There seems to be no end to the schemes people come up with to scam senior citizens. The newspaper in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, reports on a new high-tech scams aimed at the elderly.

Sgt. Joseph Laguzzi of the Carbondale Police tells the newspaper, “If a person has anything posted online which contains their voice, scam artists can use the technology that’s available to manipulate the recording, change the wording and then contact that person’s family member to make it sound like a distress call from their loved one.”

“So a grandmother will get a call from what sounds like her grandson saying he’s in jail and needs a large amount of cash wired via Western Union that day to bail him out, or something along those lines.”

Laguzzi said, according the news report, that people can oftentimes be so frightened and pressured by these calls that they send out whatever amount is requested without ever checking first with other family members or the local police to verify the information they’ve been given. And once the transaction is made, he noted that it’s practically impossible to track down the perpetrators or retrieve the stolen money.

Senior citizens and their families should be especially aware of fraud schemes for the following reasons:

● Senior citizens are most likely to have a “nest egg,” to own their home, and/or to have excellent credit—all of which make them attractive to con artists.

● People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Con artists exploit these traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say “no” or just hang up the telephone.

● Older Americans are less likely to report a fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed, or don’t know they have been scammed. Elderly victims may not report crimes, for example, because they are concerned that relatives may think the victims no longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.

● When an elderly victim does report the crime, they often make poor witnesses. Con artists know the effects of age on memory, and they are counting on elderly victims not being able to supply enough detailed information to investigators. In addition, the victims’ realization that they have been swindled may take weeks—or more likely, months—after contact with the fraudster. This extended time frame makes it even more difficult to remember details from the events.

● Senior citizens are more interested in and susceptible to products promising increased cognitive function, virility, physical conditioning, anti-cancer properties, and so on. In a country where new cures and vaccinations for old diseases have given every American hope for a long and fruitful life, it is not so unbelievable that the con artists’ products can do what they claim.

Source:  www.senior jourmal.com

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