7 Scams Against the Elderly in 2020
It seems as if people are lining up around the block to perpetrate scams against the elderly in 2020. The life savings they worked so hard to earn is an irresistible lure for the unscrupulous people who would rather take from others than go out and earn their own money. Financial scams are a form of elder abuse.
Some scammers utilize undue influence, abuse or neglect, or prey on senior citizens with limited physical or mental capacity. If you think that your loved one might be the victim of a con artist, a Maryland elder law attorney can help you get answers and protect your relative.
The United States Department of Justice and state attorney general offices aggressively combat elder financial abuse, but these crimes show no signs of going away. According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), these are seven of the top scams against the elderly in 2020:
Property Tax
Grandparent Con. In this scheme, the older adult gets a phone call saying that a grandchild is in financial trouble and needs money wired right away. The person pretending to be the grandchild makes the senior promise not to tell the parents about the financial help.
Prize money. The con artist says that the elderly person won a sweepstakes, lottery, or contest and needs to pay the taxes and fees on the winnings. The senior might receive a fake check for the supposed winnings, but the check will bounce, and he will not get back the money he paid to the scammer.
Fake telemarketers. A popular telemarketer scheme involves callers claiming to be from charitable organizations, usually after a natural disaster like a hurricane. In this type of financial abuse, the senior thinks he is helping people in need, but the caller is not from the charity. The scammer now has the senior’s credit card information and can use it to make unauthorized transactions.
Counterfeit prescriptions. Healthcare costs can lead an older person to choose between getting prescriptions filled or having decent food to eat. Some older adults go online, trying to find less expensive medication. The problem is that the product they receive does not contain the drug they need. Sometimes the product is toxic.
Medicare schemes. There are too many types of Medicare fraud to list here, but these examples can be helpful. Some companies offer free screenings for diseases common in older people, like diabetes. Then they make the financially exploited senior pay to get the results of the “free” screening and scare them into having additional expensive diagnostic tests performed. Another Medicare scam is when someone calls an older adult, pretending to be from Medicare, and tricks them into disclosing their personal information that the scammer then uses to perpetrate identity theft.
Fake anti-aging products. Most vulnerable adults would love to turn back the hands of time. From fake Botox to placebo products claiming to be homeopathic remedies, seniors hand over millions of dollars to these fraudsters in search of their Fountain of Youth.
A Maryland elder law attorney can help you protect your older loved one from con artists and stop adult financial exploitation. These schemes can happen in the older person’s home or in a nursing home or other care facilities.
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