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SCAMS THAT TARGET SENIORS

 Seniors fall victim to criminal scams 500,000 times a year, 5 times more often than younger persons. There's an infinite variety of scams going around but here are 6 of the more common ones in 2020.

SCAM 1.  SOCIAL SECURITY CARDS.  Someone claiming to an employee or "officer" of Social Security calls to say that your Social Security card is involved in fraudulent activity, or your card has been suspended.  They need for you to confirm your Social Security number for them.  They may ask you to wire or send money.  These are always scams. Don't give these callers your Social Security number.  If it really was Social Security, they would already have your number.  And the real Social Security people will never ask for money or payments over the phone.

 

SCAM 2:  LOTTERY OR SWEEPSTAKES.  A caller says you have won, or are about to win a lottery or sweepstakes involving a lot of money.  However, there is a fee or "tax" that must be paid first.  You are to send a sum of money or provide a credit card to pay the "tax" before you earnings can be released.  Always a scam.  Hang up on these criminals before they talk you into a credit card number or other form of payment.  Once you pay the money, you will never hear from them again.

 

SCAM 3:  GRANDCHILD IN NEED.  Someone calls you claiming to be your grandchild you haven't heard from in a while.  He or she has an urgent need for fast cash (urgent medical emergency, stranded in travel, needs to get bailed out of jail...).  How do they set this up?  Probably, someone found your name and the name of your grandchild on the internet (maybe they hacked your email).  They find enough details to set up a plausible story.  You will be instructed how to wire or send money for the "grandchild."  The average loss on this one is over $1,500.

 

SCAM 4:  AUTOMOBILE WARRANTY.  You are the victim of a robo call (a computer calls random numbers, and your number finally comes up).  You are told that the new car warranty on your vehicle has expired.  (They have no way to know whether it has or not).  You are offered a warranty that will save you thousands in car repair costs.  The problems with this scam are many:

    a)  The warranty they are selling may be virtually worthless. 

    b)  You may not get any real warranty at all once you give them money.

    c)  The "warranty" is usually over priced, costing 3 times what it should.

    d)   You weren't considering a car warranty until these people called you.  You probably don't need one.

SCAM 5:  CREDIT CARD COMPANIES AND LOWER RATES.  Somone calls you out of the blue and says they are from "credit card services."  They say your good credit qualifies you for a reduced interest rate on your credit cards.  Rates as low as 2 to 4 percent, etc.  Then, they begin to phish for information:

       Which credit card do you owe the most on?

       Does that credit card end with the number XXXX?  No, what is the number?

        What address appears on this card (just for verification purposes).

     It becomes readily apparent that this person is not from YOUR credit card company, does not have access to any of your credit card information, and is trying to get you to tell him or her your personal information.  Hang up.  Real credit card companies are NOT paying to offer you lower rates.  They might pay to move you to a higher rate, but never a lower one.  It's always a scam.

SCAM 5 -ROMANCE.  You get a call or email from somebody who says they knew you many years ago.  You were their secret sweetheart or beau.  They've been thinking about you and would like to connect.  Oh, by the way, you are looking so good!  In one form or another, this will end up costing you money, in some cases, costing an entire life's savings.

 SCAM 6 - TECH SUPPORT SUPPORT.  Someone calls and says your computer has been infected with a dangerous virus.  It is urgent because your credit cards, banking, and other confidential information may be exposed.  Call 1-800-XXX-XXXX to get the virus removed.  When you call, you will be tricked into making a payment or providing a credit card number to fix the "problem."  There never was a problem to begin with.  The average hit on this scam?  $500.

Another variation of this scam:  "I'm from your TV cable company.  Your cable isn't working correctly.  I can help you get 15 more channels for free and also make your picture clearer and brighter with just a few quick adjustments.  Are you near your TV right now?"  This is another "tech support" scam that you shouldn't fall for.  Just hang up.  You won't get anything beneficial out of this call.  Nobody is giving away free TV channels.  And your TV is probably working as well as it ever will.  At best, this is a scam cable salesman trying to switch you over to an expensive cable plan without your knowledge.  It may be something much worse.

 If it seems that there are people just sitting around 24 hours a day trying to think of ways to scam you--they really ARE.  When the old scams stop working, they either revise them a little bit, or invent a new one.


Why can't the government stop all of this?  Usually for two reasons:  (1) These crooks are not in the United States, even though they have a phone number much like yours with the same area code.  (2) There are just too many scams to try to track down.  You must protect yourself.

Anytime someone calls offering to fix a problem or give you something for free, beware.  Anytime someone asks you for information on the phone, just assume that it is not legitimate and do not give them any information, including your name, address, phone number, Social Security number, credit card numbers, etc.  It's true, most of these calls are dialed by computers using random numbers (all combinations of the numbers 0-9) and they really don't know your number in many cases.  They almost never know your name or address.  Don't empower them by giving them any information.  The safest thing:  hang up immediatel

 

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