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Aging Parents and Adult Children Together

Aging Parents and Adult Children Together

  Aging Parents and Adult Children Together (A/PACT)

CONSUMER FRAUD AGAINST THE ELDERLY

(First in a 10-part series)

During a visit with your mother, you notice a stack of wire transfer receipts totaling more than $65,000. When you ask what they’re for, she says she’s investing in a new hi-tech company. After you investigate further, you think she’s being scammed by fraudulent telemarketers. What can you do?

Consumers lose more than $40 billion a year to telemarketing fraud. People over 50 years of age are especially vulnerable and account for about 56 percent of all victims, according to a recent study by the American Association of Retired Persons. Scam artists often target older people, knowing they tend to be trusting and polite toward strangers and are likely to be home and have time to talk with callers.

You can help empower your parents and others who may be targets of fraudulent telemarketers by describing some tip-offs to rip-offs, letting them know their rights and suggesting ways they can protect themselves.

Tip-Offs to Phone Fraud

Many scams involve bogus prize offers, phony travel packages, get-rich-quick investments and fake charities. Con artists are skilled liars who spend a lot of time polishing their sales pitches. As a result, it can be difficult to see through their scams.

Alert those you care about to be on their guard if they hear the buzz words for fraud. Among the tip-offs are:

It’s the Law

It also is helpful for people who are the targets of fraudulent telemarketers to know their rights. Anyone who is troubled by calls — whether abusive, deceptive or simply annoying — should know that, under federal law:

How to Protect Targets of Telemarketing Fraud

You also can help people you care about develop responses that will end an unwanted sales call. Possible responses to unwanted callers include: "I don’t do business with people I don’t know," "Please put me on your ‘Do-Not-Call List,’" "I’ll need to see written information on your offer before I consider giving you money," or "You can send that information to my attorney’s office at . . . ." Perhaps the easiest response is, "I’m not interested. Thank you and good-bye."

Urge your parents or anyone else troubled by calls to resist high-pressure sales tactics. Legitimate businesses respect the fact that a person is not interested. Remind an older person to:

If you suspect a scam, call your state attorney general. The Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule gives state law enforcement officers the power to prosecute fraudulent telemarketers.

For More Information

Consumer Response Center
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, DC 20580
(202) FTC-HELP [382-4357]; TDD: (202) 326-2502

You also can file a complaint with the Commission by contacting the CRC by phone, by mail, or online.

National Consumers League
1701 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 835-3323

The National Consumers League and the American Association of Retired Persons conducted research on telemarketing fraud targeting the elderly and offer suggestions for older people and their families in a brochure, They Can’t Hang Up, available from the National Consumers League.

To stop telephone sales calls from many legitimate national marketers, send your name, address and telephone number to:

Direct Marketing Association
Telephone Preference Service
P.O. Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014

To remove your name from many national direct mail lists, write:

Direct Marketing Association                 
Mail Preference Service                         
PO Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

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