Children with elderly parents in the Fayetteville area have a lot to worry about. Elderly parents may need a lot of help from their children, and they are often vulnerable. The elderly population is often the victim of scams and understanding how these scams work can be important.
Why are the elderly targets of phone scams?
Everyone has heard the stories of unsuspecting people sending money to people they don’t know. It may be hard for a person to understand why someone would send money to a person they haven’t met, but it happens frequently, especially to the elderly population. Elderly people often are more trusting than younger people and they may be lonely and enjoy talking on the phone. They also are more likely to have a land line phone number.
How do criminals take advantage of the elderly?
Criminals may use many different tactics to target the elderly. They can be friendly and sympathetic in some situations while being aggressive and scary in others.
There are many ways a senior can be targeted. These include:
- Telephone scams. These are the most common. A scammer may call pretending to be a family member that is in trouble and needs money. Or they can pretend to be a charity.
- A criminal may pose as a Medicare representative in order to get personal information.
- The elderly are often not as tech savvy as the younger generation. They often inadvertently download software that allows criminals to access their personal information. They may also respond to phishing emails and give out their credit card or banking information.
- Seniors may be taken advantage of a person pretending to be a financial advisor who then gets access to their retirement funds and steals their money.
A person who believes their elderly relative has been taken advantage of by a financial scam may want to speak with a legal professional who is skilled in consumer law. An attorney can investigate the circumstances surrounding the fraud and protect the victims of the crime.