Compassionate Senior Care

We hear about this far too many times: a vulnerable elderly person gets a phone call, letter or email promising lottery winnings, inheritances, or some other vast sum of money. All they need to do, they’re told, is to provide bank account information and and some other personal details.  Elderly people who are isolated, stressed, and struggling to handle day-to-day finances on their own are especially vulnerable to these schemes.

I read about a shocking recent case in the Wall Sreet Journal, ‘A Family’s Fight to Save an Elder From Scammers,’ and it has some helpful tips on protecting the seniors you love. Most importantly:

• Sign up their cellphones and landlines on the FTC’s Do Not Call Reigstry at DoNotCall.gov

• Put a short script by the phone for responding to telemarketers, something like “I’m very busy right now and cannot talk. Please remove me from your list.”

• Call the AARP Foundation’s Fraud Fighter Call Center at 1-800-646-2283

If the loved one has responded to a scammer, be supportive, not critical or judgmental. Explain that it happens to many people, and they are not alone.

Have you had any experiences with the seniors in your life being targeted by scammers or victimized by fraud operations?

The FTC estimated that more than 30 million people were victims of marketing frauds in 2005 alone, and the numbers are rising.