Bloomberg Magazine reports that conmen, scammers, and thieves stole over $37 Billion last year from America’s Senior Citizens. Due to evolving technology, it’s easier than ever for scammers to target senior citizens with a click of a button or an automatic robo call. Some senior citizens fall for one of these scams and lose just a little bit of money, but many end up losing their life savings. In 2016, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made the issue of financial crimes against senior citizens more known by calling elder exploitation a public health problem.
With so many ways to scam, and prey on innocent people – how are senior citizens supposed to protect themselves?
Do you know about The Seniors Center’s Blog?
The Seniors Center is a special interest group in Washington DC that has helped Seniors gain unprecedented influence in Washington through their dedication to protect the rights that people are owed; most specifically the issues surrounding Social Security. The Seniors Center runs a blog dedicated to protecting senior citizens from scamming and fraud. The Seniors Center
While Social Security is a main concern for The Seniors Center, a lot of the content on the blog provides helpful information about scamming and fraud. The Seniors Center recognizes how this is delicate group of people, and wants to provide the proper resources to keep their finances safe. For example, one article posted in July stressed the importance of voting in the midterms, however, it cautioned that scammers can be lurking as identity thieves to capture your information.
Scammers have gotten smarter, and trickier, and it can be challenging to know what’s truth or a scam. Due to this, The Seniors Center has information on all of the different types of schemes that somebody could experience. There are articles covering phishing, door-to-door, phone scams, and more on the blog. In addition to saying what types of scams are out there, the articles also provide tips and tricks on how to spot them, for example, with money scams it’s important to pay attention to how the person is asking for the money.
While there are many perks to being a senior citizen such as retirement and special discounts, this group also faces some struggles. From declining health, to losing independence, seniors are a group that are often perceived as weak and needing extra help. Because of this, scammers and thieves like to prey on this group, since senior citizens are viewed as an easy target.
Want More Information?
In addition to the blog, The Seniors Center is active on social media platforms, specifically Facebook and Twitter. In addition to articles from the blog, The Seniors Center also shares current events about topics like Social Security, retirement travel, and other issues of interest to Senior Citizens.
Share this information with a Senior Citizen you know to help keep them safe from the dangers of scammers.
