Golden sunsets
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2013
- Messages
- 2,524
File this under the heading of "Elderly Vulnerability to Scams Swindles and Fraud"
I've been reading the current string on Financial Acuity declining after Age 60, and I am reminded of my 91 year old Mom's on going experience with phone and mail attempts to scam her. I can't figure out what to do about it.
I wouldn't call this a decline in her financial savvy because she still pays her own bills, (on line no less), balances her checkbook and is very cautious with her spending. She is also a busy active person with plenty of friends and social engagements - bridge-scrabble-literary club- spiritual group, etc.
But I find that her lack of ability to immediately identify financial scams and what to do about it alarming. I don't see this as the onset of dementia, although I could be mistaken. She is perfectly capable of recognizing the weekly, sometimes daily calls from Microsoft personnel with foreign accents wanting access to her computer as scams and she hangs up without uttering anything.
A couple of months ago however she was contacted by someone and told that she had won $4.5 million dollars. Not surprisingly, these folks do not appear to be from this country. This person and his superior and his secretary then proceeded to call daily, sometimes multiple times wanting to arrange to send her the check. They were from the IRS, they were from the FTC. They were from the State Lottery Commission. You name it. For some reason she talked to them and that in a nutshell is the reason they kept calling. She gave them no account information or SS numbers, but I believe she did give them enough info that they have labelled her as a "likely candidate" a.k.a. patsy and continued to contact her. They call her "Miss Mary". She is on a first name basis with them. "Oh Michael called me again. He lives in Tennessee." They know all about me because she has told them about her smart daughter.
They have advised her not to talk to me about the calls. They gave her their phone numbers, which actually work. She gave them my phone number and they have called me. They use a system which shows that the phone number is coming from a US area code - or it just shows up as "Cell Phone", when we know that these people are operating from outside the US. Through all of this I have told her to screen her calls and not respond if it isn't from her area code. If it's an important enough call the caller will leave a message. I've told her if she does inadvertently answer to just hang up but I can't get her to follow through. I've personally observed her answering these calls - while I chide her in the background to say nothing and just hang up. Nothing seems to work. She admitted that there is 1% of her mind that thinks it might be true, despite the fact that she entered no contests. This to me is the biggest indicator that her judgement is failing her in these instances. I get so exasperated that I have yelled at her, which is BAD, very BAD, I know. I have had her nephew, who is a police detective speak with her about how these scams work, how they intend to eventually get money out of her and what to do (hang up). Call blocking is apparently not an option with a Cable VOIP.
So a new chapter has now begun. She has in the past several weeks, received calls that she has won $100,000 from Publishers Clearing house. She has been told that Western Union has a check for her. And she called Western Union!!! Oh and she also just won a red car. And this past week she received a Letter from the Government of Portugal telling her that she has won several million dollars and must either present herself to a government office in Lisbon or she can have it direct deposited into her checking account. Clearly they have sold her name to other like scammers, or they have multiple operations going on at the same time. They've told her that they are on their way over to her house.
I don't know what to do at this point. I handle all of her investments and I monitor her checking and credit card accounts almost daily. I feel she would not actually give any money to anyone and she knows not to give out her account numbers or credit card #'s, but the calls do upset her, especially when they tell her they are on their way over to her home.
Has anyone had this experience and how have you handled it.
I've been reading the current string on Financial Acuity declining after Age 60, and I am reminded of my 91 year old Mom's on going experience with phone and mail attempts to scam her. I can't figure out what to do about it.
I wouldn't call this a decline in her financial savvy because she still pays her own bills, (on line no less), balances her checkbook and is very cautious with her spending. She is also a busy active person with plenty of friends and social engagements - bridge-scrabble-literary club- spiritual group, etc.But I find that her lack of ability to immediately identify financial scams and what to do about it alarming. I don't see this as the onset of dementia, although I could be mistaken. She is perfectly capable of recognizing the weekly, sometimes daily calls from Microsoft personnel with foreign accents wanting access to her computer as scams and she hangs up without uttering anything.
A couple of months ago however she was contacted by someone and told that she had won $4.5 million dollars. Not surprisingly, these folks do not appear to be from this country. This person and his superior and his secretary then proceeded to call daily, sometimes multiple times wanting to arrange to send her the check. They were from the IRS, they were from the FTC. They were from the State Lottery Commission. You name it. For some reason she talked to them and that in a nutshell is the reason they kept calling. She gave them no account information or SS numbers, but I believe she did give them enough info that they have labelled her as a "likely candidate" a.k.a. patsy and continued to contact her. They call her "Miss Mary". She is on a first name basis with them. "Oh Michael called me again. He lives in Tennessee." They know all about me because she has told them about her smart daughter.
They have advised her not to talk to me about the calls. They gave her their phone numbers, which actually work. She gave them my phone number and they have called me. They use a system which shows that the phone number is coming from a US area code - or it just shows up as "Cell Phone", when we know that these people are operating from outside the US. Through all of this I have told her to screen her calls and not respond if it isn't from her area code. If it's an important enough call the caller will leave a message. I've told her if she does inadvertently answer to just hang up but I can't get her to follow through. I've personally observed her answering these calls - while I chide her in the background to say nothing and just hang up. Nothing seems to work. She admitted that there is 1% of her mind that thinks it might be true, despite the fact that she entered no contests. This to me is the biggest indicator that her judgement is failing her in these instances. I get so exasperated that I have yelled at her, which is BAD, very BAD, I know. I have had her nephew, who is a police detective speak with her about how these scams work, how they intend to eventually get money out of her and what to do (hang up). Call blocking is apparently not an option with a Cable VOIP. So a new chapter has now begun. She has in the past several weeks, received calls that she has won $100,000 from Publishers Clearing house. She has been told that Western Union has a check for her. And she called Western Union!!! Oh and she also just won a red car. And this past week she received a Letter from the Government of Portugal telling her that she has won several million dollars and must either present herself to a government office in Lisbon or she can have it direct deposited into her checking account. Clearly they have sold her name to other like scammers, or they have multiple operations going on at the same time. They've told her that they are on their way over to her house.
I don't know what to do at this point. I handle all of her investments and I monitor her checking and credit card accounts almost daily. I feel she would not actually give any money to anyone and she knows not to give out her account numbers or credit card #'s, but the calls do upset her, especially when they tell her they are on their way over to her home.
Has anyone had this experience and how have you handled it.
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