Pastor cites family experience in bringing AARP Fraud Alert to older church members

Rhon Williams remembers the day his father Jim called him last year and said, “I think I messed up. I lost $25,000.”

Jim was no computer novice. He bought his first — a Commodore 64 — in the 1980s when home computers were just becoming popular. After that, he took his interests and skills to a higher level, building his own computers from component parts and installing the software himself. Williams said his dad was also good at handling finances, but even that combination of skills did not prevent him from becoming a victim of cryptocurrency fraud in his later years.

That is reason enough for Williams to be aware of and concerned about the harm that fraud can befall older people and their families, but his vocational calling presents another compelling reason: he is pastor to parishioners age 60-plus at Bonsack Baptist Church in Roanoke County. He said an important part of that mission is preparing them to face many of the challenges associated with aging.

“My goal is education,” he said. ”I want my parishioners to know about the possibilities that could happen to them and the help available to them should that happen.”

That is why he asked AARP volunteer Shannon Abell to conduct a fraud prevention presentation to older members of the church’s community.

The fraud that deceived Williams’ father apparently began when Jim came across a website promising a return of 50% to 100% by purchasing Bitcoin. It wasn’t long before scammers directed him to a nearby ATM that, like an increasing number, doubles as a Bitcoin machine. He inserted his bank debit card and, within a few minutes, he electronically handed over more than $20,000 to fraud artists — no cash ever changed hands.

“It advertises as an ATM, and you can take cash out of that ATM, but everything on that machine leads you to Bitcoin,” Williams said. That’s exactly where his father was led.

Williams said this was the most telling moment that demonstrated the mental decline his father was encountering — amid many other moments that were not so clear in trying to make such a determination.

“A lot of things that were going on are just typical with old age,” he said. “You forgot where you laid your checkbook or paid this bill, so it was hard to distinguish.”

But as it became more evident to everyone, including Jim himself, that his cognitive decline would best be addressed by living in a senior care facility, he agreed to leave his long-time South Carolina home and join a Roanoke community much closer to his son.

Williams has called upon AARP to provide two presentations intended to help older church members prepare for and deal with the decisions and challenges that aging often presents. A third presentation is scheduled for November, this one looking at Medicare options.

AARP provides speakers who present a wide array of presentations addressing life concerns facing older people, and Williams said his own family experience tells him how important information about topics that include fraud awareness, Medicare, and legal guardianship can be to his parishioners.

“I want to educate them to prepare for the things that have not happened yet as you get older. You may live to 99 and never have any cognitive or mental issues, but you need to be prepared just in case that does happen.”