The Grover Beach Police Department is creating a program to help people of all ages avoid getting scammed out of their money.

The idea emerged after a woman reported losing nearly $160,000 in retirement savings to scammers posing as federal officers, who urged her to transfer her money. The tactic the scammers used is called "emotional hijacking," where criminals create urgency to override common sense.

Bryan Millard, the Commander of GBPD, explained how the scam worked. "Within the next six months, the department will have educational presentations, a hotline, and a website with scam alerts. "She withdrew her retirement funding, changed it into gold coins, and then a courier came to her house and took the money away. So this is someone that claimed to be a member of the federal governme

See Full Page