Seoul's Seongbuk-gu district is joining forces with the Seongbuk and Jongam police stations to build an integrated safety network covering both the health and financial security of elderly residents.
The Seongbuk-gu Public Health Center will run a combined health and financial fraud prevention program for seniors from September through October, bringing together 28 visiting nurses from 20 neighborhoods and dedicated detective teams from both police stations.
Officers and visiting nurses will travel directly to senior-friendly venues — including neighborhood community centers and senior centers — to reach elderly residents with limited mobility. Police officers will lead financial fraud prevention sessions, while visiting nurses will measure basic health indicators such as blood pressure and blood sugar levels and provide one-on-one health consultations.
The fraud prevention sessions will draw on recent local voice phishing cases to walk seniors through common tactics — including text messages impersonating family members and cash-theft schemes involving fake government officials — and explain how to respond, all in terms accessible to older residents.
Seongbuk-gu plans to integrate its visiting nurses, who regularly call on elderly households, as community "public safety partners." The district will train nurses to recognize warning signs of financial fraud during consultations and establish a dedicated reporting channel to police so that any suspicious activity can be flagged quickly.
The district said it intends to build on the program by continuing to work with police and other relevant agencies to strengthen crime prevention efforts and the community safety net for vulnerable residents.
"We joined hands with police so that seniors can look after their health and learn how to protect themselves from financial fraud — all in familiar surroundings," Seongbuk-gu District Mayor Lee Seung-ro said. "By making use of the on-the-ground presence of visiting nurses and police officers, we will weave a tighter community safety net so that seniors can live more securely."
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