Portland Sun
PORTLAND WEATHER

Protect yourself by protecting your identity




Frank Head Shot

Frank Head Shot

According to the Federal Trade Commission, 35 percent of fraud complaints are from Americans aged 60 and over.  Why are the elderly so preyed upon?

First, criminals know that the elderly control a great deal of the nation’s personal wealth.  Many are retired and have built a nest egg leaving them with substantial sums criminals would like to steal. 

Second, many elderly are less aware of the means by which these thieves steal.  They are less informed about certain scams thereby making them open to possible fraud.  Plus, many deal with cognitive health issues rendering them less capable of understanding fully what they’re doing.  Additionally, these criminals know exactly how to take advantage of an elderly person’s love for their family.  They have no regard for their health, their personal financial situation or what harm it may bring.  What do some of these scams look like? 

A victim gets a call from their grandson who says they are out of town and in jail.  They need a few thousand dollars to make bail.  They will use the right nickname that the victim goes by and they will plead with them to not call their parents.  The victim is pressured into wiring money to an attorney or government official to get them out of jail.  The victim wires the funds but it was never their grandson.

A caller will inform the victim that they’ve won the lottery in some foreign country.  The trouble is, they need some funds to process the winnings.  The victim wires the funds but they keep getting more phone calls stating that other amounts have to be paid but that the lottery winnings are coming.

The IRS calls stating a victim owes back-taxes.  If they don’t pay, the IRS will be at the victim’s door soon to make an arrest.  The victim may be asked to verify their social security number or make payment by some gift card.  The caller will have some pretty compelling personal information to sound convincing but it’s all publicly available.

A credit card company calls stating that a victim’s card has been compromised or that information needs to be verified.  They’ll ask the victim for their credit card number and their social security number. 

More troublesome is the fraud that occurs at the hands of a caregiver who can even be a relative.  Given that they spend so much time together, the caregiver can build a close relationship and convince the victim to help with their bills, buy a car or passively support a drug habit.

These are sad but have happened to people in this community.  There are some common sense ways by which people can protect their financial identity.

First, no legitimate company, government entity or individual should ask for someone’s social security number.  It should never be given out over the phone.  Nor is a legitimate company going to ask for an entire credit card number.  If it is legitimate, they already have that and the social security number.  Why would they need to ask?  No legitimate lottery or other contest will need fees for processing.  No one wins the Spanish lottery.  The District Attorney in Atlanta is not going to ask a person to wire funds to cover bail.

Persons should never give out information over the phone to anyone unless their identity is known for certain and they have a legitimate need for the information.

Personal financial information should be protected by limiting the amount of information sent through the mail.  Mail should be retrieved from a mailbox timely and mail should never be placed in a personal mailbox to send mail.  Criminals will frequently steal checks and other personal information from a mailbox.

Families should have honest but tactful conversations with elderly family members about their ability to manage their own affairs.  These are tough conversations but may be necessary to protect the elderly.

Thorough background checks should be done on anyone providing frequent personal care.  A person who is not the caregiver should review bank and credit card statements with the person’s consent, to ensure all charges are legitimate.

With some practical measures, our elderly can be protected and spared the cost and embarrassment of these kinds of crimes.

Frank Freels, Jr. is the senior vice president, security officer of Volunteer State Bank.

Leave a Reply