Protecting Our Elders From Becoming The Victims Of Scams
Posted on Fri, Feb 25, 2011 @ 09:51 AM
By M. Allen
The vast majority of scammers, both offline and online, are targeting one segment of our population, our elders. Scammers target our parents, our grandparents, and our uncles and aunts because they are more successful capitalizing off of that demographic. There are reasons that scams targeting older people are effective and sometimes unreported, but there is a simple way to keep this from happening.
One of the main reasons that senior citizens are more at risk than their children is that they for the most part come from a more trusting time and background, a time when you didn't have to be as suspicious of everyone around you. It comes as no surprise that people who are more trusting of strangers are more easily taken advantage of. Knowledge is the key here; we need to make an effort to make sure our older citizens are kept up to date on the goings on in the world. The fact that they are at risk is important information that they need to know.
Another reason seniors can be targeted far easier is that they often don't want to feel like they are being a burden to their children or other loved ones, so they seek help from someone who, unknown to them, does not have their best interests at heart. A potential victim of a scam may answer an unscrupulous advertisement for handy work around the house because they feel they've already asked too much of their adult children when it comes to helping take care of their home. They may ask for help with their finances or bookkeeping because they think that their children are too busy with their own lives. Sometimes there may be an honest, understandable, and acceptable reason why adult children cannot be of help on certain issues, or there may be times when the senior in question has no family to speak of; it is at times like this that someone needs to interfere and recommend where to go for honest and qualified help. There also needs to be some responsibility taken by the older person, they must seek out trustworthy assistance.
Then there is the embarrassment factor. When someone realizes they have been scammed, sometimes it is more important to them to keep this incident a secret so they can keep up appearances of nothing being wrong. This is doubly true when it is a parent afraid to look naïve or weak in their now grown children's eyes. Thieves are getting better at their "jobs" and are coming up with more elaborate and deceptive ways at separating people from their money. There is no shame in being the victim of a scam, the only shame is not doing something about it. Older people often have a hard time admitting to their children that they were the victims of a scam. They feel it will make them look less intelligent or wise. This misplaced pride can oftentimes result in nothing being done to either apprehend the scammer or to get the word out and protect others from being scammed by this same crooked individual or business.
The solution to this problem is communication. Older people need to be informed that they are a target and to approach most financial situations with a cautious eye on the person or company they are dealing with. If they have adult children, then those adult children need to try and stay involved in their parents' lives and let them know that its okay to seek their advice or help them investigate an issue further. If this is not a situation where someone in an adult child role can assist, then there needs to be someone who can step up and make it known that they will be there for them. At the same time, seniors need to recognize that on some issues it is okay if they consult with someone who is more knowledgeable about a situation. Don't let pride, fear of embarrassment, or lack of knowledge be a crook's best friend.