3 On Your Side: Consumer Reports Senior Scam Warning
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More and more scam artists are targeting older Americans. It's estimated the fraudsters take billions of dollars from seniors every year. If you have family members or friends that are in their golden years, 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan has some advice to protect them.
Doctor Al Cadenhead received a call last year from someone claiming to be with the Internal Revenue Service. He says, "She was informing me they were filing a warrant for my arrest." What Cadenhead didn't know was that the caller was a scam artist. She demanded immediate payment for back taxes so he sent her $16,000 through pre-paid debit cards.
Cadenhead is one of eight seniors profiled in a new Consumer Reports article on the growing problem of senior fraud. The scams range from fake sweepstakes, to being duped by shady contractors and financial advisors. Tobie Stanger of Consumer Reports says, "Seniors have retirement savings under their control and scammers know that and go after them."
American seniors lose billions of dollars every year to fraudsters. According to Stanger, "There are ways that seniors can protect themselves. The most important thing is not to answer a phone call if the caller ID is from a number you don't recognize."
It's also important to check contractors and other workers to make sure they are legitimate and seniors should ask trusted family members for help. Stanger says, "Letting a relative view your accounts on a regular basis to look for irregularities."
If you have the ability to review those bank accounts you can often spot a problem before it gets out of control. Large withdrawals or lots of checks being written in a short amount of time are common when it comes to sweepstakes and charity scams.
For more information visit:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/consumer-protection/preventing-elder-abuse
