“Gram.  Can you hear me?”

I almost fell for this scam myself.  I was confused for a moment because the young man’s voice could have been one of my grandsons.  I didn’t want to hurt his feelings by telling him that I didn’t recognize his voice.

“Gram, I’m in Mexico.  The policeman planted drugs in my suitcase and now they won’t let me come home.”  That’s when I figured out that he wasn’t my grandson.  I saw all three grandsons last night.  They wouldn’t have had time to get to Mexico.

The Grandchild Scam has been around for many years now. And the target of this scam is always a senior. In the Grandchild scam, the victim receives a call from a scammer will talk in a panicked voice pretending to be a grandchild in trouble. They will tell a made up a story about a horrible accident or say they they were arrested.  Regardless of the story, they will need money right away.  Money from their “grandparents.”

Let suppose you get a call and you hear a troubled voice of a kid asking for help, you would get emotional right? This is why scammers play with emotions of the victims to get what they want. The primary goal of a scammer is to get instant cash out of the pockets of the elderly. People have been scammed of between $100 and $10,000 — because they wanted to help their grandchildren.

Beware of the Grandchild scam – here are a few tips and tricks to remain safe:

• The Majority of scammers try to obtain as much information as they possibly can from you. If you receive a call and the case seems legit, the first thing you should do is to call your relatives or ask a trusted family member to verify the facts of the call.
• Do not play with the flow. The scammer tries to get in your mind by using manipulative words. Ask as many questions as you can. This will help you not get scammed or find out that the caller was not your ‘real’ grandchild.
• Do not be fooled into making a hasty financial decision. Refuse straightaway if they deny giving more information or if you are not satisfied.

The Miami Herald reports that Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines have settled a lawsuit alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Rather than have the case go to trial, the companies decided to settle. A federal judge granted preliminary approval of the settlement in July, which requires the involved companies to create a settlement fund worth between $7 million and $12.5 million, depending on how many claims are filed.

The Settlement requires the cruise lines to make payments of at least $300 to people who received robocalls between 2009 and 2014.  Click here to enter your phone number and see if you qualify for a check.  The Miami Herald article is here.

Scams are being reported at an unprecedented rate, where situations can be devastating for the victim. Most scams that take place revolve around finances where elderly individuals are targeted.

Senior Citizens are often victimized by con artists. To remain safe from these scams, it is important to note the different types of scams that exist at large.

Following is the list of the most common type of scams targeting the elderly in 2017:

1.  Telemarketing scams

Telemarketing scam is one of the most common and easiest ways to scam an elderly. This type of scam is hard to trace due to no paper trail or personal interaction. There are many instances where the same telemarketers have called someone they’ve previously scammed and defrauded them again.

2.  Investment scams

Mostly, seniors or veterans who are planning for retirement want to safeguard their money for later years. Hence, the easiest way to do it is by investing in a scheme to keep getting greater returns over time. However, these con artists have used such schemes to take advantage of older people.

3.  Lottery scams

Nothing comes for free. But it’s a lot of fun to imagine found money, isn’t it? Lottery scammers tell people that they have won a lottery and to receive their prize money they are required to deposit some money. The imposters even send “checks” to convince their victims to pay fees before vanishing and leaving the victim with a worthless scrap of paper. The criminal would happily collect the supposed fees and vanish like it never happened.

4.  Health insurance scams

Every individual in the United States, who is 65 years or older qualifies for a great health insurance plan known as Medicare. Criminals become imposters by posing themselves as company representatives to scam the elderly into paying for benefits they have already earned.

5.  Prescription scams

Another scam that victimizes older people most often is fake prescription drugs on the internet. To save some money, the seniors search for specialize medications available at cheaper rates. In most cases, they end up purchasing something that won’t benefit them, o will even worsen their condition.

6.  Funeral scams

There are two types of funeral scams targeting the elderly. One trick is attempting to extort money from the widow, widower or relatives to settle the outstanding debts left behind by the deceased. On the other hand, some scammers also try to add unnecessary charges to the bill of funeral and cemetery services.

7.  Fake product scams

Many older Americans have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on buying fake products. Usually, criminals offer seniors anti aging products which would apparently give them a younger look. However, these fake anti aging products do nothing.

8.  Digital scams

Over the last decade, the internet has taken over the world by storm. However, the slower adoption speed of the seniors made them a good scam candidate in 2017. Viruses, information extraction or fake antivirus programs have not only scammed elderly people, but have also obtained valuable information.

9.  Phishing scams

The most common email or phishing scam is receiving an email from the IRS. The imposters pose themselves as IRS representatives and ask the elderly to either update or verify their information.

10. Mortgage scams

Seniors who own or are living alone in their homes are most likely to be scammed by the con artists. On behalf of the company or County Assessor’s Office, criminals will send letters to the seniors for property assessment. The attempt is to make money off the fake services offered.

11. Social security scams

Criminals will pose that they are working for Social Security and will contact you to either verify or update your personal information. All the information provided will be used by identity thieves who look for social security number, name, bank details, date of birth and mother’s maiden name.

12. Contractor scam

Bogus contractors have been scamming elderly individuals for a long time. They personally visit or contact through the phone to tell you that your home needs major structural repairs. This is usually to make money.

Caller ID showed a Los Angeles area code when a man identifying himself as Windows Technical Support called me yesterday afternoon.  With India being the home of a lot of legitimate call centers, the accent and background noise didn’t seem unusual.  But I use a MacBook.

Don’t give out your personal information on the phone.  Strangers don’t call to offer help.  Read more about the Windows Scam here.