The most common frauds against seniors

The National Council on Aging (NCOA lists these common frauds against seniors.

  • Medicare/Health Insurance Fraud – Fraudsters pose as a Medicare representative to get people to give them their personal information, or they will provide bogus services for people at makeshift mobile clinics, then use the personal information they provide to bill Medicare and pocket the money.
  • Counterfeit Prescription Drugs – Most commonly, counterfeit drug scams operate on the Internet, where seniors increasingly go to find better prices on specialized medications.
  • Internet Fraud – Pop-up browser windows simulating virus-scanning software will fool victims into either downloading a fake anti-virus program (at a substantial cost) or an actual virus that will open up whatever information is on the user’s computer to scammers.
  • Email/Phishing scams – A senior receives email messages that appear to be from a legitimate company or institution, asking them to “update” or “verify” their personal information. A senior receives emails that appear to be from the IRS about a tax refund.
  • The Grandparent Scam – Scammers will place a call to an older person and when the mark picks up, they will say something like: “Hi Grandma, do you know who this is?” When the unsuspecting grandparent guesses the name of the grandchild the scammer most sounds like, the scammer has established a fake identity. The fake grandchild will usually ask for money to solve some unexpected financial problem to be paid via Western Union or MoneyGram, which don’t always require identification to collect. At the same time, the scam artist will beg the grandparent “please don’t tell my parents, they would kill me.”

To obtain the contact information for Adult Protective Services in your area, call the Eldercare Locator, a government sponsored national resource line, at: 1-800-677-1116, or visit their website at: www.eldercare.gov.




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