Every one of us is susceptible to being taken advantage of by con artists, and as we age, the problem is magnified.

Before I get into the 12 elderly scams, let’s talk about why scamming the elderly has become so popular. The biggest reason is because scammers have found the older segment of our population is an easy target. What these con artists have realized is that they can easily manipulate the elderly population because many of them are lonely, and they’re not as mentally sharp as they used to be. Both of these two weaknesses can be easily exploited by someone who does not have your best interest in mind.

The first scam I’ll talk about today is the grandparent scam. If you’re a grandparent, this is one you have to be very careful of because this is one of the few scams where those trying to take advantage of you are going to pull your heartstrings. They know there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do to help the little grandson or granddaughter you love so much and yet maybe haven’t seen in years.

The scam goes something like this. You get a call from an unknown phone number. And the person on the other end of the line says, ”Hello Grandma (or Grandpa). This is your grandson calling. I bet you can’t guess which one of your grandsons this is.” For scammers, this prompt is very important because they are trying to get you to reveal the name of your grandchild, which allows them to make the call more personable.

If you take the bait, the scammer will then take on the identity of the grandchild you name.Then the person on the other end of the line turns the phone call into some type of an emergency. Some of the top emergencies are: My car just broke down, and I am stranded. Or, I need money, or they’re going to kick me out of the place I live, and I’ll be living on the street. There’s always an immediate need for money with the scam. And there’s always an explanation that nobody else is willing or able to help, including their parents.

The problem with this type of scam is that it can seem so real. If this is truly your grandson, and he is in this much need, you want to do your part to help him out. But in this situation, it isn’t your grandson on the other end of the phone. And so, the last thing you should be doing is getting involved.

There are some simple things you can do to keep from falling for this scam. The first one is to make sure you ask your own questions about things you know, things only your grandchild would know. Maybe it’s about his life or his parents or even your relationship with them. You can also get a phone number where you can call him back, and then make a quick call to his parents to find out if they know anything about what’s going on. Another option would be to get someone else involved with the call, maybe a friend or a neighbor, so they can help you make sure everything is legitimate.

The second scam is the investment schemes that exist out there. As a retiree, you are a target for financial advisors who are more concerned about their own retirement than they are about your retirement. The best advice I can give you here is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

But investment schemes aren’t just limited to schemes by companies who are promoting high investment returns. I’ve seen schemes where they use tax credits as their basis for the investment. I’ve also seen other schemes where they claim high tax deductions for those who invest, and there are schemes where they claim the investment is backed by some form of tangible asset.

When it comes to investing, there are three rules I suggest you abide by.

First, never be in a hurry. If the person selling the investment tells you that if you don’t invest now, you’re going to miss the opportunity, then you should be concerned. Investing immediately is a red flag.

Second, only invest in well-known companies. There’s a time and a place to try riskier investment avenues, but during your retirement is not one of these times.

And third, do your homework and include someone else in helping you make your decision. As a CPA, I’ve been asked hundreds of times to help clients evaluate a decision, and getting a second opinion is always a good thing.

The third scam is a homeowner reverse mortgage scam. Scammers know most retirees have built up substantial equity in their homes, so they see this as an easy target for quick cash. One way they try to take advantage is by convincing you that you must have their products or services. But when you say you don’t have the money to pay for it, they offer a reverse mortgage.

Now all reverse mortgages aren’t bad, but if you’re using a reverse mortgage to buy something you really don’t need, you’re going to find out the hard way that doing this is not a good financial option.

Another scam many con artists are starting to use is when they pose as a government official and tell you that they can help you lower your property taxes, but you must pay them a fee before they can help you with the process. As with other scams we’ve already talked about today, the best way to avoid this scam is to take your time and rely on someone you trust to help confirm what you’re doing is right and that you’re making the right decision.

The fourth scam is the sweepstakes or lottery scam. One of my clients, Steven, had a gal who worked for him that was 100% convinced she was going to win the lottery during a period of time when the jackpot was in the hundreds of millions. She lived in Nevada, which doesn’t have a lottery, so she would often go to California or Arizona to buy lottery tickets.

At the height of the employee’s conviction, Steven decided to take this employee to Arizona, so she could check some lottery tickets she had previously purchased. As they pulled into the gas station, my client told her he would fill up the car with gas while she went in and checked her tickets.

