Common Scams aimed at Seniors in 2016

 

 

Are you or Have you been scammed?

A review of more than 5 million fraud and other complaints filed with the FTC in 2015 and 2016 showed that consumers aged 60 and over primarily complained about imposter scams, along with telemarketing practices and tech support scams.

Here are a few common Scams aimed at Seniors in 2016:

• Sweepstakes scams, run by perpetrators who contact victims by phone, tell them they’ve won a financial prize, and then require advance payment of a fee to collect the purported winnings.
• Robocalls, using advanced electronic technology that enable would-be scammers to maximize the number of potential victims reached.
• Computer scams a fraud in which callers impersonate representatives of well-known technology companies and convince victims to allow remote access to their home computers to check for problems. The scammers then charge fees to remove purported electronic viruses.
• Elder financial abuse, in some cases involving relatives or friends who gain access to victims’ identification data, bank accounts or other records.
• Grandparent scams, a con game in which fraudsters phone with phony claims that a grandchild is in trouble and needs help paying a hospital bill, returning home from overseas or gaining release from jail.