Seven Days of Random Basics On Fraud* --- Day Four: Elder Fraud

*Share this, resend it, Tweet it, fax it, email it or just print it out and hand it to grandparents, kids, anyone on a fixed income, everyone over the age of 65 and, especially, the guy sitting next to you on a plane who, when he finds out that you know a lot about fraud, assures you he’s too smart to be conned.

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“Fraud is a very simple crime to understand. I tell you a lie, you give me money, that’s fraud. It is never any more complicated than that.” – Jeffrey Robinson

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Day Four – Elder Fraud

The call that morning went like this:

“Grandma, it’s me.” The boy was crying. “Help. I’m in trouble.”

“What’s wrong?” The woman demanded excitedly, just assuming that it was her grandson. After all, who else called her “Grandma.”

"I’ve gotten arrested in Canada.” He barely managed to explain through his tears, “For illegal fishing. It’s dumb. We were fishing without a license. No one told us we needed a license. But the cops didn’t want to know. Please help. I’m in jail. I have to pay $4200. It’s $600 as a fee and $3600 for bail. Otherwise they’re going to keep me in jail for weeks. Please, help me grandma...”

She reassured him, “Of course I will.” She promised, “I’ll do whatever you want me to.”

He gave her the payment instructions, warned that the whole amount had to be wired that morning, kept saying, thank you, and I love you, and assured her that he’d phone again as soon as he got out of jail.

Clearly upset by her grandson’s predicament, her anguish and his sense of urgency clouded her thinking. She rushed to the bank and made arrangements to wire $4200 to Canada. Only later did she wonder, why didn’t he call his parents? And, how come his voice sounded older? And, why would he be fishing in Canada when he’s supposed to be in school a thousand miles away?

Seniors are especially vulnerable to fraud in two very specific areas. The first is money matters, such as investments, banking and insurance. The second is health.

Without trying to be too cute, one way of looking at how conmen approach seniors has been called “GIPP,” as if it were pronounced “gyp.”

Step 1 - Give the senior something he or she wants or thinks that he or she needs and doesn’t already have: financial security, a low interest loan, anti-aging creams, deep discount pharmaceuticals, a new car, a trip, a way to protect your loved ones.

Step #2 - Immediacy creates confusion: You must act immediately; this is a one-time offer which is going to expire in the next few minutes; you have to tell me right now, yes or no, because if you say no, I have to offer it to someone else right away; the discount is only good if you pay by credit card or bank transfer right now, otherwise you’ll have to pay the full price.

Step #3 - Pretend to help solve the confusion: I’m calling back again, even though you asked me not to, because I went to my boss and he said he would extend the special price offer; I cannot send you anything in writing before you agree, but as soon as you do I will courier over to you everything you need to have; I’m doing this for you because I would hope that, if my parents were in the same situation, someone would be nice to them.

Step #4 - Pry loose your prize: We’re an old, well established company. Just ask anyone. But I don’t want you to lose out on this, so just trust me. You can hear from my voice that I’m trying to help. Let me have your credit card; I promise you, it’s absolutely free, although there is a minor fee for postage and handling, but don’t worry about that, it’s standard stuff.

There are several reasons why conmen single out seniors.

To begin with, they have money. Even if many seniors are living on a fixed income, generally speaking as a group, they have cash in the bank. Many own their own homes and their property is often mortgage free. Many also have credit cards with above average spending and cash-advance limits because they tend to pay their balances in full every month.

Then, the older we get, the less capable we tend to be when it comes to handling stressful and confusing situations.

Crooks also see seniors as a low risk target, being less likely than other groups to report fraud. Some senior victims are too embarrassed about having been taken. Some don’t want their sons or daughters to think that they’re no longer capable of handling their own finances. Others don’t know how to go about reporting a crime and worry that, if they do, there could be ramifications. And then, if they do choose to fight back, they often make poor witnesses. Memory isn’t what it used to be. Exact dates and times are difficult to recall. Verbatim conversations and precise descriptions get muddled.

Conmen only have to worry about a trial if they actually get arrested. And the odds of that happening are remote because they build safeguards into their scams. The most important precaution they take is to put state lines and international borders between themselves and their victims. Why take a big risk by running a scam down the block, when the Internet, phones, faxes, credit cards and on-line bank transfers make it so simple to sit, comfortably and anonymously, hundreds if not thousands of miles away.

In the case of the panicky call to the grandmother for $4200, she got lucky. Someone at her bank saw money being wired to Canada and routinely notified their fraud department. As Florida’s seniors have been plagued with calls pretending to be grandchildren in distress - flooding the State Attorney General’s office with complaints - warnings have gone out through the local media that if you’re asked to wire money to Canada, that could be a red flag to fraud. 

The bank took the trouble to ask her if this was what she really wanted to do. But if they hadn’t, then what? Say, she reported the crime to the police. All they’d have to go on is a name and an address at the end of a wire transfer. It’s obvious that the chance of finding anyone so far away, or of recouping the victim’s money, is pretty remote. But, say the local cops did take the trouble to notify their counter-parts in Canada. Then what? Most likely nothing because whoever fetched the money would have used a phony name.

But let’s say that the Canadian police did get lucky and tracked down the swindler, arrested him and put him on trial. Then what? They’d notify the victim in Florida that she’s expected to come to Canada to testify. And the chance of that happening? Between airfare, hotel and food costs, the time spent waiting to go in front of a jury and all the stress, it’s not surprising that many victims either can’t afford, or can’t be bothered, to do that.

With the odds heavily weighted in the conman’s favor, especially those who work the lucrative seniors’ market, is it any surprise that they have every inventive to keep on offending?

Excerpted from: Jeffrey Robinson’s There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute: A Revelation of Audacious Frauds, Scams, and Cons — How to Spot Them, How to Stop Them

 (c) Jeffrey Robinson 2010, 2012, 2020

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There’s more where this came from. If it amuses you, please Connect/Follow me on Linked In. I always follow back and am anxious to hear what you have to say. Cheers/JR

Tomorrow, Day Five - Your New Best Friend, The Tooth Fairy