Ocean Hills was lucky enough to have Paul Greenwood, a former San Diego Prosecutor and Deputy DA, come to talk to us about elder abuse, more specifically, about the enormous number of frauds that are being perpetrated on seniors. Paul is the national authority on elder abuse, and he spends his time since retirement traveling the country to warn seniors about fraud.
There is so much to say about seniors who have been scammed that I hardly know where to begin. I guess I will tell you briefly about some of the most common scams.
1. Impersonation scam. You may get a phone call telling you the caller is from the IRS or other government agency. THE IRS WILL NEVER CALL YOU! Hang up the phone immediately.
2. Romance scam. This is extremely popular. The scammer posts a too good to be true profile on a dating site, and bingo, lonely widows will call. They never meet in person, but the promise of meeting soon draws widows to empty their bank accounts.
3. Tech support scam. Have you ever had a pop up on your screen that says to call right away or your computer will crash? Or, have you had a little arrow pop up and you are told that Microsoft needs to take over your screen and fix something before your computer crashes? I have had that happen and I almost fell for it.
4. Grandparents scam. Who has had a young voice call you saying, "Grandma, it's your grandson, and I'm in Canada in jail and I need you to send me bail money." We've all had this one.
5. Lottery and prize scam. This one claims that you are the winner of a $2million jackpot in Argentina, and all you have to do is pay the taxes to claim the money. Most of us would recognize this as a scam, but you'd be surprised how many fall for it.
Other common scams include the puppy scam and working from home scam, texts from TheTollRoads, Amazon and USPS saying you have a package or owe money. I often listen to a podcast called The Perfect Scam, and I've heard it all.
Why is this crime so underreported? The main reason is shame and embarassment. Other reasons for not reporting are fear of losing independence, perceived stigma, isolation, and fear of retaliation. Americans over 60 lost more than $5billion to scams in 2024, and the numbers are growing every year.
Don't become a victim. You don't have to be nice to strangers on the phone that might not be what they say they are. Paul Greenwood says to hang up immediately, and if you know for sure they're trying to scam you, have a whistle next to your phone and give it a loud blow. That will get their attention.
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