Isn’t it terrible that there are some folks out there that try to swindle or scam people out of their money? You hear about it all the time on the TV and the internet how someone has devised a scam that will usually be geared to what they considered the most vulnerable group of people, senior citizens. It’s heartbreaking to think about such things but in today’s world it’s something that you have to be prepared to deal with, whether you are an older adult or not.
Why the elderly?
One of the most common reasons is that at an older age you probably have had a chance to save up some money in a bank account or stocks. Criminals know this all too well. Another reason is that some older folks might not ask as many questions either out of trust or not wanting to confront someone.
Frequent scams
From the government’s senior resource website some of the most common healthcare scams…
- Medical equipment might be purchased through you insurer
- Fake purchase orders
- Charged for tests that you didn’t need or didn’t take
- Scams involving Medicare
Telemarketing fraud is also prevalent among senior citizens. Some fly by night companies’ prey on senior citizens hoping that they can be manipulated into making a purchase over the phone. Anti-aging products are a favorite item of some companies knowing that older folks would be interested in products that would make their lives better.
Other scams are…
- Investment schemes
- Internet scams
- Home repair (where someone promises to fix your house and does a poor job or no job at all and then demands payment.
So what do you do?
The easy answer is to be careful but even then it is always easy to figure out what is a scam or not. Luckily there are government organizations that you can call and ask for help.