Your utilities are about to be cut off. Your grandson is in serious trouble. Delivery of your medication has been held up.
Scammers targeting older adults are experts at throwing their victims off balance by presenting urgent situations that can be solved only by the immediate transfer of cash.
“People make poor decisions when time pressure is imposed, so scammers create a sense of urgency,” acting Palo Alto Police Capt. James Reifschneider said.
In moments of emotional stress, people get conned every day, he told this news organization.
“There’s a misconception that those who fall for this are unsophisticated or uniquely foolish, but the reality is that people of means, people of education, people who are very, very sharp people of all ages fall for this because the scammers are very, very good at their job — pulling at heartstrings, manipulating. This is a craft they have polished,” he said.
Since 2019, the number of reported elder fraud cases in Palo Alto has gone up: Palo Alto police received 43 reports of fraud or abuse of victims 65 and over last year, up from 42 in 2020 and 21 in 2019, said Reifschneider, adding that he believes such incidents are “vastly underreported.”
Nationally, 92,371 people over age 60 lost nearly $1.7 billion to elder fraud last year, according to the FBI’s 2021 Elder Fraud Report. The dollar losses were up 74% over 2020. The average loss per victim was $18,246, and 3,133 people lost more than $100,000. California reported 12,951 victims over…
