More than ever, scammers are taking advantage of seniors and, in many cases, the scammers are successful at convincing the seniors to part with their money, sometimes thousands of dollars or more. In fact, at this point, seniors are being contacted so often by scammers that they commonly recognize the scam when they receive the call.
Seniors are perfect targets for scammers. They are vulnerable, polite, they generally trust people, and are in decent financial shape. On the other side, scammers have become more and more sophisticated over the years and they prey on the most vulnerable aspects of the seniors. The story that they often use to get the seniors to take them seriously is about their loved ones being in trouble and needing money. With technology being so developed (and becoming more and more advanced all of the time), it is very easy for the scammers to expand their horizons to include online scams that work very well for them.
Never share sensitive information if you do not know the person on the other end
Not sharing sensitive information (such as Social Security number, birthdate, mailing address) is a smart principle and any senior whom you might ask would tell you that they understand that it is a bad, dangerous idea to share. However, if you put the senior under the sort of stress that the scammers are creating, common sense often goes out of the window and the senior citizen only wants to help their loved one. They don’t think about anything else at that moment.
Another emotion that often goes hand in hand with such a situation is that the victim becomes embarrassed if they have been scammed. In that case, which, from a human perspective, is totally understandable, not only do they lose all of their savings (and thus, become destitute) but emotionally they are also not willing to admit to the mistake that they made by allowing someone to scam them.
Getting the legal support that you need
If you have been the victim of a scam, in addition to letting the authorities know, it may be really valuable for you to consult a Buffalo lawyer with extensive knowledge in Elder Law. It is essential that you are protected so that you can protect your loved ones. The lawyer can teach you what you need to know about elder law and that knowledge will hopefully enable you to protect yourself against any sort of exploitation. Legal support will provide you with protection and your needs will hopefully be met now and in the future.
