WHILE IT SEEMS UNCONSCIONABLE to most, unscrupulous men and women often target senior citizens for devious scams to rob them of their money or identities. When scammers know how to confuse and gain the trust of the elderly, they have virtual free rein of bank accounts, personal information, and even assets.
If you’re concerned about the well-being of a senior in your life, or if you’re a senior who wants to protect yourself, learn about common risks and scams. Then, if someone approaches you or your loved one with a potential investment or opportunity, it will be easier to determine the legitimacy of the offer.
The things that put seniors most at risk aren’t always what you’d expect. According to the True Link report, a senior’s risk of suffering financial fraud is a combination of “vulnerability plus exposure.” Risk factors include:
• Cognitive problems—Seniors who suffer from memory loss, Alzheimer’s dementia, or stroke are more likely to fall for a financial scam.
• Friendliness—Older people who are friendly and outgoing lose about four times as much money to financial scams as other seniors. This could be because they’re approachable and likely to take people at their word.
• Age—While some people think the oldest people are at the most risk of fraud, it’s actually the reverse.
• Financial savvy—Financially sophisticated seniors are less likely to fall for many types of scams than those who know less about finance. However, when they do fall for a scam, they typically lose a lot more money because they’re confident about their financial decisions. Likewise, frugal seniors lose about five times as much to fraud as their peers because they’re suckers for a bargain.
• Telemarketing calls—Phone calls are one of the major ways scammers ply their trade.
• Financial exploitation—Scams and financial exploitation aren’t exactly the same thing. Exploiting seniors means tricking them into financial mistakes with misleading or high-pressure sales pitches as opposed to an outright scam.
Scammers tend to target elderly people with all kinds of schemes, taking advantage of their isolation, ease of trust, higher savings, and lack of tech savvy, among other things. Unfortunately these scams often work. Con artists target elders knowing that they may be lonely, longing for purpose in life, and more trusting of and willing to help young people. Financial scams targeting seniors have become so prevalent that they are considered “the crime of the 21st century.”
Here are some potential scams:
1. Medicare/health insurance scams
In these types of scams, perpetrators may pose as a Medicare representative to get older people to give them their personal information.
2. Counterfeit prescription drugs
Most commonly, counterfeit drug scams operate on the internet, where seniors increasingly go to find better prices on specialized medications.
3. Funeral and cemetery scams
In one approach, scammers read obituaries and call or attend the funeral service of a complete stranger to take advantage of the grieving widow or widower. Claiming the deceased had an outstanding debt with them, scammers will try to extort money from relatives to settle the fake debts.
4. Fraudulent anti-aging products
In a society bombarded with images of the young and beautiful, it’s not surprising that some older people feel the need to conceal their age in order to participate more fully in social circles and the workplace. After all, 60 is the new 40, right? It is in this spirit that many older Americans seek out new treatments and medications to maintain a youthful appearance, putting them at risk of scammers.
5. Telemarketing/phone scams
Perhaps the most common scheme is when scammers use fake telemarketing calls to prey on older people, who as a group make twice as many purchases over the phone than the national average.
6. Internet fraud
While using the internet is a great skill at any age, the slower speed of adoption among some older people makes them easier targets for automated internet scams. For example, a senior receives email messages that appear to be from a legitimate company or institution, asking them to “update” or “verify” their personal information.
7. The grandparent scam
This scam is so simple and so devious because it uses one of older adults’ most reliable assets—their hearts. Scammers will place a call to an older person and when the mark picks up, they will say something along the lines of, “Hi grandma, do you know who this is?” When the unsuspecting grandparent guesses the name of the grandchild the scammer most sounds like, the scammer has established a fake identity without having done any background research. Once “in,” the fake grandchild will usually ask for money to solve some financial problem, like overdue rent or payment for car repairs.
8. Online dating scams
As older people start using online dating sites at higher rates, they run the risk of falling for online romance scams. The scammers connect with lonely people online and move fast to establish a bond with them. Then they use that bond to extract money from the victims to deal with a series of fake emergencies, from a lost wallet to a sick pet. This scam is called catfishing.
9. Charity scams
Charity scams are particularly nasty because they take advantage of the mark’s desire to help others. These scams often pop up in the wake of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane. Fake charities solicit funds to help the victims of a disaster, but not one penny of the money they collect ever reaches these victims.
10. Bogus magazine sales
This type of scam entails young people knocking on doors to sell magazine subscriptions to “raise money” for a good cause, a school trip, or some other charity that the elderly are likely to fall for. Once the victim gives money, he or she will not receive any magazine subscriptions nor know where the money went.
Con artists and scammers who prey on the elderly rely on two things: the assumption that the elderly are unfamiliar with modern technology and that the elderly are unaware of all the different ways to have their personal information stolen.
Whenever you feel the least bit suspicious of an email, a phone call, a personal visit, or anything else, never give out personal information. Remember, if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Be safe and aware! Next month, in part 2 of 2, we will detail tips to protect yourself from scams and what to do if you are scammed.
Daniel J. Jachimiak, BA, is a Feature Writer/Journalist and Speaker. Dan can be reached at djachimiak@bex.net or 419-787-2036.
~ You can have a better life ~
