Attorney General Sean Reyes Urges Seniors to Beware of Scams
The Utah Attorney General’s Office prioritizes the protection of businesses and consumers, particularly Seniors, from white collar frauds and scams. Fraud schemes targeted at senior citizens vary in scope and scale and can come from trusted relationships or from unknown perpetrators across the country or even world. It is important to be on alert!
Fraud Target: Senior Citizens
The FBI has offered the following advice. More information can be found on the agency’s Common Fraud Schemes webpage. Here are tips on how to protect yourself or family from fraud. Senior Citizens especially should be aware of fraud schemes for the following reasons:
- Senior citizens are most likely to have a “nest egg,” to own their home, and/or to have excellent credit—all of which make them attractive to con artists.
- People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. Con artists exploit these traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say “no” or just hang up the telephone.
- Older Americans are less likely to report a fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are too ashamed at having been scammed, or don’t know they have been scammed. Elderly victims may not report crimes, for example, because they are concerned that relatives may think the victims no longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.
- When an elderly victim does report the crime, they often make poor witnesses. Con artists know the effects of age on memory, and they are counting on elderly victims not being able to supply enough detailed information to investigators. In addition, the victims’ realization that they have been swindled may take weeks—or more likely, months—after contact with the fraudster. This extended time frame makes it even more difficult to remember details from the events.
- Senior citizens are more interested in and susceptible to products promising increased cognitive function, virility, physical conditioning, anti-cancer properties, and so on. In a country where new cures and vaccinations for old diseases have given every American hope for a long and fruitful life, it is not so unbelievable that the con artists’ products can do what they claim.
Fraud Tip Line: 801.281.1200
Click here to join AARP Fraud Watch Network
