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Get-rich-quick
scams target vulnerable seniors
By Jamie Swift
Journal Reporter
August 14. 2006 12:00AM
Marsha Flynn's 87-year-old father wants
so badly to win large sums of money, his common sense vanishes when letters or
strangers on the phone offer a quick way to get rich.
The Auburn man's family is usually around
to protect him, but last month he wasn't so lucky.
Allan Lind received a call at his home that he had won $100,000, but to get the
cash, he'd have to wire $10,000 to Canada.
He did it. Not surprisingly, it was all a scam.
"That money is gone," Flynn said.
These scams targeting seniors are not uncommon.
In fact, more than half of consumer fraud victims in Washington state are older
than 50, according to AARP, which, along with the state attorney general's
office, is doing what it can to combat this growing problem.
"It just keeps happening, unfortunately," said Kristin Alexander, spokeswoman
for the state attorney general's office. "Even though it seems too good to be
true, people still take the bait."
Older people like Lind are the most vulnerable and are prime targets for many
dishonest outfits that deliberately prey on the goodness, loneliness, greed and
gullibility of people who have reached their golden years, according to the
attorney general's office.
There are numerous con games targeting older adults, including charity scams,
phony foreign lotteries, identity thefts, Internet scams, investment scams and
home improvement scams.
Alexander, of the attorney general's office, said living by the old adage "If
it's too good to be true, it is" would prevent most of the scams from working.
Still, in this country, consumers are losing more than $120 million a year to
fraudulent solicitation, according to the U.S. postal inspection service.
The attorney general's office has established a new unit within its consumer
protection division to deal with these types of crimes. The attorneys in the
unit work specifically on cases in which individuals are vulnerable because of
age, cultural barriers or cognitive limitations.
.. Full Story
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