AARP Hearing Center
The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline is one of the largest operations of its kind in America, receiving 400 calls each day from scam victims or their loved ones to get free help and counseling. That would not be possible without a dedicated team of more than 100 volunteers who work the telephones, listen to people in distress and help them report crimes and locate financial or psychological counseling.
No particular background is necessary to become a volunteer, but many who step forward have seen firsthand the impact of fraud on so many Americans. Volunteers spend about 15 hours in training. “The work can be emotionally draining,” says one longtime volunteer. “But the gratitude that we get back is really what drives us. To hear at the end of the call, ‘I’m so glad I called.’ ”
We’d like you to meet some volunteers.
LeDene Lewis, 72
Retired compliance officer in Livonia, Michigan
"I wanted to volunteer where I could make a difference.," says Lewis
Lewis gets so mad at the crooks, “I want to get on a galloping horse and go find those people and rid the world of them,” she says. “But I can’t. What I can do is comfort [the victims] and empathize with them.”
She adds that "it's like being the scammer in reverse, because the scammer will listen to their heart to learn how to get at them, and I listen to their heart to learn how to help them."
MORE FROM THE FRAUD WATCH NETWORK
AARP Fraud Watch Network
Learn how to recognize and avoid scams with resources, tools, articles and more
AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline: 1-877-908-3360
Get guidance you can trust. Call our toll-free service Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET
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