Scumbags Are Scamming the Elderly
By: Ginger | April 17, 2009 | Category: Money
My mom admits to being paranoid about ATMs, online banking, and shopping on the internet, so she won’t use them. She says she feels safer doing things the old-fashioned way. Mom may be paranoid about these "new technologies," but when it comes to dealing with people she is very open and trusting. That is why I worry that someone will take advantage of her. I don’t want to scare her, but there is a whole bunch of other stuff out there to be paranoid about!
Lately, there are more stories in the news about the elderly being scammed out of part, or all, of their savings. According to the FBI, the elderly are often seen as good targets because they often have a savings or a "nest egg", they usually own their homes, and often have good credit. All of these things are appealing to a con-man looking for a mark. Many elderly grew up in an era where being polite and trusting were the norms. Con-men look to exploit these characteristics in people. Con-men also may target the elderly because they feel they can physically bully and intimidate them more easily.
The FBI also reports that some elderly victims are less likely to report a fraud because they are too ashamed at having been scammed. Some may not realize that they have been scammed. In some instances elderly victims may not report the incident because they do not want to be seen as unable to take care of their financial affairs. Often when the elderly do report crime, they have trouble remembering the details of what happened. Con-men count on the fact that elderly victims may not be able to provide detailed information to investigators.
We all have loved ones that are elderly and we will all be elderly one day, so it is important to educate our loved ones and ourselves about scams being perpetrated on the elderly. Perhaps something you read in the resources below will prevent you or your loved ones from being scammed.
- Affinity Fraud
- Fighting Fraud 101: Tips for Older Investors
- Living Trust Offers – How to Make Sure They’re Trustworthy
- Identity Theft And Your Social Security Number
- FCIC Scams and Frauds
- Fraud: Recognize It. Report It. Stop It.
- Who’s Calling? Can You Recognize a Phone Scam?
- FTC’s List of Telemarketing Scams
- Home Equity Loans- Borrowers Beware
- How to Avoid Internet Investment Scams
- Fraud Target: Senior Citizens
- Home Improvement Scam Alerts
- USA.gov search results on scams committed on the elderly
- Consumer Protection for Seniors on USA.gov
Have you or a loved one experienced elder fraud? Does anyone have any good tips to tell my mom to protect her from scams?
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Professionals who disparage family members acusing them of the very crimes THEY commit. These Judges
are denying family members and the elderly of due process of law with no effective recourse for familys.
The State Governments are benefiting by the 'displacement' of the elderly into State Run long term care facilities; aka, warehouses while the "professioals" benefit by charging their exhorbitant fees against the elderly's assets. Once the money is depleted (all too soon), the elderly 'ward' is dumped on the taxpayer tab.......where too soon after, the elderly
'ward' dies. These last months of life for the elderly is
ridden with lonliness, total disregard for their well being,
often times neglect and abuse: physical as well as emotional. Name anyone who would want their loved one locked up in a State Facility?
State Governments have grown so HUGE and require enormous amounts of tax dollars to sustain themselves and the Medicaid/Medicare System is bust.
This new Universal Care Plan under the Federal Government's instruction is to spend down the elderly's
funds befor Medicaid/Medicare kicks in to prevent family members from hiding assets of their elder parents.
Well.......Feds, this PLAN has backfired! It has given the unscrupulous Attorneys the opportunity to PROFIT off of the elderly. Attorney/Legislators have rewritten laws making it EASIER for their professional cronies to strip elders of their rights for profiteering. State's have changed 'incompetent' to 'incompacitated'. Incompentent requires MEDICAL professionals to rule out temporary confusion/delutions related to UTI's, OTC meds interacting with prescription meds and interactions from prescription medications. Now, psychiatrists become the professional to opinion on the mental status of the elderly making 'snatching' them from their homes for Profit.
Understandably, the Medicaid/Medicare System needs revamping for the good of the whole but what is going on today is too despicable for words. Once a vulnerable person is placed under Guardianship/ Conservator of the court, it is virtually impossible to extract them from their 'jaws'.
This profiteering has become so profitable for Attorneys and other 'professionals' it has slipped over into Family Courts across America. State Gov'ts Child Protective Agencies step in under the order of the court via Guardian at Litems' Attorneys who are 'snatching' our kids for the Federal Tax Dollars the State gets for each child under their care. DCF doesn't want the 'crack' parents' kids, they produce poor outcomes and adversely affects their statistics; unlike 'good' kids from good homes. Parents doors open a crack during marital dissolution and State Governments' are barging
in with their court orders/GAL's/DCF to rip family's apart. Kids' college funds/inheritances are being plundered by State Gov'ts and exhorbitant Attorney/GAL fees financially ruining familys fighting for their kids' return.
Government needs to GET OUT of the family unit......stop funding State governments for vulnerable citizens withot EFFECTIVE monitoring. The Federal Agencies are looking the other way to citizens complaints regarding State Probate and Family Court abuses of authority and profiteering. The State Governments are not responding to family/citizen complaints for OBVIOUS reasons..........we NEED Federal oversight and regulation of State Courts and Federal funding of State Governments using taxdollars!
Stop IGNORING this problem that has become a national epidemic.
America needs to get back to Constitutional Rights that State Governments and the Courts have stripped away from us. Governments have grown too big to work for the interests of the People; they are workings for governments' self interests.
We are no longer a FREE society; we are victims of
BIG BROTHER.........our freedoms, liberties, and property are up for grabs at the State Governments' will/needs.
Judges and Attorneys are being brought to Justice all over the country but some States, like CT, are too permeated with corruption and the Federal Government has the Bigger States (bigger dollars) to investigate. The smaller New England States are becoming the 'templates' of new laws for the other larger states because there is NO Federal oversight. These laws are being slipped in as ammendments without public hearings or hearings sheduled at the last minute with insufficient notice for adequate public response. Media coverage of Legislative Hearings are being circumvented when Legislators discuss issues using reference numbers vs open discussions on the issues intentionally keeping the public in the dark.
State Government Programs with Federal funding are scams; these funds are chewed up maintaining Gov't
expenditures and 'graft' for the 'connected'. Too few recipients are getting these Federal funds.
It's time for the People to Stand UP and take our Government back as President Obama has back-peddled on every campaigne promise We The People
believed he stood for. Where is the Federal oversight
of these trillions of dollars being printed without collateral? Where are the protections for Whistleblowers who are being dragged through the courts unjustly ending up impoverished, homeless and dead? Where are the 3.1 million high income jobs to sustain the middle class family in America? Brick and Morter jobs don't fit for most of middle Americans. In CT these funds are being used for re-work on State Contracts that were awarded to 'connected' contractors that performed faulty work. What is to prevent this from happening again? NO oversight!
$2Million Dollars was given to the Hartford Water/Sewage Treatment Center headed by a man who was involved in the State Pension scandal. NO oversight! Corruption proliferates with Federal Funding.
Myself and hundreds of thousands of Americans are DISGUSTED with our Federal and State Governments.
You are NOT working in our best interests. The TWO party system is a SCAM. Both Parties are guilty of
fraud, corruption and criminal acts. We the People want a Government that is For The People!
Deborah Barclay
Whistleblower #1137: Retaliated against egregiously
by corrupt State of CT Gov't
Comment PermalinkThe admonition to not carry one's social security card has been around for a long time.
However, the social security number is the identifier on the Medicare card, and Medicare recipients are told to have the card with them at all times.
Isn't it time that a different identifier replaced the social security number on these cards?
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