Scams and the Elderly
A scam occurs when a dishonest or deceptive person knowingly or illegally takes money away from an unsuspecting person. Financial fraud against the elderly has become so common in the United States that it is considered to be a form of elder abuse. Several states have laws to protect the victims. A study conducted by consumer digest has determined that 5 million cases of financial elder abuse occur every year. Yet only 1 in 25 cases are actually reported to law enforcement agencies. (Elder Abuse: Financial Scams Against Seniors, 2014)
WHY THE ELDERLY ARE AT GREATEST RISK OF BEING SCAMMED
Criminals target the elderly because they see them as a vulnerable, lonely, or singling out recently widowed individuals as a way to …show more content…
A second reason would be that senior citizens are more trusting and polite criminals use seniors’ naivety to their advantage. Their generation was raised learning that your word meant everything. A third reason that crooks target the senior population is because they are not familiar with all of the technological advances and ways that they can be scammed. A fourth reason that makes them susceptible is because they often go without reporting the scam. This could occur for a few reasons. Seniors could be embarrassed about being swindled, they may not know who to report the crime to, and lastly the elderly person may have a fear that their family will think their mental capabilities are failing and they will lose control over their finances. (Fraud Targets: Senior Citizens, …show more content…
Many senior citizens have taken to the Internet and Email. This opens up the possibility to be scammed. This can occur by clicking on a link not knowing the true threat behind it, or by providing personal information on a website that is not safe. Email scams are also known as phishing scams. In 2003, 22% of the elderly population used the Internet. Of this percentage 46% utilized the Internet daily. In 2004 The Internet Crime Complaint center received 207,449 complaints of Internet crimes this increased from 2003 by 157,738 complaints. Scammers are able to take a worn out telemarketing scam and breathe new life into it by adding a fancy website, as well as a fake email address. Internet and email scams are so common because they utilize fake email addresses spread fast then disappear without a way to trace the crime back to its source. Email and Internet fraud also allows scammers to go internationally with ease. The Federal Trade commission in 2004 received 145,895 fraud and identity theft reports from people 50 and older. Of these reports 39,100 were considered to be Internet related. The complainants lost an average $1280.00 to the scams. Phishing email schemes usually involve hacking an email account and sending out a legitimate looking mass email. The email could be as simple as saying your previous money transaction couldn’t be processed then there would be a link to provide
A scam occurs when a dishonest or deceptive person knowingly or illegally takes money away from an unsuspecting person. Financial fraud against the elderly has become so common in the United States that it is considered to be a form of elder abuse. Several states have laws to protect the victims. A study conducted by consumer digest has determined that 5 million cases of financial elder abuse occur every year. Yet only 1 in 25 cases are actually reported to law enforcement agencies. (Elder Abuse: Financial Scams Against Seniors, 2014)
WHY THE ELDERLY ARE AT GREATEST RISK OF BEING SCAMMED
Criminals target the elderly because they see them as a vulnerable, lonely, or singling out recently widowed individuals as a way to …show more content…
A second reason would be that senior citizens are more trusting and polite criminals use seniors’ naivety to their advantage. Their generation was raised learning that your word meant everything. A third reason that crooks target the senior population is because they are not familiar with all of the technological advances and ways that they can be scammed. A fourth reason that makes them susceptible is because they often go without reporting the scam. This could occur for a few reasons. Seniors could be embarrassed about being swindled, they may not know who to report the crime to, and lastly the elderly person may have a fear that their family will think their mental capabilities are failing and they will lose control over their finances. (Fraud Targets: Senior Citizens, …show more content…
Many senior citizens have taken to the Internet and Email. This opens up the possibility to be scammed. This can occur by clicking on a link not knowing the true threat behind it, or by providing personal information on a website that is not safe. Email scams are also known as phishing scams. In 2003, 22% of the elderly population used the Internet. Of this percentage 46% utilized the Internet daily. In 2004 The Internet Crime Complaint center received 207,449 complaints of Internet crimes this increased from 2003 by 157,738 complaints. Scammers are able to take a worn out telemarketing scam and breathe new life into it by adding a fancy website, as well as a fake email address. Internet and email scams are so common because they utilize fake email addresses spread fast then disappear without a way to trace the crime back to its source. Email and Internet fraud also allows scammers to go internationally with ease. The Federal Trade commission in 2004 received 145,895 fraud and identity theft reports from people 50 and older. Of these reports 39,100 were considered to be Internet related. The complainants lost an average $1280.00 to the scams. Phishing email schemes usually involve hacking an email account and sending out a legitimate looking mass email. The email could be as simple as saying your previous money transaction couldn’t be processed then there would be a link to provide