It’s tragic, but seniors are frequently the target of scammers, even in Huntsville, Alabama.
This is often because thieves believe seniors may have money sitting in their accounts and/or they are more vulnerable than the average citizen. Crooks imagine that stealing from the senior is a relatively “low-risk” crime.
A few of the cons identified by the National Council on Aging include Medicare/Health Insurance fraud, prescription drug counterfeiting, funeral/cemetery scams, fraudulent anti-aging products, telemarketing, Internet fraud, email/phishing scams, investment schemes, homeowner/reverse mortgage scams, sweepstake/lottery scams, or impersonations of family members to ask for money in a time of emergency.
Here are just a few tips to avoid becoming a victim:
Trust but Verify: Unsavory types won’t hesitate to pose as a Medicare representative to get older people to provide them with their personal information, then use the personal information they provide to bill Medicare and pocket the money. Also, be wary of email messages that appear to be from a legitimate company or institution asking you to “update” or “verify” your personal information (anyone can download a logo and make an email look legitimate, so your best bet is to call or manually enter the organization’s URL in a web browser rather than clicking a link in a message). An example is the senior who receives emails that appear to be from the IRS about a tax refund but are not what they seem.
Take Your Time to Research: Lacking a basic sense of decency, scammers take advantage of grieving widows or widowers after reading the obituaries and claiming the deceased had an outstanding debt with them, trying to extort money from relatives to settle the fake debts. Don’t allow anyone to pressure you.
Buy from Reputable Sources: Rely on services like the Better Business Bureau to identify ethical companies. Oftentimes, goods or services are sold in a way that leaves no paper trail, making the scam artist hard to trace. It can be tempting to seek out better prices on prescription medicines online, but the danger is besides paying money for something that will not help a person’s medical condition, victims may actually purchase unsafe substances that can inflict even more harm.
Don’t Be Gullible: Scammers may inform you that you’ve won a lottery or sweepstakes of some kind and need to make some sort of payment to unlock the supposed prize. Remember, If Something Seems Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is!
If you do become a victim, don’t beat yourself up. People of all ages get scammed. It’s a sad fact that some people are so unscrupulous, they’d even prey on Huntsville’s aging population. The remedy to this problem is an awareness of how not to be taken advantage of. We hope this article gives you some ability to protect yourself.
