Report actual or attempted elder fraud (or any type of fraud) via Fraud.org’s Online Complaint Form.
Change the phone number if a senior is receiving excessive sales calls.
Change the bank account or credit card numbers if they have fallen into the hands of thieves.
Avoid getting on sucker lists. Don’t fill out contest entry forms at fairs or malls—they are a common source of “leads” for con artists. Ask companies you do business with not to share your personal information with other marketers.
Know your “Do-Not-Call” rights. Under federal law, you can tell a telemarketer not to call you again and you can file a complaint on the Do Not Call website.
In our previous blog we talked about why senior citizens have become such a target for con artists and even unscrupulous relatives to commit elder fraud and take their hard-earned money. We also talked about signs that they may be being duped. Today, we want to make you aware of the variety of schemes that are out there. This is by no means a complete list, but will give you a pretty good idea of what to watch for.
Common schemes:
The “Grandparents Scam”: someone phones or e-mails and pretends to be a grandchild in trouble. The elderly person, who may not have much contact with their grandchild, might be convinced and may wire money or send a prepaid debit card to help.
Offers of “freebies”: the Better Business Bureau of eastern Michigan reports that scammers now are offering seniors $3,000 in “free groceries savings certificates” along with a free medical alert bracelet. The scam may lure people to give away bank account information.
Imagine spending your whole life working hard, saving wisely and spending conscientiously—only to have your comfy “nest egg” taken away by unscrupulous scammers or even your own greedy relatives in your golden years. Sad to say, this is a scenario that is far too common; up to 80% of scam victims are over 65, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. A 2009 study by MetLife’s Mature Market Institute estimates that seniors lose approximately $2.6 billion per year to elder fraud, or what they call financial abuse, meaning fraud by outside scammers or theft by family members and acquaintances.
And this issue will take on even more importance in the years to come as the senior population in America grows. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 37.3 million people 65 and older in the United States as of 2006. This group is expected to double in size within the next 25 years. By 2030, almost 1-out-of-5 Americans – some 72 million people- will be 65 years or older.
The latest scams to steal your personal information are scarily simple—and effective. Learn how to protect yourself.
You thought shredding documents was enough to protect you from having your identity stolen, but thieves have found new ways to rip you off. No wonder 9 million Americans fell prey to them in 2010, according to the most recent data from the Federal Trade Commission. The average out-of-pocket cost to the victim? About $3,000! Here’s how to safeguard your identity—and your cash—from the three newest scams.
America’s top Privacy & Identity Theft Speaker John Sileo has appeared on 60 Minutes, Anderson Cooper, Fox & in front of audiences including the Department of Defense, Pfizer, Homeland Security and hundreds of corporations and associations of all sizes. His high-content, humorous, audience-interactive style delivers all of the expertise with lots of entertainment. Come ready to laugh and learn about this mission-critical, bottom-line enhancing topic.
John Sileo is an award-winning author and keynote speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, fraud training, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust.
In the first part of this article series, we discussed why it is so important to protect your business data, including the first two steps in the protection process. Once you have resolved the underlying human issues behind data theft, the remaining five steps will help you begin protecting the technological weaknesses common to many businesses.
Businesses often make social engineering (or fraud) training boring! And that’s bad for your bottom line, because no one ends up remembering how to protect your organization against threats like data theft, corporate espionage or social networking exposure.
Too often, fraud and social engineering workshops cover just the concepts that define fraud rather than the feelings that signal it’s actually in process at the moment. The key to training your executives, employees and even customers on fraud is to let them experience what it feels like to be conned. In other words, they need to actually be socially engineered (manipulated into giving away their own private information) several times throughout the training so that they begin to reflexively sense fraud as it is happening. Like learning to throw a ball, there is no substitute for doing it for yourself. Fraud detection is similar; it takes actually doing it (or having it done to you) to fully understand the warning signs. Anything less will leave your audience yawning and uneducated.
Businesses often make fraud training boring! And that’s bad for their bottom line, because no one ends up remembering anything about the subject.
Too often, fraud and social engineering workshops cover just the concepts that define fraud rather than the feelings that signal it’s happening. The key to training your executives, employees and even customers on fraud is to let them experience what it feels like to be conned. In other words, they need to actually be socially engineered (manipulated into giving away their own private information) several times throughout the training so that they begin to reflexively sense fraud as it is happening. Like learning to throw a ball, there is no substitute for doing it for yourself. Fraud detection is similar; it takes actually doing it (or having it done to you) to fully understand the warning signs. Anything less will leave your audience yawning and uneducated.
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The past two blogs have outlined why seniors are targeted, what signs to watch for, and some common schemes. Now for the truly important info: How to prevent elder fraud from happening and what to do if it does happen!
In our previous blog we talked about 
