Scams and The Elderly: Signs To Watch For

A few months ago I wrote about hackers and their ability to make our life difficult. Another concern is the assault on the elderly by those perpetuating scams of various types. As is often the case the most vulnerable are the most likely targets.

The folllowing information was supplied by TrueLink, a service that helps protect folks from this type of indignity. I found the list worth presenting to you.


Red Flags That Your Aging Relative is Suffering from Financial Exploitation

1. Missing funds – This is the obvious one. If mom is a victim of elder financial exploitation – whether it's by a family member, a fraud ring, or a predatory marketing scheme – she's going to have less money as a result. Watch for unpaid bills or extra credit cards lying around, and keep an eye on the gifts being given during the holidays. If she’s giving dramatically less or dramatically more this year compared to last year, it could be time to have a conversation and check out her finances.

2. Lots of phone calls from telemarketers – Telemarketers know that older adults are particularly vulnerable to their tactics. And once they discover a viable target the calls can come nonstop, even if your parent is on a Do Not Call list. Take note of how many calls come during your visit. You may be surprised to find out that telemarketers call your parent more often than you or the grandkids do. Every one of those calls is a financial mishap waiting to happen.

3. New friends – All too often these senior entrapment schemes rely on the perception that the senior is susceptible, isolated, or even lonely. This is a tactic used by con artists, malicious caregivers, predatory telemarketers, and deceptive infomercial offers alike – "Just get the senior talking!" The more they build a trusting relationship, the more likely they are to get their money. If someone is suddenly spending a lot of time with mom or dad, get to know who the person is and what the nature of the relationship is. It might be a good time to do a quick review of their bank accounts and credit cards.

4. Small clues in conversations – Sometimes if dad says something that doesn't quite make sense, you just brush over it. He mentions a grandson's trip to Mexico and you think to yourself "oh, he must mean Florida and got confused." However, he could be talking about falling victim to the grandparent scam, in which someone posing as a relative in a tough situation cons the elderly person into wiring money abroad.

5. Unusual gifts - Family is often the most important thing to a senior, and so “gifts for family members” are often used as bait for financial entrapment by deceptive merchants. They might offer four for the price of one as part of a misleading sales pitch, and then the other three become gifts for family members. Or a sweepstakes or lottery winnings fraud will claim that a senior is going to get to take their family on an exciting trip abroad.

6. Secrecy – Seniors suffering from financial entrapment often feel fear or shame about the situation they are in. If mom or dad suddenly doesn't want to talk about money anymore, that's exactly the time when maybe you should be having a conversation about money.


“Family caregivers know best when something just doesn’t seem right,” says Kai Stinchcombe, whose company, True Link (www.truelinkfinancial.com) offers a service that prevents such financial exploitation. True Link offers a Visa debit card that allows caregivers to set spending limits for specific vendors, receive alerts about unusual purchases, or block suspicious purchases all together."





Satisfying Retirement presents this information for informational purposes only and has no connection to TrueLink nor is the publication an implied endorsement of their services. Satisfying Retirement has received no compensation for this post