Mark Mandell, Esq.
Senior citizens and grandparents
have been a major target for telemarketing and telephone scams in Michigan.
Unfortunately, as Glenn Clark, a representative of
the Michigan Attorney General Bill
Schuette’s Consumer Protection Division explains, “if you’re a senior, God bless
you, but you have a bull’s-eye on your back for these telemarketing frauds.”
Mr.
Clark, keynote speaker at the annual Monroe County Elder Justice Summit held
Thursday, said 56 to 80 percent of all telemarketing fraud is aimed at seniors
but telemarketing fraud is not the only type of fraud that takes place over the
phone. Another common scam aimed at senior citizens is the “emergency
situation” scam.
Unfortunately,
scammers find the names of their victims from public documents or other sorts
of data mining. When the scammers locate their victims, they call the senior
citizen pretending to be a relative in distress. The scammers explain to the
targeted senior citizen that they are in a medical, legal, or any other type of
emergency to acquire funds. The scammer makes sure the senior believes that
they are, for example, a grandchild that needs immediate help.
Because
senior citizens and grandparents are older in age, may have a hard time hearing
over the phone, and are not used to telephone calls, they often do not realize
that the person on the line is not their family member.
Mr.
Clark further explains that the scammers try to appeal to some kind of
emotional bond and “they want you to act emotionally and not logically.”
In
order to prevent these types of situations Mr. Clark advises to try to verify
who that individual is through quizzing them on personal details or calling
relatives to verify that the individual is really in trouble.
If you
have faced this type of situation or have any questions regarding these types
of issues contact Michigan fraud attorney, Mark Mandell at 888-674-1189
or online at www.MichiganFraudLawyer.com
Read more at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2013/oct/15/scammers-target-grandparents/
Read more at: http://www.monroenews.com/news/2013/oct/15/scammers-target-grandparents/
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