They just started filling the car when his employee came out of the store, and she was white as a ghost. As she got closer, my client asked her what was going on. She could hardly talk, but she said she knew she would win the lottery and had, according to the ticket scanner.She then asked my client to go back inside with her for some support.

On the spot, Steven hurried and finished filling up the car with gas and then took his employee in or ticket back into the convenience store. As they approached the clerk, the employee started shaking from her excitement. Stephen grabbed the ticket from her hand and handed it to the clerk.

He then asked the clerk to scan his employee’s ticket to see how much she had won. The clerk did so, but instead of millions they were expecting, they had won $5 instead.

They tell you this story for a number of reasons.

First, it can become very easy to be sucked in to believing that you’re going to be the next big winner. But statistics show this isn’t true. Yes, there are winners, but for every one winner, there are hundreds of thousands of losers.

Second, lotteries and sweepstakes are not designed to help you. They’re designed to help the companies and governments who put them together. Governments know these programs disproportionately hurt the elderly, yet they continue to run these programs on a daily basis.

And third, don’t waste your money on false hopes. As a retiree you have so much you already need to spend your money on, so why waste it on schemes that are rigged against you.

The fifth scam I want to talk about is the telemarketing and phone scam. There are too many of these types of scams to even list them all, but they’re all designed to trigger one of two emotions from you. The first one is fear, and the second one is greed.

The fear trigger most often used is based upon some type of error you’ve made with some government agency, like the IRS or Social Security. The scammer usually tries to convince you that, somehow, you have overlooked a financial obligation and that you need to pay the outstanding balance immediately or suffer major consequences. The most important thing to remember with a fear scam is no federal agency will ever call you to request money without having first sent you a letter in the mail.

When it comes to greed, this can be all over the board. And it’s only limited by your own greed limits. I’ve seen scams where people are claiming they have millions of dollars in a foreign account. They’re waiting just for the person they’re trying to scam. But that person must be willing to pay a small fee first in order to access the money.

I’ve also seen simpler scams where people are offering to provide a product or service at a fraction of the cost. But, like other scams, the decision must be made immediately, or the person being scammed is going to miss out on this opportunity. The hardest thing with phone scams is they often sound so real. I can’t tell you the number of times as a CPA, I’ve had to explain to a client multiple times that a scam is not legitimate. They get so bought into the story. They want to believe it’s true even though every other logical person in their life is telling them otherwise.

The biggest takeaway here is to slow down, to take a deep breath. And remember, if the person on the other end of the phone is trying to spur you to make a decision based upon fear or greed, the result generally is not going to turn out to your advantage.

The sixth scam is internet fraud. In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to stay off the internet. Therefore, it’s important to understand some of the top internet scams that exist, so hopefully you can keep yourself safe and secure.

The most popular scam of them all is what is called phishing. Now, this isn’t the type you do with your grandkids out of the lake, but it does resemble the other type of fishing you do with a rod and reel.

Essentially phishing is cybercriminals reaching out to you in hopes that they can get you to disclose or give them access to your information. This information can include something as simple as your name or a confirmation of your email address. But usually it goes much deeper into your personal information, such as your social security number, credit card details, or your bank account information.

There are two key things to remember when it comes to phishing scams. First, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Second, take your time to understand what is being sent to you and who it’s coming from. If it seems weird or out of character from what the person would normally send you, the simple answer is to just don’t click.

The seventh (internet) scam revolves around companies who are claiming they will provide you with some type of product or service, but they have no intention of ever fulfilling this promise. If you end up on a site that is offering products or services you want, but you’re not familiar with the company, take some time to do some research. You can usually do a quick internet search and figure out within about five or 10 minutes whether a company is legitimate or not.

The eighth (internet) scam I want to talk about is the bad download scam. This is where companies or individuals try to get you to download software, or click on something from an email or a website that appears to be harmless. But when you click on it, it downloads malware or ransomware to your computer.

Both malware and ransomware are very dangerous. Malware is designed to either gather information from your computer or wreak havoc on the operational capacity of your computer, and ransomware is designed to completely lock up your computer, making it useless. When this happens, the person who sent the ransomware then usually asked for a fee in order to remove the virus. Your best solution here is to stay away from websites that you’re not familiar with, to be very careful when opening emails with attachments, and to install some form of virus protection software onto your computer.

