Alma’s story
The next time you visit Alma, you notice that she has piles of mail on her table. You ask her what is going on with all these letters. Alma tells you she has been winning a lot of contests and sweepstakes lately. She says she has sent checks and cash to several of them to pay for taxes and fees, and she is now waiting to collect her prizes. You remember hearing about lottery scams on the news and you talk with Alma to explain to her that these letters are scams. You encourage her to stop sending money and you help her file a police report.
Scams and fraud by strangers can happen even in protected places like assisted living communities and nursing homes. Scammers with a convincing story are as close as the telephone, the mailbox, or the computer.
Scams are always changing. Typical scams, like a romance scam or tech support scam, are frequently updated with new twists to the scammer’s story.
Texas Appleseed and AARP Texas’s “Managing Someone Else’s Money in Texas” series of guides teaches older adults and caregivers how to recognize and avoid common scams. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a page with information about current scams at consumer.ftc.gov/scam-alerts. AARP also regularly publishes resources related to scams targeting older people at https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/.
Scammers may target people living in assisted living communities and nursing homes who feel lonely or experience memory loss. For example, scammers may claim to be following up on a fake order with a “payment” due, or they may say the person forgot to pay a bill and then demand money.
Here are some warning signs that scammers might be targeting your loved one:
- Your loved one receives news about a lottery win or prize that requires them to pay fees or taxes before they get the money;
- A caller asks your loved one for their bank account information or asks them to make a payment using a gift card, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency;
- A caller makes a financial decision seem urgent by pressuring your loved one to either (a) act now or risk losing an opportunity or (b) act now before something bad happens;
- A caller claims to be from a government agency, bank, or other organization and asks for information that they should already have, such as a Social Security number or account number; or
- Your loved one receives a lot of mail or email about sweepstakes, contests, health supplements or products, or other scams, suggesting that he or she is being targeted by scammers.
The Texas Attorney General has publications to help prevent scams of seniors and the elderly at: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov. CFPB offers a variety of free resources to help prevent scams at consumerfinance.gov/olderamericans.
You may also find free resources through senior centers, long-term care ombudsman, or other state and federal agencies.
If you believe your loved one is the target of a scam, consider helping them review and shred scam mail or delete scam emails and text messages.