The message from Norwalk police isn't new but is necessary: “Just be vigilant, especially in the holiday season,” stated Sgt. Ryan Evarts.

It comes after police said a local senior citizen was targeted by someone pretending to be a Microsoft representative. The scammer called an older woman and said there was an issue with her Microsoft subscription and that it would expire unless she paid $10,000, Evarts explained. That person was able to convince her to take that money out of her bank account and hand the cash over to someone who came to her house, according to Evarts.

“The people committing these scams prey on people who are from different generations,” Evarts said, adding that a senior in Milford fell victim to a similar scam recently.

“You hear it all the time. It's all over the news,” said Eva Beau, director of social services for the Norwalk Senior Center, which partners with police and the Connecticut Department of Banking to host information sessions at least twice a year aimed at protecting seniors.

“It’s an event that’s well attended. We have a lot of people that come in. They're really engaged. They ask a lot of questions, and you can tell that some of them have probably fallen victim, or they know someone that's fallen victim,” Beau stated. “We need to get the word out there.”

“The detectives will go over every kind of scam that is out there, what you need to do about it and how you can safeguard yourself against this kind of thing. It’s really, really great,” Evarts explained.

Evarts suggested some basic tips to follow:

-Never give out personal information like bank details on the phone. -Be cautious of unsolicited offers that seem too good to be true. -Verify the identity of anyone requesting information.

“If they press you with urgency and try to tap into your emotions, these are flags where you'd say, ‘This doesn't really seem right, so maybe I should look into this more,” Evarts said.

Beau said the senior center hopes to be setting up another seminar soon and suggests people check out the website to find out about upcoming events.