Source: Top 10 Scams Targeting Seniors, National Council on Aging
Perpetrators may pose as a Medicare or other health care representative to obtain personal information or to provide bogus services.
Most often, counterfeit drug scams exist on the internet. Scammers prey on seniors who seek lower costs on medications. Not only is this a financial scam, but it can lead to dangerous and unsafe medical conditions.
In this wretched scam, a perpetrator scans obituaries or even attends the funeral service of a stranger to take advantage of a grieving person. The scammer may claim that the deceased owed them money and try to extort it from your loved one.
Some scammers will attempt to sell treatments or medications to maintain youthful appearances. (Ex: a Botox scam in Arizona netted the scammers $1.5 million in one year!). These can have dangerous medical side effects, in addition to financial loss.
Many seniors own the home in which they continue to reside, whether or not they live with family members or in-home caregivers. Scammers will take advantage of this to send fraudulent letters, such as a fake letter from a county assessor’s office.
Seniors have likely planned for retirement and managed their savings accordingly. Perpetrators cheat seniors of this money through investment scams ranging from the all-too-familiar “Nigerian prince” email scam to selling complex financial products or pyramid schemes.
These awful scammers will claim to be a grandchild to ask for help with rent payment, car repair, or a medical bill. Often these scammers will research actual family members in an effort to more convincingly fake their identity.
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