Elderly Fraud

Elderly fraud is a common occurrence spreading across the states, which needs prevention. Scammers will pose as a grandchild and ask to be wired some money. Assuming senior citizens are more susceptible to a scam, these scammers also pose as a variety of people and occupations to target the elderly. Please help spread awareness of these crimes. 

• Victims over the age of 65 are able to qualify for Medicare, so scammers can represent themselves as a Medicare representative and ask elders for their personal information in order to sign up for their insurance.
• The lottery is a perfect category to set up a scam in. After retirement, it would be wonderful to be able to all of a sudden win a small fortune by not having to do anything. Scammers will send a counterfeit "prize" check to seniors as they collect the "fees" and "taxes" of the lottery.
• In the funeral scam, a scammer will read the obituary section of the newspaper, look up the name of a widower, and all them up claiming that their partner had an outstanding debt with them before they died.

Learn more about elderly fraud & financial abuse at Medicare.gov or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.