Elderly People are some of the most suet after people when
it comes to scamming. Scammers have many ways of scamming the elderly. These methods
can range from fake telemarketer scams to fake medical establishments. I’ll be
writing about the scams that have to do with CMC that I found in this article
http://www.ncoa.org/enhance-economic-security/economic-security-Initiative/savvy-saving-seniors/top-10-scams-targeting.html .
The first type of scam ill address is a counterfeit prescription drug scam. The
method of scamming is normally done on the internet. This is a popular scam
because older people have started to search for cheaper prescription drugs
online. The problem is that the older people can’t tell the difference between
fake prescription website and real ones. This is not only a problem with money.
The fake drugs the scammers are selling can have harmful effects on the body
when taken. This method of scamming has become more popular since the 1990's
with the rise in prescription drug usage. In general older people are a main
target for internet fraud. There low knowledge of the internet is what makes
them so frequently targeted. There are a
few different ways older people can be scammed online first is through email. A
scammer may send out a mass phishing email say they are a legitimate company
such as the IRS. The elderly aren't aware of scams so they just go along with
the email as if it were legitimate. Another way a scammer could take advantage
of an elderly’s lack of internet knowledge is Pop-ups. Scammers can either use
Pop-ups to give the victim a virus on their computer or extract personal
information from the victim.
The next type of scam might be the most popular,
Telemarketing. This scam is done over the phone and is a perfect scam to aim at
old people because they purchase twice as many products over the phone than the
national average. The fact that this scam is over the phone is what makes it so
dangerous. the scams are hard to trace and even harder to prevent.
The last method of scamming elderly I’ll write about is
called The Grandparent scam. This scam is similar to the telemarketer scam
because they are both over the phone but there is one big difference. In The
Grandparent scam, the scammer pretends to be the victim’s grandchild and they
are in a bad situation or any other position where they need a sum of money
quickly. They might ask the grandparents to wire money to a certain place by a
certain time. This scam is even worse because the scammers are taking advantage
of grandparent’s hearts and good will. Unfortunately this type of scam happened
to many grandparents. Someone called my grandfather saying that I was in a drunken
driving accident and I was arrested. They asked him to wire a certain amount of
money to a place in New Jersey so I could make bail. By the time my grandfather
found out it was a scam he was unable to get his money back and even got in
contact with the FBI and little could be down. Proving how hard it really is to
trace and catch the scammers.
- Kyle Hamilton
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