Scandal - American Seniors Target of Fraud Schemes

The elderly in the United States are being ripped off, cheated and mislead at an unprecedented level. Fake lottery and sweepstakes scams currently have touched the lives of over 20 million elderly American citizens. Infomercials on late night TV, when many elderly are awake, offer thinly clad or barely plated coins as gold collectors items. Elderly snail mail boxes are overflowing with scam letters and unrequested packages. The USPS does nothing because to close the door on these mass mailers of scam proposals are now the main source of revenue for the inefficient US Postal system. Families all across America are rallying to protect their parents and grandparents from these low life leaches that are scamming the elderly of America.

Case Study - Mr. R

Mr. Rxxxx is 86 years old. None of his children live with him permanently. He prefers to live alone, after the death of his wife several years ago. The children have all been proud of their father; how healthy he is and how well he takes care of himself. Little did they know how he was being ripped off. Little did they know how many hours he spent at night filling out fake sweepstakes or survey forms, instead of sleeping. For a long time they had no idea what was happening and how it was affecting his health and well being.

Fortunately the children noticed in time that Mr. R was not himself. His personality had started to change. His health and daily routine was becoming erratic and day by day he seemed less stable, both physically and mentally. He seemed to be on a downward slope and he did not seem to be as sharp mentally as he always had been.

The big clue came when Mr. R sent a copy of a scam letter to one of his children. He told them how proud he was to get them involved in the opportunity he had just received. This set off warning alarms within Mr. R's family. Thank God they acted immediately. The children did an intervention and discovered the following things were happening.

Mr. R's bank accounts were being drained at an ever increasing rate.

One time authorizations for withdrawals from his bank accounts were turned fraudulently turned into repetitive authorizations with the assistance and knowledge of the banks but with no notice to Mr. R. Upon confronting the banks some of them actually refunded his money without need for legal action.

Unauthorized charges were being made on Mr. R's credit cards from as far away as Europe for unspecified products and for items he never ordered, never heard of and never received.

Items were being shipped to his home that he never ordered, were substandard and grossly overpriced.

Late night and early morning was bringing an avalanche of threatening phone calls, each demanding payment. The timing of the unexpected calls had confused Mr. R. Without knowing it, he was approving withdrawal checks allowing the criminals to take money from his accounts.

Fraudulent scammers convinced Dr R that they would invest his lottery earnings for small monthly fees, to be paid by auto withdrawal from his bank accounts. This was adding insult to injury.

Credit cards and accounts were being opened in the name of his children without their knowledge but based on falsified application information obtainted from Mr. R when he was told they had won big money in European or African lotteries. This had ruined the credit of one child at a critical point.

Daily checking of his snail mail box revealed on average 50 scam letters a day arriving. His home was literally covered with scam lottery and sweepstakes notifications he was trying to keep filled out in time so as not to lose the fake awards.

The family was upset and shocked. Reports were made the the federal authorities and local police. Steps were taken to close the accounts and to open new accounts for the father. Arrangements were made, with his approval, to assist him with payment of monthly bills. Mail was redirected to a family member who could scan them to pre identify scam mail. His phone was put on the NO CALL list in an attempt to stop the calls, by then up to 25 calls a day from scammers, MLM marketers and the like.

Families wake up! Government estimates are that 68% of our elderly are being ripped off in one way or another. The FBI says that our elderly are targeted because they are most likely to have money in savings. They also may have excellent credit that an identity thief can tap into.

Our elderly were generally raised to be proud, polite and trusting citizens. When younger most of our elderly were hard working and they protected our country from tyrants. They passed on the American dream to anyone under the age of 65 years of age. These attributes are exactly what the criminals are targeting.

The elderly are usually not computer literate. If they are cheated they may not have any idea who to contact to report the event. If they do know who to report to, without family intervention they may be too embarrassed to even report the situation.

Eventually our elderly get caught up in the mess and it wears them out. It has, in some instances, been responsible for death due to stress and fatique caused by the nefarious activities of these criminals.

Here is a list of the frauds that Senior Citizens currently have targeted against them. Your parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles probably looked out for your welfare when you were young. Repay the favor and help guard them against these dangers to their health, their wealth and their well being. Common Fraud Scams Telemarketing Fraud Nigerian Letter or 419 Fraud Impersonation/Identity Fraud Advance Fee Scheme Health Insurance Fraud

Investment Related Scams Letter of Credit Fraud Prime Bank Note Ponzi Scheme

Internet Scams Internet Auction Fraud Non-Delivery of Merchandise Credit Card Fraud Investment Fraud Business Fraud Nigerian Letter Scam

Fraud Target: Senior Citizens Health Insurance Fraud Counterfeit Prescription Drugs Funeral and Cemetery Fraud Fraudulent "Anti-Aging" Products Telemarketing Fraud Internet Fraud Investment Schemes

Be aware, be prepared, protect your family from these scam scum bags.