The ninth scam is the funeral crematory scam. To me this is about as low as you can get in the elder scam arena. This is where people take advantage of you as you’re trying to prepare for where your body will rest once this life is over. The problem with these types of scams is you may never know you were scammed. It may be those who are left after you pass away that find out the secret the scammers hid from you your whole life.

This scam can take various forms, but it usually involves selling you a burial plot or funeral services the company can’t fulfill or overselling you on items you don’t need. The best way to avoid this type of scam is to make sure you’re dealing with well-known companies who have a good reputation for providing funeral or crematory services and products in your area.

The tenth scam is fraudulent anti-aging products. For many people aging is one of the hardest things to experience in life, and scammers know this. All you have to do is stay up late one night and flip through the various channels on your television, and you’ll soon realize what a big business anti-aging products is. Our late night television is full of infomercials about products that claim to be able to do about everything but bring you back from the dead.
My best advice here is to forget about the magic potions and the lotions and just accept the natural aging process our bodies must go through you, and your wallet will both thank me in the end.

The eleventh scam is counterfeit prescription drugs. Of all the scams I’ve talked about, this is the worst one to me. Why? Because for many people, including myself, we’re talking about a life or death situation. What do I mean? Let me explain how the scam works.

As we age, many of us are required to take prescription drugs to keep us alive. But some of these drugs can be outrageously expensive and scammers know this. Therefore, they provide various offers to allow you to get access to these prescriptions for much cheaper than you would normally pay. These offers can come in the form of a dropship option where the products are delivered to your door, or it may require you to go to another country.

The problem with this scam is you have no guarantee of what is inside of that pill you’re being sold. The reason many of these drugs are offered at such a cheap price is because they’re not drugs at all. They’re a placebo that’s filled with something else.

If you’re on a prescription drug to keep yourself alive and healthy, do yourself a favor and make sure you’re using reputable sources to fill your prescriptions. Now that doesn’t mean you have to pay the highest price. Drugstores can charge substantially different prices for the same drug, so do your homework. There are a number of websites that can help you find the cheapest place to fill prescriptions with top pharmacy chains.

The twelfth and final scam is the Medicare health insurance scam. Current statistics report that the average retired couple has spent over $200,000 during their retirement in medical related costs. This sounds like an outrageous number, but it’s the reality facing many retirees.

As a result, many of them are looking for any loopholes in order to lower their out of pocket costs for healthcare. It’s in these loopholes where scammers are waiting.

These scammers are willing to play on your emotions and frustrations as it comes to the exuberant costs of healthcare. They use these emotions to then get you to buy products and services that are not what they appear. This includes medical services that are not done in accordance with safety standards established in the United States to health care policies that don’t really cover all the medical treatments they claim to cover.

Your best solution here is the same solution I’ve recommended for so many other scams I’ve talked about already. Stick with companies you know and that you can confirm are meeting the current requirements established by the government.

I must admit it is with a little bit of apprehension on my part, but I’m very glad I’ve been able to cover some of the top scams you may face in retirement. But I also know that what I’ve covered is not enough to protect all of you from people who are more interested in their own best interests than they are in your best interest. Because there’s thousands of dishonest people out there, and there’s only one of me. But regardless, I choose to move forward with hope.

And I will do that by leaving you with my top three takeaways.

Number one, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Greed can destroy a well planned life as fast as anything else can.

Number two, take your time to do research and do your homework. Simple internet searches can go a long way to helping you learn about the validity of a company’s products or services you might be considering.

And number three, have a trusted friend or advisor. This person needs to be someone you feel comfortable enough with that you can call them at any time to get their advice on a decision you’re making. Now, this doesn’t mean you should call them to figure out what you’re going to have for lunch tomorrow. But if you’re looking at making a big decision where someone could possibly take advantage of you, this friend or advisor may be your best bet at protecting yourself.

If you have family members who are elderly, it’s very important you do your part to help make sure they’re protected from the various scams I talked about. There are two main ways you can make a difference in these people’s lives.

First, educate any elderly relatives or friends on the various types of scams that exist in hopes they will be able to recognize them when they happen. And second, stay close to these family members or friends, and make sure they know they can call you if they need help with anything. You may be the only person standing between them and a big disaster.

Now if you’re getting elderly yourself, put in safeguards to protect yourself and establish a lifeline with someone you can trust. So, if you think of scams happening, you can turn to this person to help you out.

