Bill Ross and Mariane Dunne, master financial volunteers for Arlington Financial Extension, teach a class on Senior Scams at Langston-Brown Senior Community Center. Photo by Shirley Ruhe/The Connection
Seniors are targeted for scams "because sometimes they just want to talk to people," Bill Ross began the class on Senior Scams at the Langston-Brown Senior Community Center Aug. 26. "Seniors are more vulnerable. They believe the pitches they hear; they have lived a long time and they trust people."
In addition, he says seniors are unable to spot fraud and are often reluctant to seek advice about financial matters because they might feel embarrassed. He asked, "How many of you have been a victim,” and at least half of the hands in the room go up.
Ross, an economist along with Mariane Dunn, a tax accountant, teaches this class as part of Arlington Financial Extension, a series of classes on subjects such as budgeting, saving and student debt. The class addresses how to recognize senior scams, how to protect yourself, steps to take if you know you have been a victim and references or resources.
Ross points out that seniors 62 and older account for 15 percent of the population but are an estimated 30 percent of fraud victims. He talks about "the sucker list”, those who are good candidates for fraud. Ross explains this happens if you have ever signed up for a sweepstakes or a giveaway of some kind. Ross said it happened to him recently when "I signed up for free groceries from a local store and ended up on a list of potential condo buyers in Florida."
He listed some of the most common scams including the Nigerian email in which a huge pot of money is waiting but you need to send a deposit, “phishing” where you get an email from what appears to be your bank or a reputable organization but they request your social security number or verification of your account number and the popular "grandson call" where an imposter grandson calls and says he is in trouble from getting rowdy at a Jamaican wedding and needs "some get out of jail money."
A woman in the back row volunteers that she got one of those calls but she knew it wasn't her grandson, "so I laid him out on the phone."
Dunne warns against travel scams. She says to check whether the company is legitimate from the Better Business Bureau. Also she cautions to always use a credit card when purchasing these travel packages so if you find out it's not good you can cancel. Dunne says also be careful of "sound alike" charities. “You may end up giving money to an organization you think is the Red Cross.” Dunno says to check with a charity watchdog organization like www.charitywatch.org.