More Scams That Target Seniors

Previously, we looked at some popular and very contemporary scams that target seniors. Sadly, new scams are just the tip of the iceberg, of course. Here we take a look at a selection of perhaps more well-known scams that target seniors.

Other scams that target seniors include the following:

• Fundraising: Many elderly people give money over the phone to organizations that sound like they are doing good. However, many fundraising campaigns are handled by third party organizations that take a deep cut of "donations" - as high as 90% in fact; in the case of outright scammers, the figure is, of course, 100%. Many of us simply turn down telemarketers but many elderly people are too trusting.
  
  Fundraising schemes can also fall under…..



• Door-to-door scams. These are myriad and include fundraising as well as roof repairs, house washing, yard work and many, many others. These operate in a variety of ways. In some cases, the "worker" will give an estimate and then explain to the trusting elder that the job cost more than he thought and he (or she) will get into trouble with the boss so the charges are higher than they originally "estimated." All too often, the work is done in a shoddy manner and the worker may even cause damage to the house or property. Door-to-door sales are often scams or at least very over-priced.



• The trusted face. There are legal organizations spoken for by familiar, trusted people who will cross the line into the scam zone. American Family Publishers used trusted spokespeople like Ed McMahon and Dick Clark and still violated laws. They were sued, lost and agreed to pay a number of states $1.25 million for violations and were ordered to cease illegal promotional tactics. According to US Attorney General Christine Gregoire, they crossed the line into deception when they suggested to consumers in mass mailings that the recipient was one of only two recipients with a winning number.



• There are probably too many scams to outline in one or even several articles. Crooks are as creative as the rest of the population, unfortunately. To name a few, though, some of the more pernicious scams can involve fake lottery wins, offers of bogus prizes, oppressed persons needing money (now known as the Nigeria scam but still very much around), low cost pills, get rich quick schemes and more variations than we can list.

You should be sure your parents understand that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is and if someone really needs help there are authorities who are better suited to help them.

The number of possible scams is really overwhelming. Actual examples of seniors scams might make you a bit sad about the state of the world.

Earlier this year an Indiana woman whose husband had just died answered the door to a man who claimed to represent Visa. He asked her for her husband's credit card telling her it belonged to Visa and the confused, distraught woman handed it over to a con artist who promptly went on a multi-thousand dollar shopping spree. The police officer involved says, "Criminals like that don't really care. They just want cash and whoever they hurt – whether it be the elderly, the young or in between – they don't care."

Sad, indeed, but true, also. There are ways to arm your parents against scammers. We'll look at those coming up soon.