According to an article by Sid Kirchheimer on AARP's website, researchers and experts describe the negative effects of well-known problems such as memory loss and loneliness in making seniors more vulnerable to frauds and scams. In terms of memory loss, the article points out how scammers can use memory loss against a victim by repeating a lie to them so often they believe it. For example, telling a person repeatedly, "You forgot to pay me!" can cause them to doubt themselves and end up paying double. Mr. Kirchheimer also writes about how an older person's cognitive ability often wanes after 2pm or so, which is why crooks so often seem to call their marks in the late afternoon or evening. Sneaky and exploitative, isn't it?

 Loneliness is another big factor in scam victimization, as I've written here and in my book. I thought this quote was particularly interesting:

 "It's loneliness or feeling undervalued that boosts a senior's risk of falling for scams by 30 percent, suggests new research by Peter A. Lichtenberg of Wayne State University's Institute of Gerontology. Both states of mind, he says, 'fall under the need of having status in society and those needs not being met. It comes down to feeling socially isolated.'"

 30 percent is a huge increase in risk for scam victimization, and it points yet again to the importance of making sure elders feel connected and valued in their social systems.

 The most intriguing part of the article for me, however, was the section in which the conventional wisdom that elders' tendency to be more trusting makes them vulnerable to victimization may not be as accurate as we thought. Here's another quote:

 "...studies find that many older people are in fact better at detecting lies than younger folks. Still, older people 'tend to be more patriotic and more religious,' says neuropsychologist Stacey Wood of Scripps College, traits which the bad guys can sometimes exploit. Patriotism can open the door to scammers who pretend to be from a government agency or a veterans group. Being religious, meanwhile, can make people vulnerable to cons involving fake charities or other supposed good causes."

 I still observe, based on my own interactions with seniors in scam prevention trainings and other settings, that they often are more trusting of people. It may be they just aren't as trusting as we've thought, and the real reasons for their vulnerability are more complex than we've realized. Mr. Kirchheimer goes on to write that research shows that age can impair a person's ability to spot red flags for fraud that are more obvious to younger people. He cites a possible explanation: "Compared to other age groups, older adults tend to have a more positive outlook." It just goes to show that an optimistic outlook isn't always a good thing, especially when dealing with criminals.

 Here's the link to the full article: http://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-02-2011/scams-trap-older-adults.html

 Thanks for reading,

 Art 

 Yesterday I was giving a talk about identity theft against elders for a group of hospice nurses. As I was talking about the importance of making sure the elder's private information and credit cards are locked up when caregivers or home repair people are coming over, I had a sudden flash of insight. It occurred to me that my cool new smartphone, with its easy-to-use and remarkably clear camera, could potentially be used to take pictures of a credit or debit card. I took pictures of a couple of my own cards to see how clear the images would be, and they were very readable with no effort at all.

 I did some research on this, and found that people have been writing about this on the internet. Sometimes a warning email circulates. A hoax-debunking website I looked at said there were no reports of fraud of this type happening. However, this was all based on the idea that someone in a store could casually walk by and snap a picture of an unsuspecting victim's card and then use the image to go on a shopping spree.

 What I'm referring to is the ease with which a dishonest caregiver or other visitor could snap a photo of a carelessly stored debit or credit card, front and back, while an elder is in a different room or asleep. This could possibly happen in a case with an elder who has some sort of medication-induced fuzziness, too. The image of the card would be useful for online shopping, among other things.

 What this means, then, is it's that much more vital to keep your parent's credit/debit cards locked up if someone is coming over. A criminal could easily take a photo in the right circumstance and the card would never go missing. A huge balance could show up on an account very quickly. Thankfully, I'm certain the credit card companies would view this as credit card fraud and not hold the person liable for more than $50, but they could clean out a person's account if the crook got a photo of a debit card. Beyond that, there's the "hassle factor" of having to clean up the mess.

 Thanks for reading,

 Art  

 "My first suggestion to others would be to try and get as involved as they can in their parents' business. I know it is difficult at times as it may seem you are taking their independence away, but hopefully they know you mean well and are looking out for their best interest. In the case of (a recent identity theft case) it was a home health care worker who was only there one day to take care of the mother. The daughter found out and then requested credit reports and filed fraud alerts, and it turned out the suspect attempted to open numerous other accounts in her mother's name. Since then she has told the home health care people that she needs the names and any other possible information on the workers that are coming through her parent's house. I believe she has also started a sign up sheet at her mother's residence where the worker must sign in and out with the date and times they were there as well as their name so she knows everyone who is coming in contact with her parents."    

"Her mother’s personal information was in the nightstand drawer in her bedroom next to where her mother was staying.  Whenever possible, leave all identifying information out of view and reach of others.  Unfortunately a lot of people get into this business just for the opportunity to commit fraud. Numerous people who work in this industry have criminal records, and people can get copies of their own criminal backgrounds for a fee.  I suggest to Missouri residents that they look at a website called Casenet at https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do. , which is also free and easily accessible.  It provides both civil and criminal case information brought against people in the State of Missouri." (Note: If you live elsewhere, take a look at www.criminalsearches.com). 

