NEWS

Seniors in an era ripe for scams

BY HANNAH HERNER

Scams targeting older adults are nothing new. But it’s gotten worse in recent times due to COVID-19 isolation, the rise of the internet, and the increase in the number of citizens in the senior demographic in the United States. Nonprofits, the state and national programs seek to spread awareness to prevent seniors from losing money.

The National Council on Aging counts scams involving health insurance, counterfeit prescription drugs, sweepstakes, telemarketing and fraudulent anti-aging products among the top 10 ways seniors are taken advantage of financially. In more elaborate scams, scammers pose as grandchildren or attend funerals to claim that a recently deceased loved one owed them money.

During the pandemic, medical scams came to the forefront, promising miracle cures or guaranteed prevention of COVID-19. Being physically isolated made for a ripe environment for scam artists.

“Particularly in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, when everybody was socially isolating, that was a flag because what a lot of the fraudsters do is they like to get the seniors alone. That is one of their prime tactics. They don't want anyone else advising or potentially obstructing that scam,” says Rachel Carden of the securities division of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.

AgeWell Middle Tennessee puts out a monthly newsletter detailing prevalent scams. They also hold community workshops in preventing scams. Grace Smith, executive director of AgeWell says it’s wise to go by the motto, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”

“Scammers are really good at making you feel like it's urgent or you're in trouble if you don't do something. Or you have to act today or the offer won't be good anymore. If someone is pressuring you in that way, it's a classic sign. It's probably a scam,” Smith says.

The Senior Financial Protection & Securities Modernization Act, passed in 2017, allows enhanced penalties for those who scam seniors and/or people with cognitive impairment. It also formed the Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation Prevention Program, which educates those who work closely with seniors on spotting the signs of abuse and financial abuse and reporting to state authorities.

In 2018, the North American Securities Administrators Association passed the “Senior Safe Act,” which encourages training for financial institutions and grants them immunity for sharing information about transactions in an effort to save a senior citizen from financial exploitation. While this type of training is required in some states, it isn’t in Tennessee.

“In the past five years, there has been a concerted effort, both through legislation and through some grant initiatives, to do a better job in making sure that the penalties are stiff for people that abuse older adults or take advantage of them financially. And also just to try to break down barriers and in providing victim support,” Smith says.

Smith added that these types of crimes are also underreported.

“Most of the time, people are so embarrassed that they've fallen victim that they don't want to tell anybody, even their own family members,” she says. “In those cases, it can be hard to understand the full extent of people being impacted by scams, but also hard to prosecute if it's never reported.”

The U.S. Census estimates that by 2034, older adults will outnumber children for the first time in history. With a very small percentage of those seniors in institutional care, it’s up to caregivers, medical staff, and others in close orbit to look for the signs of fraud. The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance sends out literature to senior stakeholders made by the NASAA.

Another thing for those close to seniors to watch for is for cognitive decline, where they become especially vulnerable. If a loved one is facing cognitive decline, it’s important for a trusted family member to have safeguards on bank accounts, or even enter a joint bank account with them, and watch for abnormal withdrawals.

Smith says older adults can generally be more trusting, not wanting to come off as rude by refusing to answer questions or not answering the phone, or door. And with modern technology, fraudulent emails and websites can look legit, like they’re coming from their own bank, for example.

“I think just having a conversation just very candidly, you know, look, you can't trust people that call you that you don't know,” Smith says. “And there are a lot of scams out there. And you don't ever, ever, ever want to give away your bank account number or your social security number, any personal information like that, that someone could use to take advantage of you. I think those conversations are really important. And a caregiver can give examples of scams that are out there.”

Carden adds that it’s not just a stranger-danger situation when it comes to scams. Sometimes family members convince older adults to move money around or gain power over the money to use for themselves.

“It can occur within families, it doesn't have to be a stranger situation. Unfortunately what happens in the case of elder fraud and exploitation is that you'll have family members who may be taking advantage of the situation and trying to become power of attorney or trying to obtain control over their financial assets,” Carden says.

The internet is a way for fraudsters to reach seniors, who can be especially susceptible because they aren’t digital natives, too. National organization MediaWise has a program that teaches fact checking targeted to older adults. Online training shows seniors how to ask who's behind the information, what's the evidence, and what are other sources saying, so they don’t fall for inaccurate news or conspiracy theories.

“Seniors were falling for misinformation for a few reasons,” says Alex Mahadevan, program manager for MediaWise. “One, they were the targets because they are the highest voting block, they have lots of money, they've always been the target of scams, you know, and they're not as familiar with the technology, and they have a lot of free time.”

Mahadevan noted that during the pandemic, this type of misinformation could even be deadly for seniors. Even the word “news” has a different meaning from when seniors were growing up. A Facebook “newsfeed” bears little resemblance to the newspapers that seniors trusted in their formative years.

As more and more seniors come of age in the next decade, the younger generation looks to protect them and empower them to protect themselves through education about the possibility of scams.