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QUINCY, ILL. -- Area senior citizens brought their concerns about scams as well as physical evidence of them to the police this afternoon.

Quincy Police Department Elder Service Officer Tom Liesen held a meeting at the Quincy Senior Center to discuss some scams he's seen lately.

He's been seeing more scams in which a fake check is sent to someone, claiming that person has won some sort of sweepstakes.

The so-called winner then is asked to cash the check and send part of the money back to the company.

When the original check bounces, the scam victim is forced to repay the debt.

"Seniors need to be aware of this because, number 1, they're targeted for scams," said Liesen, "number 2, they have excellent credit and number 3, they are very honest and trusting and those are good qualities and scammers take advantage of it."

Liesen says you should never give out any personal information over the phone unless you know for sure who you are talking to.

And if you get anything in the mail that may look like a scam, put it through a shredder, especially if that mail contains any of your personal or financial information.