Here on ‘Hannaford on Fraud’ you are going to read about some of the latest types of frauds that con artists are using to bilk us all. Armed with this information, we will all be able to fight back.

One group in our society that is susceptible to fraud are the elderly. As a police investigator, I have seen many cases where the elderly or infirm have been victimized, often by their own family members. I worked a fraud case many years ago where the nephew of an elderly man with Alzheimer’s, forged this man’s signature on cheques and emptied out his bank account. This case was especially tragic because the police could not do anything. We had no witness to the crime as the victim was not deemed competent to testify.

Why is it that crooks often target senior citizens? There are several reasons.

1) Senior citizens have spent a life time saving and planning for their golden years. Often, they have a house fully paid and significant retirement savings. These are assets fraudsters would love to get their hands on and can coldly target to steal.

2) Some seniors may be concerned that the money they have saved for retirement will not be enough. Therefore, they may be susceptible to the ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes peddled by con artists.

3) Sometimes, older people have weak memories and therefore can be easier to confuse or dupe. Fraudsters know this and use this information to their advantage.

4) Some senior citizens may feel isolated from friends and family. Sons and daughters may live a great distance away. Some seniors grab onto the social interaction that con artists provide. The con artist can actually become ‘friends’ with the seniors they are targeting.

5) Seniors grew up in an era of more trust and politeness. They have difficulty saying no to would be con artists and can have difficulty just hanging up the phone.

6) Older people might avoid reporting to their family (or to police) if they have lost money. They would be embarrassed and might fear that their family will take away their financial independence.

All these factors make seniors targets for fraudsters. If you can think of any other reasons, post them to my blog for others to read. Also, if you have any experience with an elderly relative being duped by a con artist, tell me about it.

In my next blog entry, I will outline what family members can do to help their elderly parents protect themselves from these vicious con artists.

Recent Postings