"My other suggestion to children/family of the elderly is to contact the local police department where their parents/elderly family member lives and leave their information (name, relation, address and phone numbers, and the more people the better) for contact.  We can log that information into the computer so that if anything would come up with their parent, whether it be fraud or a health emergency, we would have that information readily available to contact them." 

Another detective, from North Carolina, said in a recent news article that it's very important to report suspected scam phone calls: "If it was me, I would contact my phone company immediately and see if they can start a trace on the line,” she said. “Then I would call my local police department and have them file a report.” This may help prevent others from being ripped off.

In addition, I encourage elders to share the news with their neighbors and friends. This is the third "R" I talk about in my "3 R's of Scam Prevention": Reaching out. I vigorously encourage elder targets to share the story of the scam call, email, or any other contact they have with unknown people who ask them for personal information or money. Spreading the word to their friends and neighbors helps them feel good about trying to help others, and reinforces their sense of competence in resisting scams and frauds.

Thanks for reading,

These kinds of situations are excruciatingly painful and difficult. The sense of betrayal and violation, anger, loss, and sadness can be overwhelming for everyone touched by elder financial exploitation and abuse. Families can be torn apart, resulting in broken relationships and years of estrangement. There may also be irreparable damage to the victim(s), both financially and emotionally.  

According to research from the National Criminal Justice Reporting Service, about 60% of perpetrators were relatives of the victim, most often an adult child. It’s sad to me that the very people who are supposed to be looking out for an elder in their time of need are often the ones exploiting them. The quote about the banality of evil comes to mind.

In terms of prevention, each situation is different, so I can’t suggest a simple formula. Nevertheless, there are some general ideas to consider:

As I've been working on my book, I talked to my own financial advisor about my interest in this subject, and he told me about a couple of examples he had seen recently. The take-away message in both of them was “The more eyes on the money, the better.” He also spoke, as have other financial advisors and estate planning attorneys with whom I’ve talked, about the idea of “layers of protection.” This can mean practices like one sibling being the joint owner of a parent’s bank account, but a different sibling or other trusted party watching the account statements.

A big source of problems can come from providing financial assistance and loans to family members. While most elders want to help out a struggling child or grandchild and find this gratifying,  I encourage the elder and their family to think very carefully about what they’re getting into. I recommend a written agreement which spells out the details, and that the giver’s needs for reimbursement always be among the top considerations. Think of this as a contract of sorts, which may carry with it rights to seek legal remedies if need be.

I think it’s also important to pay attention to who has access to the senior. Think about them and their situation in terms of potential risks, which could include things like financial problems or excessive debt, drug/alcohol abuse, overspending, or gambling addiction. Remember: The more (trustworthy) eyes on your parent’s money the better.

This is a very complex subject, and I hope this will get you started thinking about it for your own situation. Remember, for more good books about preventing financial abuse and exploitation, along with scams and frauds, see my Elderly Fraud Recovery Help Resources Store on Amazon. 

Thanks for reading,

Art

• Recognizing

• Responding

• Reaching out

 Part of the problem which contributes to elders' scam victimization is their too-frequent isolation from others. If your Mom or Dad doesn't have someone with which to check things out (" I got this weird call telling me I was in line to inherit a bunch of money from a long-lost relative. What do you think?"), the chances of their being ripped off rise dramatically. They can buy into the criminals' destructive bogus belief system they are using to manipulate the victim into doing what the crooks want.

 Another way reaching out can help an elder avoid victimization is through letting someone know they need some help with a situation which may be getting out of hand. For instance, a lady at a recent talk I gave told me about a handyman she's been employing who has been pressuring her to give him more money. I helped this lady figure out some ideas for how to handle it and who she could turn to in her family for more help.

 We're social creatures, and we all need people to help us out sometimes. Even dedicated introverts need a person or two they can call on when things get confusing or overwhelming. Our trusted family and closest friends want to be there for us, and if an elder doesn't have family or friends then they need one of the many dedicated professionals out there trying to help them. Reaching out when facing a potential scam draws on the power of the human need for attachment to help keep a senior safe. I hope you will regularly ask your parent to be sure to let you know if someone sketchy tries to get their attention.

 Thanks for reading,

 Art 

I believe from my experience that we can teach elders how to recognize both the internal, emotional vulnerabilities they may carry which make them potential victims, as well as the "dead giveaways" of scams. A simple way of thinking about an elder's emotional vulnerabilities is with the memory jogger FLAGS, as in "Red Flags:"

• Fear
• Loneliness
• Anger
• Greed
• Sympathy

(Note: I want to acknowledge the inspiration for this mnemonic from the work of Dr. Haha Lung and Christopher B. Prowant, in their book, The Black Science: Ancient and Modern Techniques of Ninja Mind Manipulation)

While other emotions can come into play in a particular fraud or scam, this captures most of the emotions that criminals use to hurt seniors.

