BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office held its annual Senior Expo at the county senior center on Thursday, October 17th.
The event featured exhibits where seniors could explore healthcare options, insurance investments, and preventing crimes targeted towards seniors.
Sheriff Gordon Smith said this year’s event restarts the senior expo, which had been paused for several years.
“I became the sheriff back in 2009,” Smith said, “the senior citizens were coming around. People said, what can we do? We were asked to get involved, and we said, Hey, We like to cook. We’d like to set up our booth and show you what we can do to help protect our seniors with crime prevention.”
Smith said the annual expo continued until the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, which ” kind of put a hiatus on it for a while.”
Seniors demand return of expo
The sheriff added that seniors constantly asked him when he would return the event during the pause.
“No matter where I go, whether it be at church, whether it be at the post office, whether it be while I’m in Walmart, Winn Dixie, wherever it may be, I’ve run into one of the seniors, and they say, Hey, sheriff, when are y’all coming back? It’s a great expo for them.”
Deputies and staff members prepared a chicken and rice meal for the event, and participants could also play games like Bingo.
Attendee Carnell Williams said she enjoyed the Bingo and catching up with old acquaintances.
“I met some people that I have never seen before,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of ’em that I’ve already been affiliated with down here, and I’m also (Senior Center Director) Diane Gaskin’s volunteers. One of ’em, and I enjoyed all the vendors.
Publisher’s Clearinghouse fraud
The Sheriff’s Office had its own booth during the expo, where deputies and staff members gave seniors advice on how to prevent fraud targeted at them.
Smith said that fraudsters are coming up with new schemes and rehashing ones that have been successful in the past.
“Fraud targeted towards seniors- It’s always been the Publisher’s Clearing House,” he said. “We’ve dealt with that here recently. Again, we deal with, Hey, your son or daughter or grandchild’s in jail, kind of thing. If you don’t give us money right away, they’re going to be locked up.”
The sheriff said seniors may get a fraudulent bill that appears to come from a vendor they have done business with in the past.
“And what’s sad to say is a lot of them will just pay it without asking questions or the number that’s on there, they dial it, and they’re getting somebody that’s not there, or somebody that’s part of the scam, and they’re just paying it. These people are making millions.”
The sheriff added that seniors should call his office when approached by someone they don’t know seeking money.
Smith also promoted his office’s new smartphone app, Bradford County Sheriff FL, which is available in the iPhone App Store and Google Play.
