The Care Company

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This article is not intended to frighten you, but rather to make you aware of a real problem so that you can take the proper precautions to keep your elderly loved one safe. Becoming educated is the first step. To that end, consider the following information, taken directly from the FBI website.

• Senior citizens are more likely than others to have a “nest egg,” to own their home, and/or to have excellent credit — all of which make them attractive to con artists.
• People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Con artists exploit those traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say “no” or just hang up the telephone.
• Older Americans are less likely to report fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed or don’t know they have been scammed. Elderly victims may not report crimes, for example, because they are concerned that relatives may think they no longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.
• When an elderly victim does report the crime, they often make poor witnesses. Con artists know the effects of age on memory, and they are counting on elderly victims’ being unable to supply enough detailed information to investigators. In addition, the victims’ realization that they have been swindled may take weeks or, more likely, months after contact with the criminal. This extended timeframe makes it even more difficult to remember details from the events.
• Senior citizens are more interested in and susceptible to products promising increased cognitive function, virility, physical conditioning, anti-cancer properties, and so on. In a country where new cures and vaccinations for old diseases have given every American hope for a long and fruitful life, it is not so unbelievable that the con artists’ products can do what they claim.