Jeanne West has always had a passion for protecting the vulnerable and unaware. But her work got personal two years ago.
“I saw the warning signs but my heart got in the way,” the Financial Abuse Specialist Team (FAST) coordinator said.
West, a registered nurse and senior care consultant, lost her husband in October 2008. She moved with him to Pennsylvania to be closer to family, but after his passing, she felt the need to move back to Santa Barbara. She put some of her belongings on Craigslist, which included her late husband’s electric lift chair.
“I was thinking the chair would be the last hit but it was the first,” West said. “The person responded saying how much this chair would mean to them due to their disability, and didn’t care about the price.”
West immediately sympathized. But when the interested buyer sent the check, it was for $2,500 instead of $350. The buyer said they had made a terrible mistake and asked West to keep $350 plus a wiring fee and send the rest of the check to a foreign account.
“I was so vulnerable still in my own stage of grief, I thought this poor woman has nobody, how sad,” West said.
It was a rubber check and West was forced to pay $2,100 to the bank.
“I was looking for somebody to tell me to stop, that’s what I needed to do,” she said. “But I lost the most precious person in my life and my heart said no.”
Scammers often target a piece of equipment that may be associated with grief and prey on the vulnerable. West wanted her story to prevent this from happening to someone else.
With the rise of technology, radio frequency identification (RFID) and accessibility the Internet provides, it’s all too easy to steal money and personal information, and senior citizens are often the most vulnerable targets.
One of the most popular scams is the “Grandparents Scam,” in which seniors are duped into wiring funds to someone posing as a desperate relative in need of bail money. Scammers use an emotional appeal that urges seniors to act brashly.
“They target the elderly,” said Tony Durham, a crime prevention specialist for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department. “The way they hit them the hardest is not only play on emotions, but they are so quick in responses and ask so many questions that the person doesn’t have time to process.”
Scammers use vague, leading questions that provide them valuable information, like a family member’s name. But often times, they’ve done their homework, Durham said.
“In a matter of five minutes I can find everything about you and your family history, if I’m willing to pay $20 to $50,” he said.
People searching sites like Spokeo and Intelius are legal because certain companies sell personal information; the proof is often on a contract’s fine print, Durham said.
“I think it’s terrible, in my opinion it’s a crime,” he said. “We try hard to avoid identity theft but you can go online and buy it.”
But when an unsolicited caller is on the other end of the phone and provides minimal information, it is best to go against many elder’s instincts by being rude, West said.
“Stop worrying about being polite,” she said. “Do not give out any personal information, just hang up.”
Being polite gives the scammers more to work with and manipulate; they often sweet talk the victims, West said.
“Many seniors feel lonely, isolated, they may begin to have some cognitive deficits, all of which impairs judgment,” she said.
Many of the scams involve wiring money to foreign accounts, depositing fraudulent checks or purchasing questionable products. In most cases the money is not coming back, Durham said.
Aaron Pankrapz, a senior connection program manager, said he had a client who wired nearly $100,000 to an account in Jamaica after a variety of scams over a six-month period.
“Once they establish you’re vulnerable they will continue to go after you, and it will be a different scam every time,” he said. “Once they know you are pliable, your address is marked.”
While phone and online scams are often the most popular, RFID scanners have revolutionized the practice of identity theft.
Instead of reaching into a pocket, a thief can obtain credit-card information by holding a card scanner about six inches from the target. A thief can buy a card skimmer for about $100.
“It is the size of an iPad, you walk by somebody within about a foot of person, it will scan every credit card on your body,” Durham said.
No matter what the scam is, there are certain red flags to recognize, Durham said.
Police Protection Suggestions:
» Contact family members to verify any information.
» If someone contacts you urgently requesting bail money, call the local police department and hospital to determine if there is any record of a family member.
» Check if your credit-card companies place chips in their cards to prevent card skimming or place protective sleeves around your cards.
» Be wary of anyone providing minimal information and needing immediate action.
Anyone victimized should report the incident immediately to local police and the state attorney general’s office.
Click here for a list of scams and ways to avoid them.
— Noozhawk staff writer Alex Kacik can be reached at akacik@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk or @NoozhawkNews. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.