Elderly people seem to be easy targets for scammers. We hear about these scams locally in our neighborhoods how they pay their money up front for some sort of construction and then the work never gets done. Older people seem to be easy prey for telemarketers, sweepstakes, and lottery frauds and all sorts of other scams. If you suspect something may be wrong with a friend or loved one read this list to see how you can help.

It’s not just the elderly that are targeted and taking advantage of anyone is just wrong, but to cheat an old person out of their life savings takes a cold hearted monster that should be shown no mercy as far as I’m concerned. For a list of scams that are being perpetrated check out phonebusters.com and make sure you read the consumer tips. Keep a close eye on the seniors in your life and make sure they don’t become a victim of these unscrupulous crooks.

A few months ago Bill came home from work telling me a story about some guy that works with him, well actually it was about his ex wife. Seems she isn’t very bright because she fell for a scam online, the one where they send you a check from a foreign country. She actually deposited said check then started spending like crazy. I told Bill that it was a scam and sooner or later it would catch up with her, but he and everyone else believed it was real because the bank was actually spitting out money left and right for new cars and every thing else.

It apparently took a month or so until the bank caught on then of course they started repossessing everything. I still can’t believe some people actually fall for those scams. I have no clue how she paid back all the money, maybe they made it so she could make payments. I do know she had to go to everyone she gave money and presents to and ask for those back. It’s really sad that there are so many gullible people out there that really believe these scams, this woman wasn’t old so she should have known better as far as I’m concerned.