Five Scams That Target Senior Citizens

Scam artists often prey on vulnerable senior citizens.  These are five common scams that are often used to take advantage of elderly individuals:

1. Reverse Mortgage Scams.  This involves fraudsters pretending to be government agencies offering homeowners lower tax burdens in exchange for hundreds in fees.
2. Funeral Scams.  Some scam artists will research local obituaries and then show up to the funeral claiming to be an unpaid creditor of the deceased. 
3. Investment Scams. Senior citizens are often frequently target by investment scams.  One of the most famous examples of this was the Bernie Madoff pyramid scheme.
4. Internet Scams. Elderly individuals who lack experience with the internet can often be targeted with email viruses to steal personal financial information. 
5. Medicare and Health Insurance Scams.  One of the most common types of scams involves fraudsters posing as Medicare or health insurance company representatives to trick seniors into revealing personal information about themselves.  These scam artists then use that information to bill Medicare or the health insurance company and escape with the money.   

See J. Wesley Harned, Elder Abuse – Five common scams aimed at seniors, DelCotto Law Group PLLC, Lexology, May 21, 2015.