Happy Holidays! ‘Tis the Season to be … scammed! Actually, it is always open season for scammers, but this time of year presents particular dangers, especially for older adults. E.S. Browning, writing in the Dec. 24, 2013, Wall Street Journal warned “the fleecing of older Americans is becoming an epidemic. People 60 years and older made up 26 percent of all fraud complains tracked by the Federal Trade Commission in 2012, the highest of any age group.” Numbers range from 1-in-20 to 1-in-5 of all seniors experience financial abuse.
Why seniors? They tend to be isolated and lonely. As a generation, they are trusting. They may be relatively wealthy, owning their own homes and having easy access to savings intended to last the rest of their lives. Also they may be experiencing some incapacity in memory and judgment. Even if they recognize that they’ve been swindled, they are less likely to report it because of embarrassment and fear that they will lose their autonomy.
The Consumer Reports issue for November 2015, a helpful source of much of the information in this article, quotes Jane Walsh, director of the Community Protection Division at the Boulder County district attorney’s office in Colorado, “Why would someone rob a bank when they can sit at home with a phone and call a bunch of seniors?”
How are seniors identified? Obituaries can be mined for particularly vulnerable people who have recently suffered losses. Sites like Facebook, Ancestry.com, White Pages, and other online resources offer a wealth of personal information to scammers. Victims also give away personal and financial information on phony sweepstakes and contest entry forms. New technology such as phony caller ID software and counterfeit websites allow scammers to misrepresent who they are behind layers of anonymity.
Those who devise scams show ingenious variety, but their main purpose is always the same: to separate the victim from his money. At a Senior Abuse Seminar the Butte County District Attorney’s office cleverly defined fraud as Financial Rewards Acquired Under Deception. During the holiday season, here are some typical ploys detailed in “Beware Fall Scams” by Sid Kirchheimer.
• Medicare: The open enrollment period for Medicare runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. Watch for identity thieves who pose as Medicare workers and will ask for your social security number to update or verify records. Medicare will never call you and ask for information.
• Cold weather: Telephone scammers may pose as utility company employees and threaten to shut off service for unpaid bills. They may ask to be paid by prepaid debt card, credit card, or cash, to be picked up by a courier. Real utility companies do not do business this way. Also beware of unscrupulous contractors who offer unnecessary home improvement like cleaning ducts and chimneys, especially if their quoted rate is surprisingly low or if they contact you. Always get several quotes from reputable contractors who can provide license, bonding, and insurance information.
• Investment fraud: Many people pay attention to their investments at the end of the year, in preparation for tax time. Watch for “free lunch” educational seminars that are thinly disguised sales pitches that offer “secret” or “risk free” investments. Avoid long-maturing annuities and life settlements. Visit brokecheckfinra.org to check adviser reliability at www.pacer.gov and your state securities regulator, found at www.nasaa.org.
• Charity cons: as the deadline for year-end tax deductions coincides with the holiday spirit of giving, many feel the urge to open their wallets for charity. Make sure your gifts are going to be used well, not lining the pockets of scammers. Do not make pledges or give credit card information over the phone. Do not reply to links in emails. Never give cash by courier. Choose the area of giving that means most to you and check for reliability of charitable organizations at the following websites: Wise Giving Alliance (www.give.org), American Institute of Philanthropy (www.charitynavigator.org), GuideStar (www.guidestar.org). Financial records on charities or commercial fundraisers can be viewed at www.justice.doj.ca.gov/cfr/cfr.asp. Complaints about unscrupulous charities can be made to the California Attorney General’s Office (www.ag.ca.gov/charities) or the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov or 1-877-382-4357).
Other Holiday scams reported in the Costco Holiday Connection include phony online gift scams for popular items, phony work-from-home jobs such as secret shoppers, fake vacation rentals, fake promotions and contests on Facebook and Twitter aimed at gathering personal information, counterfeit merchandise or stolen merchandise sold on Craigslist or the black market, fake checks for items you are selling online, scam text messages that will hack your computer if you open the links, and holiday ring tones, screen savers, and e-cards that may contain viruses.
A relatively new scam is the unsolicited gift delivery charge in which a gift basket or other merchandise is delivered by an unknown donor. The delivery person will ask for credit card payment of a small fee to verify delivery. Card information will be captured on the portable machine to be sold or used later for unauthorized charges.
Lt. Jason Wines of the Butte County District Attorney’s Office warns that recently criminals were arrested for tampering with gift cards sold at Walmart and other stores so that they would receive notification that the card was activated and they would receive the gift rather than the intended recipient. There has also been a rise in demands for payment of fines and fees by bogus police personnel who make threatening contact with victims and demand payment with Money Pak green dot cards or other untraceable methods.
To reduce your chances of being caught in a scam, it helps to reduce your exposure to unwanted robot phone calls, marketing mailings, and emails. If you have phone service through Comcast or Time Warner, you can stop robot calls by signing up at www.nomorobo.com. (If you have AT&T or Verizon, you can use that website to request that they adopt that service.) Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov or 1-888-382-1222). Opt out of commercial mail with the Direct Marketing Association’s service (www.dmachoice.org) and eliminate unsolicited offers for credit at www.optoutprescreen.com.
Scamming never takes a holiday. Seniors are particularly vulnerable all year round. If you are the child of a particularly vulnerable older person you might want to arrange for limited account oversight through the banks, or set up an account with a low limit for discretionary spending. Visit and phone often and be especially watchful for secretive behavior. In extreme cases, when someone is being repeated victimized, you might need to file for guardianship or conservatorship.
