Outrageous Scams that Target Senior Citizens

It is absolutely reprehensible that there are scams that specifically target senior citizens.  Unfortunately, the scammers know that many senior citizens are lonely, friendly, helpful, easily confused and, in some cases, have slight dementia, which makes it difficult for them to determine whether or not they are being told lies.  Most of these scams take place by phone.  While many senior citizens refuse to accept calls from strangers, others can find themselves victimized by a simple phone call.

Bill Collector Scams

For example, if someone calls and tells them that they have "forgotten" to pay a bill and the collector says that they are just trying to help them out by calling them personally, a senior citizen is much more likely than younger adults to give the collector their debit or credit card information over the phone.  The phony bill collector may also take a threatening tone.  They may claim that the victim's electricity or cable will be cut off if they don't pay their bill over the phone immediately.  The senior citizen may be embarrassed to think that they forgot to pay a bill.  They may be afraid that others will think they have dementia or that they are not capable of handling their personal affairs.  This fear may be stronger than their natural sense of suspicion.

Charitable Scams

Another type of scam is the charitable scam.  Someone from an official sounding charity may call the home asking the senior citizen to help feed poor people in their neighborhood.  Again, the senior citizen may provide their credit or debit card information because they want to be helpful.  The truth is that they have no idea if the person placing the call actually belongs to a charity.  The senior citizen may also find that they get charged far more than they expected.  Once again, they may be too confused or embarrassed to question the charge.

According to the newspaper for my retirement community, here are other current scams that are targeting senior citizens:

Medicare Fraud - The scammer gets the senior citizen to give them their personal information, including Social Security number, birth date and Medicare information.  Then, the scammer may use this info to bill Medicare for phony medical procedures and keep the money for themselves.

Funeral and Cemetery Scams - In these cases, the scammers read the obituaries, attend funerals and tell the relatives that the deceased person owed them money.

Counterfeit Prescription Drugs - Prescription medicine can be a major expense for some of the elderly.  As a result, some of them attempt to purchase their prescriptions online.  Sadly, what they receive may be fake and the senior citizens can end up not having the medications they need.  This can be a life-threatening scam.  The television show, "Sixty Minutes," has featured the issue of counterfeit prescription drugs at least twice in 2015.  However, people still fall for this scam, because they sometimes have trouble paying for their drugs.

Anti-Aging Products - Although we all know there is no fountain of youth, far too many people hope that they will maintain their youth, strength, appearance or virility, if they can just find the right combination of creams and supplements.  Often they buy things that will not help them at all and, in some cases, may actually bring them harm.

Telemarketing Sales - Scammers know that the elderly are twice as likely as younger adults to buy products over the phone.  Unfortunately, most of the time they don't even need these products.  In some cases, they pay for the items they buy, but never receive them.  In other cases, they receive an item that is not worth anything close to what they paid for it.

Lottery / Prize Scams - In these scams, the senior citizen is called and told that they have won a large prize, such as a trip or cash.  However, they are told that first they must pay the taxes on the item they won.  This is against federal law.  No one should ever have to pay up-front in order to receive a prize.  If someone asks you to do this, you know that it is a scam.

The Grandparent Scam - This is one that has been covered on this blog several times.  This occurs when a teen calls and either is crying and begging their grandparents to send them money OR they are screaming in the background while someone else says the teen has been kidnapped and the grandparents need to send money to get them released.  In either case, it is a horrifying scam.

Being forewarned is forearmed.  We all need to educate ourselves about these scams in order to protect ourselves from being the victim of the next scam.  When in doubt, get your friends or other family members involved, too.  People are less likely to fall for a scam if they discuss these phone calls with other people.

You are reading from the blog:  http://lies-and-liars.blogspot.com

Photo credit:  www.morguefile.com

Be Suspicious of Phony Holiday Charities

During the holidays we are often bombarded with heart-breaking letters from charities who are begging us for money so they can help starving children around the world.  Often they are accompanied with photos of starving, lonely or sad children from other countries.  As much as we want to help, most of us have limited resources and can only give to one or two charities.  As a result, we want to make sure that the money we give goes to the best charities possible.  How can we know for sure that we are giving to a legitimate charity and not one that is little more than a scam?

Rules for Avoiding Charity Scams

Do not let phone callers pressure you into making a donation immediately.  Ask them to mail you more information so that you have time to think about it.

Give to well-known, reputable charities.  For example, make your donation to your local church, television station or food bank.  You may also want to donate to internationally recognized charities like the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, World Vision and UNICEF.  If someone in your family suffers from a chronic illness, you may want to donate to the charitable organization that is doing research into that illness.  Your doctor may be able to suggest a reputable charity to you.

Investigate the Charity

If you have any doubt at all that you are donating to a reputable charity, you may want to check them out before making a donation.  One way to do this is to contact the Wise Giving Alliance at the Better Business Bureau.

Take your time before making a donation so that you feel confident that the money you donate will be used for the purpose you intend.  If you regularly donate money to charities, you are certainly a person with a big heart. Don't let unscrupulous people hurt or disappoint you.  Take the time to make sure that what you are doing will really make a difference.

You may also want to read:

Phony iPad Hoax
Security Breaches Endanger Your Personal Information
How to Avoid ATM Theft, Scams and Skimmers

You are reading from the blog:  http://lies-and-liars.blogspot.com

Photo of child courtesy of www.morguefile.com