Every one of us is susceptible to being taken advantage of by con artists, and as we age, the problem is magnified.

Before I get into the 12 elderly scams, let’s talk about why scamming the elderly has become so popular. The biggest reason is because scammers have found the older segment of our population is an easy target. What these con artists have realized is that they can easily manipulate the elderly population because many of them are lonely, and they’re not as mentally sharp as they used to be. Both of these two weaknesses can be easily exploited by someone who does not have your best interest in mind.

The first scam I’ll talk about today is the grandparent scam. If you’re a grandparent, this is one you have to be very careful of because this is one of the few scams where those trying to take advantage of you are going to pull your heartstrings. They know there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do to help the little grandson or granddaughter you love so much and yet maybe haven’t seen in years.

The scam goes something like this. You get a call from an unknown phone number. And the person on the other end of the line says, ”Hello Grandma (or Grandpa). This is your grandson calling. I bet you can’t guess which one of your grandsons this is.” For scammers, this prompt is very important because they are trying to get you to reveal the name of your grandchild, which allows them to make the call more personable.

If you take the bait, the scammer will then take on the identity of the grandchild you name.Then the person on the other end of the line turns the phone call into some type of an emergency. Some of the top emergencies are: My car just broke down, and I am stranded. Or, I need money, or they’re going to kick me out of the place I live, and I’ll be living on the street. There’s always an immediate need for money with the scam. And there’s always an explanation that nobody else is willing or able to help, including their parents.

The problem with this type of scam is that it can seem so real. If this is truly your grandson, and he is in this much need, you want to do your part to help him out. But in this situation, it isn’t your grandson on the other end of the phone. And so, the last thing you should be doing is getting involved.

There are some simple things you can do to keep from falling for this scam. The first one is to make sure you ask your own questions about things you know, things only your grandchild would know. Maybe it’s about his life or his parents or even your relationship with them. You can also get a phone number where you can call him back, and then make a quick call to his parents to find out if they know anything about what’s going on. Another option would be to get someone else involved with the call, maybe a friend or a neighbor, so they can help you make sure everything is legitimate.

The second scam is the investment schemes that exist out there. As a retiree, you are a target for financial advisors who are more concerned about their own retirement than they are about your retirement. The best advice I can give you here is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

But investment schemes aren’t just limited to schemes by companies who are promoting high investment returns. I’ve seen schemes where they use tax credits as their basis for the investment. I’ve also seen other schemes where they claim high tax deductions for those who invest, and there are schemes where they claim the investment is backed by some form of tangible asset.

When it comes to investing, there are three rules I suggest you abide by. First, never be in a hurry. If the person selling the investment tells you that if you don’t invest now, you’re going to miss the opportunity, then you should be concerned. Investing immediately is a red flag.

Second, only invest in well-known companies. There’s a time and a place to try riskier investment avenues, but during your retirement is not one of these times.

And third, do your homework and include someone else in helping you make your decision. As a CPA, I’ve been asked hundreds of times to help clients evaluate a decision, and getting a second opinion is always a good thing.

The third scam is a homeowner reverse mortgage scam. Scammers know most retirees have built up substantial equity in their homes, so they see this as an easy target for quick cash. One way they try to take advantage is by convincing you that you must have their products or services. But when you say you don’t have the money to pay for it, they offer a reverse mortgage.

Now all reverse mortgages aren’t bad, but if you’re using a reverse mortgage to buy something you really don’t need, you’re going to find out the hard way that doing this is not a good financial option.

Another scam many con artists are starting to use is when they pose as a government official and tell you that they can help you lower your property taxes, but you must pay them a fee before they can help you with the process. As with other scams we’ve already talked about today, the best way to avoid this scam is to take your time and rely on someone you trust to help confirm what you’re doing is right and that you’re making the right decision.

The fourth scam is the sweepstakes or lottery scam. One of my clients, Steven, had a gal who worked for him that was 100% convinced she was going to win the lottery during a period of time when the jackpot was in the hundreds of millions. She lived in Nevada, which doesn’t have a lottery, so she would often go to California or Arizona to buy lottery tickets.

At the height of the employee’s conviction, Steven decided to take this employee to Arizona, so she could check some lottery tickets she had previously purchased. As they pulled into the gas station, my client told her he would fill up the car with gas while she went in and checked her tickets.

