were told to go to an address on Peeple Street in Southwest Atlanta to fill out a form to get $500 in stimulus money.

People who showed up at the residence, many of them seniors, said they heard it from a friend. "I got the form from a friend of mine who got a telephone call," said Abdul Rashid.

Hattie Chumley said she also heard it from a friend. "She was telling me you could come down fill out a form and get stimulus money," she said.

The form they filled out has no letter head and no government agency. It asks for name, address, phone number, social security number and birth date. The form says "You may qualify for up to $500.00 in stimulus money. If you are approved, your money will be mailed to you in approximately four weeks in the form of a Visa Check card."

By late Thursday afternoon, word spread through the community that the form was a scam. "That's wrong!" one woman shouted. "You don't do nobody like that."

The address where people were told to go to fill out the form is the Southeast region office for Al Sharpton's National Action Network (NAN). But NAN's Executive Director Tamika Mallory told 11Alive News, "We had no knowledge of what was going on. We would never authorize anything like that."

Brandon Emerson, holding hundreds of filled out forms, said he was the one who collected the forms and was not affiliated with NAN. He said he got caught up in something he was unaware of and wanted to return the forms. "I thought it was legit like everybody else," he said. "Evidently the media got involved; it must not be, so I'm trying to make a wrong situation right."

Diane Williamson, the Director of the Fulton County Council on Aging, said they have had several complaints about the scam. "We've been hearing this since Tuesday," she said.

Williamson said hundreds of senior citizens were recruited from senior citizen centers around the city. She said the response to the scam is an example of these desperate times. "You know the only thing people saw on this form was the big $500," she said.

Williamson issued a stern warning. "Never leave your home to provide information to anyone," she said. "There is nothing free."

Atlanta Police sent an officer to the address and said they are conducting an investigation. The National Action Network in New York said their general counsel will immediately investigate why their regional office was being used in this scam.

If you gave up your information, you should keep a close eye on your bank accounts for any suspicious activity. Seniors with concerns about possible fraud are asked to call Fulton County's Office of Aging's STARline at 404-730-6000.