According to a study, seniors lose approximately $2.6 billion each year to financial fraud. People over 50 are often targeted because scammers know they are trusting of others in the marketplace and rely heavily on telephone communication. Some signs an elderly parent may be targeted include receiving 20 or more unknown calls per day or junk mail from scammers. Common phone scams include impersonators claiming to be from credit card or government agencies seeking personal information, or pretending to be a grandchild in trouble. Seniors should be wary of any requests for private details and verify suspicious calls by contacting agencies directly.
2. Who Scammers Target
According to a 2009 study by MetLife’s
Mature Market Institute, seniors lose
approximately $2.6 billion each year due to
financial fraud.
3. Who Scammers Target
People older than 50 possess
characteristics that make them easy targets
for financial abuse such as expecting
honesty in the marketplace. It is important to
educate your parents about the untruthful
people behind these operations.
4. Signs of Fraud
Some signs that your elderly parent may be
a prime target for fraud include 20 or more
unknown telephone callers per day.
5. Signs of Fraud
The scammers know that a majority of the
senior citizen generation rely heavily on their
landlines, and will not hang up the phone as
quickly as your generation.
6. A few Popular Telephone Scams to
Look out for
If your parents are more receptive to phone
calls, there is a good chance they are likely
to receive junk mail letters from the same
scammers.
7. Credit Card Company Call
This call includes an impersonator who says
he’s from the credit card company and can
identify the last four digits of the senior’s
account number.
The scammer has probably already copied
the account number.
8. Credit Card Company Call
He states he is checking on a potential
fraudulent purchase and he needs the
senior to state the three- digit verification
code on the back of the credit card.
9. Credit Card Company Call
The senior should hang the phone up and
immediately call their credit card company
where they will likely figure out the first call
was a scam.
10. Grandparents Scheme
When the senior answers the phone, a
childish voice responds somewhere along
the lines with, “Hey Grandma, do you know
who this is? I’m in trouble and I need your
help. Please do not tell my parents.”
11. Grandparents Scheme
The grandparent should know to never
immediately identify herself and the caller
will give up if the grandparent challenges the
caller.
12. Social Security Fraud
This scam involves thieves trying to steal
personal information and calling the Social
Security Administration and asking them to
change the location to send the payment to
the scammers’ bank accounts.
13. Social Security Fraud
You should make sure your elderly parents
know to be aware of any request of personal
information and to call the SSA whenever
they suspect fraud.