They just started filling the car when his employee came out of the store, and she was white as a ghost. As she got closer, my client asked her what was going on. She could hardly talk, but she said she knew she would win the lottery and had, according to the ticket scanner.She then asked my client to go back inside with her for some support.

On the spot, Steven hurried and finished filling up the car with gas and then took his employee in or ticket back into the convenience store. As they approached the clerk, the employee started shaking from her excitement. Stephen grabbed the ticket from her hand and handed it to the clerk.

He then asked the clerk to scan his employee’s ticket to see how much she had won. The clerk did so, but instead of millions they were expecting, they had won $5 instead.

They tell you this story for a number of reasons. First, it can become very easy to be sucked in to believing that you’re going to be the next big winner. But statistics show this isn’t true. Yes, there are winners, but for every one winner, there are hundreds of thousands of losers.

Second, lotteries and sweepstakes are not designed to help you. They’re designed to help the companies and governments who put them together. Governments know these programs disproportionately hurt the elderly, yet they continue to run these programs on a daily basis.

And third, don’t waste your money on false hopes. As a retiree you have so much you already need to spend your money on, so why waste it on schemes that are rigged against you.

The fifth scam I want to talk about is the telemarketing and phone scam. There are too many of these types of scams to even list them all, but they’re all designed to trigger one of two emotions from you. The first one is fear, and the second one is greed.

The fear trigger most often used is based upon some type of error you’ve made with some government agency, like the IRS or Social Security. The scammer usually tries to convince you that, somehow, you have overlooked a financial obligation and that you need to pay the outstanding balance immediately or suffer major consequences. The most important thing to remember with a fear scam is no federal agency will ever call you to request money without having first sent you a letter in the mail.

When it comes to greed, this can be all over the board. And it’s only limited by your own greed limits. I’ve seen scams where people are claiming they have millions of dollars in a foreign account. They’re waiting just for the person they’re trying to scam. But that person must be willing to pay a small fee first in order to access the money.

I’ve also seen simpler scams where people are offering to provide a product or service at a fraction of the cost. But, like other scams, the decision must be made immediately, or the person being scammed is going to miss out on this opportunity. The hardest thing with phone scams is they often sound so real. I can’t tell you the number of times as a CPA, I’ve had to explain to a client multiple times that a scam is not legitimate. They get so bought into the story. They want to believe it’s true even though every other logical person in their life is telling them otherwise.

The biggest takeaway here is to slow down, to take a deep breath. And remember, if the person on the other end of the phone is trying to spur you to make a decision based upon fear or greed, the result generally is not going to turn out to your advantage.

The sixth scam is internet fraud. In this day and age, it’s almost impossible to stay off the internet. Therefore, it’s important to understand some of the top internet scams that exist, so hopefully you can keep yourself safe and secure.

The most popular scam of them all is what is called phishing. Now, this isn’t the type you do with your grandkids out of the lake, but it does resemble the other type of fishing you do with a rod and reel.

Essentially phishing is cybercriminals reaching out to you in hopes that they can get you to disclose or give them access to your information. This information can include something as simple as your name or a confirmation of your email address. But usually it goes much deeper into your personal information, such as your social security number, credit card details, or your bank account information.

There are two key things to remember when it comes to phishing scams. First, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Second, take your time to understand what is being sent to you and who it’s coming from. If it seems weird or out of character from what the person would normally send you, the simple answer is to just don’t click.

The seventh type of internet scam revolves around companies who are claiming they will provide you with some type of product or service, but they have no intention of ever fulfilling this promise. If you end up on a site that is offering products or services you want, but you’re not familiar with the company, take some time to do some research. You can usually do a quick internet search and figure out within about five or 10 minutes whether a company is legitimate or not.

And the eighth internet scam I want to talk about is the bad download scam. This is where companies or individuals try to get you to download software, or click on something from an email or a website that appears to be harmless. But when you click on it, it downloads malware or ransomware to your computer.

Both malware and ransomware are very dangerous. Malware is designed to either gather information from your computer or wreak havoc on the operational capacity of your computer, and ransomware is designed to completely lock up your computer, making it useless. When this happens, the person who sent the ransomware then usually asked for a fee in order to remove the virus. Your best solution here is to stay away from websites that you’re not familiar with, to be very careful when opening emails with attachments, and to install some form of virus protection software onto your computer.

