The Nice Guy Doesn\u2019t Always Win: Avoid Scams<\/p>\n
The vast majority of people are worthy of our trust. Particularly those with whom we most often come in contact because they\u2019re likely to be part of the same community, have common friends, and adhere to similar values. But it is absolutely true that there are people who should never be trusted. As unfortunate as that reality may be, we do ourselves a great disservice if we don\u2019t keep it tucked away in the back of our minds when approached by someone asking us for money, personal information, or access to our residence.<\/p>\n
Financial Scams Often Target Seniors<\/span> Why are seniors such common targets? Well, for a few reasons: they tend to have above average amounts of accumulated wealth; some are lonely and fall victim to those projecting friendliness; a high proportion of the elderly \u2014 particularly widows \u2014 may not be accustomed to managing household finances; seniors tend not to be familiar with modern financial systems; and there are some with diminished mental capabilities.<\/p>\n The Impact of the Internet and Cell Phones<\/span> Cell phones are also a relatively new entry into our daily lives, yet have become nearly ubiquitous. Much like the Internet, cell phones can be abused for illicit financial gain at high volume. Robo-calls \u2014 which are phone calls made by a computerized autodialer that deliver a pre-recorded message \u2014 can target thousands of people with ease. If only a small percentage of people fall for a deceptive message delivered to tens of thousands, the rewards to the scammers can be significant. Adding to the effectiveness, these phone calls and\/or delivered messages often catch the recipient off guard and may assume a tone of urgency. Seniors may act in haste and divulge sensitive information before properly assessing the request.<\/p>\n In summary, the Internet and cell phones carry an implied sense of credibility for many seniors because they represent such impressive technological advances, yet the dishonest can leverage that assumed credibility to enhance their chances of deception. Additionally, Internet and cell phone scams have the advantages of high volume and anonymity.<\/p>\n Other Forms of Scams<\/span> Common Financial Scams<\/span> Common Themes<\/span> If you\u2019re hit with an email, letter, phone call, sales call, or any solicitation that contains one or more of the above, take a moment to consider if the action being requested of you could put your finances at exposure to risk.<\/p>\n Defensive Measures<\/span> On the Bright Side<\/span> CiminoCare\u2019s trained staff members are on the lookout for situations that may present the opportunity for financial abuse or outright fraud. If we hear residents speak of suspicious solicitations, stories of unexpected financial windfalls, or discussion of distant relatives in urgent need of financial assistance, these are red flags that may warrant sharing with management and that resident\u2019s family members.<\/p>\n But the best defense is prevention at the point of contact. We encourage families to discuss the prevalence of financial scams so that all ages can be on-guard against fraud; this is not a crime restricted to our older loved ones. With just a bit of extra awareness and diligence, scams are easily avoided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s no surprise that the common image of a kind, loving \u2014 and sometimes lonely \u2014 senior citizen represents an attractive target for that rare individual who seeks financial gain through fraud. For a host of reasons, not least of which is their tendency to have gathered a financial reserve over their lifetime, seniors are particularly susceptible to financial scams. This is exacerbated by the advent of the Internet and cell phones, two technologies which are relatively new to older adults, but to which they have quickly become very dependent. Fortunately, simply knowing about some of these scams can help prevent falling victim to any of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":413,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ciminocare.com\/citrus-heights-terrace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Regrettably, seniors are a popular target of financial scams. It is estimated that seniors are duped out of a total of $1+ billion every year, although we\u2019ve seen estimates as high as $4+ billion. And even those estimates are widely believed to be low because most financial losses are assumed to go unreported.<\/p>\n
For most young people, it\u2019s difficult to imagine a world without the Internet, that seemingly endless sea of instant information and entertainment that\u2019s almost always right at our fingertips. But the Internet didn\u2019t really hit mainstream America until about 1995. That means that for many of us, it simply wasn\u2019t a part of our childhood and young adult years. For that reason, the Internet is relatively new territory for those of us born before, say, 1970. And new territory almost always comes with both opportunity and risk. As it relates to the topic of scams, the Internet allows swindlers to reach large numbers of people with relative ease; convincingly impersonate friends, relatives, and\/or companies; operate in obscurity, frequently from outside the United States; and accommodate the transfer of money electronically. Yet, for many seniors, the Internet is an easy way to maintain contact with the outside world, so their exposure to online scammers may be significant.<\/p>\n
Not all scams occur online or by phone. Any interaction between a senior and a \u201ctrusted\u201d advisor is an opportunity for a less-than-virtuous person to take financial advantage of the situation. And in some cases, the abuse may not be illegal, but it could meet the definition of a scam in the sense that it is a scheme to wrest an inappropriate sum of money from someone. Below are some all-too-real examples of how seniors fall victim to the dishonest:<\/p>\n\n
There is a near endless range of opportunities to defraud, but it\u2019s worth reviewing a few of the more common approaches to both prepare for these specific schemes and to develop a pattern of thinking that could protect against other types of fraud.<\/p>\n\n
There are certain commonalities to most financial scams that can be used to detect possible threats. These include the following:<\/p>\n\n
If you sense the possibility of a scam, stop and think before you act. Rarely is immediate action required for a legitimate offer, opportunity, or even a \u201ccrisis\u201d. When in doubt, ask for contact information and tell them you\u2019ll be in touch with an answer after you\u2019ve had time to think. (If they refuse to provide it, you probably jus avoided a scam). Then research the entity by other means. Consider contacting someone you can trust to help assess the situation. You may even want to do some online research to see if others have fallen victim to the same pitch. In almost all cases, never provide confidential information such as account numbers, usernames, or passwords.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the vast majority of those interacting with seniors or providing services on their behalf are motivated by all the right reasons and can be trusted to the fullest extent. And most seniors are surely able to detect a con artist when one approaches. So the above information is not meant to create an unhealthy sense of paranoia or mistrust, it\u2019s meant to simply raise everyone\u2019s awareness level and, possibly, promote some discussion about ways to spot scams and protect oneself from them.<\/p>\n