Elderly people tend to be at much higher risk of scams than younger people. Unfortunately, as scammers are willing to use every trick in the book to find someone they can prey on, they’re willing to target elderly individuals to try and get money from them. Whether you’re elderly yourself or you’re trying to keep an elderly person in your life safe, here’s some extra information on how to spot seven of the most popular senior scams.
1. Government Impersonation Scams
In a government impersonation scam, a scammer contacts their mark claiming to be from a government agency, like the Social Security Administration, the IRS or Medicare. They may claim they’ll deport or arrest you if you don’t pay them a certain amount of money or provide them with identifying information immediately. Government organizations will never call you and demand immediate payment over the phone, so if faced with this, just hang up.
2. The Grandparent Scam
This is one of the more sinister scams. In this scam, a scammer calls up an elderly individual, then typically asks, “Hi Grandpa, do you know who this is?” The elderly person will take a guess, using one of their grandchildren’s names, and the scammer has a fake identity without having to do any research. They’ll ask for money for bail, rent, car repairs or something else urgent, then run off with the money.
3. Medicare Scams
Because all Americans over the age of 65 are eligible for Medicare, this makes them easy targets for Medicare scams. With these scams, a scammer poses as a Medicare representative, then reaches out to elderly people to try and get them to pay for something or to give them personal information like a Social Security Number. As with government impersonation scams, these scammers may threaten legal repercussions.
4. Sweepstakes and Lottery Scams
With this scam, a scammer contacts someone and lets them know they’ve won some kind of giveaway or sweepstakes. The only catch is that the person who won has to pay some money to gain access to their winnings. However, as soon as the victim pays up, the scammer will run off with the money. The best way to avoid these scams is to remember that you can only win a sweepstakes you actually entered.
5. Romance Scams
This is an especially sad type of scam that deliberately preys on people’s desire for love. It’s especially common with elderly people who are single. With these scams, someone will pretend to be romantically interested in someone, building up a relationship sometimes over weeks, months and even years. Then they’ll claim they need money for expenses like travel, visas and even daily necessities like rent. Eventually, once they’ve drained their target of thousands of dollars, they’ll often cut and run.
6. Charity Scams
Charity scams play on the desire to do good that many people feel. If you’re interested in giving to charity, it can feel good to donate some money to someone who calls to give you information on a particular charity they’re running. However, it’s also important that you do some research on charities. It’s possible that someone has completely made up a charity and is just calling people to try and scam them out of their money. Doing research will help you avoid these scams.
7. Robocalling and General Phone Scams
Robocalling is a technological tool that allows someone to dial large batches of numbers, then only connect those calls to a person when someone actually picks up. They may claim your warranty is expiring, try to sell you a product, or do something else entirely. One of the best ways to block these scams is to use a mobile app like IdentityWatch. IdentityWatch, the free mobile app from PeopleFinders, offers auto call blocking from an up-to-date scammer and spammer list, making it easier for you to avoid scam phone calls. It can also just keep you from wasting your time picking up on useless phone calls.
Conclusion
Elderly people are often at a much higher risk for scams, but with a bit of information and some help from family, friends and PeopleFinders, it’s possible for elderly people to avoid getting scammed overall. Whether you’re helping to take care of an older person or you’re a senior citizen yourself, it’s important that you know about this for a safer world overall.
Image Attribution: Andrey Popov – stock.adobe.com
