Watch Out for These 5 Scams Targeting Seniors
By Louis DeNicola, Cheapism.com
Scams that target seniors can be especially profitable for thieves because the elderly often have a lifetime worth of savings squirreled away. The FBI notes that seniors are also vulnerable because their generation was raised to be polite and trusting, and with age taking a toll on memory they often make poor witnesses after the fact.
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Major policy changes and crises serve as springboards for scammers eager to fleece people. After the Boston bombing last year and the Haiti earthquake in 2010 fake charities netted thousands of dollars supposedly intended to help victims. Last year the AARP reported that scammers started using the Affordable Care Act as a basis to con folks out of their personal information and money.
According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) annual report, approximately 290,000 complaints of online fraud were filed in 2012, with a plurality coming from 40 to 59 year olds. Meanwhile, scams involving intimidation and extortion cost seniors an estimated $3 million dollars last year, more than any other demographic group.
Read on to learn about five scams that specifically target seniors. Everyone, however, should be wary.
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Some schemes start with a phone call. A 2013 case involved a company that called seniors (even those on the National Do Not Call Registry) to hawk a pendant for 24-hour medical-alert monitoring. The device was sometimes shipped and invoiced absent an order, and an FTC report notes that the company frequently threatened legal action and verbally abused seniors who didn't pay. Other telemarketing scams involve free prizes or lottery winnings, cheap vacation offers, and low-cost drugs or vitamins.
Health insurance fraud is often directed at the elderly by perpetrators who lever the term "Medicare" while seeking personal information. There have been schemes in which a mobile "healthcare lab" parks at retirement homes, malls, or health clubs and fake or unnecessary tests are administered on "patients" and their identifying information used to bill insurance companies and Medicare. Similar rackets involving unneeded medical equipment also target seniors.
In the "Grandparent Scam" elderly individuals are called by impersonators claiming to be either a grandchild who has run into financial or legal difficulties while in another country or a lawyer or U.S. official at a foreign embassy. The targeted senior is begged not to tell the "grandchild's" parents and to wire money to a bail bondsman. The scammers often call from other countries but use a fake telephone number to avoid detection.
Related: Comprehensive guide to senior discounts
Because a small part of all of us prefers to be young forever, fake products promising youthful vibrancy and breakthrough treatments with no side effects hold appeal. Some may be harmless sugar pills that hurt only the victim's wallet but others, such as fake Botox, can cause temporary paralysis or other physical harm. Schemes involving the sale of cheap counterfeit prescription drugs also target seniors and sometimes cause serious injury.
A retirement nest egg that grows can be the hook for deceitful investment "opportunities." These may be pyramid, Ponzi, or advance-fee schemes, or the now infamous "419" fraud in which a foreign national (often a "Nigerian prince") requests money and finagles access to personal and financial data with the lure of sharing his immense wealth. Advance fee schemes typically involve the sale of a product or service or arranging a so-called profitable venture in exchange for a finder's fee. Of course, once the fee is paid the scammer disappears.
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