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Elderly citizens could be losing at least $2.6 billion per year to scammers who prey on the elderly, according to some conservative estimates. Who are these scammers? They are friends, family members, and sometimes total strangers.
Scamming is getting so bad that the head of adult services for Virginia’s Department of Social Services believes that scamming is going on more and more – and it happens every day.
In some cases, scammers are family members looking to take advantage of an elderly family member. They may use emotional appeals to get the elder to hand over money, or they may use more subtle forms of fraud to insert themselves into the elder’s financial world.
Strangers typically scam elders by spending time canvassing suburban neighborhoods. They prey on elderly residents who may have trouble doing their own home maintenance or gardening. These scammers promise to do work for the elder, then they make off with the payment without finishing the promised tasks.
You can protect your elderly relatives by keeping track of what is going on with their financial accounts. If you notice anything irregular – checks written to people you don’t know, unusual ATM or credit card activity – you can investigate further to find out if fraud is afoot.
Unfortunately, as scammers become more bold and elderly Virginians are too ashamed of being conned to speak up, these types of crimes will only become more common.
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