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Financial Crimes and Seniors |
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CRIME PREVENTION COMMUNITY FOCUS
Financial Crimes and Seniors
Financial crimes against seniors are becoming more and more prevalent. The National Crime Prevention Council has released the following information to help inform seniors as well as help them avoid being a victim.
Financial crimes include:
- Fraud
- Scams
- Identity Theft
- Healthcare fraud
These financial-minded criminals generally seek to take cash, credit, credit rating, or other assets by deception. They are very capable criminals. Many have excellent people skills and/ or talent with computers or similar electronic gear.
Robbery involves a confrontation and the threat or use of force, but financial crimes often involve people who are pleasant and seemingly helpful.
Seniors are attractive to financial criminals because most seniors have accumulated resources. Many own their homes and have insurance, pension plans, savings, stocks and bonds, and similar assets that may not always be closely monitored.
Many seniors lead lifestyles that make them more vulnerable:
- Many are accessible by telephone and mail, have time to listen, are too polite to hang up, keep assets readily available, have limited experience with investments, can no longer perform home repairs, and are deeply concerned with maintaining finances to last them through their lives.
- Many are isolated by disability, fear of violence in the community, lack of peer friendships, or lack of transportation.
- Many are trusting or complacent or forgetful of details and may be embarrassed to admit they were victims.
Fraud and Stealth
Fraud is a criminal act that financial criminals often use. Fraud involves deceit in the commission of a financial crime. Those who commit fraud often offer prizes, deals, opportunities, bargains, and the like. They may advertise with a teaser (e.g., “Earn money working at home!”) or with a phone call announcing a “golden opportunity to invest.” Or they may develop personal relationships with, and then prey on, individuals they meet in various ways.
Older people are major targets - they make up about 12% of the population but 37% of telemarketing victims according to one study.
Stealth is another method financial criminals use to victimize seniors. This happens when the criminal takes or takes control of an asset without the victim’s knowledge or consent. Stealth-based financial crimes include identity theft, pretext theft, computer hacking, and similar criminal activity. Stealth-based crimes are usually difficult to detect unless the victim closely monitors small personal property and financial status and bills. Stealth-based crimes may go unreported because the victim may have no idea when the theft occurred or even whether it did, in fact, occur.
Identity Theft
Identity theft is a growing threat. More than 10 million Americans each year are victims of this crime although seniors are currently a small percentage of that number.
Identity theft begins when a crook captures key information about an individual, such as:
- A “pre-approved” credit card mailing
- A reply to a phony request to verify account information
- A bill from a credit card company
- A receipt with a name and credit card number
- A list that a computer hacker has stolen and sold
- Mail or bills from discarded trash
- Stolen wallets or purses
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Puddle Jumpers Learning Center LLC
256 Main Street
Plympton, MA 02367
p 781-582-8668
f 781-582-0932
Rose Jones
rjpudjump@yahoo.com
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aWorld Networks
84 October Hill Road
Holliston, MA 01746
p (508) 280-9955
f (508) 306-4033
rob@aworldnetworks.com
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Town House of Pizza & Roast Beef
300 Eliot Street #2
Ashland, MA 01721
p 508-881-3010
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Quality Automotive
415-B Maple Street
Marlboro, MA 01752
p 508-481-1928
Rick Hanson
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P & E Auto Electric Inc.
109 Union Street
Mansfield, MA 02048
p 508-339-4353
f 508-339-6309
Rick Ethier
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Custom Exhaust
14 Hanover Street
Hanover, MA 02339
p 781-826-2779
Steven Daudelin
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Re/Max Trinity
216 Centre Street
Malden, MA 02148
p (781) 322-2622
f (781) 322-9002
www.TrinityHomesRE.com
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Parson's Indian Trading Post
370 Wisconsin Dells Parkway S.
Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965
p 608-254-8533
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Dalton Manufacturing Company
6 Clark Street
Amesbury, MA 01913
p 978-388-2227
f 978-388-0561
gdalton@daltonco.com
www.daltonco.com
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