The ninth scam is the funeral crematory scam. To me this is about as low as you can get in the elder scam arena. This is where people take advantage of you as you’re trying to prepare for where your body will rest once this life is over. The problem with these types of scams is you may never know you were scammed. It may be those who are left after you pass away that find out the secret the scammers hid from you your whole life.

This scam can take various forms, but it usually involves selling you a burial plot or funeral services the company can’t fulfill or overselling you on items you don’t need. The best way to avoid this type of scam is to make sure you’re dealing with well-known companies who have a good reputation for providing funeral or crematory services and products in your area.

The tenth scam is fraudulent anti-aging products. For many people aging is one of the hardest things to experience in life, and scammers know this. All you have to do is stay up late one night and flip through the various channels on your television, and you’ll soon realize what a big business anti-aging products is. Our late night television is full of infomercials about products that claim to be able to do about everything but bring you back from the dead.
My best advice here is to forget about the magic potions and the lotions and just accept the natural aging process our bodies must go through you, and your wallet will both thank me in the end.

The eleventh scam is counterfeit prescription drugs. Of all the scams I’ve talked about, this is the worst one to me. Why? Because for many people, including myself, we’re talking about a life or death situation. What do I mean? Let me explain how the scam works.

As we age, many of us are required to take prescription drugs to keep us alive. But some of these drugs can be outrageously expensive and scammers know this. Therefore, they provide various offers to allow you to get access to these prescriptions for much cheaper than you would normally pay. These offers can come in the form of a dropship option where the products are delivered to your door, or it may require you to go to another country.

The problem with this scam is you have no guarantee of what is inside of that pill you’re being sold. The reason many of these drugs are offered at such a cheap price is because they’re not drugs at all. They’re a placebo that’s filled with something else.

If you’re on a prescription drug to keep yourself alive and healthy, do yourself a favor and make sure you’re using reputable sources to fill your prescriptions. Now that doesn’t mean you have to pay the highest price. Drugstores can charge substantially different prices for the same drug, so do your homework. There are a number of websites that can help you find the cheapest place to fill prescriptions with top pharmacy chains.

The twelfth and final scam is the Medicare health insurance scam. Current statistics report that the average retired couple has spent over $200,000 during their retirement in medical related costs. This sounds like an outrageous number, but it’s the reality facing many retirees.

As a result, many of them are looking for any loopholes in order to lower their out of pocket costs for healthcare. It’s in these loopholes where scammers are waiting.

These scammers are willing to play on your emotions and frustrations as it comes to the exuberant costs of healthcare. They use these emotions to then get you to buy products and services that are not what they appear. This includes medical services that are not done in accordance with safety standards established in the United States to health care policies that don’t really cover all the medical treatments they claim to cover.

Your best solution here is the same solution I’ve recommended for so many other scams I’ve talked about already. Stick with companies you know and that you can confirm are meeting the current requirements established by the government.

I must admit it is with a little bit of apprehension on my part, but I’m very glad I’ve been able to cover some of the top scams you may face in retirement. But I also know that what I’ve covered is not enough to protect all of you from people who are more interested in their own best interests than they are in your best interest. Because there’s thousands of dishonest people out there, and there’s only one of me. But regardless, I choose to move forward with hope.

And I will do that by leaving you with my top three takeaways. Number one, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Greed can destroy a well planned life as fast as anything else can.

Number two, take your time to do research and do your homework. Simple internet searches can go a long way to helping you learn about the validity of a company’s products or services you might be considering.

And number three, have a trusted friend or advisor. This person needs to be someone you feel comfortable enough with that you can call them at any time to get their advice on a decision you’re making. Now, this doesn’t mean you should call them to figure out what you’re going to have for lunch tomorrow. But if you’re looking at making a big decision where someone could possibly take advantage of you, this friend or advisor may be your best bet at protecting yourself.

If you have family members who are elderly, it’s very important you do your part to help make sure they’re protected from the various scams I talked about., There are two main ways you can make a difference in these people’s lives.

First, educate any elderly relatives or friends on the various types of scams that exist in hopes they will be able to recognize them when they happen. And second, stay close to these family members or friends, and make sure they know they can call you if they need help with anything. You may be the only person standing between them and a big disaster.

Now if you’re getting elderly yourself, put in safeguards to protect yourself and establish a lifeline with someone you can trust. So, if you think of scams happening, you can turn to this person to help you out.