Protecting Senior Citizens from Phone Scams

Senior citizens are vulnerable to scammers due to several different factors. One of the main difficulties is that seniors sometimes have difficulty hearing clearly. There are several phone scams that sometimes confuse the senior so much that he or she is willing to send money to someone on their word alone.

One scam calls seniors asking for bail money to get out of jail. The target is to have the senior send them money to Canada. Money sent to Canada is untraceable. The scammer calls the seniors number and either states that he or she is an officer or that he or she is a relative. When the victim asks the person who it is the scammer says something like "This is your favorite grandson". The scammer is able to give enough information to the victim to make the story somewhat believable. The scammer says something about being in a car accident and they will have money soon from the car accident, but in the meantime, they need bail money because they went to a wedding and had a few glasses of wine and was arrested for DUI. The scammer is usually persistent and even claims that he or she has a lawyer to help them out. It is definitely a scam and seniors should be aware of how to prevent it from taking their hard earned money.

How senior citizens can protect themselves from phone scams:

Ask questions- While on the phone, ask as many questions as possible. The first thing to ask is for a specific name. If it is a scammer, the likelihood is that the person will not know the correct name. Ask where they are calling from and how they got where they are at. If a relative from the United States says they are calling from Canada and you know that person doesn't have a lot of money to have traveled there, chances are it is a scam. If they say they have a lawyer, ask for the lawyer's information. Ask what jail the person is claiming to be held at. Ask the person where they were born (town and state) and/or make a statement about something that is made up or true to see how the caller responds. If that person responds incorrectly, you know it is a scam.

Do not give out any information- If someone says "This is your favorite grandson", don't let the name of your grandson slip. This may be a good place to stop the scam cold by throwing out a fake name. In other words, scam the scammer. Do not give out any details about anything. If the person on the other end truly knows you, they should already know the information that they are asking you to give.

Do not send money- Do not send any money to people calling asking for it, especially if they want it sent out of the country. That screams scam. If you are worried that you are leaving a real relative hanging, ask for a call back number or the number to the lawyer the person claims to have. If it is a real person, they will have no problem giving you the correct information. Before sending any money to anyone, be sure you are sending it to who you think you are sending it to.

Check the story- Before making a final decision as to whether you should send money or not, check the story out. Call other relatives to make sure the one calling is truly where he or she says. Call the relative that says he or she is calling to see if he or she answers the phone. Check for scams on the internet to see if the call you got might be a common scam hitting the circuit.

Stay alert- Listen as carefully as you possibly can to the caller. Listen to every word he or she says. Pay attention to the tone of voice and if you are unsure of whether the call is real or not, take the above precautions. If the conversation doesn't sound like a normal conversation you would have with that person, chances are that it is because it is not that person.

Call police- If you have determined that the call is a scam, call the police and give them all of the information. Let the police know exactly what the scammer asks for and how they word it. Tell them every detail you can think of. If you have to keep track by writing it down while you are on the phone with the scammer, do so. Chances are the scammer will never be caught. The police should still be notified that the scam is occurring in their area. This allows the police and the local papers to alert other seniors in the area of the possible problem so others do not fall for it.

Senior citizens worked hard to have what they have. Unfortunately, there is always someone out there that will attempt to take their money and run. If you are a senior or you have someone close to you that is a senior, warn them of the dangers of sending money to anyone calling asking for it. That is especially true if it is a large sum of money. It also pays to keep in mind that these scammers often victimize the same people if they have conned them once.