It's also vital to teach seniors to recognize what I call the "dead giveaways" for scams:

• The scammer chooses them
• The scammer is very nice or charming
• The scammer asks for money or personal information
• The presence of urgency (Get it now or you'll lose out!)
• Presence of "too good to be true" claims which excite other emotions such as excitement, relief, or gratitude

Effectively responding to scams involves teaching the senior about what we call boundaries in the world of psychotherapy. Think of boundaries as being like a fence around your yard: You're on the inside, controlling the latch on the gate and therefore who comes in your yard. The simplest of these is reminding an elder to just hang up the phone when a stranger calls, or not take the call at all if they have caller ID. Another boundary to practice is "Never Let Yourself Be Chosen, Always Do the Choosing" when it comes to home repairs and other business dealings. 

Boundaries keep us safe and secure. I encourage you to talk about boundaries with the seniors in your life to remind them to always stay safe by keeping good boundaries with possible scammers when they try to make contact.

Thanks for reading,

Art

As you may recall from my earlier blog posts in this series( see part one, part two, part three), the “evil twins” of deception(deliberately misleading someone for your own gain) and manipulation(persuading someone to DO something you want, mostly without their knowing it) must be present for a scam to occur. Because they are so inextricably linked, I coined the word “deceptulation.” Effective prevention, therefore, must teach the potential victims how to know when a scammer is trying to deceive them with misleading, destrutive information AND get them to do something which benefits the crook and hurts themselves.

I have discussed methods from hypnotic practice (and sales techniques!) which contribute to the criminals’ creation of a destructive, delusional belief system designed to create the mental and behavioral permission within the targeted person so they give up their money or personal information. These techniques include rapport building, which exploits the elderly person’s needs for connection, and “yes sets,” in which the fraudsters build the damaging belief system through getting the victim to semi-consciously answer a series of questions that lead to their taking action based on the scammers’ concocted reality. Effective prevention must also involve ways of neutralizing the criminals’ abilities to gain influence over the targeted senior’s critical thinking.

As I wrote earlier, Daniel Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence, describes skills related to handling emotions in healthy, adaptive ways. I suggest this idea extends to the world of scam prevention, in the form of teaching seniors the skills of handling emotional hooks the scammers use to hurt them. These skills apply especially to handling deception and manipulation.

Whenever I present on a topic, I like to give my audience some simple-to-remember memory hooks to further their learning and retention of the material. When I present about fraud and scam prevention, I speak about the “3 R’s” of prevention:

With a combination of all three R's, I believe we can help "scam-proof" our elders from a large number of potentially ugly and painful events.

More about the Three R's in the next post.

Thanks for reading,

Art

In the first 2 parts of this series about the mechanics of how scammers hurt our elders (see my blog posts for 4/16/2011  and 4/25/2011 ) I introduced ideas from Daniel Goleman's book, Emotional Intelligence, and how the crooks use hypnotic methods like rapport building and yes sets to gain unhealthy influence over our parents and other elders. In part 3 of this series I will introduce you to the word I created to describe the essential linking of two interpersonal dynamics to hurt people. The word is "deceptulation."

 Deception basically means deliberately misleading someone. We can separate it from misleading someone because of incomplete or inaccurate information, but without a malicious intent. In deception, you know what you're doing and it isn't kind or helpful. You're seeking power over someone through lies and omission. Manipulation, on the other hand, is getting someone to do something you want, usually without their realizing it. It's the active part of a scam, in which the elderly person acts in accordance with the crook's wishes for money or personal information for their purposes.

I created the word deceptulation as a combination of deception and manipulation to reflect the mechanics of scam victimization. The scammers have to mislead the victim and get them to do what the criminal wants for the fraud to occur. They are creating a destructive delusional belief system in their victim to rip him or her off. Both qualities must be present for this to occur. The fraud artists are amazingly skillful at creating destructive belief systems, but I think we can all help scam-proof our elders with some easy-to-implement ideas.
 
In the next post in this series I will describe how understanding deceptulation, hypnosis, and emotional intelligence helps us devise more effective ways of preventing scams. I will further introduce you to my simple, "3 R's" approach to scam prevention. The audiences with whom I 've shared this information have found it very helpful, and I hope you do, as well.

Thanks for reading,
 
Art

I AM A SCAM VICTIM

I AM A SCAM VICTIM:

I am your mother, father, grandparent, stepparent, neighbor, friend.

I AM A SCAM VICTIM:

I was taken in by one of the nicest people I ever met. He cared about me, asked about my grandchildren, listened to my stories. I just wanted to help when he asked me for money or my credit card number.

I AM A SCAM VICTIM:

When I worked I was a teacher, accountant, lawyer, nuclear sub captain, police officer.

I AM A SCAM VICTIM:

I don’t need your blame or judgment, I need your help and support to right the wrong which has been done to me.

I AM A SCAM VICTIM:

I could be you, someday.

Thanks for reading,

Art