Oh, they really hate Seniors out here on the Internet

[squatting dog]

I feel like again, this is making apologies for the thieves - like you're their defense attorney.

Throw them all in Federal prison. Let's do that instead rather than making excuses for the thieves.

I'm going to assume you comprehension facility's are lacking.
Where did I say I favor criminals? Merely stating that the kind of money out there draws the criminal element is hardly making excuses.

 

[Lethe200]

My MIL, WWII generation, was a poster child for a senior waiting to be scammed. Spend a little time cultivating her, always be friendly and address her by name, and she assumed that person was friendly, which equaled honest and sincere in her eyes. She wanted to believe the best of people (highly religious) and did.

Fortunately her son, my spouse, and I were there to protect her and handle her money, especially when she began to develop dementia. BUT, what I described above was the way she was raised, in simpler times in a smaller, tight-knit community, in a culture where your reputation, both personal and familial, was all-important as to how other people treated you.

She was, IOW, not prepared for our world today....and would never have been. Yelling at her or saying, "Well, it's your fault for being so dumb," would not have been helpful.

When she sold her home after her husband died, she banked over $1M net.

 

[Murrmurr]

Again, I see that as blaming the victim.

It is wise to teach your elders about various scams. It's about the only way to help them NOT become victims.

 

[Murrmurr]

Don't mean to nit-pick, but scammers don't hate seniors. They love them. They absolutely love them.

 

[Sciguy]

A lot of people fall victim to romance scams. Some are so lonely that they disregard any type of logical thinking. While everyone on the outside may try to warn them, they are blinded by their need to be loved. I feel for these people.

 

[Remy]

These people phish and phish and phish until they land on one that will fall for it. Agree that it is some dementia (or just brains shrinking and frontal lobe going out) and loneliness.

I've mentioned here the woman I knew whose dad drained his account, sold the car and was sending it all to someone in Africa. So far she had said he held on to the house. She had to put her mother in a nursing home because he was neglecting her and she needed some care.

My stepfather was sending donation checks like crazy. At least he didn't' have a computer and I did a lot to try and get them to stop and my brother didn't care and wanted nothing to do with it.

 

[LoveTulips]

Kind of reminds me of women and men who are ripped off by someone they have met, believe they are madly in love, and give this person massive amounts of money. Sorry, I just feel these are dumb sh..s who fall for this.

 

[VintageBetter]

I see what you're saying, but (1) over 80% of phone scams originate in India, and a very high percentage of email scams are coming from Nigeria. Not exactly sure how it works, but I highly doubt we're going to start going to India to arrest thousands of these scammers.

About the "senior's fault" thing... (2) if someone would physically come to your door and feed you some line about needing to write them a check for half a million, I'll bet *no one* would do it... and if you did, wouldn't that be your fault that your money is gone? Why is it different if someone from India or Nigeria calls or emails asking the same? I know what your opinion is (and that's fine, of course) but mine is that fault absolutely lies with the person transferring the money or buying thousands of dollars worth of gift cards.

One caveat would be if the "victim" had some kind of condition that they truly didn't understand what they were doing, but in that case, someone else is usually in charge of the funds.

You should probably read this article about what happened to Stan Lee. Seemed like a smart guy. Was beset by old age and robbed blind. https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/celebrities/info-2020/stan-lee-elder-abuse.html

Should HE just have shaken himself out of his dementia and stopped trusting these people? Why not blame Stan Lee? Smart guy, right?

And while you are all saying PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY IS ALL THAT MATTERS IN THESE CASES, please be reminded that all 50 state have Elder Abuse Laws. WHY? BECAUSE SENIORS ARE CONSIDERED A PROTECTED CLASS OF PEOPLE, just like children and the disabled are.

Sorry I'm shouting. I just don't understand why so many people do not understand that Elder Abuse Laws exist because we are a protected class.

So yes, I say track them down with an international task force if need be, and throw them in prison. Yes, I would support tax dollars going to such a task force.

 

[CallMeKate]

You should probably read this article about what happened to Stan Lee. Seemed like a smart guy. Was beset by old age and robbed blind. https://www.aarp.org/entertainment/celebrities/info-2020/stan-lee-elder-abuse.html

Should HE just have shaken himself out of his dementia and stopped trusting these people? Why not blame Stan Lee? Smart guy, right?

Elder abuse is appalling and those in Stan's life who did this to him should absolutely be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Elder abuse is rampant and needs to be stopped. I haven't seen anyone here say differently. Surely we all agree on that.

But the original post was about phone and email scams. Totally different subject. This is the "hey, lady, you're beautiful and I'm in love with you. Send me $200K and we'll get married in the Bahamas... I already have a home there. I was a doctor!" And the thing most of us are saying is that it is totally mind boggling that someone would hand over that money. Stan Lee didn't hand over his life savings to a scumbag in India or a "rich prince" in Nigeria... it was people in his life that he had already trusted.

 

[Mobilman44]

As a "half Italian" growing up in '50s Chicago, and seeing more sides of humanity than any young person should, I quickly learned the following:

- There is no such thing as "free". You will pay for it one way or another.

- No one will come to your door or call you regarding something to benefit you. But it will benefit them.

- If something is too good to pass up, you best pass it up.

- Con artists (and I've known a few) succeed because of their gift of gab, put on personality, and good looks.

- Some folks can look you in the eye, swear on their babies lives, and still lie thru their teeth.

- Never give out any personal information unless its a totally trusted situation.

- Always lock your doors, lock your car, and don't flash your valuables.

I guess I sound pretty pessimistic - and I probably am - but as I told my kids when they went out in the world... "Be careful out there, not everyone is like your Mom or Dad".

For what its worth........

 

[C50]

I also have to wonder how all these extremely naive, not-too-bright people managed to accumulate these huge amounts of money in the first place. Sorry, I've become pretty skeptical about everything I read.

Maybe they weren't always "naive, not-to-bright" people. Maybe they spent a life time working hard and living financially smart.

Maybe age has weakened them mentally, made them vulnerable.

 

[Colleen]

My mother (who died in 2006) was duped by a next door neighbor into giving her everything....and I mean everything. This women convinced my mother that I didn't want anything to do with her (my mother) and I knew nothing about what was going on because I lived in another state.

My father had worked for General Motors so when he died in 1986, my mother got all his benefits, including free attorney counsel and when she made her uncontested will she disinherited me completely and gave it all to the neighbor. Ironically, this neighbor's husband had lived there all his life and had never been friendly with my parents...ever. They had a son (who now owns my mother's house) that use to steal things from our garage and my dad had caught him several times.

Anyway, when my dad died, the neighbor wormed her way into my mother's life (we learned later after my mother died that she had done the same thing with another elderly lady) and got on my mother's bank accounts and slowly syphoned off everything my mother had. When my mother died, she didn't even have a dress to wear to be laid out in and my mother had always had lovely dresses.

My point is, elderly, lonely women, like my mother, can be easily taken in by a kind deed or word, no matter how false that truly is. It doesn't have to be someone from a foreign country. A nextdoor neighbor can do the same thing. I remember the last time we visited my mother back in 2003, she called the police on us to get us out of her house. We didn't have any idea what was happening when we weren't there. She had been completely brainwashed. My mother's neighbor said to me, "You have to learn to "play the game"." I obviously didn't know how to do that and my mother gave everything to her. It's sad but it happens a lot.

 

[Brookswood]

Having seen how my parents declined mentally in their 80s, I agree older people need protection provided by the law and, hopefully, their loving younger members of the family.

I also see the need for we older folks to stay physically and mentally active and eat good nutritious food. In many cases we contribute to our own decline. And do so willingly.