Courtesy of Minding Our Elders

Most of us know of elders who have been scammed. Because seniors are often trusting, and they are not necessarily used to automated phone calls and email phishing scams, they can fall victim to a crook and lose a lifetime of savings. Often, once aware they have lost their money, they are ashamed and don’t want to reveal it to their families or get involved with the police.

One of the most common scams elders fall for is possible because someone who has gained personal information about them (not hard to do on the Internet) calls and pretends to be a grandchild in danger of being imprisoned in a foreign jail if money isn’t wired immediately. Elders may become convinced this is true because the caller seems to know so much information. They wire money and are defrauded. Then, once elders figure out they’ve been scammed, they feel vulnerable, even stupid, which they aren’t. They just did what felt right and honorable.

There are many less obvious scams, including “caregivers” hired to help. These people befriend an elder and then start bleeding them financially. I’m not talking about an elder who wants to reward a helper with a tip. There’s nothing wrong with that if the elder can afford it. But many times (this happened to my grandmother), checks are taken and forged, or cash is stolen.

This is nothing new. Years ago, my neighbor, Joe, got used to letting his paper carrier into his house to “use the bathroom.” Joe was totally deaf, and that made him an easy mark. He also left his doors unlocked all day and most nights. One day, Joe’s wallet was stolen. Luckily, someone who knew me found Joe’s wallet and credit cards just a few blocks away, and since Joe had my name in his wallet, this acquaintance called me. I recovered Joe’s wallet and cards. A significant amount of cash was missing. We did call the police, even though Joe didn’t want to. I explained that if this person stole from him, he would from others, too, so he reluctantly agreed.

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