Scams
Don’t let the Grinch steal the holidays! Each year, millions of elderly Americans fall victim to some type of financial fraud. The FBI explains seniors are the perfect target for scammers because they typically have more money (retirement savings, a paid-for home), they’re less likely to report fraud, and can be experiencing memory loss (a…
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One major concern for vulnerable older adults is financial exploitation. Almost daily, we hear stories of older adults being taken advantage of or falling for a financial scheme. Financial exploitation of older adults is pervasive, expensive, and difficult to detect. As NPR reported, “as we get older, we become more vulnerable to fraud in so…
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I never stop being disgusted and enraged by scams targeting seniors. Recently, we heard from a family whose 78-year-old father was being victimized by a scammer. This man was a veteran and had worked hard for his savings over the last six decades. The scammer was convincing this veteran to donate money to support…
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Preventing identity theft is the purpose of the new Medicare ID cards. Because a person’s Social Security number is currently on Medicare ID cards, this number, (used by Social Security Administration, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, state Medicaid agencies, health care providers and health plans), is subject to misuse in the hands of an unscrupulous person.…
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“My dad has early stages of dementia. He hasn’t been diagnosed, but we’ve been noticing some major changes over the last year and a half. My mom just discovered that he’s been taking out thousands of dollars from their checking account. When asked about it, he says that he’s just helping a friend out and…
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New Medicare cards that will protect your Social Security number will find their way into your wallets next year. Already there are warnings about the changeover to protect you against scammers. The design for the new Medicare card is expected to be revealed this month and TV ads have already begun talking about the new…
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A report by the Wall Street Journal states that 43 percent of older Americans exhibit one or more signs of financial victimization. Yet, a Merrill Lynch study indicates that phone-scammers and other spammer schemes represent only about 4.5 percent of elder financial fraud. So where does the greatest percentage of financial victimization come from? Surprisingly,…
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Do Not Call doesn’t seem to work. Blocking doesn’t seem to work. What to do? Since January of this year, almost 6,000 scams involving phone calls have been reported to the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker. As soon as one picks up the phone, their number is registered as active and can be sold for…
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The Georgia Department of Human Services has been awarded a $10,000 AARP BankSafe Initiative Grant to help fight the loss of retirement savings among its aging population. One in five older adults fall victim to financial exploitation, each losing an average of $120,000, as reported by AARP. Nationwide, seniors lose $3 billion to financial abuse…
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A new warning has been issued by the Federal Trade Commission to beware of credit-card skimmers. Skimmers are relatively new devices that use a new technique to capture data on ATM and credit cards, ripping off their victims. A skimmer is a small device that affixes to a card reader, most commonly put on ATMs…
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