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According to a recent Senate committee report, scammers jilt older Americans out of about 2.9 billion dollars each year. Residents of our senior living communities aren’t immune to these scams. As more elders have access to computers and spend increasingly more time online, the risk continues to rise.
During the pandemic, many of our elders are spending time alone, and scammers prey on their loneliness and desire for human connection. Also, older adults tend to be more trusting and less tech-savvy than younger generations. Add cognitive losses to the mix, and you have the perfect setting for a scam.
Let’s look at 7 of the most common scams affecting older adults:
Charity Scams
Natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes bring out the generosity in people who want to help. But, they also bring out scammers who prey on kindness. By spoofing a phone number or creating a website that mimics a reputable charity, they collect donations that never reach disaster victims.
This may also happen on a local level. I once received a phone call from a pleasant gentleman who claimed to be collecting money for a police charity in our city. While it sounded legitimate, I politely declined and then called the non-emergency number at the police department. The dispatcher told me no such charity existed.
Product Scams
These scams are on the rise with the advent of COVID-19. Scammers prey on people’s fears and advertise fake products to prevent or treat coronavirus or other medical conditions.
After collecting credit card information, they either send nothing or send something worthless. While many of these products do no harm, some may contain herbs or other ingredients that can be dangerous or may interfere with prescription medications.
Grandchild Scams
Most people have heard of this one, yet it’s incredible how many people still fall for it. This scam involves a phone call from someone who claims to be a grandchild in trouble. It may involve a car accident, a legal issue, overdue rent, or some other urgent need.
The “grandchild” asks for money—usually as a wire transfer, gift cards, or cash sent in the mail. They also ask that the grandparent keep the situation a secret to avoid embarrassing the child or upsetting the parents.
I personally know a woman who fell for this scam. She’s an active, intelligent older woman, and it stunned me when I heard her story. This speaks to the fact that these scammers are incredibly adept at making the calls seem real. Fortunately, in her case, a bank teller picked up on the fact that something wasn’t right and alerted the bank manager before she sent any money.
Death Scams
These scammers comb through obituaries, then contact widows or widowers and claim their spouse had an outstanding debt with them. The surviving spouse, feeling grief-stricken and overwhelmed, might pay the scammer without checking the facts.
The worst part is that once a person has fallen for one of these tricks, scammers often pass the victim’s information along to other scammers. As a result, they often take advantage of elders more than once.
Computer Virus Scams
I’m betting many of you have seen this one, and most of us immediately recognized it as a scam. Yet, for an older adult who may be new to online technology, this seems real.
Either a message pops up on your computer screen, or someone calls you and tells you a virus has infected your computer. For a fee, the scammer claims they’ll fix it for you. Worse yet, they may request remote access to your computer and add malware or steal personal information. In reality, there’s nothing wrong with your computer, and nothing needs fixing.
Sweepstakes Scams
Who doesn’t love to win a free prize? In this scam, the victim receives an email or phone call, claiming they’ve won a valuable prize. The catch is that the winner needs to pay a fee to cover taxes or shipping costs before they can claim the prize.
Of course, there is no prize, and the victim loses their money. Worse yet, the scammer may ask for personal information to claim the prize, such as a social security number, and use this to steal their identity.
Government Scams
This scam starts with a phone call from someone claiming to represent a government agency such as the IRS, Social Security Administration, or Medicare. They tell the victim they need to collect personal information to update their account, or they say the victim owes money to the agency.
These scammers often use threats to get money. For example, they might tell the victim they’ll be arrested if they don’t pay overdue taxes immediately. Or, they might claim the victim missed jury duty, and they’ll go to jail if they don’t pay a fine.
Sadly, thousands of these scams go unreported every year. Elders, often feeling embarrassed or stupid to have fallen for these tricks, don’t want anyone to know what happened. They may fear people will think they’re developing Alzheimer’s disease, or they worry that their financial independence might be taken away.
So, what can we do to prevent these tragedies? Please come back next week and learn how to help a loved one avoid these scams. In the meantime, if you or someone you know has been the victim of a scam, I would love to hear your story. Please share it in the comment section.
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