Financial fraudsters have long preyed on the elderly, but modern advances may have compounded opportunities for such criminal pursuits. Technology has enabled a whole new breed of criminals to prey on who may not be web-savvy.
We’ve all heard stories about calls from “marketing companies” informing elderly citizens of their lucky draw prize – often a car or another big-ticket item – and instructing them to claim their bounty by paying “the HST”.
We need to watch out for our fellow senior citizens are often the most vulnerable targets of organized financial scams. Scammers go after seniors because they know that many older people have money saved up and some of them aren’t that well-versed with the latest online schemes.
There are many other ways scam artists are robbing seniors of their retirement savings. More recently, people have lost millions of dollars to COVID-19 related frauds.
Some of the unsuspecting recipients oblige by sending the money but nothing ever shows up. They later discover they had been a victim of a seniors’ fraud perpetrated against the elderly.
Victims often don’t know they have been defrauded until it’s too late. Greater awareness of these crimes is the best way to guard against them.
Here are 5 common scams making the rounds:
You’ve Hit the Jackpot!
Remember getting that email informing you you’ve won millions of dollars from a lottery ticket or contest? Or how about those emails offering you hefty…
