Protecting the elderly
On its Web site, the Washington state Office of the Attorney General lists nine con games that target older adults. These include the home improvement “experts” who offer to repair your roof quickly and cheaply with leftover materials. The travel “agent” who tells you that you’ve just won a free trip to Mexico. The foreign “investor” with a sob story. The sweepstakes “official” who promises you the jackpot if you send a processing fee.
They don’t warn older adults – yet – of the more subtle schemes. The scammers who call and act chummy on the phone, as if they’ve already made your acquaintance. Or the ones who send handwritten thank-you notes with vague wording such as, “My company told me you responded and you have some questions.” Or the ones who send fear-inducing postcards that say: “Please contact us about important changes that could have an impact on your annuity.”
Con artists who target older people play on the deficits sometimes associated with age. They gamble that older people will be friendly with a caller rather than admit that they don’t remember meeting the person calling. Or that older people will be lonely and so appreciative of a handwritten note that they will open the door to the scammers’ pitch.
Some of the older adults targeted now in scams lived through the Great Depression and hold dear the desire to pay their own way to the end. Financial scammers play upon this deep-rooted value. Con artists have the potential to rob older adults of money, identity and trust. Shame on them.
Recently, the securities division of the Washington Department of Financial Institutions issued an order requiring Fran E. Austin, of Spokane, to quit selling securities. Between March and August 2004, three elderly investors were persuaded to hand over a total of $96,000. It’s gone. According to securities division officials, Austin skimmed $26,000 for himself and lost the rest in risky investments. If so, shame on him.
The best defense? Older people need to be educated in the ways of scams. Deals that sound too good to be true usually are, and there are ways to spot and stop them (see fact box). If older people are unable to discern the truth-tellers from the scammers, vigilant family members and friends must step in.
If it takes a village to raise a child, as the saying goes, it also takes that same village to protect the older folks among us. Scammers disrespect their elders in the cruelest way, by targeting their pocketbooks – and their pride.